Thailand used cluster bombs!

[TBWG]

 


Thailand 'admits cluster bombs used against Cambodia'
By Guy De Launey BBC News, Phnom Penh


   
Campaigners against cluster munitions say Thailand has admitted it used the weapons against Cambodia in February.

The Cluster Munition Coalition called the decision "appalling" and "unconscionable".

The weapons were banned by an international convention three years ago, but neither Thailand nor Cambodia have signed the agreement.

Admitting the use of cluster munitions would represent a significant shift in Thailand's position.

Cambodia was quick to accuse its larger neighbour of using the weapons during four days of border fighting in February.

Thailand denied the allegation - saying that if anyone had used cluster munitions, it was Cambodian forces.

But several humanitarian organisations have visited the border area around Preah Vihear temple, and they reported finding unexploded cluster bomblets.

This evidence appears to have caused the shift in Bangkok's stance.

The Cluster Munition Coalition says that Thailand has confirmed that it fired the weapons, claiming that it was self defence against heavy artillery from Cambodia landing in civilian areas.

The coalition says that should not be a justification for using weapons which are banned by more than 100 countries.

According to the campaigners, thousands of villagers are now at risk of death or serious injury because of unexploded ordnance near their homes.

Part of the reason for the weapons notoriety is that children find the brightly-coloured bomblets attractive and get badly hurt if they pick them up.


TBWG

[Admin]

This fight/war was way out of proportion in opinion of most Thais.

[isanbirder]

Whoever authorised the use of cluster bombs should be disciplined.  This is quite unacceptable in any conditions, not least in a minor scrap like the Preah Vihear incident.

[nookiebear]

IB thats twice in a week I've agreed with you!!

[Dave the Dude]

and I third that!

[Prakhonchai Nick]

I think any sane human being would agree. Totally despicable! Was it I wonder authorised by the Government, or do the army have the authority alone?

[Dave the Dude]

The aid agencies still clearing up the old munitions from the Vietnam war must have loved hearing this news!
It must have been soul destroying.

[nookiebear]

Plenty of overtime!!

[boloa]

Cluster bombs found on Thai-Cambodia border
By Liam Cochrane for Radio Australia
Experts visiting the Thai-Cambodia border have found almost half the sites they toured were contaminated by unexploded cluster bombs.

Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) spokesman Laura Cheeseman told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program that officers from two member organisations visited 12 border sites and found the deadly munitions at five of them.

Cluster munitions are bombs that contain smaller bomblets or fragments and are often accidentally detonated by civilians long after battle.

Thailand has admitted using cluster bombs in a skirmish with the Cambodians.

Ms Cheeseman says neither Cambodia nor Thailand have signed an international convention outlawing use of the weapons. In all, 108 countries have signed.

She says of the inspectors' missions: "What they've seen here is areas that still have unexploded sub-munitions on the ground.

"What we're worried about is civilians returning to these areas, which we understand some have, and basically being at risk from the unexploded sub-munitions that are still active and deadly and could kill and injure further civilians."

Coalition member groups have visited some people injured after the border fighting near the Preah Vihear temple battle site, "including a couple of guys that had been in the hospital who've had their arms blown off".

The Thai ambassador to the UN in Geneva, while reportedly confirming the munitions' use to the CMC, says Thailand used cluster munitions in self-defence when Cambodian forces used heavy rocket fire against civilian targets.

Ms Cheeseman says the coalition wanted Thailand to release information about the bombs it has used, and the locations, so they can be cleared.

"What we hope Cambodia and Thailand will both do in the near future is to join the convention on cluster munitions," she said.

"This will help ensure that no more cluster munitions are used by either of these countries."

[Pee Nuu]

I think any sane human being would agree. Totally despicable! Was it I wonder authorised by the Government, or do the army have the authority alone?

We don't have a government. We've a military.

[Admin]

Thailand admits controversial weapon use

BANGKOK, April 7, 2011 (AFP) - Thailand on Thursday admitted using controversial weapons during a border clash with neighbouring Cambodia in February but insisted it did not classify them as cluster munitions.

Responding to accusations from campaigners, the Thai army said it had used Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) during the recent heavy fighting on the shared border.

Thailand's foreign ministry also confirmed that the country had used the weapons but said they were "deployed on the basis of necessity, proportionality and strict code of conduct".

DPICMs burst into bomblets which are designed for both anti-armour and anti-personnel attack, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a US-based public policy organisation focusing on defence intelligence.

They are defined as cluster munitions by the global campaign group Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), which on Wednesday slammed Thailand's use of the arms.

The group, which campaigns against the bombs, said the Thai-Cambodian conflict was the first confirmed use of cluster munitions anywhere in the world since the Convention on Cluster Munitions became international law.

The convention came into effect in August last year, requiring signatories to stop the use of the weapons, but neither Thailand nor Cambodia have signed the treaty.

CMC said the munitions have "caused large numbers of civilian casualties" when used by the United States in Afghanistan in 2001-2 and Iraq in 2003, as well as by Israel in Lebanon in 2006. Neither Israel or the US are listed as signatories of the convention.

The group detailed its own investigation of Cambodian government claims that the deadly munitions had landed on its territory in four days of unrest between the neighbours in early February.

The Thai ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva had confirmed the use of DPICMs "in self-defence" in a meeting with CMC on Tuesday, CMC said in a statement.

"It's appalling that any country would resort to using cluster munitions after the international community banned them," added CMC director Laura Cheeseman.

CMC said a cluster bomb had killed two Cambodian policemen during the February clashes and warned that thousands of people remained at risk from unexploded bomblets in several villages along the northern border.

Launched from the ground or dropped from the air, cluster bombs split open before impact to multiple bomblets over a wide area. Many fail to explode and can lie hidden for decades.

[Admin]

Cluster bomb issue needs to be confronted
By The Nation
2011-04-11

Thailand, Cambodia have not signed convention banning these munitions

The UK-based Cluster Munition Coalition claimed that it had evidence and confirmation from the Thai representative in Geneva, Sihasak Puangketkaeo, showing that Thailand had used cluster bombs in the border skirmish with Cambodia.

Sihasak, Thailand's ambassador to the UN, said he had been misquoted.

"Unfortunately, I was misquoted in the press release. I never used the term 'cluster munitions' at any point in the meeting when referring to the 'dual-purpose improved conventional munitions' type of weapon we used," Sihasak told The Nation.

The ambassador said he had double-checked with Thai top brass on the types of weapons that had been used in the border clash.

CMC director Laura Cheeseman insisted that two separate, onsite investigations had proved that 155mm Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) were used by the Thai military during the exchange. "These are cluster munitions," she told The Nation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongpakdi said the Thai side had used DPICM, which could not be considered "cluster munitions".

Cluster munitions are defined as projectiles that are either dropped from the air or launched on the ground before they separate into smaller explosive fragments that cover a wide area. This sort of weapon was widely used in the Vietnam War, and people are still facing the risk of unexploded ordnance.

"The main purpose for using this weapon was to retaliate against the Russian-made BM21 multi-rocket launchers that were used indiscriminately by Cambodia," Thani said. The weapon was used in "self-defence", under the principles of "necessity, proportionality and in compliance with the military code of conduct", he said.

To begin with, war is hell and the weapons we human beings use to kill one another are horrible. That's probably the reason why the international community came up with these concepts of proportionality and rules of engagement.

And so when one side accuses the other of violating these rules, it's a serious matter.

Cambodia and Thailand are not among the 108 countries that have signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty that prohibits the use, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs.

However, Thailand, and Cambodia for that matter, should not hide behind technicalities, about whether we are signatories to the convention or not. We have a moral obligation to one another to resolve our differences peacefully.

CMC condemns Thailand's use of DPICM but says nothing about the use of BM21, which were fired indiscriminately against Thai targets.

But let's hope we're not just splitting words here. Victims on both sides of the border don't give a hoot about international conventions. For them, a loss is a loss, whether it's life or property.

But if we want to get technical about it, BM21 doesn't discriminate against its target or the collateral damage either.

In this respect, it is important to heed the advice of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which pointed out that cluster bombs should be understood in the context of humanitarian principles and that the convention is an important addition to the body of international humanitarian law.

The convention establishes new rules to ensure that cluster munitions are no longer used and that the existing humanitarian problems associated with these weapons are addressed. Importantly, the convention has specific provisions that aim to meet the needs of victims and affected communities, ICRC said.

To date 38 former users, producers and stockpilers of cluster munitions have joined the treaty, leaving some 73 countries continuing to stockpile the explosives.