The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters submunitions ("bomblets") over an area. Additionally, the Convention establishes a framework to support victim assistance, clearance of contaminated sites, risk reduction education, and stockpile destruction. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin, and was opened for signature on 3 December 2008 in Oslo. It entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states. As of February 2022, a total of 123 states are committed to the goal of the Convention, with 110 states that have ratified it, and 13 states have signed the Convention but not yet ratified it.Countries that ratify the convention will be obliged "never under any circumstances to":
The treaty allows certain types of weapons with submunitions that do not have the indiscriminate area effects or pose the same unexploded ordnance risks as cluster munitions. Permitted weapons must contain fewer than ten submunitions, and each must weigh more than 4 kilograms (8.8 lb), and each submunition must have the capability to detect and engage a single target object and contain electronic self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanisms. Weapons containing submunitions which all individually weigh at least 20 kg (44 lb) are also excluded. A limited number of prohibited weapons and submunitions can be acquired and kept for training in, and development of, detection, clearance and destruction techniques and counter-measures.
2008May, 30
Convention on Cluster Munitions is adopted.
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Events on 2008
- 11Jun
Canadian Indian residential school system
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes a historic official apology to Canada's First Nations in regard to abuses at a Canadian Indian residential school. - 7Aug
South Ossetia
The start of the Russo-Georgian War over the territory of South Ossetia. - 29Sep
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history. - 29Oct
Northwest Airlines
Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to five. - 10Nov
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Over five months after landing on Mars, NASA declares the Phoenix mission concluded after communications with the lander were lost.