| Belgium no longer international frontrunner |
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 Belgian parliamentarians and diplomats played a crucial role in the process that led to the Convention on Cluster Munitions that 107 states signed so far. As the convention will go into force any minute now, Netwerk Vlaanderen urges minister Reynders to immediately produce a blacklist of cluster munitions producers, thereby retaking Belgium’s position as an international frontrunner. World waits for black list on cluster munitions producers Cluster munitions and their financing have recently proven to be an urgent international concern. The IKV Pax Christi/Netwerk Vlaanderen report Worldwide investments in cluster munitions; a shared responsibility maps worldwide investments in producers of cluster munitions and also highlights various disinvestment initiatives. On the day this report was published, the CMC launched a disinvestment campaign named Stop Explosive Investments . Following the launch of this campaign, a number of national level disinvestment campaigns were launched, with a number of countries issuing national level reports. A number of countries have also taken legislative steps to ban investment in producers of cluster munitions among which The Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark. In 2007 Belgium became the first country in the world to adopt a law banning investment in companies that produce anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions. The law was expanded to investments in producers of weapons with depleted uranium in the summer of 2009. The Belgian government has so far failed to implement the law. Where is the list, Mr Reynders? “The minister of Finances is responsible for this situation,” says Esther Vandenbroucke of Netwerk Vlaanderen. “By failing to produce this list, Mr. Reynders endangers the Belgian leadership on cluster munitions. Establishing a black list is part of the law, and will provide the necessary information for both individual investors and financial institutions to be sure they are not breaching the law, and for the government to control the law.” Netwerk Vlaanderen calls upon the Belgian government to implement their own law and retake their position as an international frontrunner with regard to investments in producers of cluster munitions. Belgium can and should continue to be an example to the rest of the world and start the implementation of their law today. Convention on Cluster Munititon Today, Netwerk Vlaanderen, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Human Rights Watch and Handicap International come together to address several questions that arise now that the Convention on Cluster Munitions will soon entry into force. Can it really improve the lives of the victims? Which producers – or maybe even countries – should be blacklisted? By which criteria? What does civil society expect from the European Union? The Convention on Cluster Munitions is the international treaty that bans cluster munitions and provides obligations to assist victims. It was adopted in 2008 and has now been signed by 107 countries and ratified by 27. Only three more and the convention will entry into force. For more information read the elaborate press_file.pdf Read report at www.netwerkvlaanderen.be/en/clustermunitions 
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