Nobel Peace Prize Winners Call for Cluster Bomb Ban in 2008

Jody Williams, co-winner in 1997—along with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines—of the Nobel Peace Prize, is now calling for governments of the world to ban cluster bombs by the end of 2008. She is joined in this call by five other women who have received the prestigious award.

Overall, according to research by Handicap International, civilians have accounted for 98% of all cluster munitions casualties during the past 40 years. In a statement prepared for a meeting of states where the civilian populations have suffered from the use of cluster bombs, the Nobel Peace Laureates said:

“Cluster munitions have caused human suffering and devastation in some thirty states and territories. They have been used in conflicts by more than one dozen countries....[S]ome 75 countries have stockpiles of cluster munitions and these stockpiles have submunitions that number in the billions. These are ready to use and can easily create a crisis on the ground far outreaching the landmine one. We applaud all those – governments, international institutions, and civil society alike – who are working together to eliminate cluster munitions by 2008.” Click here for the full statement.

Eighty-two governments—one third of the world’s total—have already agreed to take part in negotiations initiated by Norway to ban cluster bombs in the coming year. The United States is not one of these governments.

Therefore, as it has done in the past in relation to antipersonnel landmines and military aid, Congress must play a vital role in shaping U.S. policy to reflect the values and interests of the American people.

Take Action! Urge your Senators and Member of Congress to prohibit the use and export of U.S. cluster bombs.