Cluster bombs have killed and injured thousands of civilians during the last 40 years and continue to do so today

A ban on cluster bombs

In 2008 governments negotiated an international treaty, formally known as the Convention on Cluster Munitions, that bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster bombs. It also prohibits all countries that have joined the Convention to assist anyone in any activity banned under the Convention, such as the production of cluster bombs. So far, around 100 countries have joined the Convention.

Investing in cluster bomb production

Cluster bombs continue to be produced in some countries that have not yet outlawed these weapons. Although countries that have signed the Convention must stop producing cluster bombs, some banks and other financial institutions in or from these countries continue to fund their production. This undermines the commitment these countries have made to ban these weapons and runs counter to their obligations under international law.

Cluster bombs: a history of harm

A cluster bomb is a weapon that can contain up to several hundred small explosive bomblets. Dropped from the air or fired from the ground, cluster bombs break open in mid-air and scatter these bomblets over a wide area. Anyone within the strike zone is likely to be torn apart, no matter if they are military or civilian. Many bomblets fail to explode as intended, leaving behind huge quantities of de facto landmines which continue to kill for years, even decades after their use.

Cluster bombs have killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians

Used in more than 30 countries, cluster bombs have killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians and devastated the livelihoods of countless more. Over 380 million bomblets were used in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam in the 1970s and many of these are still killing people today. In the past decade cluster bombs have been used in Albania, the former Yugoslavia, the DR Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel and Georgia.

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