Not on our soil
17/11/2011 3:02:37 PM
A blog post by Sarah Gregory, Act for Peace Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator.
With the hype of President Obama’s visit to Australia and the announcement of the placement of US troops in Darwin, one important issue is not getting heard: the possibility that this will mean cluster bombs on our soil.
The photo above shows all that is left of Mohamad Hassan Sultan, cluster bomb victim.
Cluster bombs are large bombs containing hundreds of smaller bombs which are dispersed over a wide area. They can lie dormant for years, even decades, after a conflict and then act like landmines, killing and maiming innocent civilians – especially children.
As this excellent blog by NAJ Taylor on Crikey today makes clear, the government's weak draft legislation to ratify the cluster bomb treaty means it is entirely possible that the expanded US military presence in Australia could lead to cluster bombs being stockpiled on our soil. The legislation, in section 72.42, explicitly gives blanket permission to foreign forces that are not party to the treaty, such as the United States, to stockpile and transit weapons on our territory.
Australia would be directly breaching Article 9 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions by hosting US stockpiles here.
As the cluster bomb legislation is currently in the Senate, now is the last chance for Australians to really call on the Government to amend the legistlation and call for no stockpiles on our soil.
Act for Peace and the Cluster Munition Coalition Australia are asking Australians against the use of cluster bombs to download this letter and send it urgently with a child’s shoe or sock to represent the children that have lost lives and limbs to cluster bombs to Defence Minister Stephen Smith. You can also send a letter directly to your local Member of Parliament here.
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