Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

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Cluster Munitions and International Humanitarian Law Background on Cluster Munitions Cluster munitions are large weapons that contain dozens and often hundreds of smaller submunitions. After being dropped from the air by planes or helicopters or fired from the ground by artillery or rocket launchers, cluster munitions open up in the air and release their submunitions over a wide area. The submunitions from airdropped cluster munitions are called bomblets, and those from ground-delivered cluster munitions are called grenades. The submunitions often have both antipersonnel and anti-armor effects. With very few exceptions, both cluster munitions and submunitions are unguided weapons. All of the submunitions used in the conflict in Lebanon were unguided. 31 The military values cluster munitions because of their wide footprint; they can destroy broad, relatively soft targets, like airfields and surface-to-air missile sites. They can also be effective against targets that move or do not have precise locations. The military advantages of cluster munitions, however, must be weighed against their documented harm to civilians both during and after strikes. The humanitarian effects of a cluster munition attack are often more serious than those of other types of attacks because of the submunitions’ wide dispersal. Even if a cluster munition hits its target, which is not guaranteed because it is usually unguided, the submunitions may kill or injure civilians within the footprint. The inherent risks to civilian life and property increase when a party uses these weapons in or near populated areas. If cluster munitions are used in an area where combatants and civilians commingle, civilian casualties are almost assured. Cluster munitions also produce deeply problematic aftereffects because many of the submunitions do not explode on impact as intended. While all weapons have a failure rate, cluster munitions are more dangerous because they release large numbers of 31 Israel is not known to possess cluster munitions with individually guided submunitions, such as the Sensor Fuzed Weapons produced in the United States. 19 Human Rights Watch February 2008
submunitions and because certain design characteristics, based on cost and size considerations, increase the likelihood of submunition failure. Manufacturers and militaries have typically indicated that failure rates for submunitions under test conditions range between 5 and 20 percent. Actual failure rates in combat conditions have been higher, including in south Lebanon. As a result, every cluster munition strike leaves some unexploded ordnance. The dud, or initial failure, rate (i.e., the percentage that does not explode) not only reduces the immediate military effectiveness of cluster munitions but also puts civilians at great risk. Unexploded bomblets and grenades are often highly unstable and can explode at the slightest touch or movement, becoming de facto landmines that kill or injure civilians returning to the battle area after an attack. An unexploded, air-dropped BLU-63 submunition lies hidden in a farmer’s field just outside Beit Yahoun on October 24, 2006. Such US-made submunitions, carried in a CBU-58B, date back to the Vietnam War. © 2006 Bonnie Docherty/Human Rights Watch Flooding South Lebanon 20
Page 1 and 2: Lebanon Flooding South Lebanon Isra
Page 3 and 4: Civilian Harm......................
Page 6 and 7: Acronyms BLU CBU CCW COI DPICM ICRC
Page 8 and 9: Summary The Israel Defense Forces (
Page 10 and 11: Israel’s strikes in 2006 were the
Page 12 and 13: leaving behind vast numbers of haza
Page 14 and 15: compensate for the cluster rockets
Page 16 and 17: immediately before a negotiated cea
Page 18 and 19: knowingly or recklessly indiscrimin
Page 20 and 21: production, transfer and stockpilin
Page 22 and 23: numerous men, women, and children w
Page 24 and 25: To the Secretary-General of the Uni
Page 28 and 29: At least 14 states and a small numb
Page 30 and 31: • Refraining from launching attac
Page 32 and 33: This does not just mean immediate c
Page 34 and 35: Israel is a major producer and expo
Page 36 and 37: Types of Cluster Munitions and Subm
Page 38 and 39: An unexploded M77, a US-made dual p
Page 40 and 41: This CBU-58B cluster bomb casing, s
Page 42 and 43: likely that the MZD-2s found in Leb
Page 44 and 45: contaminated by submunitions. 89 Ho
Page 46 and 47: Timing and Targets: When and How Cl
Page 48 and 49: with 500-pound bombs. The increase
Page 50 and 51: Human Rights Watch field research c
Page 52 and 53: percent, and dismissed the problem
Page 54 and 55: A UNIFIL deminer holds an Israeli-m
Page 56 and 57: Civilian Harm Cluster munitions hav
Page 58 and 59: 51 Human Rights Watch February 2008
Page 60 and 61: submunition causing it to explode.
Page 62 and 63: Dr. `Abdel Nasser Farran told Human
Page 64 and 65: Agriculture Perhaps the most danger
Page 66 and 67: exploded, and a young woman was pic
Page 68 and 69: from the war. 180 Tragedy struck wh
Page 70 and 71: injured in my legs. I still can’t
Page 72 and 73: in operation for many years, includ
Page 74 and 75: 67 Human Rights Watch February 2008
Page 76 and 77:
69 Human Rights Watch February 2008
Page 78 and 79:
the grove of fruit trees. Though sh
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of the fighting. Although no one is
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oad to visit his cousin when his br
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Four-year-old `Ali Muhammad Yaghi w
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place.” 237 Assessing the monetar
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especially because we needed to irr
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conflict interrupted existing clear
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An engine from a US-made M26 Multip
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duds around villages. 268 With the
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Various reasons exist as to why com
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Lack of Israeli Assistance Perhaps
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checkpoints. Similarly, UNIFIL has
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Israel’s Statements on the Use of
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This statement followed the finding
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investigations into Israel’s appa
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that would confirm that these weapo
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specific to the weapons. When conce
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disregard of that character, they g
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employed, the way that they were us
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are antipersonnel, area denial weap
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emain to take care of elderly or si
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early 2007 aimed at identifying the
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the United States, there is little
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Conclusion Israel’s use of cluste
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kidnapped IDF soldiers, and so aver
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Proportionality A further legal req
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In practice, this requires that the
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neutralization offers a definite mi
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it is more brutal. If Hizbullah had
Page 136 and 137:
Another issue of humanitarian conce
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Acknowledgements This report was wr
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Flooding South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch

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