Indonesia urged to ratify cluster-bombs convention

JAKARTA: Indonesia has been urged to ratify a convention on cluster munitions that will ban the usage, stockpiling and manufacturing of cluster bombs, which pose long-term threats to residents in war-afflicted regions even once wars are over.

John Rodsted from The Ban Bus - an advocacy initiative on banning cluster bombs - said Indonesia had a great potential to be a leading force in the Southeast Asian region on the issue of cluster bombs.

Indonesia, which has already signed the convention, should speed up the ratification process to assume stronger roles in the upcoming first meeting of state parties to be held in Laos this November, he said.

Members of the Cluster Munition Coalition met with representatives from the House of Representatives, as well as the Foreign Ministry on Thursday in Jakarta.

Legislator Evita Nursanty, who attended the meeting, said humanitarian concerns, including bans on cluster bombs, were considered matters of priority by members of the House.

There are at least two billion cluster bombs in stockpiles and in former war-torn areas. They pose roughly similar threats to land mines, because they usually go off not when they are dropped but when stimulated by movement or collision. - JP