Condemns Thailands Use of Cluster Munitions

ScandAsia.com
07 April 2011 | news Newsdesk

Based on two separate on-site investigations, the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) has concluded that Thailand used cluster munitions on Cambodian territory during the February 2011 border conflict.
In a statement sent out to media on Wednesday, CMC said Thai officials confirmed the use of cluster munitions in a meeting with the CMC on April 5.




Norwegian People's Aid confirmed that unexploded M42/M46 and M85 type DPICM submunitions have been found, the statement said.
This is the first use of cluster munitions anywhere in the world since the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force and became binding international law, the statement said.
"The CMC condemns any use of cluster munitions, and urges Thailand and Cambodia to immediately commit to no future use and to accede to the global treaty banning the weapons," it said.
"Thailand has been a leader in the global ban on antipersonnel mines, and it is unconscionable that it used banned weapons that indiscriminately kill and injure civilians in a similar manner," said Laura Cheeseman, director of the CMC.
The statement said in a meeting on April 5, the Thai Ambassador to the UN in Geneva confirmed Thai use of 155mm Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) cluster munitions.
The Ambassador said Thailand used cluster munitions "in self- defense", using the principles of "necessity, proportionality and in compliance with the military code of conduct."
He alleged heavy use of rocket fire by Cambodian forces against civilian targets in Satisuk, in the Khun Khan district of Thailand.
In February and April of this year, CMC members conducted two separate missions to cluster munition contaminated areas in Cambodia including in Svay Chrum Village, Sen Chey Village and around the Preah Vihear temple hill, and witnessed unexploded submunitions and fragmentation damage caused by cluster munitions.
Norwegian People's Aid confirmed that unexploded M42/M46 and M85 type DPICM submunitions have been found, the statement said.
Sister Denise Coghlan, a CMC leader who took part in the first research mission said, "These cluster munitions have already robbed two men of their lives, two more have lost their arms and a further five were injured. The area must be cleared immediately to prevent more suffering. Cambodia must make every effort to ensure the safety of civilians."
The CMC has urged Thailand to provide detailed information on the results of its inquiry, including the location of all cluster munition strikes, so that civilians can be adequately warned of the dangers and to assist the effective and efficient clearance of submunition remnants, which pose dangers like landmines.
The CMC is also calling on Cambodia to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and as interim steps commit to no use, make known the types and quantity of cluster munitions in its stockpile and start destruction.
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Cambodia and Thailand are not among the 108 countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions but each has joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
Both countries participated in the "Oslo Process" to negotiate the Convention on Cluster Munitions and attended its First Meeting of States Parties in neighboring Laos in November 2010.
"This conflict should spur both countries to take urgent action to denounce the weapons and join the ban treaty," said Cheeseman.