Newsgroup: it.politica.polo
Titolo: Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon

Israeli Cluster Munitions Hit Civilians in Lebanon 
dal sito di HRW : 
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/24/isrlpa13798.htm
Israel Must Not Use Indiscriminate Weapons 
(Beirut, July 24, 2006) – Israel has used artillery-fired cluster
munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today.
Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions
attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least
12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers
also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery
teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when
used around civilians. They should never be used in populated areas. 
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch 
Related Material
Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq
Report, December 3, 2003 
Fatally Flawed: Cluster Bombs and Their Use by the United States in
Afghanistan
Report, December 3, 2002 
Ticking Time Bombs: NATO’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Yugoslavia,” 
Report, December 16, 1999 
More documents on cluster munitions at: 
Thematic Page 
For Human Rights Watch’s ongoing coverage of the Israel-Lebanon conflict,
please visit:
“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when
used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human
Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.” 
According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack interviewed by Human
Rights Watch, Israel fired several artillery-fired cluster munitions at
Blida around 3 p.m. on July 19. The witnesses described how the artillery
shells dropped hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village. They
clearly described the submunitions as smaller projectiles that emerged
from their larger shells. 
The cluster attack killed 60-year-old Maryam Ibrahim inside her home. At
least two submunitions from the attack entered the basement that the Ali
family was using as a shelter, wounding 12 persons, including seven
children. Ahmed Ali, a 45-year-old taxi driver and head of the family,
lost both legs from injuries caused by the cluster munitions. Five of his
children were wounded: Mira, 16; Fatima, 12; ‘Ali, 10; Aya, 3; and `Ola,
1. His wife Akram Ibrahim, 35, and his mother-in-law `Ola Musa, 80, were
also wounded. Four relatives, all German-Lebanese dual nationals
sheltering with the family, were wounded as well: Mohammed Ibrahim, 45;
his wife Fatima, 40; and their children ‘Ali, 16, and Rula, 13. 
Human Rights Watch researchers photographed artillery-delivered cluster
munitions among the arsenal of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) artillery teams
stationed on the Israeli-Lebanese border during a research visit on July
23. The photographs show M483A1 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional
Munitions, which are U.S.-produced and -supplied, artillery-delivered
cluster munitions. The photographs contain the distinctive marks of such
cluster munitions, including a diamond-shaped stamp, and a shape that is
longer than ordinary artillery, according to a retired IDF commander who
asked not to be identified. 
Pallets of 155mm artillery projectiles including DPICM cluster munitions
(center and right with yellow diamonds) in the arsenal of an IDF artillery
unit on July 23 in northern Israel. Each DPICM shell contains 88
sub-munitions, which have a dud rate of up to 14 percent. © Human Rights
Watch 2006
The M483A1 artillery shells deliver 88 cluster submunitions per shell, and
have an unacceptably high failure rate (dud rate) of 14 percent, leaving
behind a serious unexploded ordnance problem that will further endanger
civilians. The commander said that the IDF’s operations manual warns
soldiers that the use of such cluster munitions creates dangerous
minefields due to the high dud rate.
Lebanese security forces, who to date have not engaged in the fighting
between Israel and Hezbollah, also accused Israel of using cluster
munitions in its attacks on Blida and other Lebanese border villages.
These sources also indicated they have evidence that Israel used cluster
munitions earlier this year during fighting with Hezbollah around the
contested Shebaa Farms area. Human Rights Watch is continuing to
investigate these additional allegations. 
Human Rights Watch believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated
areas may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in
international humanitarian law. The wide dispersal pattern of their
submunitions makes it very difficult to avoid civilian casualties if
civilians are in the area. Moreover, because of their high failure rate,
cluster munitions leave large numbers of hazardous, explosive duds that
injure and kill civilians even after the attack is over. Human Rights
Watch believes that cluster munitions should never be used, even away from
civilians, unless their dud rate is less than 1 percent. 
Human Rights Watch conducted detailed analyses of the U.S. military’s use
of cluster bombs in the 1999 Yugoslavia war, the 2001-2002 Afghanistan
war, and the 2003 Iraq war. Human Rights Watch research established that
the use of cluster munitions in populated areas in Iraq caused more
civilian casualties than any other factor in the U.S.-led coalition’s
conduct of major military operations in March and April 2003, killing and
wounding more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians. Roughly a quarter of the 500
civilian deaths caused by NATO bombing in the 1999 Yugoslavia war were
also due to cluster munitions. 
“Our research in Iraq and Kosovo shows that cluster munitions cannot be
used in populated areas without huge loss of civilian life,” Roth said.
“Israel must stop using cluster bombs in Lebanon at once.” 
Human Rights Watch called upon the Israel Defense Forces to immediately
cease the use of indiscriminate weapons like cluster munitions in Lebanon.
Background 
Israel used cluster munitions in Lebanon in 1978 and in the 1980s. At that
time, the United States placed restrictions on their use and then a
moratorium on the transfer of cluster munitions to Israel out of concern
for civilian casualties. Those weapons used more than two decades ago
continue to affect Lebanon. 
Israel has in its arsenal cluster munitions delivered by aircraft,
artillery and rockets. Israel is a major producer and exporter of cluster
munitions, primarily artillery projectiles and rockets containing M85
DPICM (Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition) submunitions. Israeli
Military Industries, an Israeli government-owned weapons manufacturer, has
reportedly produced more than 60 million M85 DPICM submunitions. Israel
also produces at least six different types of air-dropped cluster bombs,
and has imported from the United States M26 rockets for its Multiple
Launch Rocket Systems. 
There is growing international momentum to stop the use of cluster
munitions. Belgium became the first country to ban cluster munitions in
February 2006, and Norway announced a moratorium on the weapon in June
2006. Cluster munitions are increasingly the focus of discussion at the
meetings of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, with ever more states
calling for a new international instrument dealing with cluster munitions.
Human Rights Watch is a founding member, and a steering committee member,
of the Cluster Munition Coalition: 
www.stopclustermunitions.org
. 
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 Israel Must Not Use Indiscriminate Weapons
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