ABSTRACT
Cluster munitions and their effects on human security Cluster munitions or cluster bombs are conventional weapons that may be used against a number of targets and were invented for use in large-theater wars during the Cold War. They consist of a container or dispenser that scatters clusters of between several dozen to over 600 bomblets over a wide area that can exceed 30,000 square meters. They are theoretically designed to detonate prior to or immediately after impact (ICRC 2008a). They were invented at a time when wars were conceived in terms of large-theater combat, but conflicts of this type never occurred, and with the end of the Cold War, are never likely to occur. However, the means to wage war in this way form part of the arsenals of countries around the world. These weapons are a particular threat to civilians when they are used in a way for which they were never designed. Due to the changed nature of conflicts, which nowadays often take place in densely populated areas, it has been found that when cluster weapons are used, 98 percent of the victims are civilians (HI 2006). The humanitarian impacts of the use of cluster bombs are threefold. First, there is the problem of lack of victim assistance. Cluster bombs are frequently used in the poorest and most underdeveloped parts of the world, where immediate aid to the victims is not likely to be adequate, and often the longer-term impacts are felt in agricultural communities, where the inability to use the
contaminated land has many socio-economic consequences. Prior to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), there was no legal international means of protecting the victims. The second impact is underreporting of victims, both casualties and survivors alike, and disparities in the methods and terminology of reporting. A third lasting humanitarian consequence is the effect on children who are either victims themselves or who become orphans because their parents are victims (HI 2006: 6). The problem is not limited to the directly affected individual, but also extends to his or her family and the affected community; generally, care for victims is a long-term issue that needs to continue after clearance activities have been completed. Victim assistance involves six components: data collection, emergency and continuing medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychological and social support, economic (re)integration, and disability laws and policies. Victim assistance is not carried out in isolation, but as part of initiatives for other people with disabilities from mine action, as well as cross-cutting public health, development and poverty reduction strategies (HI 2007: 7).
