Ukraine accused of using cluster bombs

Ukrainian soldiers patrol near a tent with an electoral poster reading "Vladimir" on October 22, 2014 at Lenin square in Slavyansk. Human Rights Watch has accused Ukrainian government forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine of indiscriminately using cluster munitions, a weapon banned in much of the world. FILE PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Cluster bombs are designed to explode before impact and scatter tiny explosives over a large area.
  • The New York-based watchdog group said it found signs of cluster munitions attacks in more than 12 locations in eastern Ukraine, where more than 3,700 people have been killed in fighting since April.

WASHINGTON
Human Rights Watch has accused Ukrainian government forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine of indiscriminately using cluster munitions, a weapon banned in much of the world.

The group, in a report released Thursday, says Ukraine’s army fired cluster bombs into populated areas and has called on Kiev to sign an international treaty banning their use.

The report details the suspected use of cluster munitions earlier this month in Donetsk, a rebel-held city with a peacetime population of more than one million.

Cluster bombs are designed to explode before impact and scatter tiny explosives over a large area.

“It is shocking to see a weapon that most countries have banned used so extensively in eastern Ukraine,” Mr Mark Hiznay, senior arms researcher at HRW, said in a statement.

“Ukrainian forces should immediately make a commitment to not use cluster munitions and to investigate and hold accountable any personnel responsible for firing cluster munitions into populated areas. Ukraine should accede to the treaty banning their use.”

CLUSTER MUNITIONS
The New York-based watchdog group said it found signs of cluster munitions attacks in more than 12 locations in eastern Ukraine, where more than 3,700 people have been killed in fighting since April.

It said the attacks had killed at least six people and wounded dozens, but that the toll could be higher.

“While it was not possible to conclusively determine responsibility for many of the attacks, the evidence points to Ukrainian government forces’ responsibility for several cluster munitions attacks on Donetsk,” the group said.

HRW said rebels may have used the munitions, too.

The allegations could undermine the fragile cease-fire signed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and pro-Russian rebels in September. It could also jeopardize long-term peace negotiations in the area.

The army’s use of cluster munitions, which shower small bomblets around a large area, could also add credibility to Moscow’s version of the conflict, which is that the Ukrainian national government is engaged in a punitive war against its own citizens.

GAS DISPUTE

Ukrainian military officials have denied the accusations to reporters, while rebels have not commented.

To date, 114 countries have joined the treaty that comprehensively bans cluster munitions because of the danger they pose to civilians, the HRW reports. Ukraine has not joined the treaty.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko’s party on Thursday led the final polls before Sunday’s parliamentary vote held as the country faced an unresolved Russian gas dispute and raging hostilities in the east.

With the elections approaching, Kiev said attacks by the pro-Russian separatists quietened down after Poroshenko spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, but bilateral gas negotiations have apparently stalled.