Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-07-07-Speech-3-512"
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"en.20100707.33.3-512"2
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"Madam President, cluster bombs have killed and injured thousands of civilians during the last 40 years and sadly continue to do so today. We must remember that a third of all recorded cluster munitions casualties are children. Take the case of a Vietnamese girl helping her father with the gardening one day. She was the victim of a cluster bomb and lost both her legs. The tragedy is that she was considered lucky: four out of ten cluster bomb accidents result in death.
After years of campaigning, we finally now have a convention which can help to deliver change. It is absolutely vital, first and foremost, that all EU Member States sign and ratify the convention as a matter of urgency. Sadly, as Mrs Gomes says and as this resolution states, only 11 Member States have ratified the convention so far.
As we move towards the entry into force of this convention on 1 August, I would like to see a concerted effort by Parliament and the Commission to convince all EU Member States to sign and ratify it. EU Member States that have signed should work quickly to put into place national legislation to implement it and destroy their stockpiles, as Spain has already done.
In 2002, I was Parliament’s rapporteur for its report on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in 2006. The EU will soon sign this landmark convention. It will be a total contradiction if we then failed to take action on cluster bombs. Looking to the future, it is important as well that the Commission and the Council include a ban on cluster munitions in a standard clause in agreements with third countries. I would like to hear the High Representative’s plans to take this forward.
The convention also establishes a new humanitarian standard for the assistance of victims in Article 5, calling for guidelines and good practice, including in the areas of medical care, rehabilitation and psychological support. Also important, as the High Representative has mentioned, is the clearance of the millions of unexploded cluster munition remnants that are left behind after conflicts. Article 6 of the convention calls for each country to provide assistance for clearance and destruction of cluster munition remnants and information concerning various means and technologies related to the clearance of those munitions.
We must do all we can to save the lives of thousands who have yet to be killed and injured and to help those who have been. We know enough about the horrific effects of these weapons to know that even those who have not signed the convention should never ever use them again. I urge you all to support this resolution."@en1
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