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The Nobel Peace Prize awarded Barack Obama is a strong signal sent by the Nobel committee in support of the ambitions of the President of the United States on disarmament and peaceful settlement of conflicts.
Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Price in 1997, Handicap International calls on President Obama to strengthen conventional arms control by signing the two treaties banning landmines and cluster munitions (cluster bombs). By signing these treaties, the United States would finally change their isolationist positions in the field of conventional arms that cause excessive harm to civilians.
Handicap International releases new report entitled "Voices from the Ground - Landmine and Explosive Remnants of War Survivors speak out on Victim Assistance. It is the first ever report surveying survivors' opinion on assistance.
The report has been conducted by Handicap International with the help of other organizations members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The survey was completed in July 2009 and includes questionnaires and data from 1,645 survivors in 25 affected countries. More than two-thirds of survivors think that their needs are not taken into account when their governments makes plans to assist them.
The conclusions of the report show that governments around the world have a lot of work to do in order to honour their commitments taken 10 years ago by signing the Mine Ban Treaty.
Voices from the Ground
On August 17, 2009, Croatia became the fifteenth state to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions by deposating its legal instrument at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
On August 21, 2009, Slovenia and Zambia became State-Parties to the Oslo Treaty.
The Convention will enters into force six month after the 30th ratification is deposited at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
On July 14, 2009, Japan became the 14th State to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
With this latest ratification, only 16 more signatories States must ratify for the Convention to reach the threshold of 30 required for it to enter into force and become fully legally binding for all States who are party to it.
On July 8th, Germany deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to the united Nations in New York.
On July 10th, Luxembourg and San Marino became the 12th and 13th countries to ratify the Oslo Treaty. This Convention will enters into force six months after the 30th ratifications is deposited at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Spain and Albania became respectively the 9th and 10th States that deposited their instrument of ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Canada has not yet ratified.
Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, has announced that Israël handed over the the UNIFIL peacekeeping force (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) maps of cluster munitions dropped during the 2006 war against Hezbollah. "These maps and locations should have been handed over immediately after the issuance of the international resolution", Prime Minister said in a statement.
Handicap International has been present in Lebanon since 1992. The association has been especially active in the south of the country since 2006.
Colombia has announced today the destruction of its Cluster Bombs, two chilean-made CB-250k devices, in front of delegates from 14 countries.
On May 6, Mexico has become the seventh country to formally ratify the Oslo Treaty that ban cluster munitions. The Holy See, ireland, Norway and Sierra Leone ratified the Convention during the Oslo Signing Conference on 3 December 2008, then Lao PDR and Austria ratified on 18 March and 2 April 2009 respectively. The Treaty requires 30 ratifications to trigger entry into force six months later.
One of the first supporters of a prohibition on cluster munitions, Mexico was part of a six-country "core group" that steered the diplomatic process to create the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2007-2008.
Mexico has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
This is the first trip accross the Atlantic for U.S President Barack Obama. Thus, Handicap International mobilize European citizens in prder to bring the United States into the group of countries that ban cluster bombs.
President Obama recently signed into law a permanent ban on nearly all cluster bomb exports from the United States. This major event is a step forward for Handicap International. However, the U.S President should go forward by signing the Oslo Treaty that also ban the use, production and stockpilling of cluster bombs.
We need your help. Please sign our petition against cluster munitions
Friday, March 27, 2009. A ten-year old child was the latest victim of a cluster munition dropped during the 2006 war.
The young Mohamad Jamal Abdel Aal was critically wounded while playing near his family's house in Halta, southern Lebanon. This terrible accident occurs 8 days after a shepherd was killed, Fuad Musa Ghanawi, also victim of a cluster bomb in a field near the village of Hula.
On March 18, 2009, at the United Nations headquarters, has been held a special event that gathered 72* states, to promote or join the new Cluster Bomb Ban Treaty signed in Oslo in December.
During this event, The Democratic Republic of Congo signed the Convention, bringing the total number of signatories to 96. Lao PDR, the state the most affected by cluster munitions, reaffirmed its commitment to ban these weapons by becoming the fifth state to ratify the treaty, after the Holy See, Ireland, Sierra Leone and Norway.
However, Canada did not participate.
*Angola, Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, DR Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Holy See, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen.
Spain has destroyed all their stockpiles with three months of anticipation on what they had expected. This make Spain the first state to completely destroy their stockpiles.
By recovering a huge banner, placed around the famous Broken Chair in Place des Nations (Geneva), Handicap International and Cluster Munitions Coalition's organizations, call on States to sign on December 3rd, in Oslo, the Convention banning cluster munitions.
John Mc Cain
John Mc Cain, the senator from Arizona, always refused to support any kind of initiatives that ban the use, production and stockpiling of cluster munitions. He used to be in a naval aviator during the Viet Nam war. Cambodia and Viet Nam are among the world's most landmine and UXO affected countries.
Barack OBAMA
On September 10, 2008, Barack OBAMA announced to the Arms Control Association that he " strongly support international initiatives to limit harm to civilians caused by conventional weapons" and that he will " regain our (the U.S) leadreship on these issues by joining our allies in negotiations and honoring U.S commitments to seek alternatives to landmines".
42 African States participated in the Kampala Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions. 29 countries publicly announced that they would sign the Convention in Oslo, on 3 December.
The Kampala conference took place on a series of regional conferences in order to support the Convention signing conference. States from the Balkans and South Eastern Europe met in Sofia from 18-19 September.
Further regional meetings are scheduled to be held in:
- Laos (20-22 October)
- Ecuador (6-7 November)
Deminers in Southern Lebanon honoured with the Nansen Refugee Award.
Montreal, September 12, 2008 - Handicap International will be setting up a Pyramid of shoes and invites the public to come and through their shoes on the pyramid as a sign of protest against cluster bombs and anti-personnel landmines. The building of this pyramid represents a powerful symbolic gesture of solidarity with the victims of these weapons. The event will be held on Friday, September 12 at Square Dorchester (corner of Peel and René-Lévesque). The Canadian section of Handicap International was created in 2003 and this is the second edition of the Pyramid of Shoes in Montreal. In Europe, this event will also be taking place for the 14th consecutive year.
The actor, Jacynthe René, is proud to announce that she will actively take part of the campaign to ban cluster bombs by becoming the official spokesperson of the second Montreal edition of the Pyramid of shoes. As a Quebec actor well known for her participation in popular television miniseries such as Diva, Au nom de la Loi and Casino, Jacynthe René has been working in television over the last 12 years. “There are many horrible situations that require immediate action such as famine or the global warming but when I became aware of the cause defended by Handicap International, I felt I had to get involved. The work carried out by HI is broad and essential just as its struggle against cluster munitions and antipersonnel landmines, whose devastating effects are not sufficiently known,” declares René.
With Handicap International leading the way, each visitor is invited to bring pairs of shoes to create the Pyramid of Shoes. In addition to its activist and peace rally dimensions, the event will also be a festive and joyful experience. Engaging speakers and a multitude of performers will take the stage from 11:00am to 7:00pm and the day will offer concerts and landmine clearance demonstrations. These demonstrations will be animated by Michel Rathqueber Landmine Clearance and Safety Expert who will be coming from Senegal for this occasion. Essouna, Kambéon (Afrique en mouvement) and Michelangelo will be headlining the music while several NGOs (Amnistie Internationale, Développement et Paix, le CECI, Jeunesse Canada Monde, War Child, Projet accompagnement Québec Guatemala, Kéroul, Oxfam Québec et le Centre Québécois de Formation pour les Jeunes en matière de droits humains) will have information booths set up. A press conference will take place at 11:00am for the opening of the day. Georges Robert, a talented MC, will announce the day’s schedule and guide the crowd through the activities.
We invite all Montrealers to come and throw their pair of shoes and sign the petition, their shoes symbolizing the devastation to the limbs and lives of the thousands of victims of landmines and sub-munitions. A partnership was also set up with CERTEX, a non-profit organization located on the south shore of Montreal, which employs people with disabilities who recycle clothing and shoes and send them to countries in the Global South. This organization will be given all the shoes collected at the Pyramid.
Donations will be welcomed at the site. For those who won’t be able to attend the event, they are invited to make a donation online on our website (www.handicap-international.ca), to call us at 1-877-908-2813 or send a cheque to Handicap International at our mailing address.
Handicap International has worked for several years with the international community in order to obtain the complete prohibition of anti-personnel landmines and cluster bombs. The association deploys teams of experts in order to seek out and neutralize any unexploded remnants of war which put the life of thousands of civilians in danger throughout the world. They also provide assistance to victims and carry out preventive actions against accidents by landmines in civilian areas. The Oslo process initiated in February 2007 has taken a new direction when 111 States reunited in Dublin last May adopted a text as a base for a new Treaty to ban cluster bombs. This Treaty will be open for signature in December 2008 in Oslo. We call upon all governments, and particularly the Government of Canada to sign this Treaty in December. Actually, the candidates to the federal elections are asked to take position publicly in regards to this question. At the Pyramid of shoes, Montrealers will be invited to sign a petition with a call to all governments in this regard which will be presented in Oslo in December.
In the final day of the conference attended by 122 States and civil society campaigners from 38 countries there was overwhelming support for the Wellington declaration and for a strong treaty text to be negociated in Dublin in May. After intense discussion, there was a broad agreement on the text of articles about victim assistance, clearance of contaminated areas and the destruction of stockpiles.
Rae Mc Grath, Intrnational Spokesperson for Handicap International Network commented: "It is good to see that countries like UK, France, and Germany endorsed the declaration although they still have some strong differences with the majority of non-user and affected states. There will be time now for the Cluster Munition Coalition to ensure that politicians and public in those countries are made aware of the dangers of a weakened treaty and ensure that their delegations are sent to Dublin with clear instructions to support a full ban without exceptions or transition periods".
A week before States gather in Lima, Peru, to discuss a draft text of a new treaty to ban cluster munitions, Handicap International releases a new report on the impact of cluster munitions on the lives of people in 25 countries. Ninety-eight percent of people killed or injured by cluster sub-munitions are civilians living in the aftermath of war. This is just one critical finding in Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities. The report is the result of several years of research done by HI, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning international organization that has worked for more than 25 years to assist the disabled and eliminate post-war injuries from landmines and cluster munitions.
The Oslo conference coincides with the 8th anniversary of the entry into force of the Ottawa Treaty and, in Canada , a week of antipersonnel landmine awareness (from February 25th till March 3rd). For this occasion, Handicap International participated in a rally in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, March 1st from 11 am till 1:30 pm. Together with Mines Action Canada, Handicap International presented an information booth and built a pyramid of shoes in protest of landmine use. Various speakers presented their points of view on landmines and cluster munitions.
Mrs Nancy DeGraff, Director of Handicap International Canada spokek about the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions and about the actions of the association throughout the world. She was be followed by speakers of organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Norwegian People’s Aid and Landmine Action (UK).
© Handicap International Canada
Following Canada’s 1996 example in dealing with antipersonnel landmines, Norway won its wager: to settle the Oslo Agreement through the diplomatic community and reach a treaty to ban cluster bombs by 2008.
The events of the last week, culminating with the positive results of the Oslo conference, bring into focus the debate over cluster munitions. The Oslo Agreement to forbid cluster munitions provides hope for a headway within international humanitarian law. Forty-six states of the forty-nine present in Oslo, including Canada , agreed to this initiative. Only Japan, Poland and Rumania dissociated themselves from the final declaration of the Oslo conference. The United States, Russia , and China made their positions clear by their noticeable absences at this conference. Equally disheartening is the fact that these states did not still ratify the Ottawa Treaty of 1997 against antipersonnel landmines. The conference declaration affirms the plan “to forbid the use, production, transfer or storage of cluster bombs, whose indiscriminate injuries to civilians is inexcusable ".
Of the 46 countries which approved this declaration, a large number, including Canada, continue to store and produce them. Although initially reluctant to ratify such an agreement, Canada intensified its efforts at the end of the conference to lend its complete support. Clearly, the devastating and indiscriminate bombardments within Southern Lebanon, and the current conflicts in Afghanistan and in Iraq weighed heavy in the final quasi-consensus. Handicap International Canada celebrates this result as a further step toward a more peaceful world.
© Z. Johnson / Handicap International
Handicap International regrets the hypocritical attitude of the United States, which condemns the methods of use of the submunitions they sell. According to the Department of State, whilst using the American cluster bombs on Lebanon on a grand scale, Israel would have violated the agreement reached with the United States, which imposed a restricted use of these weapons. For Handicap International, the ban of this type of weapon is purely to protect the civil population. This is the message that the organisation will bring to Oslo on the 22nd and 23rd February, where approximately 40 states will meet for the first time, in order to establish an international ban treaty, thereby protecting civilians from inhumane consequences from these weapons.
One million unexploded submunitions, more than 800 affected zones, hundreds of villages impacted, the conflict of last July has left Lebanon devastated; a country where it is no longer possible to go to school, to cultivate the land or to go to work without running a fatal risk. Since the end of the conflict, 214 people of which 184 civilians have been victims of the cluster bombs. 33% of them were less than 18 years old. The mine clearance of these zones will be long, complex and particularly dangerous. The UN Mine Action Coordination Centre of Southern Lebanon has estimated that between 12-15 months are needed to clean up cluster bombs from this country.
In order to protect the civil population, Handicap International, present in Lebanon since 1992, has put in place a clearance operation since January 2007: Three teams of 15 people each are working close to the town of Tyr, in the village of Al Basourieh. Each team consists of one technical adviser, one team leader, 10 mine clearance workers, one first-aid worker, one community liaison agent and one driver-translator. These operational teams are supported by an administrative team (e.g.: logistics workers and administrative agents). This work of a long duration, which should be completed by next October, has come to fruition thanks to the financing by ECHO.
To prevent history repeating itself,
Civilians constitute 98 percent of all recorded cluster submunitions casualties, many of them injured or killed while carrying out their normal, daily livelihood activities in places they go to every day, according to Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions. This groundbreaking report by Handicap International (HI) is an unprecedented effort to document the impact of cluster munitions on the lives of people in 24 countries and areas which are confirmed to be affected by cluster munitions.
To download the rapport and the key facts, click here
