.- The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported today that Muammar Gadhafi forces have used cluster bombs manufactured in Spain in 2007 in their attacks on residential areas Misrata, east of Tripoli city under heavy bombardment for two days. HRW warned of "grave danger" that such weapons pose to civilian populations and noted that, after investigating several fragments of the bombs, has ruled that it is MAT-120, manufactured by Spanish company Instalaza four years ago, one before Spain to underwrite the international treaty against cluster bombs, said in a statement.
The organization monitors respect for human rights in the world explained in its statement that identified the use of cluster bombs in the current conflict after the bombing of Misrata on Thursday. Specifically the explosion found three such bombs on a residential neighborhood in the city, after some experts to study the wreckage and interviewing witnesses from the attacks of Gadhafi.
The organization has also said that witnesses, especially the two ambulance drivers, who argue that the city had been the scene of attacks with cluster bombs earlier. "It's horrible that Libya use such weapons, especially in a residential area. Pose an enormous risk to civilians both during attacks, by their nature indiscriminate, and afterwards, because they are scattered fragments that remain untapped dangerous, "said the director of the division of HRW dedicated to weapons, Steve Goose.
Most countries have signed the Convention against Cluster Bombs, which became binding international law in August 2010, but Libya has not signed that agreement, according to HRW, recalling that the state used Soviet-made cluster bombs in the 80 the conflict in Chad. As the organization notes, in late 2008, Spain destroyed its stocks of 1,852 projectiles MAT-120, which contained a total of 38.892 ammunition after signing the Convention against Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on June 17, 2009.
Such open arms "in the air and leak 21 munitions over a wide area," said HRW, which details these "disintegrate into fragments at high speed to attack off people and cast metal bullets capable of penetrating armored vehicles. Misrata was today the scene of further attacks by forces loyal to Gadhafi that killed at least 22 people dead and 50 wounded in a bombing that also affected Ghnaimiya City, according to the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.
Since the entry into force of the Convention against Cluster Bombs, the use by Gaddafi of such weapons on Misrata, a city controlled by the Libyan rebels, is the second time is no record of such attacks in the world. HRW details on 6 April this year, Thailand also concluded that this type of ammunition used on the territory of Cambodia during a dispute over the border in February 2011. 
The organization monitors respect for human rights in the world explained in its statement that identified the use of cluster bombs in the current conflict after the bombing of Misrata on Thursday. Specifically the explosion found three such bombs on a residential neighborhood in the city, after some experts to study the wreckage and interviewing witnesses from the attacks of Gadhafi.
The organization has also said that witnesses, especially the two ambulance drivers, who argue that the city had been the scene of attacks with cluster bombs earlier. "It's horrible that Libya use such weapons, especially in a residential area. Pose an enormous risk to civilians both during attacks, by their nature indiscriminate, and afterwards, because they are scattered fragments that remain untapped dangerous, "said the director of the division of HRW dedicated to weapons, Steve Goose.
Most countries have signed the Convention against Cluster Bombs, which became binding international law in August 2010, but Libya has not signed that agreement, according to HRW, recalling that the state used Soviet-made cluster bombs in the 80 the conflict in Chad. As the organization notes, in late 2008, Spain destroyed its stocks of 1,852 projectiles MAT-120, which contained a total of 38.892 ammunition after signing the Convention against Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on June 17, 2009.
Such open arms "in the air and leak 21 munitions over a wide area," said HRW, which details these "disintegrate into fragments at high speed to attack off people and cast metal bullets capable of penetrating armored vehicles. Misrata was today the scene of further attacks by forces loyal to Gadhafi that killed at least 22 people dead and 50 wounded in a bombing that also affected Ghnaimiya City, according to the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.
Since the entry into force of the Convention against Cluster Bombs, the use by Gaddafi of such weapons on Misrata, a city controlled by the Libyan rebels, is the second time is no record of such attacks in the world. HRW details on 6 April this year, Thailand also concluded that this type of ammunition used on the territory of Cambodia during a dispute over the border in February 2011.
- Pro-Gadhafi forces shell western city of Misrata for hours while NATO officials meet (15/04/2011)
- Gaddafi forces attack Misrata (15/04/2011)
- NATO Airstrikes Hit Gadhafi Targets (13/04/2011)
- "Euronews video: Libyan rebels say Gaddafi rockets kill 23 in Misrata" and related posts (15/04/2011)
- Battle for Misrata continues (14/04/2011)
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