19. Cluster bombs
B5-0765, 0775, 0782 and 0789/2001
European Parliament resolution on cluster bombs
The European Parliament,
Ldash having regard to the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),
Ldash having regard to international humanitarian law,
Ldash having regard to the forthcoming second review conference of the Convention to be held in Geneva
from 10 to 21 December 2001, welcoming the recent confirmation by the EU General Affairs Council
of its commitment to the Convention on Conventional Weapons,
A. whereas over the past 35 years unexploded cluster bomb submunitions killed and maimed people in
conflict and post-conflict regions,
B. whereas people in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kuwait, Russia/Chechnya,
Yugoslavia/Kosovo and Afghanistan can testify that their fields, villages and cities are not accessiblebecause of the existence of cluster bombs and other unexploded submunitions,
C. recalling Article35 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and
relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) of 8 June 1977,which states in paragraph2: ‘It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods
of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering’,
D. whereas nearly half of all the 500 persons involved in mine and unexploded ordnances (UXO) acci-
dents in Kosovo have suffered as a result of unexploded cluster bomb submunitions,
E. whereas since the end of the war in Laos (1973), over 11000 persons, 30% of them children, have
been killed or injured by UXO,
F. whereas the use of cluster bombs is an obstacle to the return of refugees and displaced persons to
their homes because of the risk of becoming involved in submunitions accidents,
G. whereas the use of cluster bombs, in addition to resulting in the loss of human life, especially among
the civilian population, represents a serious obstacle to the social and economic recovery of affectedcountries,
H. recalling that cluster bombs are extremely dangerous and difficult to clear and therefore constitute a
long-term problem for post-conflict reconstruction and development,
I. whereas the use of cluster bombs puts the staff of humanitarian aid agencies and UN peacekeeping
forces at a high risk of becoming involved in accidents,
J. extremely concerned at the difficulty in accurately targeting cluster bombs during conflict, the high
proportion of cluster bomblets which are found to have failed to detonate on impact, and the widearea coverage of the bomblets, all of which means they pose a serious long-term threat to the civilianpopulations,25.7.2002 EN C177E/309 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001
1. Calls upon the CCW States Parties to declare an immediate moratorium until an international agree-
ment has been negotiated on the regulation, restriction or banning of the use, production, and transfer ofcluster munitions under the CCW, including air-dropped cluster munitions and submunitions delivered bymissiles, rockets, and artillery projectiles;
2. Underlines the responsibility of users of cluster munition systems for the cleaning of affected areas;3. Recommends that CCW Review Conference establish a group of government experts to examine the
issue of explosive remnants of war, and in particular the problems caused by cluster bomb submunitionsboth during and after an armed conflict; experts from mine-clearance and other relevant organisationsshould be permitted to participate in the group’s work;
4. Urges all states possessing and/or using cluster munitions to undertake other measures, such as
improving the reliability of fusing mechanisms by way of dual-event fuses and incorporating self-destructor self-neutralising mechanisms into munitions, in order to reduce the threat that these weapons pose tocivilian populations;
5. Urges all states not party to the Convention to become so, and states parties to the CCW Convention
who have not already signed up to the amended Protocol II and/or Protocol IV to do so as soon aspossible;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments of
the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and all StatesParties to the Convention.
20. Human rights: Women in Afghanistan
B5-0763, 0766, 0776, 0784, 0790 and 0802/2001
European Parliament resolution on women in Afghanistan
The European Parliament,
Ldash having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan and, in particular, on the situation of Afghan
women and the Declaration of the Afghan Women’s Summit held in Brussels on 4/5 December 2001,
Ldash having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,Ldash having regard to the measures taken by the Afghanistan Support Group in Bonn on 5/6 December
2001 for the coordination of the humanitarian and development efforts for Afghanistan,
A. stressing that the Taliban regime has perpetrated the most deliberate form of violation of women’s
rights in recent history, imposing an apartheid based on sex that has denied women’s identity itself,
B. whereas there are almost 5 million Afghan refugees abroad, mostly in Pakistan and Iran; whereas the
majority of these refugees are women and children,
C. having regard to the high mortality rate among women and children,D. whereas it is estimated that less than 5% of Afghan women can read and write, while the literacy rate
for girls reaching school age during the period of Taliban rule is substantially lower, standing atapproximately 1 to 2%,C177E/310 EN 25.7.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001