GENEVA — Cluster bombs, artillery shells and missiles are still stockpiled in 69 nations a year after the adoption of a new international law aimed at phasing them out, a London- based coalition of 200 activist groups said Wednesday.
The London-based Cluster Munition Coalition’s tally of these destructive explosive weapons came as diplomats gathered in Geneva to debate plans for phasing them out. The coalition says 12 nations have destroyed part of their stockpiles, leaving at least 610,263 cluster bombs. Casualties involving their use have been reported in 29 countries.
The weapons pose a particular risk to civilians because they indiscriminately scatter smaller “bomblets,” some as small as flashlight batteries.
Sixty-one nations so far have adopted the phaseout law, which took effect in August 2010.
But the majority of nations that haven’t adopted it still possess the bulk of the cluster munitions. That includes the U.S., which insists the bombs are a valid weapon of war when used properly. China, Russia, India and Pakistan also reject the law. The Associated Press
