Cluster bombs are canisters containing up to several hundred bomblets, which spread over a large area once dropped or fired. Millions of bomblets were dropped during the recent conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, killing and maiming civilians. Cluster bombs violate the Geneva Conventions, as they affect civilians and military forces indiscriminately. Cluster bombs which do not explode on impact effectively pose the same threat as landmines. They can explode at any time, killing and maiming sometimes long after a conflict has ended.

Numerous countries, including France, continue to produce, use and export cluster bombs. Faced by the current and potential scale of the damage, it is urgent that international humanitarian law is enforced now.