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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 06/02
Cluster Bombs: the Case for New Controls
General Sir Hugh Beach
May 2001
Abstract
Cluster Weapons consist of a large number of sub-munitions ("bomblets") which are dispensed from a metal canister in mid-air and then disperse over a distance of several hundred metres. They are inherently indiscriminate since, once dispensed, the bomblets are un-guided and a threat to military and civilians alike. Bomblets are designed to knock out armoured vehicles but can also kill people to a radius of 30-40 metres.
In field conditions ten percent or more of bomblets fail to explode on impact. Of these a high proportion remain "live" and are liable to go off if touched. In this condition they are "victim activated" and have much the same effect as anti-personnel mines (APM). Clearance of unexploded bomblets is among the most hazardous and expensive of ordnance disposal tasks.
At the end of the air campaign in Kosovo, about 29,000 of the cluster bomblets dropped by NATO had failed to explode on impact and remain a permanent hazard. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that in the year to May 2000, 151 people had been injured by bomblets, 50 of them fatally.
The global humanitarian hazard of unexploded bomblets has, however, been limited relative to that of APMs (with the historic exception of Laos). This is because cluster munitions are weapons of the major powers and do not lend themselves to widespread use by poor countries, by insurgent forces or guerrillas.
It cannot be claimed, as it was for APM, that the use of cluster bombs is of small military value although the record is mixed. In the Gulf War these munitions were seen to be highly effective in destroying tanks, guns, missiles and strategic installations. But in Kosovo the damage that cluster bombs inflicted on Serb forces in the field was minimal.
After Kosovo, the British Ministry of Defence concluded that "cluster bombs are effective weapons against area targets such as a group of soft-skinned military vehicles. [But . . . ] it would have been useful to have a capability to strike single vehicles more accurately". In future, the UK will deploy precision-guided missiles for this purpose.
The relevant instrument in international law is the 1997 First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 applicable to international armed conflict. This protocol sets out to define what is a military objective and what is permissible by way of "collateral damage". This outlaws indiscriminate attacks, including attacks which may be expected to cause death or damage to civilians or their property which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. It should, however, be possible, by the scrupulous choice of targets and care taken in delivery, to ensure that this criterion of proportionality is met. One cannot therefore rule cluster weapons illegitimate a priori under the current Geneva Convention.
The use of cluster bombs could nevertheless be regulated by bringing these weapons under the terms of the 1996 Amended Protocol II to the 1981 Weaponry Convention, (this covered remotely-delivered APM before the Ottawa Convention and will be reviewed in a conference in autumn 2001). The Belgian Presidency should support this amendment which would, inter alia:
- prohibit the use of cluster bombs against military objectives in populated areas;
- establish responsibility for the clearance of all unexploded bomblets with those who have used them;
- require that all cluster bomblets be fitted with mechanisms to ensure their self-destruction if the device fails to explode on impact;
- require that the use of these munitions be recorded and advance warning be given; and
- support the long-term goal of banning all cluster weapons by requiring the consideration of military alternatives.
