Supplying of cluster munitions to Ukraine by the US condemned by the Derry Anti War Coalition

The supplying of cluster munitions to Ukraine by the US Biden Administration has been condemned by the Derry Anti War Coalition.

Davy McAuley, a spokesperson for the group said he had witnessed at first hand the "devastation" caused by these type of weapons.

he added: "Derry Anti War Coalition visited Lebanon twice after the Israeli invasion of 2006. In the last days of this conflict Israel deployed thousands of cluster bombs. 

"These bombs are still going off on an almost daily basis. We saw children with missing limbs. Swathes of agricultural land left unusable because it had become minefields. 

"Years after a conflict has appeared to end, cluster munitions continue to act as collective punishment against civilian populations."

Derry Anti War Coalition, along with many groups, has campaigned for an international ban on cluster munitions. 

Davy McAuley addded: "The world acted against the indiscriminate land mining of civilians by signing the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. 

"An international framework that comprehensively prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions, as well as assistance with any of these banned activities.

"The Convention requires that stockpiled cluster munitions be destroyed within eight years. The final draft of the Convention was adopted by 107 States in Dublin, Ireland on May 30, 2008."

Mr McAuley said the supply of these weapons made President Biden a "war criminal".

"Months ago Biden came to these shores to celebrate our peace. Local politicians fawned over him in a most grotesque manner 

"How can a man who supplies such cruel, prohibited weaponry have the brass neck to associate himself with peace? 

"The local politicians who fell at his feet should be roundly condemning him and the actions of his Government. 

"Amnesty International have also condemned the Biden Administration for supplying cluster munitions. Cluster bombs are inherently indiscriminate weapons, and their deployment in residential areas is absolutely appalling and unacceptable. As fighting continues to escalate, civilians must be protected, not deliberately targeted or recklessly endangered.”

The Derry Anti War Coalition spokesperson also hit out at those who claim that the supply of these weapons will bring a quicker conclusion to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

He added: "The only people who will be hurt and killed by these are civilians. There use will not bring about a swifter conclusion. 50 years on people are still being injured by cluster munitions in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. 

"You can't put a fire out with petrol. It's time to talk peace and stop arms sales. "