Thailand 'used cluster munitions'

Thailand used cluster bombs on Cambodian territory in February in contravention of an international agreement banning their use, a campaigning body said Wednesday.

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) claimed Thailand had confirmed the findings of CMC officials at a meeting on Tuesday, acknowledging the first known use of such arms since the ban came into force last year.
Their use killed two people, said the CMC - an umbrella body for non-government organisations which played a major role in getting a wide range of countries to sign up to a ban. The Thai army has constantly denied using cluster bombs during the border clashes with Cambodia.

Acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn Wednesday said the Thai army had explained to the public that the munitions it had used to attack Cambodian soldiers were not considered the same type of cluster munitions that the CMC mentioned.

Mr Panitan said in fact there were several types of cluster munitions being used in several countries but it depends on how each army categorises them.


He said the Thai army used Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM) which is artillery designed to attack missiles and Thailand does not consider it a cluster bomb.
"It's appalling that any country would resort to using cluster munitions after the international community banned them," said Laura Cheeseman, director of the CMC.

"Thailand has been a leader in the global ban on anti-personnel mines, and it is unconscionable that it used banned weapons that indiscriminately kill and injure civilians in a similar manner." Cambodia and Thailand are not among the 108 countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but each has joined a 1997 landmine ban treaty.

The convention, under which signatories pledge to ban production, stockpiling and use of cluster weapons, went into force in August last year.

"These cluster munitions have already robbed two men of their lives, two more have lost their arms and a further five were injured," said Sister Denise Coghlan, a CMC leader.

"The area must be cleared immediately to prevent more suffering. Cambodia must make every effort to ensure the safety of civilians." (Bangkok Post, Agencies)

Bangkok Post