Eight NATO Member States Yet to Sign Cluster Munitions Treaty

August Entry into Force for Convention on Cluster Munitions as United Nations Receives Thirtieth Ratification
 
17 February 2010
 
Eight NATO Member States Yet to Sign
 
On 16 February the United Nations received the 30th instrument of ratification for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. With this step, the Convention will enter into force on 1 August 2010.
 
Cluster munitions are unreliable and inaccurate and the Convention’s entry into force represents a major advance in the global disarmament agenda. During conflict and long after it has ended, they maim and kill scores of civilians, including many children. They also impair post-conflict recovery by making roads and land inaccessible to farmers and aid workers.
 
Daryl Kimball, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Arms Control Association said "The use of weapons that disproportionately take the lives and limbs of civilians is wholly counterproductive in today's conflicts, where winning over the local population is essential to mission success".
 
The UN Secretary-General has called on all States to become a party to the Convention without delay. Twenty NATO Allies have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions since it opened for signature on 3 December 2008, and of the 30 countries that have now ratified the treaty a third are from the Alliance (Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain). However, eight NATO Member States (Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey and the United States) have thus far not signed the accord. 
 
The 1999 Strategic Concept of the Alliance reiterates the importance of harmonizing arms control policies and objectives and NATO’s commitment to the development of future arms control agreements. “It is a matter of some regret therefore, that a handful of NATO Allies refuse to commit to ending the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions”, said Dr Ian Davis, director of NATO Watch. He added, “At the Lisbon Summit in November, NATO Allies should affirm their readiness and commitment to ratify the Cluster Munitions Convention”.
 
 
Additional Resources:
Arms Control Association cluster munitions resource page
UN Secretary General statement
Cluster Munition Coalition press release