Ghana and Canada to commemorate ban of cluster munitions

Accra, Aug. 3, GNA - Ghana and Canada on Tuesday jointly observed United Nations ban on cluster munitions with the beating of heavy African "fontomfrom" drums to signify the triumphant coming into force of the law on Sunday, August 1.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions forbids its use, production, stockpiling and transfer; mandates the clearance of contaminated land within 10 years; and destruction of stockpiled within eight years.

Colonel Seth Ohene Asare, Chairman of National Commission of Small Arms, said these at a cocktail to commemorate the event, in Accra.

He said that Ghana's support was purely on humanitarian grounds so that these debilitating weapons would not come to Africa to compromise the quest for peace and development on the continent.

Justifying the need for Ghana to ratify the Convention in spite of the fact that the country had not purchased, stockpiled, manufactured, contaminated and affected by cluster munitions, Col. Asare said the nation must ratify it to deter non-state parties from using cluster munitions.

He said "We need to ratify the Convention in view of the suffering endured by civilians during and long after cluster munitions have been used in warfare and the lack of an adequate response to this phenomenon, we need to ratify it to pro-actively prevent future suffering by mankind from the use of these weapons".

Mr Michael Gort, Canadian Charge d'affairs, said the entry into force of the Convention was an important humanitarian achievement and stressed that Canada had initiated legislative moves to ratify the Convention by the end of the year.

He called for enforcement of policies by leadership on all issues related to peace building, rule of law, and protection of civilians.

Mr Gort said that the celebration by both Ghana and Canada who had not yet ratified the Convention was significant demonstration of the two countries' commitment to ban on cluster munitions.

Ms Afi Yakubu, Associate Director of Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA), called on Ghana and Canada to participate in the first meeting of state parties to the Convention slated for November 9-12 in Lao, the world's most cluster-bombed country.

The Lao Meeting would lay the foundation for future work on the Convention by bringing together State parties to the treaty, UN agencies, international organisations, civil society, and cluster bomb survivors.

She said participating governments would share progress and draw up plans for action to implement the treaty's life-saving provisions within the established deadlines.

Ms Yakubu while commending countries that had ratified the Convention encouraged those who were yet to ratify to append their signature to the Convention through ratification.

She described both Ghana and Canada as advocates of the process leading to the ban of cluster bombs."they have proven to the world that they are consistent in their quest for peace, security and are ready to do whatever it takes to protect citizens and make the world a safe place."

The Convention was adopted in Dublin on May 30, 2008 and opened for signature in Oslo in December, which attracted 107 countries signing with 37 ratifying up to date.

Among the countries which have ratified includes users and producers of cluster munitions, as well as countries affected by the weapons.