9. Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Labour—Wellington Central) Link to this
to the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control
Will New Zealand provide assistance with the clearance of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Lebanon following the recent conflict there?
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control) Link to this
Yes. New Zealand has been requested by the United Nations Mine Action Service to deploy a New Zealand Defence Force major to work in the mine and unexploded ordnance clearance area. That officer is currently in Beirut coordinating action to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance. That, clearly, is a critical job for the prevention of the further loss of human life, and for facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid. A New Zealander, David Shearer, has also been appointed as the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.
Is the Government concerned that cluster bombs have been used in the conflict, and will it be registering its opposition to the use of such weapons?
Yes, New Zealand has consistently expressed its concern about the use of cluster bombs in urban and civilian areas because of the indiscriminate casualties it causes amongst the civilian population. We express that concern through the inhumane weapons convention, and the review conference will take place in November. We have also registered our concern in New York with the United Nations Security Council, and in Geneva with the Human Rights Council, condemning actions that target civilians, and we have supported the Secretary-General’s call for investigation into violations of international humanitarian law.
Keith LockeWill the Minister go beyond his statement just made, expressing concern about the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions, and publicly advocate a universal ban on cluster munitions?
However desirable a universal ban may be, there is no prospect that that will get through the inhumane weapons convention. We will go for what we realistically think we can achieve, and, in particular, that will target areas such as the fact that many of the cluster bombs do not explode on impact, and that they should have a self-destruct mechanism. That is one of the things we think we can gain considerable international support for. Obviously, we will be working with other like-minded countries to prevent the use of cluster munitions in civilian areas, such as has been the case in the Lebanon where most of the casualties have been civilian, not military.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I am not sure the Minister entirely addressed the question. Although he did talk about some of the practical steps New Zealand is proposing, he did not really answer the question of whether New Zealand in principle supported a universal ban on cluster munitions.
Madam SPEAKERThe Minister did at some length address the question. Obviously, when a question contains several thoughts, as members know happens with supplementary questions, the Minister is required to answer only one, but I see the Minister is anxious to elaborate.
Just to remind the member, I started by answering his question directly, saying that no matter how desirable it was to have an outright ban, that was unlikely to be achieved. Therefore, New Zealand, in its usual tradition, will go for objectives that it thinks will take the world forward and that it can achieve.
The first problem I have referred to already—that is, these cluster munitions will have the greatest effect on civilians when they are used in urban areas, as they have been. Secondly, the difficulty we have with cluster munitions is that about 10 percent of them do not actually explode on the ground on impact. Therefore, what happens is that these cluster munitions, which are about the size of a tennis ball or a Coke can, will lie on the ground. They will be picked up and played with by kids. The main casualties are kids and, 25 years after they were first used in the Lebanon back in the late 1970s and the 1980s, there are still fatalities being caused amongst the civilian population by these weapons. Now they have a whole new generation of weapons left on the ground by the latest conflict, which will continue to kill kids and unarmed civilians.