Representatives from more than 120 states attended the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Beirut from 12 to 16 September 2011. The States Parties adopted the closing Declaration, which also strongly condemned the use of cluster munitions. During the conference Swaziland acceded to the Convention, becoming the 63rd State Party. Forty countries having not yet...
On June 23 2011, Margaret Arach Orech, Ambassador to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Member of Uganda's National Council for Disability, Director of the Uganda Landmine Survivor's Association, and a landmine survivor stated on behalf of ICBL that only a handful of countries have begun, or completed, victim surveys or assessments of survivors’ needs in recent years....
Before August 31 2011, 5 affected States Parties reported on Victim Assistance in their Article 7 reports on the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, DRC (voluntary), Lebanon, and Laos).The reporting format offered many opportunities to States Parties to give a comprehensive overview of all aspects of victim assistance implementation. Listing the...
On June 24 2011, the chair of the session on Resources, Cooperation and Assistance under the MBT noted that he sought to follow up on the recognition made last year, and more recently at the Tirana Symposium from May 30 to June 1 2011, that coordination of assistance and cooperation is a central aspect of national ownership. As such, the emphasis should be on partner responsibilities rather than...
Margaret Arach Orech, Ambassador to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Member of Uganda's National Council for Disability, Director of the Uganda Landmine Survivor's Association, and a landmine survivor, delivered the ICBL statement on Victim Assistance during the Intersessional Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, on June 23 2011, in Geneva.Song Kosal, mine victim from...
ICBL condemned Israel’s planting of new antipersonnel mines along the Syrian border with the Golan Heights – On 18 August 2011, ICBL announced on its website that “Recent reports have indicated that the mines are being laid to prevent the movement of protestors from Syria into the disputed territory.” “There can be absolutely no justification for the use of these...
The First Intersessional Standing Committee meetings on the Convention on Cluster Munitions from 27 to 30 June 2011, was attended by 79 states, UN agencies, ICRC and CMC with campaigners from 40 countries, including 36 States Parties, 29 signatories and 14 non-signatories, namely Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore, Sudan, Tajikistan,...
European Parliament Motion on “Progress on Mine Action” - On 4 April 2011, a Motion for a European Parliament Resolution “On Progress on Mine Action”, by Rapporteur Geoffrey Van Orden, has been published. The Motion was discussed in the Committee on Foreign Affairs on 13 April 2011. ICBL-CMC insisted on the need for full universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban...
Gaddafi’s forces used cluster munitions in Libya - Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed Gaddafi’s forces using cluster munitions in Misrata, Libya. In a press release on 15 April 2011, HRW reported that “government forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, fired cluster munitions into residential areas in the western city of Misrata.” HRW observed at least three...
On 23 December 2010, the European Union ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The EU in a presss release statement said, “Following formal ratification, it is the first time in history the EU has become a party to an international human rights treaty.”
