Draft Resolution submitted by the Australian Delegation

THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASIA PACIFIC PARLIAMENTARY FORUM

Condemning the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions;

Reiterating its serious concern at the terrible consequences for human rights and socio-economic development that the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions has for people and communities all over the world;

Expressing its continuing concern at the unacceptable risks, including needless loss of life, to humanitarian operations and economic recovery posed by unexploded cluster munitions in post-conflict situations;

Recalling with gratitude the leadership and encouragement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in promoting action by the international community to address the horrendous humanitarian effects of cluster munitions;

Welcoming with great pleasure the signature by over ninety countries of the Convention on Cluster Munitions;

Paying tribute to the efforts by those states that participated in the successful negotiations that led to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the supportive efforts of civil society, including victims of cluster munitions;

Welcoming with enthusiasm the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the requirements to never develop, produce, use, stockpile or transfer cluster munitions, to destroy stockpiled cluster munitions, to clear contaminated land and to provide for the support, rehabilitation and social reintegration of cluster munitions victims and provide international cooperation and assistance to cluster munitions-affected States;

Noting the need to strike a balance between military and humanitarian considerations in addressing the issue of cluster munitions; and

Noting also the continuing efforts by the Group of Governmental Experts from the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to address the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions in that forum;

Resolves to:

1.      Call upon all parliamentarians in countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions to complete its early ratification and ensure the Convention’s entry-into-force;

2.      Encourage parliamentarians in countries that have not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions to urge their governments to consider again, and with renewed urgency, its signature;

3.      Encourage all APPF members to continue to support the negotiations in the CCW to address the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions while striking a balance between military and humanitarian considerations;

4.      Recommend all APPF member states make additional efforts in order to reduce the deployment of these weapons;

5.      Encourage governments to identify and fence off contaminated areas that threaten the security and economic welfare of their civil populations;

6.      Encourage parliamentarians to promote the prevention, within the framework of international humanitarian law, of the indiscriminate use of these weapons;

7.      Promote, through regional and multilateral means, the highest level of cooperation and transparency in approaching the humanitarian challenges posed by cluster munitions;

8.      Support and participate in international efforts of education and training about the risks involved in the removal of unexploded weapons and the cleaning up of contaminated zones;

9.      Call upon all member states to provide health and rehabilitation programmes on a non-discriminatory basis to victims of cluster munitions, including emergency assistance and continuous medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychological support, social and economic rehabilitation, and legal support; and

10.    Encourage the APPF parliaments to guarantee the social and economic integration of all victims of cluster munitions as well as their families and communities, on a non-discriminatory basis.