What Is Cluster Munition?
United States (US) has made the decision to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package worth up to USD 800 million.
- This move has raised concerns about civilian casualties, with calls from the United Nations to avoid using such weapons.
- A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions, commonly known as bomblets, over a wide area.
- They are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles, runways, power lines, or other targets.
- Some cluster munitions can also disperse chemical or biological agents, land mines, or leaflets.
- Cluster munitions can indiscriminately harm civilians and civilian objects, violating international humanitarian law.
- They have a high failure rate, leaving behind unexploded ordnance that poses ongoing danger.
- Additionally, they contaminate vast areas for extended periods, rendering them unfit for human use and burdening healthcare and economies in affected nations.
- Convention on Cluster Munitions outlaws the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of these weapons due to their indiscriminate and long-lasting effects on civilian populations.
- It was adopted in Dublin by 107 States on 30 May 2008 and signed in Oslo on 3 December2008.
- The Convention became binding international law when it entered into force on 1 August 2010.
- To date, a total of 123 States have joined the Convention: 111 States Parties and 12 Signatories.
- The convention remains unsigned by several nations, including India, the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan and Israel.
