The Cluster Munitions Debate in Australia
The Commonwealth Parliament has recently been debating legislation to domestically ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was signed by the Australian government in 2008.
Serious concerns have been expressed about the breadth of exemptions which the government has inserted into the implementing legislation, which would permit weapons to be stockpiled on Australian soil in breach of Convention obligations.
ALHR President Stephen Keim and ALHR member Alex McKean wrote this overview article for the LawAsia Update that gives a concise overview of the current debate.
The Cluster Munitions Coalition have been running a campaign to put pressure on our leaders in the lead up to the key Parliamentary debates, by send letters to politicians and enclosing childrens socks. We encourage you to add your voice to the campaign at http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/ and downloading the attached flyer and taking similar action.