Contending with Explosive Remnants of War

Summary

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Sanders comments that even without an agreement on cluster munitions, Protocol V represents a major advance for international humanitarian law and for the safety of civilians in post-conflict situations. It is time for the countries of the world to ratify it and bring it into force.

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Extract

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Contending with Explosive Remnants of War

They constitute a permanent threat to the population, especially children, who are unaware of the danger: they continuously come into contact with them, play with them and risk getting maimed or killed."1

Nor do all the dangers come from Iraqi materiel. Iraqi civilians face dangerous debris from coalition forces as well: the use of cluster munitions during the Iraq campaign yielded at least 90,000 stray duds.2

Sadly, Iraq is but the latest example in a global humanitarian problem: long after battles have ended, wars continue to inflict tens of thousands of casualties...

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