Rights group urges US Congress to block Pentagon cluster bomb order

WASHINGTON (AFP) Jun 30, 2004
Human Rights Watch urged the US Congress on Tuesday to reject a Pentagon request for thousands of cluster munitions, deemed responsible for many civilian deaths in the invasion of Iraq.

In its budget for fiscal year 2005, the Department of Defense has requested hundreds of millions of dollars to procure cluster bombs -- large armaments that carry dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions.

"The United States should learn a lesson from its recent wars and stop buying cluster munitions, which are guaranteed to kill and maim civilians for years to come," said Bonnie Docherty, a researcher in Human Rights Watch's Arms Division.

"Cluster munitions should not be used as long as they pose grave dangers to civilians during attacks and long afterward," Docherty said.

According to Human Rights Watch, the use of cluster munitions during major hostilities in Iraq in March and April 2003, killed more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians.

International human rights groups have urged the US military to refrain from using cluster bombs, which can contain up to 3,000 bomblets, each of which explodes separately.

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