MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - Human Rights Watch (HRW) will be pressing the Ukrainian government to stop using cluster munition on its territory and against its people, Rachel Denber, Deputy Director for the Europe and central Asia division of the organization told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
“Absolutely we will be pressing the Ukrainian government not to use cluster munition, just like we pressed many other governments not to use cluster munition. But particularly in this conflict, it is very important and very urgent,” Denber told RIA Novosti.
“We have a worldwide campaign to stop the use of cluster munition. Unfortunately neither Ukraine, nor Russia has signed the convention.”
HRW posted an official release Monday saying that Ukrainian forces used cluster munitions in populated areas of Donetsk in October. “During a week-long investigation in eastern Ukraine, Human Rights Watch documented widespread use of cluster munitions in fighting," the release said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry dismissed the findings saying they are not supported by enough facts.
“We did send a letter to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, summarizing our findings about cluster munition. I believe we sent that letter on October 13, we haven’t heard back from them yet,” Rachel Denber told RIA Novosti, pointing out that HRW is “very open to discussing our findings with the Ukrainian government.”
“We made conclusions about the use of clusters and made conclusions about the instances in which the Ukrainian forces used them based on a number of different facts,” Denber said, adding that one was the impact craters that were created by the landing of the cluster of munitions.
The impact craters, created following the landing of the cluster of munitions, form “a very distinctive, specific kind of pattern,” she noted. “We also looked at remnants from some rockets and some munitions themselves that our team found on the ground.”
HRW also listened to the testimony of the witnesses, “what they heard and what they saw.”
“A combination of all of those facts pointed to the cluster of munitions, the rockets, coming in from the direction from where Ukrainian forces were stationed, were deployed,” Denber stressed.
Cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of submunitions. After a rocket or a bomb of this type is launched a container opens up and disperses submunitions, making them spread over a wide area and endangering anyone in vicinity. So far, 114 countries have joined the treaty, banning cluster munitions although Ukraine has not joined.
