Phnom Penh April 06, 2011
A group that campaigns against the use of cluster munitions says Thailand used the outlawed weapons against Cambodia during border clashes in February this year.
The Cluster Munition Coalition, or CMC, says it carried out two inspections of areas in northern Cambodia that were shelled by Thailand during several days of fighting in February and concluded that Thailand did fire cluster munitions.
CMC director Laura Cheeseman says Thailand’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva admitted in a meeting this week that his country used the weapons.
The Thai ambassador claimed his country acted in self defense and in accordance with military codes.
Cluster munitions are small bombs that are typically packed 50 to 60 at a time into an artillery shell. On impact the munitions scatter widely and are meant to explode. But they have a high failure rate, which means many remain armed and lethal, and end up killing civilians often years later.
The CMC says this is the first use of the weapons since the global Convention on Cluster Munitions took effect in 2010. The treaty, signed by 108 countries and ratified by about half of them, bans countries from producing, stockpiling and using cluster munitions. Thailand was not one of the signers, while Cambodia has signed but not yet ratified it.
Heng Ratana is the director-general of Cambodian Mine Action Center, the government agency that is tasked with ridding Cambodia of landmines and bombs. He says when news of cluster munitions first arose in February, CMAC was concerned the issue would be highly politicized.
"But from the CMAC point of view it is a humanitarian issue, because we identify cluster on the ground and we were so worried about 4 to 5,000 families will return to their community and will be affected by cluster munitions on the ground," Ratana explains.
Ratana says CMAC has already taken steps to inform people in the shelled area about the dangers of cluster munitions.
"We already provide some cluster awareness to at least around 4,000 families who are affected by this cluster already. And we also provide posters on the trees and so on, or on the walls of schools to provide that kind of awareness in place as well. So we hope that this will provide good safety for them," Ratana said.
Meanwhile, the Cluster Munition Coalition says both Thailand and Cambodia should immediately agree that neither will use the banned weapons, and that both will sign the treaty.
3 comments:
Well, well, what can one say. . .
Despite their overwhelming advantage in just about every area: number of troops available (which means fresh re-enforcements to replace weary, tired combatants), arsenal of sophisticated weapons (mostly, US issues), financial strength (soldiers are better fed, pensioned etc., and better equipped, including bullet-proof vests against small arm fire and shrapnel from grenades and rocket shells, as well as better trained) the Thais still try to tip the scale further in their favour by resorting to the use of cluster munitions, which is the subject of world-wide condemnation!
One also wonders whether the Thai public has any knowledge of this underhand aspect of their government and military from merely reading the Nation and the Bangkok Post who have mostly been feeding them stories about ill-disciplined, forest soldiers of Cambodia wearing sandals at the front-line!
Now, who said the Siamese never abandon their treacherous ways?
cambodia should sue the siem thugs for using the banned cluster ammunition, really!
YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER Chid Chib Chob: You better change YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER name or I am going to fuck you up at the YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER home----MOTHER-FUCKER-ASSHOLD-all THAIs---MOTHER-FUCKER--Parliamentary cell will be vanished soon in a brink of my eyes at Bangkok, if---YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER all Thais act like my pet pimp dog---If UNSC said nothing about Cluster Bombs which the Mother-Fucker-Thais had contravened recently--Cambodia will definitely send back the CLUSTER BOMBS just like YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER THAIs did to Cambodian civilians. I definitely have felt so good after all harassments to YOU-MOTHER-FUCKER THAIS. i'm thrilled to drink the Thai's king blood with VODKA to frankly cure PTSD. Soon after my buttock had been cleaned with a dead twig, I was able to walk as usual to wage a war against MOTHER-FUCKER THais again.
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