ISRAEL HANDS OVER CLUSTER BOMB MAPS TO UN FORCE IN LEBANON

ISRAEL HANDS OVER CLUSTER BOMB MAPS TO UN FORCE IN LEBANON
New York, May 13 2009 5:00PM
The Israeli Defence Forces have handed over to the United Nations data and maps on the cluster munitions it fired over southern Lebanon during the 2006 conflict between the two countries.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/">UNIFIL) received the technical strike data and related maps yesterday, and is currently examining and assessing the information, Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for the world body, told reporters in New York.

"UNIFIL will be handing over the data to the Lebanese Armed Forces," he added.

According to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre of South Lebanon, the area was blanketed by cluster munitions during the month-long conflict in the summer of 2006.

An estimated 40 square kilometres of land became contaminated with hundreds of thousands of unexploded cluster munitions, which have killed at least 20 people and maimed nearly 200 others so far.

Cluster munitions have been cleared from the surface of about half of South Lebanon's known contaminated land, and about 150,000 munitions have been found and destroyed.

Mr. Haq noted that the UN has in the past repeatedly called on Israel to provide the technical strike data on the number, type and location of munitions fired in the conflict to help speed up the clearance operations and prevent casualties among civilians and mine-clearance experts.
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STATES MUST TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE ELIMINATION OF CLUSTER MUNITIONS, SAYS MIGIRO

STATES MUST TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE ELIMINATION OF CLUSTER MUNITIONS, SAYS MIGIRO
New York, Mar 18 2009 7:00PM

The pace of the ratification of a global pact outlawing cluster bombs must be accelerated to relegate the deadly weapons "to the pages of history," Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

Addressing an event at UN Headquarters in New York to encourage countries to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions, she said the treaty will help to address the humanitarian, socio-economic and environmental damaged caused by the devices.

"We must step up our efforts so women, men and children can walk free of the terrible injuries these munitions inflict," Ms. Migiro said.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed onto the Convention today, joining 95 other nations, while Laos ratified the pact, bringing the total number of ratifications to five.

Thirty ratifications are required for the Convention – which opened for signature in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, last December – to enter into force.

The pact is the "first instrument of international humanitarian law to address, in a clear and straightforward manner, the needs and rights of victims of a specific weapon," the Deputy Secretary-General said, adding that it also emphasizes the key role of partnerships between the UN system and other organizations.

The UN Mine Action Team will endeavour this year to help remove and destroy cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, assisting victims in countries such as Cambodia, Chad, Laos and Zambia.

"We need to remove the need for such action," Ms. Migiro stated. "We need to consign cluster munitions to the pages of history."
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