Campaign counts down to 1 August 2010 entry into forceSamoa’s ratification of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions should spur other Pacific nations to come on board the ban, the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition (ANZCMC) said today. On 28 April 2010, Samoa deposited its instrument of ratification to the Convention on Cluster Munitions with the United Nations in New York.
“We commend Samoa’s commitment to comprehensively banning cluster munitions and
helping to put an end to the devastating impact of these weapons,” said Ema Tagicakibau of
the Pacific Foundation for Women’s Advancement, a Fiji-based member organisation of the
international Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).
Samoa actively participated in the Oslo Process to create the Convention on Cluster
Munitions, stating on several occasions that it does not use, produce or stockpile cluster
munitions. Samoa signed the Convention in December 2008 and has committed to put
legislation in place to implement the Convention domestically.
Five Pacific Islands Forum members have signed the Convention (Australia, Cook Islands,
Fiji, Nauru, and Palau), while two have now ratified: Samoa and New Zealand (22 December
2009). Five other Pacific states participated in the Oslo Process, but have not yet signed the
Convention: Marshall Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu.
“We expect that Samoa’s ratification will help spur other Pacific states to ban cluster
munitions and join the Convention,” said Mary Wareham, ANZCMC coordinator. “All states
that have not yet joined should sign and ratify the Convention without delay.”
Samoa’s ratification came days after the launch of a 100-day count down to 1 August 2010,
when the Convention on Cluster Munitions is due to become binding international law
through a procedure known as ‘entry into force.’ A total of 106 countries have signed the
Convention on Cluster Munitions, of which 31 signatories have ratified.
As part of the count down, this week the ANZCMC has written to Cambodian Ambassador
Chum Sounry in Canberra, urging Cambodia to join the ban. The ANZCMC has also
The Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition is comprised of:
Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ, Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace, Auckland
University Students’ Association, Campaign Against Landmines, Caritas
Aotearoa NZ, Christian World Service, Development Resource Centre,
Engineers for Social Responsibility NZ, International Physicians for the
Prevention of Nuclear War NZ, National Council of Women NZ, National
Consultative Committee on Disarmament, Oxfam NZ, Parliamentarians for
Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament NZ, Pax Christi Aotearoa-NZ,
Peace Foundation NZ, Peace Foundation Disarmament and Security Centre,
Peace Movement Aotearoa, Soroptimist International NZ, Umma Trust, UN
Association NZ, UN Youth Association NZ, UNICEF NZ, Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom, Aotearoawww.stopclusterbombs.org.nz
requested meetings during the count down to discuss the cluster munition ban with
diplomatic representatives of five non-signatory states represented in New Zealand’s capital
city: Argentina, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
After 1 August 2010, the next major event in the movement to ban cluster munitions will be
the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which is
scheduled to take place in Vientiane, Lao PDR from 8-11 November 2010. Laos remains
heavily contaminated by cluster munitions used during the Vietnam War more than thirty
years ago.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions comprehensively prohibits cluster munitions, provides
strict deadlines for clearance of affected areas and destruction of stockpiled cluster
munitions, and requires assistance to victims of the weapon. The ANZCMC is a network of
23 non-government organisations and a member of the international Cluster Munition
Coalition.

30 April 2010