Cluster Bomb Olympics will raise awareness, promote global cluster bomb ban
Ralph Nader, human rights advocates, and others to speak at event
For immediate release: May 16, 2008
Washington, DC... Middle school kids and adults from throughout the Washington, DC area will compete in the 1st Annual Cluster Bomb Olympics this Saturday at the White House Ellipse. Participants will take part in events including “cluster bomb hopscotch” and “bocce bomb” while learning about the threat cluster bombs pose to millions of children around the world.
Ralph Nader will speak at the event, organized by the US Campaign to Ban Landmines. Other speakers include the First Secretary in the Lebanese Embassy, the executive director of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), a Laotian Fulbright Scholar who grew up in a heavily cluster bombed region in Laos, and a physical therapist who has worked with landmine victims in Ethiopia.
Photo opportunities – Adults and middle school aged children playing with the White House as a backdrop, a medal ceremony, and more. Interviews with people from Ethiopia, Laos, and Lebanon with first hand knowledge of the damage done by cluster bombs available for members of the media.
What: 1st (and hopefully last) Annual Cluster Bomb Olympics
Where: Northwest section of the White House Ellipse, near the corner of 17th and E, NW
When: Saturday, May 17, 11am-1pm
Why: To generate public awareness of cluster bombs two days prior to the negotiation of a global cluster bomb ban treaty in Dublin, Ireland on May 19. The U.S. is not among the more than 100 participating governments.
Who: Organized by the US Campaign to Ban Landmines and co-sponsored by Amnesty International, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, CIVIC, Democracy in Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers), Jewish Voice for Peace, Network of Spiritual Progressives, and Veterans for Peace.
The event is open to participation by all ages. Those in attendance can sign a petition urging the Pentagon to stop using cluster bombs, which cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
See a flyer for the event (PDF).
Background
Imagine a scenario in which walking to school, working on the family farm, or playing were deadly activities. That’s the situation faced by millions of school-age children in two dozen countries—the result of cluster bombs used during wars long over.
Cluster bombs leave behind a minefield of unexploded, but still deadly, “dud” submunitions.
The Cluster Bomb Olympics, organized by the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, is intended to draw attention to the perilous conditions under which millions of children live in cluster-bomb affected countries.
Following a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, people in southern Lebanon still face some 800,000 small, deadly bombs in their gardens, school yards, and orchards. More than 300 people—mainly children, farmers and deminers—have been wounded or killed by these small bombs since the war ended.
In Laos, 35 years after the U.S. heavily cluster bombed that country during the Vietnam War, more than 200 people are still killed or wounded each year by cluster submunitions.
Twenty-five other countries are afflicted with this deadly litter. In all cases, the use of these weapons has resulted in more harm to civilians than to soldiers. And in all cases, young people are particularly drawn to these curious looking objects.
For more on cluster bombs: http://www.banclusterbombs.org
####
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) is a coalition of approximately 500 U.S.-based human rights, humanitarian, faith-based, children's, peace, disability, veterans', medical, development, academic, and environmental organizations dedicated to a total ban on antipersonnel landmines. It is one of 90 country campaigns that form the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is the coordinating organization for the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines.
|
