Statement made on 04 February 2009 by Senator Elizabeth Hubley
Hon. Elizabeth Hubley:
Honourable senators, I would like to begin also by welcoming our new colleagues to the Senate of Canada. I look forward to our working together.
I am pleased to rise today and congratulate governments around the world for supporting the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions and its prohibition on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.
On December 3, a few short months ago, states gathered in Oslo, Norway, for the official signing of the convention. This new convention is the culmination of 18 months' work between civil society groups and participating states.
In February 2007, Norway hosted a conference to sponsor negotiations to support a ban on cluster munitions now referred to as the Oslo Process. The Oslo Process, endorsed by 46 countries, championed a treaty that would prohibit the use, transfer and production of cluster munitions, require the destruction of existing stockpiles, and provide adequate resources to assist survivors and clear contaminated areas.
Subsequent conferences were held in May 2007 in Lima, Peru, in December 2007 in Vienna, Austria, and in February 2008 in Wellington, New Zealand. A two-week conference was held in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008 to draft the final language. One hundred and eleven nations participated, while the U.S., China, Russia, Israel, India, Pakistan and Brazil boycotted the conference.
The final language of the convention eventually was adopted unanimously by participating states on May 28, 2008, and on December 3, 2008, states officially signed the convention.
Cluster munitions like landmines are an especially cruel, inhumane and indiscriminate form of weaponry. In contrast to the surgical precision often associated with modern warfare, cluster bombs are designed to inflict maximum damage over a wide area. They are weapons that open over a target area and disperse a large number of sub-bombs. These sub-bombs are undirected and can often cover a square kilometre or more. Their use kills and maims civilians in much greater numbers than more conventional ordnance.
In addition to the immediate devastation they can cause on impact, cluster munitions leave an ongoing threat to the local population much like landmines, in the form of unexploded components, or "bomblets." As with landmines, these unexploded devices persist for decades after the end of the conflict in which they were used. Unexploded cluster munitions cause the death and disfigurement of hundreds of civilians annually, many of them children.
The significant number of unexploded munitions after the military action has finished threatens civilians when they return to the area at a later date, in much the same way as landmines. Not only do these unexploded bomblets kill and maim civilians, including women and children, they obstruct the economic and social development through the loss of livelihood; they impede post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction; they delay or prevent the return of refugees; and they negatively impact on national and international peace-building and humanitarian assistance efforts. These severe consequences can persist for many years.
Honourable senators, under the previous government, and particularly with the tenure of Lloyd Axworthy as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Canada was widely seen as an international leader in the area of disarmament, and in the reduction and elimination of the use of the kinds of munitions that continue to kill long after wars have ended.
One shining example of this leadership was the signing in Ottawa of the Landmines Treaty in 1997. Canada led the way, not only in banning the use of landmines but also in addressing the legacy of past conflicts with efforts to remove existing landmines.
With that historic agreement in place and implementation well under way, the international community turned its attention to cluster munitions. In November 2003, the Cluster Munition Coalition was created by uniting more than 250 civil society organizations in 70 countries to support a ban on cluster munitions. This coalition was instrumental in the Oslo process and the new UN Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Canada has never used cluster bombs, although two types are contained in our arsenal of weapons. Canada has committed to the destruction of its cluster bombs; however, there is still a lot of work to be done in clearing landmines and cluster munitions worldwide.
More international effort and funding are required for the clearance of areas affected by landmines and cluster munitions. As we celebrate the signing of the UN Convention on Cluster Munitions, it is my hope that Canada will continue to lead international efforts to clean up the deadly legacy of armed conflict left behind in countries across the globe.