Right to Life

Article 3 of the UDHR says that "everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person."

This article touches a couple of controversial issues such as abortion and the death penalty. I don't particularly like either of those things, but I'm going to put them aside and instead talk a bit about weapons and, more specifically, civilian deaths in times of war.

Civilian deaths can seem inevitable in times of war, but that does not mean that we should not do everything possible to reduce and altogether prevent civilian deaths.  This is a way of protecting the right to life of innocent people.

On Wednesday, the Convention on Cluster Munitions opened for signing. The treaty will save thousands of innocent lives by banning the use of cluster bombs. Cluster bombs release several bomblets that often go unexploded, and are thereby able to kill or seriously injure civilians long after a conflict has ended. The group Handicap International says 98 percent of cluster bomb victims are civilians, and 27 percent are children. I'd also like to note that it is pretty expensive to find and remove them after they've been dropped.

The Bush administration has not signed on. China, Russia, and Israel are also opposed to the treaty. Happily, Canada signed the treaty early Wednesday morning. I have written to both President Bush and President-elect Obama as well as my local representatives to express concern for the lack of participation on the part of the US.