(London) ­-- The United Kingdom's announcement yesterday that it will ban "dumb" cluster munitions is a step in the right direction, but falls far short of what is needed to protect civilians from the deadly effects of these weapons, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), a group of non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries.

The UK said that effective immediately it will no longer use its two types of cluster munitions that do not have self-destruct devices, the RBL 755 aerial bomb and the M26 ground rockets for Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). But it will continue to use its L20A1 155mm artillery projectiles with M85 submunitions with self-destruct devices.

"The vast majority of cluster munitions in the world today do not have self-destruct devices. The UK's decision to ban such weapons is an important indicator that no nation should ever use them again," said Human Rights Watch's Steve Goose, Co-Chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition. The UK decision will have implications for other states with stockpiles of these weapons but that have not yet taken concrete steps to deal with the problem. "Now that the UK has banned them, other countries with the same weapons must also get serious about banning these obsolete cluster munitions," added CMC Co-Chair Grethe Ostern, of Norwegian People's Aid.

The UK used these types of weapons extensively in the past, including in Iraq in 2003, in Kosovo in 1999, and in the Gulf War in 1991.

The BL-755 is stockpiled by India, Iran, Italy, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates. The M26 is stockpiled by Bahrain, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.

However, the CMC expressed concern that the M85 "dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM)" submunitions with self-destruct devices also pose unacceptable dangers to civilian populations. Israeli versions of the same submunition failed with startling regularity in Lebanon last summer, and also endangered civilians in Basra, Iraq in 2003 both during and after UK attacks.

Norway and Austria have already, on humanitarian grounds, declared a moratorium on the use of the artillery cluster munitions with M85 submunitions in their arsenals. "We have seen from Norway's own tests and from the terrible consequences in Lebanon that the technical fix simply doesn't work. With or without self-destruct devices, cluster munitions spread out indiscriminately over a wide area, and leave behind too many dangerous landmine-like duds," said Simon Conway, Director of Landmine Action and Co-Chair of the CMC.

In Oslo last month, the UK was one of 46 countries that committed to conclude in 2008 an international treaty to "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians." Norway is spearheading this new process to achieve an international treaty in the wake of failed arms talks in Geneva last year. The next meeting on the road to a cluster munition treaty will be held in Lima, Peru from 23-25 May 2007 where discussions are expected to begin on the shape of the new legal instrument. "The current UK position falls far short of what we expect out of a new international treaty on cluster munitions, a prohibition that will put an end to the human suffering caused by these weapons," said Thomas Nash, Coordinator of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS:

For more information contact:

In London:

Thomas Nash, Coordinator, CMC, thomas@stopclustermunitions.org, +44 (0)7711 926 730 Simon Conway, Director, Landmine Action, sconway@landmineaction.org, +44 (0)7843 387 149

In Washington D.C.:

Steve Goose, Executive Director, Arms Division, Human Rights Watch, +1 540 630 3011

In Oslo:

Grethe Ostern, Policy Adviser, Norwegian People's Aid, +47 9007 8208

In Brussels:

Stan Brabant, Head of Policy Unit, Handicap International, +32 485 336 815

RESOURCES:

Footage of so-called smart cluster bombs lying unexploded in Lebanon, filmed by John Rodsted for Norwegian People's Aid, can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_jsyObTG8k

For broadcast quality footage contact Therese Lyras, Campaigns Manager, Landmine Action, tlyras@landmineaction.org, +44 (0)20 7820 0222

BACKGROUND: • More than 70 countries stockpile cluster munitions containing billions of submunitions, and 34 are known to have produced them. The weapon has been used extensively in recent conflicts in Lebanon (2006), Iraq (2003), Afghanistan (2001-2002), and Kosovo (1999). In Lebanon, more than 200 people have been killed or injured by unexploded submunitions since the ceasefire in August 2006. Handicap International has recorded over 11,000 civilians killed or injured by cluster munitions so far around the world.

• Belgium became the first country to ban cluster munitions in February 2006. Norway, Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina have announced national moratoria on use of the weapon. The Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions was the first step toward a new treaty on cluster munitions. The Norwegian government hosted this international conference following the failure of talks within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva last November.

• On 23 February 46 states agreed in Oslo to a clear declaration committing them to conclude in 2008 a new instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. The group of the 46 states includes key users, producers and stockpilers of the weapon, and a number of countries affected by cluster munitions such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Serbia. The states also agreed to a clear roadmap for the way forward with follow up meetings in this process in Lima in May, Vienna in November/December 2007, and Dublin in early 2008. Since then Cambodia has joined the initiative bringing the number of states in favour of a ban to 47.

• The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) was established in November 2003 with the goal of addressing the impact of cluster munitions on civilians. The CMC has a membership of over 150 non-governmental organisations worldwide.

• The CMC is led by a Steering Committee of DanChurchAid, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, IPPNW Russia, Landmine Action (UK), Landmine Resource Centre (Lebanon), Mines Action Canada, Pax Christi, Protection (Egypt) and Norwegian People's Aid.

Landmine Action's press release from 19 March 2007 can be viewed at: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/459411/117431151437.htm