Unacceptable Harm 40 Years of Cluster Munitions

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Unacceptable Harm40 Years of Cluster Munitions

• Photographs by Alison Locke

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• In 2003, Suraj lost his legs after
• discovering a cluster bomblet
• that had been dropped in
• 2001. Suraj, his 13 year old
• brother and two cousins were
• walking in a park when the
• bomb went off. Surajs cousin
• was killed and the other three
• suffered severe injuries.

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• Afghan high school
• student Rafeullah was
• 11 when he and his
• brother found a cluster
• bomblet they mistook for
• a toy. His brother hit it
• with a stick and passed it
• to Rafeullah. It blew off his
• right hand.

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• Yohansu Gebra, 50, was one of
• many people who rushed to
• help victims at a cluster bomb
• strike on a primary school in
• 1998. She lost her leg. A
• widow, she can barely support
• her two young children, who
• often only eat once a day.

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• In 1998 Phouvieng was injured
• after digging up an unexploded
• cluster bomblet near his
• home. Whilst Phouvieng was
• in hospital, his eldest
• son died from an illness they
• could not afford to have
• treated.
• The families of cluster bomb
• victims also feel the impact of
• their injuries.

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• Like many children, 11 year old
• Zahra Hussein Soufan was
• attracted to the small size and
• curious shape of the cluster
• bomblet that injured her. In the 6
• months after the August 2006
• ceasefire in Lebanon, around 200
• civilians were killed or injured by
• unexploded cluster bomblets. A
• quarter of civilians injured by
• cluster bombs are children.

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• Zoheir Ali Khoshe lost his hand
• and eye in 1982 whilst fleeing
• a cluster bomb strike on
• Lebanon. Following the attack,
• he built a business thanks to
• financial support from a non
• government organisation. But
• during the 2006 conflict his
• business was forced to close
• and his family now have no
• income.

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• Khamon, 74, was blinded in
• 1965 during a cluster bomb
• strike on Laos. He now needs
• constant assistance from his
• wife and children.
• Disabled cluster bomb
• survivors require immediate
• and long term care which can
• extend to all areas of their
• lives.

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• Armen Mousaelian found a
• cluster bomblet whilst
• shepherding in Nagorno
• Karabakh. Unaware of what it
• was, he tried to open it. It
• blew off his arm and blinded
• him in one eye. Now aged 20
• and the eldest son, he is
• unable to support his family.

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• Mahmad Khudoiev lost his
• leg after a cluster bomb
• strike in Tajikistan, 1993.
• Mahmad was eventually
• able to return to his job as
• a taxi driver after adapting
• his car to be controlled by
• hand.

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• Gharachi Belkher was partially
• blinded in 1983 after picking
• up a cluster bomblet in
• Western Sahara. His eyes
• continued to deteriorate and
• he had no access to medical
• help. Now he is completely
• blind.

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• Village Assistance Clearance
• Operatives in Laos have been
• specifically trained to help
• clear their own community.
• The Cluster Munition
• Convention asserts that
• contaminated land must be
• cleared within 10 years.

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• Prosthetic limbs should be
• replaced about every two
• years. This vital form of
• rehabilitation is not available
• to most cluster bomb survivors
• who need it worldwide.

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• In Laos scrap metal can fetch
• an average price of 1 for five
• kg. Women and children often
• put themselves at risk by
• engaging in scrap metal
• collection. People continue
• this work because they have
• no financial alternatives.

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• Kamsouk was 15 years old
• when he was injured by a
• cluster bomb in Laos. He relies
• on handouts from people in
• his village, as he cannot work
• and his family are unable to
• support an additional adult.

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• Following the ceasefire on 14
• August 2006, the Siklawi family
• returned to find their home in
• south Lebanon destroyed. The
• surrounding land on whichthey
• depended to make their living
• was burnt and littered with
• cluster bombs. There is no
• support for their loss of home
• or livelihood.

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• In 1999, two British Army
• Ghurkha officers and three
• Kosova soldiers were killed
• removing cluster bomblets
• from Orlatt village school in
• Kosovo. It was declared safe
• soon afterwards but recently
• more unexploded bomblets
• have been found.  

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• Dtar lost his arms after finding
• a cluster bomblet whilst fishing
• in Laos. It had been on the
• ground for at least thirty years
• before detonating.  
• Thousands have been maimed
• or killed by cluster bombs,
• either during attacks or in the
• years afterwards.