WCC says a proposed new treaty to ban cluster munitions must be strong

 

The WCC Central Committee this week condemned a whole category of peculiarly indiscriminate weapons known as cluster munitions. A cluster munition scatters many small bombs in order to kill and injure people over a wide area. The church debate in Geneva coincided with a world conference on banning the weapons that stirred deep debate between governments and NGOs meeting in New Zealand.

 

"We believe that cluster munitions must be eliminated because their use causes indiscriminate civilian casualties", the WCC said. Even though they are developed for military purposes, the group noted, "Fully 98 percent of the casualties caused by cluster munitions are civilians."

 

The WCC called for "a legally binding international treaty" that would ban cluster munitions, assist survivors and ensure that contaminated land is cleared. The position aligns churches with the many civil society groups and governments that are seeking to achieve a restrictive treaty this year in the face of calls by certain states for exemptions. The WCC commended the leaders of the treaty initiative, including Norway, New Zealand, the Holy See, and a civil society coalition that includes church-related organizations and WCC member churches.

 

The current fast-track negotiations were spurred by international reaction at the end of the 2006 war in Israel and Lebanon, when some four million cluster bomblets were dropped on southern Lebanon.

 

Central Committee 'Statement on cluster munitions'

Website of the Wellington conference

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