Cluster Munitions, Explosive Remnants of War and Anti-Personnel Landmines

Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Volume 10 Issue 1 The Journal of Mine Action Article 29

August 2006

Tied Campaigns: Cluster Munitions, Explosive Remnants of War and Anti-personnel Landmines

Robin Collins World Federalist Movement-Canada

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Recommended Citation Collins, Robin (2006) "Tied Campaigns: Cluster Munitions, Explosive Remnants of War and Anti-personnel Landmines," Journal of Mine Action : Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 , Article 29. Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol10/iss1/29

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Abatement, which utilizes country assess- host-country buy-in to the solution. The have not yet rallied in similar numbers to the cluster-munitions effort. ments. As an enhancement to the standard Department of State has done an admirable The Cluster Munition Coalition, formed in late 2003, has approxi- assessment process, the WRA program seeks job in constructing a highly efficient, re- Tied Campaigns: mately 170 members. Many of the CMC’s members and leadership, to develop concurrent plans, in coordina- sponsive, accretive and timely program for however, are seasoned campaigners. Familiar to ICBL-watchers are tion with the various country hosts, to assist weapons removal and abatement. Cluster Munitions, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, Landmine Action using a fast-track approach so that serious In conclusion, there is an irrefutable rela- (UK), Mines Action Canada and Pax Christi, who are among those threats can be addressed much more expe- tionship between landmines and other rem- Explosive Remnants of War sitting on CMC’s 10-member steering committee. ditiously than with other methods. Under nants of war. Their origins are completely this methodology, as country assessments independent; their technology and cost and Anti-personnel Landmines The CCW reveal threats, the information is shared components are quite different; their general The ICBL and its dynamic partnership with like-minded APM with the host country and discussions in- manufacturing and deployment sources are Richmond Dugger is President, CEO ban states (the Ottawa Process) was an innovative and collaborative and Chairman of the Blacksburg, clude possible solutions to the threats. As different; but both excel as weapons since Va.-based UXB International, Inc. and way of quickly moving the ban agenda forward. Disappointment the assessments continue, the solution sets the effectiveness of any weapon depends of all UXB subsidiaries in Afghanistan, with the existing Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons2 are fine-tuned, and it quickly becomes ob- upon two factors: Africa, Asia, the Balkans, Panama and consensus rule (where a single recalcitrant state can dilute or block vious which option is best to mitigate the 1. Its ability to damage or destroy men the United Arab Emirates. UXB devel- Convention provisions supported by the majority) led to the new par- ops and applies new technologies to specific threats. Once the solution is mutu- and materiel safely remove and destroy some of allel process. ally agreed upon by the Department of State 2. The morale effect of its use, or threat the most lethal weapons in existence. The parties to the Ottawa Process focused on the idea that hu- PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDY SMITH and the host country, the same teams that thereof, upon the enemy Dugger has been with UXB for over manitarian impact can trump military utility.3 This idea was not new are conducting the assessments can be ex- Both of these threats have many names, 23 years. because international humanitarian law and an array of treaties from panded to handle the implementation. and I am certain someone somewhere is the mid-1800s onwards already referred to obligations towards civil- The benefits of this improved approach thinking up a new name for landmines and Richmond H. Dugger, III, Ph.D. ians during conflict, containing such ideas as proportionality, dis- are numerous but include faster response other explosive remnants of war. Regardless President, CEO and Chairman tinction, discrimination, military necessity and humane treatment. to identified threats, a more cost-effective of the new tortured phrases we will be forced UXB International, Inc. The CMC effort has followed the precedent of the ICBL, strug- Corporate Research Center mitigation of threats, a fast-tracked time- to endure, let us not forget that “A rose by The roof of a building after a BLU-97 strike in Iraq. Deminers are clearing gling through the slow CCW process and challenging the stragglers. 1715 Pratt Drive, Suite 1300 unexploded munitions so the building can be used as a shopping centre. line (the same teams expand to handle the any other name would smell as sweet,” but Blacksburg, VA 24060 / USA If cluster-munition campaigners were unprepared for the inadequacy 4 solution; there is a minimal learning curve these threats are the thorns of the rose. Tel: +1 540 443 3700 of the prevention measures of the Convention’s Protocol V that were for personnel) for response, and ongoing Fax: +1 540 443 3790 agreed to by governments, they have sober expectations about their See Endnotes, page 110 The cluster munitions campaign, following

the precedent of the International Campaign

to Ban Landmines, is beginning to make

an impact on state views of banning or

restricting cluster munitions. This article PHOTO COURTESY OF TITUS PEACHEY

Targeting Landmines Focuses on Latin America examines the history behind the fight to ban

Targeting Landmines is a project created by Vinicius Souza and Maria Eugênia Sá of MediaQuatro designed to begin a global discussion on and generate governmental support for mine awareness, or restrict cluster munitions and its ties to the mine clearance and victim assistance initiatives. The group presented its first exhibit for the Targeting Landmines project in January 2006 in Caracas, Venezuela. The exhibition took place ICBL. The author also discusses the most as part of the World Social Forum. recent developments in the process to ban The body of work uses photos, articles and documentary materials to disseminate information and spark interest for the Latin American landmine problem. Partial funding for the project or restrict cluster bombs. has been provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, but more support will be necessary soon for the project to fulfill its goals. Through extensive work with several hu- by Robin Collins [ World Federalist Movement–Canada ] manitarian organizations operating in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, MediaQuatro will continue to document the breadth of the landmine issue in Latin America. he end of the Cold War has a lot to do with the greater attention the world now gives to humanitarian grievances. T Unexploded ordnance impact data has been accumulating, To learn more about Targeting Landmines, view some of the riveting images, and contact the but without the precedent of the anti-personnel mine campaign and artists, visit: http://mediaquatro.sites.uol.com.br/minas-eng.html. the Ottawa Convention,1 the Belgians would probably never have considered banning cluster munitions in 2006. Most of the ICBL’s 1,400 members have limited themselves to Red spray paint warns villagers of a cluster bomb along a path in Ton Neua Village, Laos, 1994. APM eradication, victim assistance and other Convention goals, but

prospects now at the CCW. At a minimum, unexploded ordnance posed an equal risk. for most of the casualties in some post- required by the manufacturer. Typically favour of a moratorium. So what had campaigning for a moratorium on cluster preventing UXO meant establishing ac- Some were more visible and more preva- conflict environments.”12 he will be flying at the correct speed, ori- changed since the Gulf War? munitions (sometimes by themselves) for a ceptable failure rates, banning certain fus- lent and others were less likely to explode By a process of elimination, then, the entation and altitude to ensure optimum The link between renewed interest in couple of years, most other member groups ing configurations and destroying aging inadvertently. Some had greater military effort to address ERW has quickly come to performance. In a combat situation, that cluster munitions and the international suc- were quiet.25 There was some concern that stockpiles. But no mandatory measures to utility, which made their prohibition more focus primarily on one subgroup (aside from same pilot may be operating at night and cess of the APM ban campaign is unmistak- formally linking a cluster-munitions initia- prevent UXO (including cluster munitions) difficult. The ERW nomenclature has been APMs) with the most serious humanitarian under enemy fire. The target area may in- able. The ICBL and Ottawa Convention had tive to the landmine campaign would threat- appeared in the final text. Instead, it stated, a useful and creative approach to underlin- impact: cluster munitions. clude buildings or woodlands and the highlighted the unacceptability of weapons en partner governments that had signed the “Each High Contracting Party is encour- ing similar humanitarian effects caused by ground surface may vary from concrete to detonated by innocent victims either direct- AP Mine Ban Convention. Would link- aged to take generic preventive measures a broad range of munitions. It resulted in a Failure Rates swamp. Submunitions may be dispersed at a ly (death and injury) or indirectly (socioeco- age jeopardize universalising the Ottawa aimed at minimising the occurrence of ex- new CCW Protocol (Protocol V), but one Cluster casualties were sometimes height that does not allow them to complete nomically). All weapon use after the Ottawa Convention? Some governments had to plosive remnants of war” and “Each High with few obligations on member states. the consequence of munitions that erred the arming process before landing; they may Convention bears a new level of scrutiny.21 wonder if the campaign was now spilling Contracting Party may, on a voluntary ba- Governments eschewed specific preventive from their target or that were dropped strike trees or buildings that prevent them For many campaigners, this was the best over into non-APM weapons. Where would sis , exchange information related to efforts measures for fear that more of their arsenal close to noncombatants—but it is their landing in the intended orientation. They possible result. it stop? to promote and establish best practices” would subsequently be scrutinised, restrict- high failure-to-detonate rate that makes may also land on a surface that swallows The contrary argument, which was (emphasis added).4 ed or prohibited. The United Kingdom, in them potential ERW. Official failure them up.”15 The Pace Picks Up the one that eventually led to the ICBL’s Protocol V is far off the mark, but cam- its March 2005 presentation9 to the ERW rates of cluster munitions often varied At an International Committee of the December 2001 statement,26 was that the paigners continue to press governments experts’ working group, while defending from the numbers recorded in the real Emergence of a Cluster Munitions Red Cross experts’ meeting in Nyon, credibility of a campaign in pursuit of a to sign on as a first step to recognising a Campaign Switzerland, in September 2000, ex- norm against victim-activated weapons problem. Some nongovernmental organisa- At the Lugano, Switzerland, conference plosive remnants of war were officially would be put in jeopardy without formally tions now mull over the idea of an “Ottawa of experts organised by the International Process” to deal with cluster munitions. Committee of the Red Cross in 1976, 13 While not discounting any future process states16 concentrated on the lethal footprint outside the CCW, Human Rights Watch of cluster munitions and the horrific conse- has called for a new protocol focussed on quences for civilians nearby. However, core cluster munitions: “The mandate and the cluster-bomb user-states did not sign onto protocol should be broad, and should deal the Lugano statement and there was no ref- with both the technical reliability issues and erence to detonation failure rates. The criti-

the targeting and use issues. … [A] new pro- PHOTO COURTESY OF TITUS PEACHEY cal experience in Laos and Vietnam was that tocol should prohibit the use of unreliable cluster bombs had been targeted at or near PHOTO COURTESY OF TITUS PEACHEY and inaccurate submunitions and require noncombatants.17 Many of the deaths from their destruction. The billions of unreli- UXO were yet to come. While the Lugano able and inaccurate submunitions already conference did not establish a cluster-bomb in the arsenals of more than 70 nations campaign, it (and the Lucerne conference) are the primary humanitarian concern. did lead, ultimately, to the creation of the They must never be used in order to avoid CCW in 1980. Except through advocacy by a humanitarian and socioeconomic disaster the Mennonite Central Committee (with exceeding that created by millions of land- clearance work by Mines Advisory Group in mines globally.”5 Laos) and Human Rights Watch, the prob- Human Rights Watch, one of a handful lem of cluster munitions might have fallen of early adopters,6 was willing to call for a entirely out of sight. The campaign spark moratorium on cluster munitions in 1999, Unexploded cluster munitions litter grazing land in Xieng Khouang province, Laos, 1994. came somewhat later. and in 2003 it named a specific list of problematic cluster weapons that should not be Ottawa Convention Impact A BLU-26 cluster bomb peeks out of a rice paddy dike in Nanou Village, Laos, 2000. used in Iraq because of their known hazard- the military utility of cluster weapons as world. Rae McGrath reported in his re- Thirty million submunitions were ous failure rates.7 an area-effect weapon, readily admitted source book, Landmines and Unexploded dropped in the 1991 Gulf War, resulting put on the agenda. Colin King’s break- recognizing and condemning the cluster- current models were problematic. (They Ordnance,13 that the 1966 tests of BLU-26 in thousands of untargeted victims—and through report, Explosive Remnants of munitions problem. The ICBL decided to Explosive Remnants of War did not, however, commit to their immed- submunitions at Nellis Air Force Base in yet there was no sustained public outcry. War: A Study of Submunitions and Other encourage its “members and supporters to Even before the Ottawa Convention was iate withdrawal.10) ideal circumstances revealed a 26-percent Cluster munitions casualties in Kosovo Unexploded Ordnance,22 was circulated. work to alleviate the humanitarian impact signed, deminers and mine-clearance and A significant strike against cluster muni- failure-to-explode rate after deployment. (1999) and Afghanistan (2001), however, Nongovernmental organisations and govern- of cluster munitions and other explosive other organisations recognized as self-evident tions is their rivalry with APMs for highest Colin King, an international landmine did receive attention, as did munition ments met informally, and there was “wide- remnants of war.”26 a danger from weapons with similar char- number of unintended victims. In parts of and explosive ordnance disposal consultant, failure rates (normally an esoteric subject spread recognition”23 of the ERW problem acteristics to anti-personnel mines. There the world (Laos, for instance), the sheer num- pointed out, “Gulf War I clearly demon- area).18 The news media were quick to and a need to address it. Recent Developments came a proposal from the International ber of failed cluster munitions poses a haz- strated a major discrepancy between perfor- highlight the similarity in appearance of In December 2001 at the final plenary Virgil Wiebe, a consultant to the Committee of the Red Cross that campaign- ard as great as or greater than anti-personnel mance during military ‘acceptance tests’ and cluster munitions and yellow food packag- review conference of the CCW, the ICBL Mennonite Central Committee and law ers and governments should look at all explo- mines.11 A 2002 survey by the Geneva operational use. …[N]early 2,000 electron- es dropped into Afghanistan (a confusion issued its first clear statement in support professor at the University of St. Thomas, sive remnants of war, a grouping that initially International Centre for Humanitarian ic mines remained unexploded in the U.S. that actually had rare, if any, consequenc- of those calling for “a moratorium on the described a key presentation by the U.S. rep- included unexploded cluster munitions, anti- Demining found the “data available on the clearance sector alone, despite achieving es).19 In Canada, where I live, members use, production and trade of cluster muni- resentative at the CCW in November 2005 tank/anti-vehicle mines and APMs, anti- casualties of ERW and percentage of UXO near-perfect results during testing.”14 of Parliament had to respond to inquiries tions.”24 This was a delicate moment for the as “a jaw-dropping moment.” The official handling devices, artillery shells, bombs, cleared again shows a greater bias toward Similarly, demining consultant Andy about cluster bombs in question period.20 ICBL, where many felt that their priority borrowed heavily from a recent task force re- grenades, booby traps and even missiles.8 the two main groups—anti-personnel mines Smith notes, “Formal tests take place on Government ministers were forced to make was completing work in progress on APMs. port that had found no identifiable “compre- Explosive remnants of war captured the and cluster bomblets (submunitions). It is hardpan and with the pilot able to deploy contradictory statements. The European While the Mennonite Central Committee hensive approach—empirical observation or boundaries of the contagion, but not all probably the case that they are responsible the CBU [cluster bomb unit] in the manner Parliament, for its part, took a stand in and Human Rights Watch had been publicly otherwise—to determine and document

whatever the future holds for a complete ban. There is consensus within the CMC Mines and ERW for a moratorium on use, production and trade of cluster munitions until their humanitarian problems have been resolved— Due to the history and nature of conflicts in but not everyone has been in favour of prioritising.34 Does highlighting the bulk of the Ethiopia/Eritrea area, cleanup presents

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDY SMITH the problem legitimate what remains? Some worry that humanitarian law will be ignored and they have suggested that cluster muni- specific considerations and hazards. The tions might be used more indiscriminately if their failure rates are “fixed.” Will mili- lessons learned by the United Nations taries switch to other bombs, causing more casualties, if cluster munitions are bann- 35 Near Erbil, Iraq: the CBU was released at too low an altitude and these BLU-97 submunitions hit the ground ed entirely? Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea Mine Action without arming. Their damaged state makes them unpredictable and very dangerous. An interesting reverse-onus framework outlined by Landmine Action (UK) and Coordination Centre in mine/explosive consistent with one of the conclusions of operational combat failure rates of U.S. mu- tions known: “Australia, Belgium, Canada, the McCormack report is that governments nitions.”27 This is a remarkable admission Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, should recognise all cluster munitions are rem-nants of war cleanup are presented, because it has broader implications than just Italy, the Netherlands, Norway,31 Poland, assumed prohibited unless users can “opt in” concerning cluster munitions. But consistent Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the with a guarantee that a particular munition as well as recommendations on clearance with nongovernmental organisation and United States have plans to withdraw from can be used safely.36 Might that approach fit field-based evidence, it also confirms actual service or have destroyed certain types of nicely with the destruction of legacy muni- CBU failure rates might have little relation- cluster munitions.”32 Germany and Belgium tions with the highest failure rates? operations for situations with mixed mine/ an insurgent campaign for independence against Ethiopian forces. ship with official “test” claims.28 are considering a strategy of narrowing the A final point: If the failure rates of cluster This rebellion gradually developed into a more conventional war as In March 2006, Timothy McCormack, a definition of cluster munitions so that a ban munitions were reduced to nil or next to nil, ERW like that in Ethiopia and Eritrea. the Eritreans gained support for their cause, won key battles and held professor of international humanitarian law excludes advanced models that are not ex- would there remain a humanitarian problem ground. This struggle for independence lasted 30 years and affected at the University of Melbourne Law School, pected to be problematic.33 The United States on a scale sufficient to sustain a campaign the entire country. The Eritrean struggle for independence is possibly led a review of the responses to a survey by is not Belgium, but even the U.S. military, for a comprehensive international ban? by Bob Kudyba [ UNMEE MACC ] one of the most successful examples of a liberation war. Eritreans are CCW States Parties regarding their views of having distributed its own task-force report See Endnotes,” page 110 justifiably proud of the establishment of their country, as it was won the relevance of IHL principles to explosive in advance of the CCW, seems to be will- at great cost to the population and without “outside” help or support remnants of war. McCormack concluded ing to consider major changes in its arsenal. ines and explosive remnants of war continue to affect from other nations. that the CCW’s Protocol V should be suf- For the first time in a long time, a significant many parts of the world. One such area is the Horn of After the state of Eritrea was established in 1993, following a ficient to address the problem of ERW—but international restriction on certain cluster Africa, where wars have continued for the better part of U.N.-monitored referendum in which the population voted over- Mth if not, and the problem “only increases in munitions appears to be within reach. the 20 century. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1320 formally whelmingly for independence, the relationship between Eritrea and severity,” the call for a ban on cluster bombs established the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea Ethiopia was cordial. This relationship continued until several issues should not be unexpected. Significantly, Continuing Debates in November 2000. At the same time, the U.N. Security Council soured it, including the introduction of a new currency, the nakfa, the report also argued that whatever the From the start, many ICBL campaign- formally established a Mine Action Coordination Centre within which replaced the Ethiopian birr. The situation eventually deterio- outcome, “the onus is on user states to ers had difficulty condoning technical the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The resolution rated into a war lasting from 1998 to 2000 over non-demarcated bor- demonstrate that such weapons can be used measures to address high cluster-munition requires the MACC to coordinate and provide technical assistance for ders. Then in 2000, Algiers brokered a peace accord. consistently with the binding obligations of failure rates. They campaigned against humanitarian mine action activities in the TSZ1 [temporary security This border war was an intense conflict, with both sides em- 29 Robin Collins has been active in the IHL” (emphasis added). self-destruction, self-deactivation and self- APM campaign since 1996 and in the zone] and area adjacent to it. ploying conventional war strategies that developed into a carefully The announcement that the Belgian neutralisation solutions for APMs and worry cluster munitions campaign since planned and executed military operation reminiscent of World War I. government had adopted a comprehensive that supporting technical fixes now may 2000. He represented the United History of the Mine and ERW Problem The war was fought at terrible cost with an estimated 70,000 people ban on cluster munitions sent a ripple of compromise an absolutist principle defended Nations Association in Canada, and The mine and ERW problems of Eritrea and Ethiopia stem from killed and thousands more displaced. As a result of this conflict, the was Co-chair and Chair on Mine Action optimism through the Cluster Munition earlier. However, what if major players refuse three historical periods. Eritrea was colonised by the Italians in the entire border area between the two countries from the Sudan in the Canada’s board for several years. th Coalition, and thanks to good Belgian tim- to join an all-out ban on cluster munitions, Currently he is Council Chair of the 19 century. During the Second World War, Italian and British west to the Djiboutian border in the east remains contaminated with ing, it arrived just in advance of the CCW even if they support a comprehensive ban on World Federalist Movement–Canada. forces fought a number of battles across Eritrea, culminating in a mines and ERW today. meeting of States Parties in March 2006. In anti-personnel mines? major siege on the town of Keren in 1941, which lasted nearly three one swoop, the Belgians have changed the Controversy also surrounds the debate months. These battles were fought in a conventional manner, con- Interrelationship between Mines and ERW Robin Collins sisting of aerial bombardments, artillery, small-arms fire and mine complexion of the cluster munitions cam- over what an “acceptable” failure rate might 2068 Benjamin Avenue As a result of these conflicts, most of Eritrea and the northern 30 paign. While they have set the bar high, look like. Less than 1-percent failure is a Ottawa, ON K2A 1N9 / Canada emplacement. Certain areas around Keren are considered hazardous areas of Ethiopia remain contaminated with mines and conventional they have also reinforced the belief that an typical cut-off point, but is also arbitrary. A Tel: +1 613 759 4142 today due to suspected contamination by mines and unexploded ord- ERW. In a recent incident, a truck driver collecting stones for a build- international ban on something, not just very small percentage of a very large num- E-mail: [email protected] nance, particularly in the hills surrounding the township. Keren was ing site was killed when his vehicle drove over a landmine on a vacant clean-up measures, is now possible. The final ber can still be a humanitarian disaster, the scene of a major battle again during the independence war years site just off a main road near the capital, Asmara. This mine was a World Federalist Movement–Canada ban text has been adopted by both houses of albeit a much-reduced danger compared 207-145 Spruce Street between 1961 and 1991. remnant of the independence war years, quite possibly overlooked parliament in Belgium as of this writing. with that produced by a 10- to 30-percent Ottawa, ON K1R 6P1 / Canada After the Second World War, Eritrea was governed by Great when the area was vacated. While the most comprehensive ban is failure rate. Tel: +1 613 232 0647 Britain until the early 1950s, when it was handed over to Ethiopia In examining the history of the conflicts that have engulfed the in Belgium (Austria is entering a parlia- Yet, there may be a harm-reduction im- Fax: +1 613 563 0017 to be part of the federation system; annexed by Ethiopia, Eritrea be- region, mines and ERW are interwoven menaces rather than separate Web site: came its northernmost province. There was a resurgence of Eritrean mentary debate on a clusters moratorium), perative to prioritising destruction of certain www.worldfederalistscanada.org/ entities. It is not safe to just walk out to unexploded ordnance or several other states have made their reserva- more problematic “worst culprit” munitions, nationalism in the early 1960s when the Eritrean population began an abandoned tank and attempt to remove or destroy items without