An Update by Handicap International Belgium

Issue 29, June 2011

Call on Europe for more support to the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Editorial On 24 May 2011, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament voted on the amended report on Progress on Mine Action showing its continuous support for mine action in general and the universalization of the conventions on antipersonnel mines and cluster munitions which has been included in the text. The adoption of the report by the European Parliament will be a clear message to the European Union Member States that still have to adhere to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) or the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). EU Member State, Finland still has to accede while Poland has to ratify the MBT. Those states as well as Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Greece, Slovakia have to adhere to the CCM. while Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Sweden have to ratify the CCM. Therefore the report calls on the EU and its Member States to promote the universalization of both the MBT and the CCM.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions is the only way

It has to be reiterated that ICBLCMC has always called on Russia, China, the U.S. and all other states to adhere to these important disarmament and humanitarian conventions. According to Handicap International, as part of the worldwide coalition against mines and cluster munitions, the accession to the CCM is the only solution to definitely ban the weapon and avoid further victims. A Protocol on cluster munitions within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) will not only weaken but even undermine the standards set by this convention. Diplomats in those (endless) negotiations in Geneva may consider what happens in Brussels, where several Members of the European Parliament from States not yet Party to the CCM voted in favor of the CCM. With this motion in hand, the European Union and all EU Member States that adhered to the Convention should speak out and make clear that in a world recently shocked by the use of mines and cluster munitions, any ambiguity will add grit to the mill of users and producers.

Sebastian Bozada Clearing cluster munitions in Laos

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Victim Assistance Funding remains crucial

The implementation of both treaties is challenging Europes commitment to humanitarian values while dealing with financial crises, the elimination of an EU budget line for mine action and a drop in overall EU funding for mine action. The EP Committee on Foreign Affairs calls on the EU to negotiate with China and Russia to destroy millions of mines they have stockpiled while the CMC has always urged states to destroy their cluster munitions too. Over the past years the European Commission as well as EU Member States spent a large amount of money in clearance worldwide which should continue until the work has been done. Up to now, there are still mine and cluster munitions victims with most civilians, among them a high proportion of children. However, even when there are no further casualties, hundreds of thousands of victims will need targeted care and support over many years, they do not have fully access to till date, as several reports by Handicap International have demonstrated. Handicap International calls on the European Commission to increase victim assistance funding and to give clear information on victim assistance funding within broader development programs.

Victim assistance in Laos

For more information

On the website of Handicap International Belgium, you will find: HIB Updates on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Survivor Inclusion, Victim Assistance and Victim Assistance Funding. "For Your Information" is an HIB Update on reports, publications, articles, video's, films, blogs, websites etc. on the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Armed Violence in general, Survivors, Ban Advocates, Victim Assistance etc.
www.handicapinternational.be/fr/ policy Tim Dirven Cluster munitions

Handicap International is an international organisation specialised in the field of disability. Nongovernmental, non-religious, non-political and non-profit making, it works alongside people with disabilities, whatever the context, offering them assistance and supporting them in their efforts to become self-reliant. Since its creation, the organisation has set up programmes in approximately 60 countries and intervened in many emergency situations. It has eight national associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States) which provide human and financial resources, manage projects and raise awareness of Handicap International's actions and campaigns. More: www.handicapinternational.be
Contact and coordination: Hildegarde Vansintjan, Advocacy Officer, Handicap International vzw-asbl, Belgium. Phone: + 32 2 233 01 06 / Mobile: + 32 485 111 460 / Fax: + 32 2 230 60 30 / Spastraat 67 / 67, Rue de Spa / B 1000 Brussels Belgium / hildegarde.vansintjan@handicap.be