12 July 2010

COUNTDOWN TO ENTRY INTO FORCE - WEEK 12: SLOVAKIA

Amnesty International campaign action calling on Slovakia to join the CCM.Photo Credit: Amnesty International Slovakia Slovakia should sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions, joining the majority of the world's countries that support a comprehensive ban on cluster bombs."Cluster munitions have no place in modern military arsenals because the humanitarian harm they cause far outstrips their military utility, to the point where no state should want to hold onto these weapons anymore" said Branislav Tichy of Amnesty International Slovakia, a CMC member organisation.Slovakia has never used cluster munitions, but it currently stockpiles and has in the past produced and exported the weapons. The Slovak Ministry of Defence reportedly cancelled orders of M26 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) cluster munitions in February 2009 and suggested that it would replace its current stockpile of cluster munitions with different weapons by 2016 to 2020 at the latest.Slovakia participated in all of the "Oslo Process" meetings where the Convention was developed and adopted, but it only attended the Oslo signing ceremony in December 2008 as an observer. It held back on joining the Convention because of reservations about banning the weapons outright, as well as a desire to have a transition period for countries to develop alternative weapons. In February 2009, Slovakia said that joining the Convention would place a great burden on its budget due to the cost of re-equipping the Slovak Armed Forces. However, several of Slovakia's neighbours and most of its NATO allies - 20 out of 28 members in the alliance - have joined the treaty.The CMC urges all countries to join the Convention without delay and to participate in the First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010 in Lao PDR, the most-affected country in the world.Download letters urging the government of Slovakia to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions:

• CMC letter CMC urging the government of Slovakia to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions:

• Template letter CMC urging the government of Slovakia to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions:

• Slovakia chapter in the May 2009 report, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice:http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?act=submit&pqs_year=2009&pqs_type=cm&pqs_report=slovakia&pqs_section=