GENEVA (AN) — Campaigners against destructive explosive weapons expressed shock at the U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions to fight Russia.
The Geneva-based International Campaign to Ban Landmines and London-based Cluster Munition Coalition said on Friday the networks of NGOs they represent were appalled that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration will transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine, which has repeatedly asked for them to fight off Russia.
“The Biden administration’s decision to transfer cluster munitions will contribute to the terrible casualties being suffered by Ukrainian civilians both immediately and for years to come," said Paul Hannon, vice chair of the ICBL-CMC board.
"Russia and Ukraine’s use of cluster munitions," he said, "is adding to Ukraine’s already massive contamination from explosive remnants and landmines."
Cluster munitions are hollowed out bombs, missiles and artillery shells that are packed with submunitions or "bomblets," some as small as household batteries. Launched from the ground or dropped from planes, they pose a particular danger to civilians because they are indiscrimately scattered over wide areas.
Many submunitions are unreliable and fail to explode, leaving behind a deadly threat that can maim or kill more civilians, particularly children, for years to come. That's partly why most of the world's countries ban them.
Biden, however, used a presidential waiver to bypass a U.S. law prohibiting the production, use or transfer of cluster bombs with a failure rate of more than 1%.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House based its decision on Ukraine's needs on the ground and because Russia has been using cluster munitions since early last year to attack Ukraine.
"Ukraine needs artillery to sustain its offensive and defensive operations. Artillery is at the core of this conflict," he said. "Ukraine is firing thousands of rounds of day to defend against Russian efforts to advance, and also to support its own efforts to retake its sovereign territory."
He said the cluster munitions used by Russia have high failure rates of between 30% and 40% and that "in this environment, Ukraine has been requesting cluster munitions in order to defend its own sovereign territory" against Russian forces.
"The cluster munitions that we would provide have dud rates far below what Russia is doing – not higher than 2.5%," he said. "Ukraine is committed to post-conflict de-mining efforts to mitigate any potential harm to civilians."
There are significant discrepancies, however, among failure rate estimates for U.S.-held cluster munitions, the Congressional Research Service reported last year.
"Some manufacturers claim a submunition failure rate of 2% to 5%, whereas mine clearance specialists have frequently reported failure rates of 10% to 30%," it said.
The report cited a range of factors that influence submunition reliability including their age, how they're delivered, air temperature, and whether they land in soft or muddy ground or get caught up in trees and other vegetation.
U.N. to urge Russia and Ukraine to join ban
The weapons are prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which entered into force in 2010 and is run out of a secretariat in Geneva. The treaty extends to 111 nations – but not the United States, Ukraine or Russia.
The treaty prohibits using, making or stockpiling most traditional cluster munitions, sets strict deadlines for destroying them and clearing contaminated land, and requires countries to support survivors and affected communities.
Certain types of these explosive weapons are still permitted if their designs include fewer than 10 submunitions and the ability to self-destruct. Most nations that haven’t adopted the treaty still have the bulk of the world's cluster munitions.
The U.N. human rights office will urge Russia and Ukraine to join the treaty, Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the office, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
Russia has used cluster munitions since the start of its Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, on the battlefield and in populated areas, causing widespread civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure, including farmland contamination.
Ukraine also has used cluster munitions on occasion and wants more for the counteroffensive against Russian troops. U.S. officials said the unexploded ordnance rate is under 3% for the munitions headed to Ukraine as part of a new U.S. military aid package worth up to US$800 million.
The U.S. used cluster munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Soviet and Russian troops used them in Angola, Afghanistan and Chechnya.
