Canada Opposes US Sending Cluster Munitions to Ukraine

Activists and international delegations stand next to cluster bomb units during a visit to a Lebanese military base at the opening of the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, on Sept. 12, 2011. Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo

Global Affairs has reiterated Canada’s opposition to the use of cluster bombs following the decision by U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on July 7 to send the munitions, which can explode indiscriminately, as part of a new multi-million dollar aid package to Ukraine.

“We do not support the use of cluster munitions and are committed to putting an end to the effects cluster munitions have on civilians - particularly children,” Global Affairs Canada spokesperson John Babcock told The Epoch Times by email on July 8.

“Canada’s longstanding position on cluster munitions is clear and Canadians can be proud of our leadership on this issue,” he said.

Canada is a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and “championed” its adoption, said Mr. Babcock, noting that the convention built on the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines and has been ratified by more than 100 countries.

“Canada is fully compliant with the Convention and we take seriously our obligation under the Convention to encourage its universal adoption,” said Mr. Babcock.

Of the 123 nations that have joined the CCM—an international treaty that “prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster munitions”—Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are not signatories.

Human Rights Bill

Canada also has a private member’s bill currently before the Senate that in part addresses cluster munitions. Bill C-281, the International Human Rights Act, was introduced by Conservative MP Philip Lawrence in June 2022 and received unanimous support in the House of Commons during third reading on June 7 this year.

If passed, the bill would amend the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act, which would prohibit Canadians from working with or investing in individuals known to have used, developed, or transported cluster munitions, explosive submunitions, and explosive bomblets.

“[Cluster] munitions are extremely deadly and non-discriminate pieces of military weapons. What differentiates them from other pieces [of weapons] is they are completely indiscriminate, and they will kill civilians just as soon as they would kill soldiers, children,” said Mr. Lawrence when he introduced the bill on June 13, 2022.

“It’s absolutely incumbent on all of us to advocate and to protect the innocents as we go forward.”

Dormant Bombs

Cluster munitions, also called cluster bombs, were first used in World War II and are containers that can hold from a dozen to as many as 600 explosives, sometimes called bomblets. The munitions can be dropped from aircraft or launched via artillery and missile strikes. When the containers detonate in the air, they break apart and disperse those bomblets across a large area.

While the bomblets are intended to explode when dispersed, many don’t do so but lie dormant while remaining active for years, potentially putting civilians including children at risk when found after the conflict years later. In addition, a high percentage of cluster bombs are not precision-guided but can free-float into areas where civilians are present.

The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor released a report in August 2022 stating that in 2021, 97 percent, or 144, of all 149 casualties from these cluster munition “remnants” were civilians who were either killed or injured. In addition, of all casualties where the age group was known, 90 were children.

Mines Advisory Group (MAG) Technical Field Manager Nick Guest inspects a Cluster Bomb Unit that was dropped by Israeli warplanes during the 34-day-long Hezbollah-Israeli war, in the southern village of Ouazaiyeh, Lebanon, on Nov. 9, 2006. Mohammed Zaatari/Associated Press

‘Right to Self-Defence’

The risk to civilians was acknowledged by the United States on July 7 when the country announced that cluster munitions would be sent to Ukraine.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that while the American government recognizes “cluster munitions create a risk of civilian harm from unexploded ordnance,” there is also a “massive risk of civilian harm if Russian troops and tanks roll over Ukrainian positions and take more Ukrainian territory and subjugate more Ukrainian civilians. Because Ukraine does not have enough artillery.”

Ukraine Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Twitter on July 7 that under the United Nations Charter, Ukraine has “a universal internationally recognised right to self-defence and thus we have been officially requesting these types of munitions for a long time.”

He alleged that Russian has been “indiscriminately using cluster munitions from day 1.”

“Our position is simple - we need to liberate our temporarily occupied territories and save the lives of our people. For this we need to inflict losses on the enemy - war criminals, rapists and looters - who are occupying our territories,” Mr. Reznikov wrote.

“The more losses we inflict on them the more lives of Ukrainian people we will be able to save,“ he added. ”This is why we will continue to do this using all lethal weapons available to us.”

He also affirmed that “Ukraine will use these munitions only for the de-occupation of our internationally recognized territories. These munitions will not be used on the officially recognized territory of russia.”

Opposition

Russian’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the U.S. decision to send cluster munitions on July 8, according to a Reuters report.

“Another ‘wonder weapon,’ which Washington and Kyiv are counting on without considering its grave consequences, will in no way affect the course of the special military operation, the goals and objectives of which will be fully achieved,” said Ms. Zakharova.

Other countries and major U.S. allies have criticized or announced opposition to the U.S. decision to supply cluster bombs to Ukraine, including Spain, Britain, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, with some citing concern of the danger to civilians and others stating it violates international treaties.

On June 16, a coalition of 38 human relief organizations—including Amnesty International USA, Physicians for Human Rights, UNICEF USA, and Oxfam America—sent a letter to Biden hoping to prevent the U.S. government from being “complicit in the use of these indiscriminate weapons.”

Andrew Chen, Noe Chartier, Naveen Athrappully, and Ross Muscato contributed to this report.