Warns that the US may still have arsenals in its bases in Spain and other countries that signed the agreement
Urges Lithuania to reverse its “ill-advised” decision to withdraw from the convention: “It is not too late yet”
September 9 () –
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has praised the “demonstrable progress” of the convention against the use of cluster munitions, although it has denounced that some of the countries outside the agreement – such as Russia, Ukraine and the United States – are “putting the pact to the test” with the use and transfer of this type of munitions.
“The Convention on Cluster Munitions provides a vital framework for ending the immediate and long-term harm and suffering caused by these harmful weapons,” said Mary Wareham, deputy director of crises, conflicts and weapons at HRW, who stressed that “all countries should join and adhere to the convention.”
The organisation has produced a report entitled ‘Cluster Munition Monitor 2024’ which details that, during the past year, 93 percent of the victims of this type of munitions were civilians and that around 47 percent of the dead and injured were minors.
Some of the scenarios where the use of this type of weapon has been recorded have been in Ukrainian territory, where the Russian and Ukrainian armies, which have been fighting since February 2022, have used cluster munitions until at least July 2024, according to the aforementioned report.
In the case of the Russian Armed Forces, these cluster munitions come from their old arsenals and other more recent models developed since the beginning of the war. Ukraine has also used these munitions, some of which come directly from the United States.
“None of these countries are parties to the 112-party Convention on Cluster Munitions. There have been no confirmed allegations or reports of new use, production, or transfer of cluster munitions by any state party,” Human Rights Watch said.
Despite the good news in the agreement, HRW has warned that the attitude of those powers outside the pact “are putting the norms and universality of this convention to the test.” “The provision of the convention that prohibits providing any assistance to prohibited activities is being called into question,” the organization added.
CIRCULATION OF AMMUNITION BY COUNTRIES ADHERING TO THE PACT
On the other hand, HRW has warned that, according to a report from last July, cluster munitions stored at a US military base in Germany – which has ratified the convention – have been transferred to Ukraine since the summer of 2023.
In 2010, the United States withdrew the cluster munitions it had stored in Norway and the United Kingdom, but HRW warns that it could still have stockpiles of them in its military bases in Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, among other states that have ratified the convention.
“All parties to the convention should be clear in opposing the foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions and the transit of cluster munitions through their territory, airspace or waters,” HRW said.
The situation of countries outside the convention contrasts with that of the signatories of the agreement, since, once Peru completely destroyed its arsenal of cluster munitions, 100% of the member states have eliminated their stockpiles of this type of munition.
However, the negative news within the convention came last July, when Lithuania passed a law approving its withdrawal from the agreement in the face of threats to its security posed by its neighbour Russia.
“Lithuania’s ill-advised decision to withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions tarnishes its excellent reputation for humanitarian disarmament and fails to take into account the risks of civilian harm,” said Wareham, who stressed that “it is not too late” to reverse this decision.
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