A B1 bomber dropping hundred of undirected 'dumb' bombs that indiscriminately destroy. maim and kill civilians.

Why should we ban Cluster Bombs?

Cluster bombs unexploded in casing. 76 milion of these individual Bombies remain unexploded in Laos. This is a mother pod that failed to spring open and cast it's deadly cargo.

Air-dropped or ground-launched, they cause two major humanitarian problems and risks to civilians. First, their widespread dispersal means they cannot distinguish between military targets and civilians so the humanitarian impact can be extreme, especially when the weapon is used in or near populated areas. Many submunitions fail to detonate on impact and become de facto antipersonnel mines killing and maiming people long after the conflict has ended. These duds are more lethal than antipersonnel mines; incidents involving submunition duds are much more likely to cause death than injury. Cluster bombs have killed and injured thousands of civilians during the last 40 years and continue to do so today.

This child was injured during a Israeli cluster bomb raid in a populated area.

They cause widespread harm on impact and yet remain dangerous, killing and injuring civilians long after a conflict has ended. One third of all recorded cluster munitions casualties are children. 60% of cluster bomb casualties are injured while undertaking their normal activities. The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) is an international coalition working to protect civilians from the effects of cluster munitions by promoting universal adherence to and full implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The CMC has a membership of around 300 civil society organizations from more than 80 countries, and includes organizations working on disarmament, peace and security, human rights, victim/survivor assistance, clearance, women’s rights, faith issues and other areas of work. The CMC facilitates the efforts of NGOs worldwide to educate governments, the public and the media about the problems of cluster munitions and the solution through the global treaty banning the weapon”. (*CMC:www.stopclustermunitions.org)