The Ban Bus

The sleep of the dead lasted till five am when I decided I should be in Australia again and woke up. No problem as the Norwegian Peoples Aid survey team would arrive soon. I think the greatest breaker of jetlag is to stay up, eat and drink then get to work at full speed.

The team arrived at eight and they were the usual band of rough diamonds that I’ve spent so much of my live with. Goran, Mirko and Miroslav all had a tale to tell as anyone who has lived in the Balkans these past years does. As professionals in the world of guns and bombs they stand head and shoulders above most. What I really admire in this potentially dangerous occupation is precision calmness. Know what to do and do what you know. No fear but no risks either. Get in, get it done and get out.

Driving out of Belgrade we headed south on the road to Nis. Nis is an episode that NATO would rather forget as they bombed the town in 1999 and killed and injured many civilians. It was a monumental mess up. They bombed the hospital, a school and the market place then tried to fob it off as collateral damage. Collateral damage is when your share price falls and not when you kill and maim innocents. We went to the various locations and the question in my mind was what direction were the plans flying. This can always be seen by the strike direction. The target in the area was the airport which was quite a way away. Maybe it was on line with the airport and either an over or under shoot. That philosophy evaporated as the directions did not line up with the airport so you can only put it down to stupidity, bad planning and incompetence. That may sound hard but welcome to the military. The words military and intelligence should never be in the same sentence.

This kind of situation is quite normal in war. Poor or rushed targeting, not following instructions, scared under fire are just a few of the factors that create these monumental screw ups. What I wonder is how the pilot who dropped them feels. Can he just strike them off as an occupational hazard or does he have nightmares from being an aerial mass murderer. Is it really acceptable to do this and hold no responsibility? Despite the protection of rules of engagement and so called military law, murder is murder. The pilot is a murderer, the planners are murderers, the politicians and diplomats who condone this are murderers.

I hope the pilot who did this never sleeps again. He should come to Nis and look in the hospital at the photos on the wall from that hideous day. The car park was on fire and dead and wounded were strewn about. Doctors with stunned looks ran for the car park and were trying the impossible with nothing at all. Men bleeding on the floor and a doctor trying to stem the bleeding with compression while another looks at the camera with that look of why, a female doctor and patient in an embrace with blood streaming out of the girls thigh. Here is your collateral damage, look on and soak it up.

As I look at my own body I realise it’s all I have. One life, one set of limbs, for one time only. I am not a statistic and certainly not collateral. This is the same for us all and if the military feel otherwise then feel free to commit ritual suicide and help the rest of us to a more peaceful world. If you think I sound angry then you would be right. Try watching someone die in front of you, it’s motivating.

We went to the other sites that were bombed around town. A primary school, a market and suburban streets, an apartment block area and not one military target amongst them. Disbelief is all that crosses my mind here and I want to get out and take some air. General Wesley Clarke was the Supreme NATO Commander then. I wonder if any pang of conscience disturbs him at night.

I can’t help but feel that when something like this happens in the west it’s a massive issue, outrage and act of terrorism but here the language is softened. If you lived in Nis and were bombed as a civilian target would you not feel that this was your local September 11?

We drive out of town and head south to the border areas. This is where the games begin. The borders were a mass of military activity on both sides in 1999 and 2000 and took a hammering as a result. The problem now is that these areas have never really been cleared. Just after the bombing the army walked through this area and did as much surface clearance and demolition of any dangerous objects as they could find. That’s well and good in the short term but it’s not a full clearance, as there are those bomblets that bashed into the ground or those that were hung up in trees. These are coming to light now and the repetitious story of shepherds and kids who walk these hills and find these interesting yellow canisters are becoming too frequent. The tale as to what happened has to be pieced together from the remains of their shattered bodies as rarely are there any survivors.

We pull off the main road and head up a dirt track to an area that Goran was surveying. The newly erected red “Danger” signs with the skull and cross bones had been smashed off their pickets and pieces of them littered the ground. Just when you get an area identified as dangerous and it takes the smallest step towards being at least identified as dangerous, some moron comes along and smashes it up. Humans! What a weird breed.

A site that has had a surface clearance has no visible evidence of actual bomblets but it does have all the associated pieces that should have been taken away if a full clearance had taken place. The spider cap and container packing are all tell tale signs of possible dangerous areas. The next danger factor is the forest. As far as we can gather the only cleared areas were open farm land so the forest is a really dangerous place. Add to this ten years of fallen leaves and nothing is very obvious. The future of these places now becomes bureaucratic as need versus effect and impact are all weighed against the miniscule budgets that are available for clearance. I know this frustrates the deminers and clearance agencies who just want to fix the problem and pass the land back fully cleared and safe. One suspect site follows another till we head back to Belgrade.

I handed my tattered faceless passport over to the pretty blonde at Belgrade immigration as I entered Serbia and she scowled at the lack of anything on the cover. It’s fast turning into a dog-eared worn scrap and not the international identity pass that it should be. All printing on the cover has worn away and it bulges with many old stamps and visas. It’s the biggest passport I could get for the frequent traveller and its sixty four pages are three quarters filled in only five years.

Blondie opens the book and cracks up laughing. “You have dancing penguins in your passport?” she chuckles and shows her friend seated next to here. Together they start to paw through the pages as the atmosphere changes. “Here’s a pretty one, a polar bear and Yemen is fancy as is Afghanistan and Lebanon.”

“Yes, I do a little work in the Arctic and Antarctic and the odd war or two in between,” says me as she looks at me curiously.

“Well now I must give you my little stamp too,” she says, “sorry it is not fancy at all” as she thumps down on an empty corner in the book. We grin at each other and I am back in the Balkans.

My old black pack is doing laps of the baggage carousel and I remember that I originally got it in Bosnia as NATO issue and it’s been the best and only bag I have used for the past 12 years. Shouldering the burden I head out into the arrivals hall to look for a friendly face after three days of really nasty travelling. Bodies press in and scan the arriving passengers as recognition turns to hugs and kisses. They are then quickly whisked to waiting cars. That works for all except me as not a face in the crowd greets me. All alone, again.

The dates were confused and everyone thought I would come tomorrow. I start calling contacts and try to unravel where anyone is as I have no local numbers with me. So much for planning today. After a lap of the address book I finally get hold of Emil, my old friend and the resident representative for Norwegian Peoples Aid in the Balkans. Emil has the best solution, get a taxi to his office and we can work it out from there.

The taxi rank is the usual mix of snake charmers and assorted rip off merchants and all claim that they can’t use the fare meter as there is too much traffic etc, etc, etc. I finally cut a deal that works for both and I’m on my way. I do get a small piece of vindictive glee when we get stuck in really bad traffic and I can see the driver’s plan of making a fast buck evaporates. “Pity I’m not paying you by the meter. You would have made a fortune out of me with all this time in traffic,” says me. A grimace passes his face.

Emil is at the door of the NPA office and a coffee is waiting and of course he knows how to track Mette down. My Scandihooligan Princess has already been here for a week now, putting a lot of the ground logistics for the Ban Bus into place. All is quickly sorted and I head for a nearby hotel.

The Ban Bus is shaping up to be an epic voyage of advocacy from Serbia to Oslo. The route is going to be gruelling as we roll out of Belgrade in two days then take the gentle drive over 10,000 km.

Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and finally, Norway. Twenty-one countries in sixty days, add a closing winter and snow and terrible roads as we head north and it will be quite a trip.

You don’t pull a Ban Bus out of your left ear. It takes a lot of planning at every level from getting money, to who will be on it, as to what is our message and how will we get it across. Then there is the problem of access to political decision makers, what it will take to get the message into the media and how do we get the general public in these counties engaged. The size and scope of this task is huge but then you don’t create an international disarmament treaty out of fresh air and think it will be an easy path to make it work. Get smart, get busy and engage on every level from man in the street to Presidents and Kings. No stone can be left unturned or angle unexplored.

One of the hardest tasks is actually to educate governments and militaries on the realities of the problem in a cluster bomb effected country. The simple thing is that the diplomats and military representatives that make the decisions have rarely ever been on the ground in an effected place and of the handful who have, were generally only on an “affected country tour”, which of course makes them instant experts. The irony here is that the experts in these issues are with the aid workers and journalists who are on the ground before, during and after conflicts along with the local people who are stuck with the permanent dangerous legacies. No fly by night visitors here, field reality is their stock in trade. So the problem then remains, how to get the reality into the minds of the decision makers. The answer from us is the Ban Bus.

Mette’s ability to work never ceases to amaze me and she is pulling all the logistics together single handed. Everything from sourcing a bus to printing, translations, designing, networking, international liaisons to our next countries have all been handled by her. Truly a one woman corporation. I am unfortunately not going to be much help to her over these coming days as Emil wants me to head south with his cluster bomb survey teams and see what we can find out about areas that might still be affected by unexploded bomblets.

Before this new journey begins there is enough time to adjourn to a local restaurant. As I have a fair dose on cannibal in me I love the Balkans as it’s a meat eater’s dream. These people love their meat and know just how to have it, tender and juicy. If you don’t like meat then get into the wine! Magnificent Cabernets can tickle your taste buds or any number of whites. Yum. We vacuum up the first bottle of red and steaks follow soups with a bit more red and by the time we brave the evening air I am really tired and fairly wobbly. Lucky the hotel was only one hundred metres away.

Ban Bus Europe Route, originally uploaded by banbus.

Updated Septemebr 23 route for Ban Bus Europe

President Mikhail Saakashvili
7 Ingorokva Street
Tbilisi 0105
Georgia

Fax: +995-32-98-72-62

3 September 2008

Dear President Saakashvili,

We are writing to express our grave concern about Georgia’s use of cluster munitions.

In a letter to Human Rights Watch, the Georgian Ministry of Defence confirmed its use of M85 cluster submunitions, delivered by a GRADLAR multiple launch rocket system, and noted that cluster munitions ‘were never used against civilians, civilian targets, and civilian populated or nearby areas’. Over 100 nations have agreed to ban cluster munitions because they kill and injure civilians both during strikes and afterward. As many cluster munitions fail to explode on impact, they also pose a lethal risk to civilians long after a conflict ends.

Georgia used the M85 cluster submunition, which was also used in Lebanon two years ago, where it was found to have at least a 10% failure rate. Over 200 civilians have been killed or injured by cluster munitions in Lebanon and, despite dedicated clearance work, civilians are still at risk from cluster munitions two years after the conflict ended. We urge the government of Georgia to take immediate steps to prevent civilian casualties by carrying out risk education among the local populations and aiding with clearance work.

We call on the Georgian government to immediately renounce cluster munitions and join the Convention on Cluster Munitions when it opens for signature in Oslo, Norway on 3 December 2008.

This agreement adopted on 30 May 2008 by 107 nations prohibits clusters munitions, provides groundbreaking assistance to survivors and affected communities and requires destruction of existing stocks within a strict timeframe. The adoption of this international treaty acknowledges the widespread damage and devastation cluster munitions cause to civilians and communities and the urgent need to address this. The majority of the world’s nations, including most past users and current stockpilers, are expected to sign the Convention. Georgia’s signature would give a clear signal that it is committed to protecting civilians from the effects of armed conflict and that the Convention on Cluster Munitions is an important instrument to achieve this.

We welcome a response from the government of Georgia outlining steps being taken to prevent casualties and indicating its intention to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Yours sincerely,

The Ban Bus is prepared to run a number of different activities in each location depending on what local partners and campaigners want and are able to assist organizing. When choosing activities in each target location the Ban Bus aims to organize activities that will generate national media, engage the public and inspire the influential. In each location the Ban Bus needs a local focal point person or persons who can assist in identifying what activities that are most efficient, to assist with general logistics such as organizing venues, accommodation, press contacts and translation.
To get people to come to the events it is important to get the word out about the event is being organizing. This could be done through a diversity of tactics, such as word of mouth, email lists, advertising in national and local media and websites as well as radio stations and displaying posters. The Ban Bus together with local campaigners will make sure the cluster bombs events are added to relevant calendars of events in the district, and will visit other events and hand out invitations to the Cluster Munitions event that is being organized. When possible The Ban Bus will involve local businesses and organizations, telling them how the events are relevant to their business and encourage the business to promote the event on their website and other media. We urge everybody to remember to call ALL friends and family, inviting them and asking them to promote the events.
Find out about and contact other events and festivals that will happen in each country and request a Ban Cluster Bomb presence.

The Ban Bus will try to conduct fundraising activities on the tour to pay for part of the expenses and for consolidation of campaign building.

To connect and build an international campaign network the Ban Bus will make a face book “Who is Who on the Ban Bus Tour and all events across Europe” booklet with photos and contact information. This will grow as the regional contacts increase.

Reception dinner

Core group embassies or relevant other entities will be asked to host reception dinners and meetings. These events should include speakers from the Ban Bus as well as key speakers from the country. When feasible CMC staff or steering committee members will also attend. We request that other guests include political influential people, civil society, politicians, government officials, military personnel, NATO personnel, other embassies, national and international parliamentarians, faith leaders if appropriate, media, and others that could become possible future campaigners. Such an event can be the start of a strong local campaign.

Public Debate

A debate can be run either in a public space or on any media. Invite representatives from the Government, the Military to try and defend their reasons to be against a ban.

Stockpile destruction

Key countries that will join the Oslo treaty will be asked to start their stockpile destruction prior to Oslo when the Ban Bus visits. This is a strong visual symbol of joining the Oslo process and an event that could attract international media. Possible locations are Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria, and Sweden. (probably not really Sweden!). This activity needs to be organized in cooperation with the CMC, military and foreign affairs of the relevant country. Ban Bus is also interested in organizing just to film stockpiles.

Press conference/stunt and demonstrations

Non-violent demonstrations to raise awareness about cluster munitions issues can attract both media attention as well as local people’s attention. This could be a performance, rally, march or a ‘Lie down” in connection with stockpiles, cluster munitions production facilities, etc. Use banners, music, and costume to achieve high visibility. Ban Bus provides stickers, flyers and other promotional material that can be handed out. In addition there should be handouts that explain the event and invitations to debates or alike to by-passers. There are several tactics that you can use during the march or event to engage by-passers such as having campaigners assigned to be engaging people to join and others to act as mentors that can look after newcomers. Always remember to bring enough handouts and have this easily available through out the event.
A walk/march in favour of a ban of cluster bombs is good to arrange if one can expect local participants, as it gives time for Ban Bus participants to speak and discuss with individuals in detail about the problem.

Kids Questions!

“Kids Questions!” is a program where teenagers are invited to interview politicians or other influential people of their choice on a cluster bomb issue. The key contact person on each location needs to be in charge of the invitation to teens in schools, organizations and clubs. Interested teens should submit 6 questions for approval and final selection, to prove that they have an in-depth understanding and interest in the topic. The selected teenagers should research their subject and refine their questions with assistance from their school as well as from the CMC or the Ban Bus. The contact person in each country should facilitate and organize contact with the person that the teen wants to interview and is also in charge of organizing an appropriate venue for recording. The interview by the student should take approximately 20 minutes, including questions from the audience. Ban Bus and other media should record the event. The interview should preferably be screened on national media and also be posted on the Internet. We believe “Kids Questions!” will not only address important issues concerning cluster bombs within the country but also lead to empowering teenagers.
There are many ways to sell this to schools and its teachers. It represents a way to introduce student to media as a subject as well as political science and language.

Web challenge

The Ban Bus challenges students and others to take the Web Challenge, a ten questions quiz that gives an introduction to cluster bombs and the Oslo Process. This challenge works well in schools for students of 15 or older. There are clues to find the answer for each question. To access schools, it might be necessary to get permission from the education department, work through teachers association or alike. It is of utmost importance to get teachers onboard, selling point for teachers are that it is easy for teachers as we provide the questions, clues and a DVD package from CMC. It introduces the children to a current important political process that involves state and non-state actors as well as civil society, and it shows how children themselves can participate.
The challenge is to be found on www.thebanbus.org and on the Ban Bus flyer.

Kids art challenge

Invite kids to enter drawings and paintings about cluster bombs that they can hand in when Ban Bus arrives. Supply paper and drawing material if needed. This gives your campaign some good material to use in future events, exhibitions and campaign material.

Parliamentarians

The Ban Bus would like to facilitate “Parliamentary Friends of the Cluster Munitions Coalition” expanding its membership by inviting MPs that are already members to come along to some of the venues in order to promote MPs to join the coalition. Portia Stratton from Landmine Action is the contact person within CMC, and Lord Alfred Dubs is the chair. Find out if parliamentarians in your country could be interested in meeting and discussing cluster bombs with fellow MPs from other countries when the Ban Bus arrives.

Concerts with a conscience

Concerts with a conscience can be used to attract people to the issue of cluster bombs. David Rovics from USA is touring Europe this fall and might be able to perform in your country. He specializes in songs of social significance and even has one song about cluster bombs. You might have national bands that you want to use instead; it can be rock, pop, folksong or classic. To organize this you need to pick and book an appropriate venue for the band and the expected audience,
Combine the concert with other Ban Bus campaign activities.

Survivors

The Ban Bus is in contact with Ban Advocates – cluster bomb survivors. The plan is that survivors will fly in and meet up with Ban Bus to participate at events in key locations.

Peoples treaty

The Ban Bus will set up the signatory of the People’s treaty wherever we go. The growing number of signatures will be delivered to Oslo.

Auction

John Rodsted is an experienced auctioneer having raised an excess of a million US dollars in the last five years for environmental projects and Save the Albatross Campaign. The auction is a fun event where the aim is to let rich people learn about cluster bombs as well as contribute to the cause. This strength could be used if there is an audience of between 50-100 in the host country who can enjoy and afford such an event.
To run an auction the Ban Bus needs items that can be auctioned donated. This can be something valuable or something that is cheap but funny and relevant to cluster bombs. Examples of possible auction items are art, retired demining equipment, shrapnel from an explosion, remnants from the stockpile destruction, etc.

Film screening

Contact venues to screen the film “Unacceptable harm”.

Exhibition

The Ban Bus is producing an exhibition that can be exhibited indoor or outside. There will be 20+ photos of 80×60 cm providing a global view on the problem and solution of cluster bombs from use, survivors, clearance and social impact. Captions and essays will accompany the photos. This all needs to be translated into the local language in your country.

Clearance demonstration

The Ban Bus carries the material needed for presenting a close to real life cluster bomb clearance. Ban Bus will demonstrate how clearance is conducted. This is a practical demonstration that provides good photo opportunities for press and media.

Information distribution

The Ban Bus will distribute stickers, flyers, and other promotional material such as t-shirts.

Blog

The Ban Bus will produce a video and written blog to document the activities and the trip. This will be posted on the www.thebanbus.org. The video blog will include interviews of locals about their opinions on cluster bombs and the Ban Treaty. This will be uploaded to You Tube regularly. Ban Bus will also develop a presence on other Internet communities to advocate for a ban on cluster bombs.

The Bus

The bus will be decorated with magnetic signage. Some of the magnet’s will be applicable in all places, some key messages (”Ban cluster bombs!” Sign the Ban Convention in Oslo!” “If you don’t have them – you can’t use them”) will have to be changed depending on local language.

Consolidation- Campaigning Survivor Pack

From previous experience the Ban Bus expects to inspire people across Europe to engage in the Cluster Munitions Campaign. It becomes essential to consolidate this effort and create foundations for strong national campaigns. The Ban Bus will make a “Who is who” face book to provide concerned citizens with a tool to network with. This booklet will be made available online. The Ban Bus will also hand out a DVD with campaign essentials to people who might be interested in working on banning cluster bombs. For the network of people that is identified, CMC and the Ban Bus will arrange creative workshops starting 2009. These workshops will build a foundation for a future campaign effort in different locations, inspiring as well as educating volunteers on campaign topics such as fundraising, event management and the cluster bomb challenge. Each workshop will produce a local strategy paper and result in a formal start of the actual campaign. Key partners such as representatives from core group embassies and International organizations in the actual country will be invited and urged to participate in the workshop. Each workshop will have between 8 and 12 participants.

europa route.indd, originally uploaded by banbus.

This route might be updated, please check here for last version!

Ban Bus will embark on a 10 000 kilometres long journey from October until December 2008 through states in east and west Europe to build support for a total ban of cluster bombs. Ban Bus operates in close connection with Cluster Munition Coallition (CMC).

The Ban Bus is a rolling public awareness platform and media opportunity. It’s a portable event that is self contained and brings expert speakers and exhibitions to any community wishing to learn about the issue of cluster bombs. This presentation in its self is a strong advocacy tool and media event. It’s a platform to impart the information about the problem of cluster bombs and the need for a total ban. It works by hitting a community hard and fast then moving on. It’s fast, exciting and challenging.

Route

Last day in each location should be allocated for travelling to the next location. Travel time for the Ban Bus should include time for filming, photographing and documenting the journey, therefore allow more time than direct driving. This timetable allows enough time to allocate events in each location given the restricted timeframe we are operating under.

Belgrade 1–5.10

Sarajevo 6–8.10

Pristina 9–11.10

Skopje 12–13.10

Athens 14–16.10

Istanbul 17–20.10

Bucharest 21–24.10

Sofia 25–28.10

Travel day 29.10

Zagreb 30–31.10

Venice 1–2.11

Geneva 3–7.11

Prague 8–11.11

Warsaw 12–15.11

Vilnius 16–18.11

Riga 19–21.11

Tallinn 22–25.11

Helsinki 26–28.11

Stockholm 29.11–1.12

Oslo 2.12