Success! a new international treaty will be signed

	Cluster munitions
	What are cluster bombs?
	Stockpiling of US cluster bombs in the UK
	How to help bring a worldwide ban into force

Only a few weapons have ever been banned outright. Landmines are one example. Now cluster munitions will also be banned under a new international treaty.

Since 2007 supporters from our churches have joined with campaigners from Landmine Action and other agencies to press the UK government to ban outright all forms of cluster munitions. In Dublin in May 2008, 111 Governments came together to agree the text of a new international treaty. During this conference the UK Government announced that it would withdraw the remaining two cluster bombs from our arsenal and played a significant part in the achievement of a strong treaty agreement.

This is a great victory for campaigners who have applied pressure on the UK Government. Our arguments concerning the indiscriminate nature of these weapons have been heard.

There will be a formal signing of the treaty in Oslo in December. S ome significant users of cluster munitions such as the US, Israel, Russia and China are refusing to sign the treaty. However the implementation of the treaty by other states will stigmatise these weapons to the extent that it will be very difficult for anyone to justify their use again.

The UK, as a significant use of cluster munitions in the past, must now concentrate on introducing national legislation prohibiting the stockpiling, manufacture and use of cluster munitions. This will enable UK ratification of the treaty. 30 states must ratify the treaty before it can enter into force. The UK can help to bring an end to cluster munitions use worldwide by its prompt ratification of the treaty and by encouraging other countries to sign up.

Bring a worldwide ban into force - write to your MP