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Cluster Munition Monitor 2012
States/areas with cluster munition casualties (as of 31 July 2012)
Africa Americas Asia
Europe, Caucasus,
and Central Asia
Angola Columbia Afghanistan Albania Iraq
Chad Cambodia Bosnia and
Herzegovina
DRC Lao PDR Croatia Kuwait
Eritrea Vietnam Georgia Lebanon
Ethiopia Montenegro Libya
Guinea-Bissau Russia Syria
Middle East and
North Africa
Mozambique Serbia Western Sahara
Sierra Leone
South Sudan
Sudan
Uganda
Tajikistan
Kosovo
Nagorno-Karabakh
Note: Convention on Cluster Munition States Parties and signatories in bold; non-signatories in plain text; other areas in italics
Of the 30 states with casualties that therefore have responsibility for cluster munition victims, ten are States Parties to
the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Guinea-Bissau, Lao PDR,
Lebanon, Montenegro, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone) and six have signed, but not yet ratified the convention (Angola,
Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], Iraq, and Uganda). Compared to 29 states with casualties
reported in 2011, this is an increase of one country (Colombia). 4
According to the convention, cluster munition victims are defined as all persons who have been killed or suffered
physical or psychological injury, economic loss, social marginalization, or substantial impairment of the realization
of their rights caused by the use of cluster munitions. 5 The definition of a “victim” encompasses the individuals, their
families, and affected communities, yet little is known about the number of families and communities of survivors
affected by cluster munitions; methods for collecting data on this subject remain largely undefined. The needs of families
and communities are likely to be extensive.
There are no comprehensive, reliable statistics on cluster munition casualties, the people who were killed or injured
by cluster munitions, and there has been inadequate reporting and massive underreporting of both civilian and military
casualties. 6 In 2011, no affected states attempted to report the total or estimated number of cluster munition victims
living in their territory and most States Parties have not attempted to provide data on the number of cluster munition
survivors who are still alive and in need of assistance. However, Albania, Iraq, Lao PDR, and Lebanon reported efforts
to disaggregate this information.
At least 17,194 cluster munition casualties have been reported globally through the end of 2011, as listed in the
following table by region. Yet a far greater, and probably a better indicator of the number of cluster munition casualties,
is the estimated total of between 20,000 and 54,000. Other projections range from 58,000 to 85,000 casualties or more,
but some country totals are based on extrapolations and data may be inflated. 7
Israel
4
The addition of Colombia follows the Inter-American Commission’s investigation into the use of a cluster munition in Santo Domingo,
Colombia in 1998, which made more details available on cluster munition casualties. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Case
No. 12.416, Santo Domingo Massacre v. Republic of Colombia, 8 July 2011.
5
Cluster munitions victims include survivors (people who were injured by cluster munitions or their explosive remnants and lived), other
persons directly impacted by cluster munitions, as well as their affected families and communities. As a result of their injuries, most cluster
munition survivors are also persons with disabilities. In the Monitor, the term “cluster munition casualties” is used to refer both to people
killed and people injured as a result of cluster munition use or cluster munition remnants, mostly explosive submunitions.
6
In most countries, when identified, casualties from unexploded submunitions have been recorded as casualties from explosive remnants of
war (ERW) without differentiating from other types of ERW.
7
HI, Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, 2007).
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