U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine raised many eyebrows because the administration had earlier slammed the use of the deadly weapon in the battlefields of Ukraine.
- More than 100 countries, including many of America’s allies who support Ukraine through financial and military assistance against Russia have banned the munitions.
What are Cluster munitions?
- Cluster munitions are a method of dispersing large numbers of tiny bomblets from a rocket, missile or artillery shell that scatters them in mid-flight over a wide area.
- They are intended to explode on impact but a significant proportion are “duds”, meaning they don’t explode initially – this happens especially if they land on wet or soft ground.
- The U.S. is not a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the treaty that has banned the bombs, but had slammed Russia for the use of the bombs in the past, saying it amounted to war crimes.
- Both Russia and Ukraine, neither of which hasn’t endorsed the convention, have used cluster munitions in the battlefield.
Convention on Cluster Munitions
- Convention on Cluster Munitions, international treaty, adopted by more than 100 countries on May 30, 2008, that prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and use of cluster munitions.
- It entered into force on Aug. 1, 2010.
- In addition to banning the use, manufacture, and transfer of cluster munitions, the treaty bound signatories to destroy existing stores of cluster munitions within 8 years, to clear areas contaminated with cluster submunitions within 10 years, and to provide aid to communities affected by their use.
- According to Cluster Munition Monitor 2022, the list of 16 countries that refuse to sign the convention and who produce cluster munitions included Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Turkey.
