AIUSA: Arms Trade update: New ways to campaign against the misuse of US cluster bombs

Amnesty International USA has some good new ways to campaign against the misuse of US cluster bombs:

View it on the web.
Arms Trade Update
March 2007Dear Annamarie:Last month, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) launched the first of several actions addressing the troubling use of U.S. cluster bombs in cities and villages around the world with devastating consequences to civilians . Thousands of you sent emails to your U.S. Senators calling for our government to change its policy.As you gear up for more activism this month, including the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March, I wanted to give you some additional educational and activism tools on cluster bombs. Please also read below about efforts to establish an international treaty on cluster bombs and continuing concerns about cluster bomblets in southern Lebanon.

For those of you attending the AGM, make sure and stop by the Military, Security, and Police (MSP) Transfers display at the Ideas Fair, which features our work on cluster bombs. Also, watch out for origami cluster bomblets around the conference areas.

Best regards,

Colby Goodman
Program Manager
Child Soldiers and Arms Transfers

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New AIUSA Educational and Activism Tools on Cluster Bombs
AIUSA is proud to release two new tools to help AIUSA activists and the public better understand and take action on cluster bombs. The first item, “10 Things You Should Know about Cluster Bombs,” is a quick and comprehensive guide to the problem of cluster bombs that draws on information from Amnesty International’s field research among other research. The second item, which follows up on our central action on cluster bombs, supporting the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594), is a sample Letter to the Editor on cluster bombs. Send this letter to your local city or school paper to help raise awareness about the concerns of cluster bombs.
– Learn More: 10 Things You Should Know about Cluster Munitions »
– Download a Letter to the Editor »
– And, If You Haven’t Taken Action, Ask your U.S. Senator to Support Important Legislation »

International Effort to Restrict the Use of Cluster Bombs Gains Steam
On February 23, 2007, 46 governments agreed to develop a new treaty prohibiting cluster munitions that have unacceptable consequences for civilians. Norway sponsored the meeting in Oslo. Last year in Geneva, governments had failed to agree to negotiate a treaty on cluster munitions within the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons. The new agreement establishes a clear roadmap for a treaty with follow up meetings in Lima, Peru in May or June, Vienna in November, and Dublin in early 2008. The group of 46 states includes key users, producers, and stockpilers of cluster bombs from all continents, including Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Serbia. Amnesty International was among the many non-governmental organizations attending the conference and advocating for an agreement.

Israel Urged to Provide Detailed Maps of Cluster Bombs in Lebanon
Despite a massive United Nations effort to identify and clean up hundreds of thousands of unexploded cluster sub-munitions Israel fired into southern Lebanon last July and August, the UN continues to call for more detailed information on the locations of the cluster munitions. In the past six months, accidents involving unexploded cluster sub-munitions have caused more than 200 casualties, including several children, in and around villages in south Lebanon. AI released a statement last month calling for Israel to provide more detailed information on the location of Israeli-fired cluster munitions.