OTTAWA — In a rare public attack, a former Australian prime minister has lashed out at Canada for what he says is a lack of commitment to an international treaty to ban deadly cluster munitions.
Long-serving Australian PM Malcolm Fraser, in a statement released to the Citizen, accuses the Conservative government of departing from Canada’s traditional international leadership.
“Canada used to be in the forefront internationally in leading the world in good directions,” he said. “That tradition lasted over many decades after the last war.
“It is a pity the current Canadian Government, in relation to cluster munitions, does not provide any real lead to the world. Its approach is timid, inadequate and regressive.”
Fraser, Australian PM from 1975 to 1983, echoes other international criticism of the Conservative’s recently tabled legislation designed to finally cement Canada to an international treaty to ban clusters.
Canada, one of the first countries to sign the treaty at a special ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo in 2008, must pass domestic legislation to formally ratify its position.
But foreign and domestic critics say that legislation, Bill S-10, is weak and compromised by Canada’s military relationship with the United States. That will ultimately allow Canadian forces to use the weapon the country has legally banned, critics say.
“Canada cannot claim to have banned cluster bombs when it proposes to allow its military to help others use the weapons, and even leaves open the possibility of Canadian forces using them,” said Laura Cheeseman, British-based director of the international lobby group, Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)
“These weapons are outlawed because of their indiscriminate effects and devastating consequences for civilians. Canada appears to be buckling under the pressure of the United States, which has not yet joined the ban treaty, at the cost of people’s lives,” Cheeseman added.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has defended the ratification legislation.
“The proposed legislation fully meets our humanitarian obligations under the treaty while ensuring the Canadian Forces aren’t compromised in any way from working with our Allies and doing what we ask of them,” said his spokesman Joseph Lavoie. “We are committed to reducing the impact of armed conflict on innocent civilians around the world.”
Cluster weapons, stockpiled in the tens of millions primarily by the U.S., China and Russia — none of which will sign the treaty — scatter small bomblets in war zones but leave a massive legacy of unexploded ordinance.
Clusters are designed to kill but often result in victims losing arms and legs and suffering facial injury. Most of its victims are civilians, and the vast majority of those are children who often mistake the colourful bomblets for toys.
Canada does not produce or use cluster munitions and, short of its military relationship with the U.S., has no vested interest in the weapon.
Domestic criticism to the legislation is being led by Earl Turcotte, a former Foreign Affairs arms negotiator who headed Canada’s team in Ireland where the treaty was negotiated, and Paul Hannon, executive director of Mines Action Canada (MAC).
“It falls way below even the minimum threshold of legality under international humanitarian law and is an insult to colleagues in other countries who, seemingly unlike Canada, have negotiated in good faith,” said Turcotte.
“Most tragically, it will make Canada complicit in the use of a weapon that for good reason we have supposedly banned. Having led the delegation I can say that without doubt this legislation is the worst of any of the 111 countries that have so far signed the treaty.”
Mines Actions Canada (MAC) has launched an online petition along with a nationwide drive to ‘fix the bill,” which is currently being debated in the Senate.
Eighteen countries, including Colombia, France, Georgia, Israel, Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Britain and the U.S., have used cluster bombs, which can be dropped from either aircraft or ground launched.
According to the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), an international group campaigning for the elimination of cluster munitions, Israel’s use of clusters in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year following the ceasefire. Most recently they have been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The U.S. dropped 10,800 cluster bombs during the Iraq war.
Original Article
Source:ottawa citizen
Author: Chris Cobb
Long-serving Australian PM Malcolm Fraser, in a statement released to the Citizen, accuses the Conservative government of departing from Canada’s traditional international leadership.
“Canada used to be in the forefront internationally in leading the world in good directions,” he said. “That tradition lasted over many decades after the last war.
“It is a pity the current Canadian Government, in relation to cluster munitions, does not provide any real lead to the world. Its approach is timid, inadequate and regressive.”
Fraser, Australian PM from 1975 to 1983, echoes other international criticism of the Conservative’s recently tabled legislation designed to finally cement Canada to an international treaty to ban clusters.
Canada, one of the first countries to sign the treaty at a special ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo in 2008, must pass domestic legislation to formally ratify its position.
But foreign and domestic critics say that legislation, Bill S-10, is weak and compromised by Canada’s military relationship with the United States. That will ultimately allow Canadian forces to use the weapon the country has legally banned, critics say.
“Canada cannot claim to have banned cluster bombs when it proposes to allow its military to help others use the weapons, and even leaves open the possibility of Canadian forces using them,” said Laura Cheeseman, British-based director of the international lobby group, Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)
“These weapons are outlawed because of their indiscriminate effects and devastating consequences for civilians. Canada appears to be buckling under the pressure of the United States, which has not yet joined the ban treaty, at the cost of people’s lives,” Cheeseman added.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has defended the ratification legislation.
“The proposed legislation fully meets our humanitarian obligations under the treaty while ensuring the Canadian Forces aren’t compromised in any way from working with our Allies and doing what we ask of them,” said his spokesman Joseph Lavoie. “We are committed to reducing the impact of armed conflict on innocent civilians around the world.”
Cluster weapons, stockpiled in the tens of millions primarily by the U.S., China and Russia — none of which will sign the treaty — scatter small bomblets in war zones but leave a massive legacy of unexploded ordinance.
Clusters are designed to kill but often result in victims losing arms and legs and suffering facial injury. Most of its victims are civilians, and the vast majority of those are children who often mistake the colourful bomblets for toys.
Canada does not produce or use cluster munitions and, short of its military relationship with the U.S., has no vested interest in the weapon.
Domestic criticism to the legislation is being led by Earl Turcotte, a former Foreign Affairs arms negotiator who headed Canada’s team in Ireland where the treaty was negotiated, and Paul Hannon, executive director of Mines Action Canada (MAC).
“It falls way below even the minimum threshold of legality under international humanitarian law and is an insult to colleagues in other countries who, seemingly unlike Canada, have negotiated in good faith,” said Turcotte.
“Most tragically, it will make Canada complicit in the use of a weapon that for good reason we have supposedly banned. Having led the delegation I can say that without doubt this legislation is the worst of any of the 111 countries that have so far signed the treaty.”
Mines Actions Canada (MAC) has launched an online petition along with a nationwide drive to ‘fix the bill,” which is currently being debated in the Senate.
Eighteen countries, including Colombia, France, Georgia, Israel, Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Britain and the U.S., have used cluster bombs, which can be dropped from either aircraft or ground launched.
According to the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), an international group campaigning for the elimination of cluster munitions, Israel’s use of clusters in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year following the ceasefire. Most recently they have been used in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The U.S. dropped 10,800 cluster bombs during the Iraq war.
Original Article
Source:ottawa citizen
Author: Chris Cobb
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