* FINAL VERSION - Concurred
Resolution:D078
Title:Ban Cluster Bombs
Topic:Weapons
Committee:09 - National and International Concerns
House of Initial Action:Deputies
Proposer:The Rev. Gary Commins

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the 76th General Convention urge President Obama and the United States Congress to ban the use, export, stockpiling and production of cluster munitions.


EXPLANATION

Cluster bombs (sometimes called cluster munitions) is defined as a canister of small individual bombs that is dropped from an aircraft (source: merriam-webster.com).

Cluster munitions are blindly destructive. They kill and injure too many civilians. The weapon caused more civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapon system. Eight-five percent of cluster bomb casualties are civilians and 23 percent are children. One cluster bomb contains hundreds of bomblets (or submunitions) and typically scatters them across an area the size of 2-4 football fields (source: United Nations Association of the United States of America).

The United States used 1,228 cluster bombs, containing 295,000 submunitions, in Afghanistan in 2001-2002 (source: Human Rights Watch).

On December 3, 2008, the following countries have signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions which bans the use, export, stockpiling and production of cluster munitions: (source: http://www.clusterconvention.org/pages/pages_i/i_statessigning.html).

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, The Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, The Holy See,Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau and Samoa


* Note: The final language, as well as the final status of each resolution, is being reviewed by the General Convention office. The Journal of the 76th General Convention and the Constitution and Canons will be published once the review process has been completed.