No2cluster bombs makers Raytheon at St Athan

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Cluster munitions are weapons of war that have killed and maimed thousands of innocent civilians. To this day their use continues to challenge accepted principles of international humanitarian law.

St Athan military academy is to be run by Raytheon - cluster bomb maker! Say no to Raytheon training young people in Wales.

The wide area effect produced by the hundreds of bomblets dispersed by each weapon cannot be contained and threatens civilians within an area as large as three football fields. When used in the urban areas that characterise modern conflicts, cluster munitions do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. In addition the huge number of bomblets used and the resulting number of explosive remnants of war means that the harm continues long after a conflict. Even when only a small percentage fails, communities face long-term contamination from unexploded ordnance. These weapons must be stopped before conflict zones face another crisis on the scale of landmines.

As the UK maintains stockpiles of cluster munitions, we urge the Welsh Assembly Government to ask the UK government to commit to stop using cluster munitions, to cease any production or transfer of cluster munitions and to move towards the destruction of its stockpiles. We ask you to refuse to engage with companies like Raytheon who make cluster bombs. Like fire bombs and landmines before them, cluster munitions must be subject to specific international rules.

While talks on cluster munitions continue, both at the United Nations and within civil society, all ccountries must stop the use of this weapon in order to ensure the protection of civilians in armed conflict.