Reclaiming poisoned land: Reconstruction and renewal in post-war Lebanon - 2 August 2007
Public lecture
Thursday 2 August, 7.00 pm
RMIT Building 50, Orr St, off Victoria St
Speakers:
Dr Hadia Haikal Mukhtar, Medical Association for the Prevention of War + Mounir Kiwan, Australian Lebanese Youth Association
Following the war in July 2006, Lebanon faced a humanitarian crisis, with more than 1000 people killed, more than 4000 injured and around 1 million internally displaced. This was compounded by an environmental disaster caused by an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea, the destruction of infrastructure and dwellings and the littering of South Lebanon with cluster bombs.
Estimated at over a million in total, these bombs represent a serious and largely invisible threat to the lives and livelihoods of civilians struggling to rebuild. The use of such weapons ensures that conflict leaves a long term stain on regions devastated by war, well after cease-fires have been called.
Dr. Hadia Mukhtar, a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, visited the country in December last year as part of a humanitarian delegation organised by Australians for Lebanon. Dr Mukhtar will be joined by Mounir Kiwan, president of the Australian Lebanese Youth Association, to discuss their first-hand insights into the work of NGO’s aiding the relief effort, and the ongoing campaign to outlaw the manufacture and use of cluster bombs.
Lecture to be followed by discussion and refreshments. Entry by gold coin donation.
in:
Lebanon,
reconstruction,
war
Posts
1 comment:
I would like to post an on-line petition for members to sign.
To background the petition I have googled a number of links that critique our current Federal Government stance concerning cluster bombs. It appears our government has watered down its support of global treaties banning cluster bombs in order to justify the purchase of cluster munitions by the Australian Defence Force.
LINK 1 - this link is directly related to the inspiring presentation given by Dr Hadia Haikal Mukhtar, Medical Association for the Prevention of War + Mounir Kiwan, Australian Lebanese Youth Association at words@bld50 last Thursday night:
Australian Delegation Visits Cluster-Bombed Areas of Lebanon, Calls for Ban
Press Release, Joint humanitarian delegation, 23 January 2007
The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) delegation has made a submission to the Australian Government calling for:
all possible assistance to expedite the de-mining of Lebanon, and other affected countries;
funding for the lengthy and expensive rehabilitation required by cluster bomb victims;
a request to be made to the Israeli Government to provide cluster bomb strike data for South Lebanon; and
support for a global ban on the production and use of cluster bombs.Former MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham OAM stated, "These terrible weapons must never be used again against any people. Governments such as the Australian Government can play a very important role by pressing for a treaty to ban the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of cluster bombs."The delegation also notes with grave concern the revelation that government superannuation funds in the ACT -- and almost certainly elsewhere -- are invested with companies that produce cluster bombs. "This practice must cease", Dr Wareham said. "Australians don't want to support companies that trade in the death of civilians".
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6430.shtml
LINK 2 - relates to follow-up commentary by Dr.Mukhtar's fact-finding mission: posted by Pax Christi @ Thursday, May 31, 2007
Doctors Condemn Cluster Bomb Inaction
MEDIA RELEASE
Medical Association for the Prevention of War
DOCTORS CONDEMN CLUSTER BOMB INACTION
The Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) today deplored the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade not to support a ban on cluster munitions. Former MAPW President Dr Sue Wareham OAM said that the Committee’s recommendation flies in the face of growing concern internationally at the terrible humanitarian costs of these weapons. Dr Wareham and MAPW member Dr Hadia Mukhtar, travelled to Lebanon in December 2006 to assess the health effects of around one million cluster bombs left unexploded after last years’ war. Dr Mukhtar said “In Lebanon, as in other places where cluster bombs have been used, the vast majority of the victims are civilians, and many of them are children. In addition, agricultural lands have become death traps, and the whole community suffers economically.”The Senate Committee’s report, released today, concludes that, “for reasons of capability development and ensuring the ADF can effectively operate”, Australia must be able to acquire “advanced sophisticated sub-munition based weapon systems”. The Department of Defence submitted that it is in the process of acquiring an advanced sub-munition capability for use against mobile armoured vehicles... THURSDAY, MAY 31
For further information, please callDr Sue Wareham OAM, 0407 924 152;Dr Hadia Mukhtar 0409 113 769MAPW general inquiries:Nancy Atkin, MAPW Executive Officer 03 8344 1637
http://paxchristi-oz.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html
LINK 3 - our Federal Government agenda as reported in The Age newspaper:
Defence wants limit on banned bombs
Tom Hyland, International Editor,The Age, May 27, 2007
Defence Force seeks deadly cluster bombs
THE Federal Government wants to narrow the terms of a proposed international treaty banning cluster bombs, to exclude new weapons being sought by the Australian Defence Force.
While the Government says it wants to drastically reduce the number of cluster bombs in world arsenals, it has used international talks to argue that the weapons being obtained by the ADF should not be included in the ban.
The ADF says the new weapons have a self-destruct capability, minimising the risk to civilians from unexploded cluster munitions.
Campaigners for a total ban on the weapons say the Australian move is "disastrous", given the failure rate of cluster bombs, even if fitted with a self-destruct device.
Cluster bombs scatter sub-munitions or "bomblets". Many do not explode until disturbed after a conflict has ended, putting civilians at risk.
The ADF's armoury does not include cluster munitions. But The Sunday Age revealed last week it is obtaining cluster bombs for use against armoured vehicles...http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/defence-wants-limit-on-banned-bombs/2007/05/26/1179601735087.html
LINK4 - a good commentary by Rev Rod Benson, founding Director of the Centre for Christian Ethics at Morling College, Sydney on our Federal Government's justification:
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is reported to be acquiring high-precision and self-destructing cluster bombs for use against armoured vehicles. The supplier, Israel Military Industries, claimed they were "safer than others" and had been used to the "utmost satisfaction of its users".
The ADF claims a ban could leave Australian troops open to prosecution while serving with allies who have used the bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Defence Department claims the Bill would "put Australia at a serious military disadvantage in future conflicts, which would be detrimental to our national interest".
These claims appear to contradict the Government's support at a conference in Lima, Peru, in May for a new international treaty to ban cluster munitions. Yet Australia's main contribution to the deliberations was to call for an exclusion of weapons with a self-destruct mechanism in an apparent attempt to protect the interests of the ADF.
Perhaps the mantra of "the national interest" has itself become a handicap to the advocacy of reasonable notions of justice and compassion in Australia. The term is widely used by politicians and government departments as shorthand for economic self-interest and political expediency...
Why is the killing of civilians in our national interest?
Human Rights Watch has called for a global moratorium on use of cluster bombs because they have been shown to cause unacceptable civilian casualties both during and after conflict. Cluster bombs have a wide dispersal pattern and cannot be targeted precisely, making them especially dangerous when used near civilian areas. Cluster bombs are usually used in very large numbers and have a high initial failure rate which results in numerous explosive "duds" that pose the same post-conflict problem as antipersonnel landmines.
Australia once led the world in banning the use of land mines.
The Australian Government is firmly committed to the goal of a comprehensive and lasting solution to the global landmines problem. Australia was one of the original signatories of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction - also known as the Ottawa Convention, or Mine-Ban Convention - when it was opened for signature in December 1997.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:EnRQrwh6N2wJ:webdiary.com.au/cms/%3Fq%3Dnode/1922+cluster+bombs+international+conference+peru+may+2007+%22australian+federal+government%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1
LINK5 - further commentary by Rev. Benson speaking on ABC: Cluster bombs and Australia's national interest
By Rev Rod Benson
Posted Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:49am AEST Updated Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:55am AEST
Related Link: Cluster bombs report
As the Australian Government engages in international talks aimed at securing a global treaty banning cluster bombs, the Defence Department claims that limiting Australia's capacity to acquire the weapons is "detrimental to our national interest".
Cluster bombs are artillery shells or rockets which open to ejects multiple smaller munitions. They are used primarily to kill enemy infantry but there are many additional uses.
Cluster bombs pose an immediate and long-term threat to civilians. They typically affect a wide area and may lie dormant for long periods. The Australian Red Cross estimates that up to 40 per cent of cluster bomblets fail to detonate on impact. Ninety-eight per cent of Handicap International's registered cluster munitions casualties are civilians. Many of these are children.
Unexploded ordnance can also create long-term social and economic problems for countries attempting to recover from war. Countries affected include Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Vietnam and Laos.
Australia destroyed its cluster munitions purchased before 1990, and has undertaken not to use them in armed conflict. Last month Australian Red Cross CEO, Robert Tickner, urged the Government to support a ban on cluster munitions, based in part on his experience of the devastation they cause.
But Australian political and military leaders are moving in the opposite direction. In December 2006 Senator Lyn Allison introduced a private members bill aimed at prohibiting the use, manufacture and possession of cluster munitions. This triggered a Senate Committee inquiry which tabled its recommendations on 31 May. According to Senator Allison, the Committee ignored 80 per cent of submissions supporting a ban or more stringent regulation, and "gave the cluster bombs the green light".
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is reported to be acquiring high-precision and self-destructing cluster bombs for use against armoured vehicles. The supplier, Israel Military Industries, claimed they were "safer than others" and had been used to the "utmost satisfaction of its users".
The ADF claims a ban could leave Australian troops open to prosecution while serving with allies who have used the bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Defence Department claims the Bill would "put Australia at a serious military disadvantage in future conflicts, which would be detrimental to our national interest".
These claims appear to contradict the Government's support at a conference in Lima, Peru, in May for a new international treaty to ban cluster munitions. Yet Australia's main contribution to the deliberations was to call for an exclusion of weapons with a self-destruct mechanism in an apparent attempt to protect the interests of the ADF.
Perhaps the mantra of "the national interest" has itself become a handicap to the advocacy of reasonable notions of justice and compassion in Australia. The term is widely used by politicians and government departments as shorthand for economic self-interest and political expediency.
Indeed, it is debatable whether there is any area of Australian public life in which the national interest could not be invoked by political pragmatists, or economic fundamentalists, to justify what a majority of the population regards as injustice.
Rev Rod Benson is founding Director of the Centre for Christian Ethics at Morling College, Sydney.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/25/1960611.htm
LINK 6 - the Federal Government's shrinking support for landmine clearance:
Expenditure in previous years
AusAID Assistance for Mine Action Programs (AUD amounts).*
Financial Years 1995/96 – 2002/03
(Australia's financial year = 1 July to 30 June)
1995-1996 A$7.5 million
1996-1997 A$7.5 million
1997-1998 A$9.9
1998-1999 A$11.1
1999-2000 A$12.4
2000-2001 A$12.6
2001-2002 A$12.5 million
2002-2003 A$14.5 million
2003-2004 A$8.2 million
* Mine Action Expenditure - Notional Cash Flow and Commitments, AusAID Assistance for Mine Action Programs, January 1996 to December 2005,” 5 November 2001 and 27 March 2002; email from Derek Taylor, Humanitarian & Emergencies Section, AUSAID, 22 July 2002.
http://www.dfat.gov.au/landmines/index.html
LINK 7 The Democrats and the Greens look to clarify Australia's stance on cluster bombs : Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006
31 May 2007
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/FADT_CTTE/cluster_bill_2006/report/b02.htm
Post a Comment