Debate with Werner Bauwens (Special envoy for disarmament of the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs), Raed Mokaled from Lebanon, (victim of cluster munitions and ban advocate) and Stan Brabant (Handicap International). MO* journalist, Kristof Clerix moderated this debate.
(recorderd 09.12.08 | 20.00 > 21.30 deBuren, Leopoldstraat 6, 1000 Brussels)
Cluster bomb
Cluster submunition
(c) Tim Dirven, Laos, 2008
In Laos, collecting scrap metal can be a way of making some money in order to help your family survive. But over there, that metal is usually found on unexploded ordnance (UXO) that has been contaminating the country since the end of the Viet Nam War at the beginning of the 70’s.
September 22. Tim Dirven and I have been in Laos for a week now. Our work is to gather photos and statements on the cluster munitions issue. Today, we are meeting a scrap metal broker on the outskirts of Xepon. Handicap International’s office is located in this little city of Nong District. This office is used as headquarters for the teams working on reducing the unexploded ordnance threat projects. As soon as we arrived, members of the team insisted on the problems linked to metal collection. Pethdavahn, coordinator of mine-risk education projects, even warned us: “We will go to villages where you might see people carrying a metal detector. If you want to follow them, you must be very careful. If they happen to find something, you cannot stay with them. It’s far too dangerous.” A warning that gives you the shivers. Yet, it’s a common danger for many Laotians of this district. And unfortunately, of many others too. (more…)
(c) Gael Turine,VU, Colombia, 2008
Eli is someone who likes working, and he is naturally curious. “I like being busy and I have always worked,” he says proudly. Consequently, he always had many jobs of various kinds. At 28, he was employed in a gold mine in the Piamonte region. The mining company is located in a place where armed conflict between the paramilitary and the guerrilla fighters is a constant presence. The riches in the soil attract both groups, who seek to control them. (more…)
Laos,Tim Dirven 2008
One might be forgiven for thinking that it is a man’s job to clear up mines and unexploded ordinance, but several women are involved in these activities in Laos. One of them has even been admitted to the highly restricted club of level 4 EOD technicians, the highest ranking in the country. Handicap International mine clearance teams also boast a female component (five), not to mention the medical staff, including 26-year-old Many-Am Keanghouapa.
The sun is blazing down; the atmosphere is moist and clammy. The monsoon season is drawing to a close. Drizzle is falling on the field where the explosive ordnance disposal team is operating. A slight figure straightens up and mops her brow. This is Many-Am. (more…)
Raed Mokaled and his son
The Ban Advocates are a group of women and men from diverse cluster munitions affected communities. The Ban Advocates have experienced the violence, exclusion and poverty caused by those indiscriminate weapons. They advocate for a ban on cluster munitions and the full application of the rights of survivors and affected communities. The Ban Advocates are carefully following the negotiations of a treaty to ban cluster bombs through what is known as the “Oslo Process.” Part of their mission is for ensuring that a cluster munitions treaty document will be able to concretely improve the lives of people whose suffering has been caused by cluster munitions.
John Vink/Magnum, Cambodia 2008
For young people looking after livestock, the days are sometimes monotonous. Finding unknown objects sometimes helps break the routine. But for Buy and his companions, the discovery of a rocket was what wrecked their lives. Now, with suitable protheses, Buy has been able to resume his activities. But he will never be able to be a farmer and work like the others.
(c) Gaël Turine/VU, Ethiopia 2008
On 5 June 1998, at the time of the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Ayder School in the town of Mekele was bombarded. Planes flew over twice, dropping cluster bombs directly on the school and its vicinity. They killed 53 and wounded 158.
Mekele, capital of Tigray, was a small town like any other until the fatal day of 5 June 1998. On that day, everyone was busy with their usual activities — parents were tending cattle, women were working at home. At the school that had been recently inaugurated, the children were working on their lessons. The school day was almost over - some pupils were already on the way home, when all of a sudden hell broke loose: planes were dropping cluster bombs on the school. Terrified children ran out while parents ran to see what was happening. Shortly afterwards, the planes passed overhead again, this time hitting the adults who had come to help their children.
Aynalem Zenebe, who is now 18, was a little girl of seven at the time. She was going home from school when cluster bombs exploded in her path. She was seriously injured. One of her legs had to be amputated. “I lost consciousness“, she remembers “I was told that someone took me to Mekele Hospital. I stayed there for five months before being transferred to Addis Ababa Hospital“. (more…)
