The “1st Annual Cluster Bomb Olympics” featured Khamsavath Chanthavysouk from Laos, Walid Haidar, First Secretary in the Lebanese Embassy, and Desu Damtew from Ethiopia—all cluster bomb affected countries, as well as Ralph Nader. Participants from mine affected countries and activists from the United States played a series of lawn games such as “Bocce Bomb,” a cluster bomb scavenger hunt, and a cluster bomb rely race. One of the participants slipped and broke her ankle while playing Hopscotch Minefield! “Today I broke my ankle while trying to avoid a cluster bomb. But this is just a game, and I'll heal. In real life, people lose a limb or their life because of cluster bombs,” said Diana Ohlbaum.

One of the speakers, Sarah Holewinski, Executive Director the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), a group advocating for civilians caught in the crossfire of war, said, “The issue is simple. The U.S. government should not use weapons that kill, maim and threaten civilians for days, months, years, even decades to come.”

More than 100 governments have gathered in Dublin to participate in the final round of treaty negotiations. The U.S., which historically has been the largest producer, user and exporter of these weapons, has declined to join the negotiations and has actively lobbied allies to water down the treaty. Read a press release on the global negotations.

Participants in the games and passersby signed a petition to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, calling on him to publicly announce that the US would never again use cluster bombs in areas that are normally inhabited by civilians.

See Al Jazeera’s coverage of the event.

Find out more about cluster bombs and the global effort to ban them.