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Cluster Munition Monitor 2012
ministerial committee met for the first time in June 2012 to discuss preparations for ratification of the ban convention. 17
Ratification is underway in most of the signatory states from Sub-Saharan Africa. 18
As of 25 June 2012, Chad had completed all the necessary domestic steps to ratify the convention and all that remained
was for the instrument of ratification to be deposited with the UN in New York.
Americas
Mexico, Canada, and states from Central and South America as well as the Caribbean have continued to promote the
Convention on Cluster Munitions. Twenty-two of the 35 countries in the Americas have joined the convention, of which
13 signatories have ratified and two non-signatories have acceded, becoming full States Parties. 19 Since August 2011,
signatories Dominican Republic and Honduras have ratified the convention, while Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the
convention on 21 September 2011.
Of the 13 countries from the Americas that have not signed or acceded to the convention, four participated in the
convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2011 as observers: Argentina, Brazil, Suriname, and
Venezuela. 20 The United States was invited to attend the meeting but did not participate.
As of 25 June 2012, Peru had completed all the necessary domestic steps to ratify the convention and all that remained
was for the instrument of ratification to be deposited with the UN in New York. Legislative processes to approve
ratification were underway in all the remaining signatory countries from the Americas: Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Haiti,
Jamaica, and Paraguay.
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific includes several notably active States Parties, such as Japan, Lao PDR, and New Zealand, but overall the
region has the most non-signatories to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Only 12 of the 40 states from Asia-Pacific
signed the convention, of which seven have ratified, becoming full States Parties. 21 No Asia-Pacific state has acceded to
the ban convention, while signatory Afghanistan ratified on 8 September 2011.
Of the 28 states from the Asia-Pacific region that have not signed or ratified the convention, nine attended the
convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2011 as observers: Cambodia, China, Kiribati, Malaysia,
Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. 22 At the meeting, a Malaysian official stated that the
government “is currently in consultation with relevant stakeholders with the view to studying the possibility of Malaysia
acceding” and said it hopes to “be able to join the Convention in the near future.” 23 During the meeting, a representative of
the Solomon Islands informed the CMC that an internal consultation process is considering accession to the convention. 24
Of the five signatories left to ratify, Australia is still at an advanced legislative stage, while stakeholder consultations
are continuing in Indonesia, Palau, and the Philippines. No information is available on the status of Nauru’s ratification
process.
Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
Thirty-three of the 54 countries in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia have signed the convention, of which 30 have
ratified. 25 All but eight of the 27 European Union member states are now party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. 26
By contrast, Russia and all eight states from the Caucasus and Central Asia remain outside the ban convention. There have
17
The committee includes a civil society representative from CMC member: IANSA Women’s Network-Nigeria. Email from Mimidoo
Achakpa, Network Coordinator, IANSA Women’s Network-Nigeria, 20 June 2012.
18
The African signatories that have not completed ratification as of 31 July 2012 are: Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, DR
Congo, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe,
Somalia, and South Africa.
19
There are 15 States Parties from the Americas: Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.
20
The 13 non-signatories from the Americas are: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Cuba, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, the US, and Venezuela. Argentina, Belize, and Venezuela adopted the convention in Dublin in May 2008.
21
There are seven States Parties from the Asia-Pacific: Afghanistan, Cook Islands, Fiji, Japan, Lao PDR, New Zealand, and Samoa.
22
There are 19 non-signatories from Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. There are nine non-signatories
from the Pacific: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Six of
these states adopted the convention in Dublin in May 2008: Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.
During the Oslo Process, the Marshall Islands, Nepal, and Niue subscribed to the 2008 Wellington Declaration affirming their intent to
conclude the negotiation of an instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.
23
Statement by Mr. Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah, Undersecretary for Multilateral Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of Malaysian
Delegation, Beirut, 14 September 2011. http://bit.ly/Nic36X.
24
ANZCMC web story, “Pacific action on cluster munitions,” 22 September 2011. http://www.stopclusterbombs.org.nz/2011/09/22/pacificaction-on-cluster-munitions/#more-825.
25
There are 30 States Parties from Europe: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark,
France, Germany, Holy See, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, FYR Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
26
The EU member states that have yet to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions are Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Romania,
and Slovakia. Cyprus has signed, but not yet ratified the convention.
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