Japan, along with 110 other countries, has adopted a landmark convention in Dublin banning cluster bombs. It is expected to sign the convention in December in Oslo, where talks on the ban started in February 2007.
The convention is an outstanding achievement as it immediately bans the use, manufacture, development, and export and import of cluster bombs, although some advanced types of cluster bombs those with capabilities that include singling out a target, and have built-in measures that defuse duds are exempt. Stockpiled cluster bombs must be disposed of within eight years; bomblets remaining in territories must be removed or destroyed within 10 years.
The use of cluster bombs has been condemned because they indiscriminately endanger combatants and civilians alike during conflict and for years after fighting has stopped. It was thought that Japan would not join the convention because of its security ties with the United States, which manufactures and sees utility in cluster bombs. But in a last-minute move that deserves praise, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda decided that Japan should join.