Cluster Munitions: A Dossier Details the Policy and Practice of All Countries with Respect to the International Treaty Banning Their Use

GENEVA – The international treaty banning cluster munitions is making demonstrable progress, but it is being challenged by new uses and transfers of cluster munitions by countries that are not parties to the treaty, according to a statement released today by Human Rights Watch which contains the annual monitoring report on cluster munitions. The 100-page dossier, “Cluster Munition Monitor 2024“, details the policy and practice of all countries with respect to the international treaty that bans cluster munitions and requires the destruction of stockpiles, the clearing of areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants, and assistance to victims.

All countries should join. “The Convention on Cluster Munitions provides a vital framework to end the immediate and long-term harm and suffering caused by these abhorrent weapons,” said Mary Wareham, Deputy Director for Crises, Conflict and Weapons at Human Rights Watch and editor of the dossier. “All countries should join the convention if they are serious about protecting civilians from these weapons in the face of increasing conflict.”

How these weapons can be used. Cluster munitions can be fired from the ground by artillery, rockets, missiles, or mortars, or dropped from aircraft. They typically burst open in the air, scattering multiple submunitions or bombs over a wide area. Many submunitions fail to explode on initial impact, leaving behind unexploded pieces that can injure and kill indiscriminately like landmines for years until they are found and destroyed.

93% of the victims are civilians. In 2023 – the last year covered by the report’s casualty statistics – 93 per cent of cluster munition casualties recorded by Monitor were civilians. In 2023, children accounted for 47 per cent of those killed and injured by cluster munition remnants.

Where and by whom they were used or sold. Cluster munitions were used in Ukraine by Russian and Ukrainian forces in 2023 and until July 2024, while new use was also recorded in Myanmar/Burma and Syria. Since 2022, Russia has been using stockpiles of old cluster munitions and newly developed models in Ukraine. Between July 2023 and April 2024, US President Joe Biden approved five transfers of US cluster munitions to Ukraine delivered by 155 mm artillery shells and ballistic missiles. None of these countries are parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitionswhich has 112 members.

No reports or accusations. There have been no confirmed reports or allegations of new use, production or transfer of cluster munitions by any State Party since the Convention was adopted in Dublin, Ireland, on 30 May 2008. However, new use and transfers by States that have not signed the Convention are testing its norms and universality. And the Convention’s provision prohibiting any assistance for prohibited activities has been challenged, raising questions of interpretation and questions of compliance with national laws.

Cluster munitions at US base in Germany. A July 2024 report shows that cluster munitions stored at a US military base in Germany, which has ratified the convention, have been transferred to Ukraine since July 2023, transiting through Germany. The US withdrew cluster munitions from Norway and the UK during the 2010s, but may still have stockpiles at its military bases in member countries such as Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Greater clarity in opposing. All members of the convention should be clear in opposing the stockpiling abroad of cluster munitions and the transit of cluster munitions through their territory, airspace or waters, he said. Human Rights Watch. In December 2023, the convention reached a major milestone when Peru completed the destruction of its stockpiles of cluster munitions, as it was the last State Party with declared stockpiles to complete this obligation. Bulgaria, Slovakia and South Africa have announced the completion of the destruction of their respective cluster munitions stockpiles in September 2023.

100% of minitions distributed. These developments mean that member countries have collectively destroyed 100% of their declared stockpiles of cluster munitions, destroying 1.49 million cluster munitions and 179 million submunitions. According to the “Cluster Munition Monitor 2024”, 28 countries and other areas are contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with cluster munition remnants.

Victims in Myanmar, Syria and Ukraine. In 2023, cluster munition attacks resulted in civilian casualties in Myanmar, Syria and Ukraine; while people were killed or injured by cluster munition remnants in these countries and in Azerbaijan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Mauritania and Yemen. In 2023, Member States collectively cleared more than 83 square kilometres of affected land, destroying at least 73,348 unexploded submunitions and other cluster munition remnants.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has completed the evacuation. The elimination of cluster munition remnants in August 2023, becoming the ninth State Party to comply with its clearance obligations under the convention. In an alarming development, however, in July 2024 Lithuania enacted a law approving its withdrawal from the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The withdrawal will take effect six months after notification to the United Nations and the convention’s member states, unless Lithuania withdraws this measure or goes to war. “Lithuania’s reckless move to leave the Convention on Cluster Munitions tarnishes its otherwise excellent reputation for humanitarian disarmament and ignores the risks of harm to civilians,” Wareham said. “It is not too late for Lithuania to heed calls to halt its planned withdrawal.”