ACTION ALERT: Sign the People's Treaty to help urge Canada to turn promises into a reality and sign the cluster bomb ban!

Just 11 days before a groundbreaking new treaty banning cluster bombs opens for signature in Oslo, Canada has still not announced that it intends to sign the treaty on December 3. Let them know you support a ban on cluster munitions by signing the People’s Treaty: http://www.minesactioncanada.org/peoples_treaty

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was negotiated and adopted in Dublin in May 2008, bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and places obligations on countries to clear affected areas, assist victims and destroy stockpiles. It is the most significant treaty of its kind since the anti-personnel landmines ban in 1997. Canada led the world Mine Ban Treaty negotiations, and today, we need to again demand that our government takes strong action against an indiscriminate weapon.

Cluster bombs are designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions and saturating an area that can be the size of several football fields. Across this area there is an indiscriminate risk to civilians and soldiers alike. As so many of the submunitions fail to explode as they are supposed to, huge quantities are left on the ground and, like landmines, remain a fatal threat to anyone in the area long after a conflict ends. The unexploded submunitions kill and injure people trying to rebuild their lives after conflict.

There are even more ways you can take action to stop the unacceptable harm to civilians caused by cluster bombs:

• Send this appeal to your friends, family and social networking groups. Anyone can sign the People’s Treaty and everyone should! Make your signature count by posting a link to the site on your Facebook, MySpace or other social networking page or on your blog. Include a link to this short animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNFGBeIsS-I
• Encourage Community Leaders to sign the People’s Treaty. Write to leaders of your community and ask that they demonstrate their support for a ban on cluster bombs. Community leaders can do this by adding their name to the petition with a photograph and a quote. We are encouraging members of parliament, mayors, faith leaders, celebrities and other public figures to sign up. Download a template letter from the “People’s Treaty” section and write to them asking them to support a ban on cluster bombs. 
• Write to your local newspaper or post on your blog. Tell readers why it is important that your government bans cluster bombs by signing the treaty this December. Need inspiration? Download a sample article from the “Resources” section of the People’s Treaty website and personalise it.
• Contact pt@minesactioncanada.org about more ways you can get involved in the People’s Treaty campaign!
  

 

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