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Churches Praise Government's New Stance on Cluster Munitions
Joint Statement
Posted on Jun 2, 2008
29 May 2008
At talks in Dublin over the last two weeks, governments have drafted the text for a treaty to ban the use of cluster bombs. This week the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has committed the UK to withdrawing the remaining two cluster munitions from its arsenal.
The Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church have for some time campaigned for a full ban on cluster munitions. Today they issued a joint statement welcoming the outcome of the Dublin summit.
Graham Sparkes, Head of Faith & Unity, the Baptist Union of Great Britain says; “the churches have been calling for such a treaty for a long time. Cluster bombs kill indiscriminately and continue to do so long after fighting has stopped, harming those who are already living in a vulnerable situation following the conflict.”
In the two months after the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on average three civilians were killed every day by unexploded cluster bombs. One third of these deaths were children.
Simon Loveitt, the United Reformed Church’s Spokesperson on Public Issues, says; “The agreement in Dublin offers hope for a future without such weapons and the chance to offer improved protection for civilians during and after conflict. In the past, the UK has been a significant user of cluster munitions. The UK Government’s support for a complete ban is therefore particularly important."
However, Steve Hucklesby, Methodist Secretary for International Affairs, warns that there is still much to be done; “The work is not yet finished. The strength of this treaty will largely depend on encouraging more governments to support it and take the important steps to phase out the stockpiling and use of these weapons.”
Information about the Churches’ campaign on cluster bombs can be found at:
www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/clustermunitions
ENDS
Notes
1. Cluster bombs are air or ground launched devices that scatter smaller bombs (or submunitions) over a large area. The submunitions that fail to explode pose a unique threat to civilians. These unexploded bombs effectively create minefields and maim and kill children or adults who disturb them later on.
2. For more information about the Joint Public Issues Team, visit http://www.jointpublicissues.org.uk/.
The Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) is the Baptist family in England and Wales (there is also the Baptist Union of Wales). It is made up of churches, regional associations, the national resource centre and Baptist colleges. The Union works with others in mission locally, regionally and internationally. There are some 150,000 members of Baptist churches associated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain. www.baptist.org.uk.
The Methodist Church has about 295,000 members and 800,000 people are connected with the Church. It has about 5,800 churches in Great Britain, and also maintains links with other Methodist churches totalling a worldwide membership of 70 million. http://www.methodist.org.uk/.
The United Reformed Church comprises one hundred thousand people in 1600 congregations. It has brought together English Presbyterians, English, Welsh and Scottish Congregationalists and members of the Churches of Christ. Worldwide, more than 70 million Christians are members of the Reformed family of churches, the largest Protestant tradition. The name ‘Reformed’ is used because the churches began to emerge with reform movements in the sixteenth century. http://www.urc.org.uk/.
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The three denominations are the largest of the Free Churches in Britain.
The Joint Public Issues Team, created in September 2006, combines the expertise of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church in the area of public issues. Through close collaboration, the churches aim to increase the effectiveness of their engagement in public life and parliamentary affairs.
For more information contact Anna Drew.
Anna Drew
Media and Information Assistant
Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR
Tel 020 7467 5191 Fax 020 7467 5229
Email drewa@methodistchurch.org.uk
Toby Scott
Media Relations Officer
Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR
Tel 020 7467 5221 Fax 020 7467 5229 Mobile/Out of hours 07881 783 812
Email scottt@methodistchurch.org.uk
