Astrid Essed: Clusterbombs - 7 April, 2003

I was very shocked about the recent newsinformation, that the British and American troops use cluster bombs by the air-strikes on Iraqi cities like Badgad, Basra and al-Hillal.
Clusterbombs are internationally forbidden by the treaty of Ottawa because of the high risk for the civilian population.
Those bombs are consisting of many missiles, which explode in the wide environment as soon as they hit their target, with as result many civilian deaths.
Moreover, if they don't explode the risk of landmines is very big. The use of those weapons, regardless of the consequences of the innocent Iraqi civilian population, are not only war-crimes [according to the 4th Geneva Convention which say that the deliberate use of bombs or other weapons enlarging the risks of the civilian population are war-crimes], it is also a great blow to the commonly accepted humanitarian views of the world, reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Kind regards,

Astrid Essed
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands