This week, until 25 November, diplomats from some 100 States will meet in Geneva for the Fourth Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). High on the agenda is a new Protocol that will, despite a recently concluded ban on the production and use of cluster munitions, allow some countries to continue to trade, stockpile and even use these weapons that cause ‘unacceptable harm to civilians’.

Cluster munitions are air- or ground-launched canisters that contain up to 650 individual sub-munitions. They are notorious for the explosive remnants of war (ERW) they produce. Although generally designed to explode on impact, the sub-munitions often fail to do so causing death and injuries long after armed conflicts have ended.

At least 76 countries stockpile cluster munitions and 34 are known to have produced more than 210 types. A total of 14 states have used cluster munitions in at least 30 countries and territories. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Sudan are amongst these 14. Africa accounts for nearly a third of the countries and territories affected by Cluster Munitions - Uganda, Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Western Sahara are all affected.

According to organisations such as the Human Rights Watch and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) the new Protocol would water down the existing international norm and substantially reduce the standard set by international humanitarian law.

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of Cluster Munitions. Separate articles in the Convention concern assistance to victims, clearance of contaminated areas and destruction of stockpiles. It became binding international law when it entered into force on 1 August 2010 and has over 65 States Parties. It is believed that the United States, China and Russia, all major producers, as well as Pakistan and India, will all support the use of such weapons until at least 2026 with the proviso that those produced before 1980 and without any self-destruct mechanism in case they fail to explode on impact would not be used or transferred. For devices manufactured since 1980 with one safety mechanism, it would allow their use for a further 12 years after it enters into force. In fact, the draft makes no provision to cease future production of cluster munitions.

African States Parties to the CCM so far include: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and Zambia. While Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Tanzania are signatories and are expected to ratify in the near future.

Africa fought hard for a total ban and as such these African States, with their supporters in Europe, South America and Asia, and in particular countries such as Norway have a moral duty to ensure that the CCM is not undermined by the adoption of a flawed and weak Protocol to the CCW. The Protocol will not address the urgency of the humanitarian danger caused by cluster munitions. One cannot have one law for some and another for others and according to the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), a global network of civil society organisations representing, amongst others, victims and survivors of these munitions, the adoption of this protocol will set a negative and dangerous precedent: never before has a lower international law standard been adopted after a higher standard has been agreed by a majority of the world’s nations.

Written by Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow, Arms Management Programme, ISS Pretoria Office