John Zarocostas/Human Rights Tribune – Not to be confused with 1993 Oslo accord between Israel and the Palestinians, the Oslo process on munitions, spearheaded by Norway, was launched in February 2007 by 46 governments to broker a legally binding accord to prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable human suffering.

"I think there will be a positive outcome in Dublin," said an ambassador from a European country, who spoke to HRT shortly before departing for the Dublin talks on the condition of non-attribution.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is supporting a "strong treaty" that would prohibit immediately cluster weapons which are inaccurate or unreliable, said Peter Herby, chief of ICRC’s arms control unit in Geneva.

Cluster munitions are bombs that are designed to come apart near ground level and dispense many smaller ‘bomblets’. However, some bomblets to not explode until years later, when they kill or maim people who unwittingly step on them.

"Cluster munitions are weapons that never stops killing," ICRC President Jacob Kellenberger , said in a statement issued in Geneva last week.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been highly critical of clusters and last November told an arms control session in Geneva, "The atrocious, inhumane impact of cluster munitions requires action… their inherent inaccuracy and their frequent malfunctioning make them particularly indiscriminate both at the time of use and long after conflicts have ended."

Moreover, a report by the UN Development Program (UNDP), ‘Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Our chance to protect civilians’, concludes that one-third of all reported cluster bomb casualties are children. According to UNDP, globally, cluster munitions have caused over 13,000 confirmed injuries and deaths, the vast majority of which are concentrated in five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon and Vietnam.

Munitions experts with advocacy groups estimate that at least 90% of cluster munitions victims have been civilians and they also highlight that the failure rate of the weapons is 10% or higher.

"We are confident that governments will make the right decision and adopt a ban with no exceptions, no loopholes and no delays. This is what is needed to do justice to the victims of this weapon,” said Thomas Nash, coordinator of the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), speaking in Dublin.

Contrary to the ban advocated by the CMC, an umbrella group that represents 250 advocacy groups in 60 countries, some western powers such as France, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan, are trying to exclude certain cluster systems from coverage. According to diplomats they are also seeking the right to deploy some of the systems that might become prohibited to be phased-out over a specified time period.

Another issue still pending is and what would the Oslo signatories do in situations where they are in a military alliance such as NATO where some partners, not party to Oslo, might deploy clusters that may be prohibited by the accord, known as "interoperability" in military jargon.

The Oslo Process does not include major powers such as the US, China or Russia, but has generated broad support worldwide especially after the widespread use of clusters by Israel again spotlighted the weapon’s devastation in its attack on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Asked about the Dublin talks, which are being held outside the UN sponsored Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), a senior US official said "we have no intention to participate," adding that, "we do not accept for a moment that the only game in town is the Oslo process."