Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Montenegro signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 25 January 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

Under national implementation measures, Montenegro has declared that its existing law is adequate to enforce the convention’s provisions.[1] According to Article 9 of the country’s constitution, international treaties ratified by Montenegro are an “integral part of the domestic legislation, and have supremacy over domestic legislation and are directly implemented when dealing with issues differently than domestic legislation.”[2]

Montenegro submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 27 January 2011 and provided annual updated reports in 2013 and on 16 April 2014.[3]

Montenegro participated actively in the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4] Since 2008, it has continued to engage in the work of the convention. Montenegro has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. It has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including in April 2014. Montenegro participated in a regional workshop on the Convention on Cluster Munitions and Mine Ban Treaty in Croatia in April 2014.[5]

Montenegro has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s cluster munition use, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[6]

Interpretive issues

Montenegro has expressed its views on a number of important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. On the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations with states not party, Montenegro has elaborated its understanding that “the participation in the planning or conducting of operations, exercises or any other military activities by the armed forces of Montenegro, or by any of its nationals, if carried out in conjunction with armed forces of the non-State Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which engage in activities prohibited under the Convention, does not in any way imply an assistance, encouragement or inducement as referred to in subparagraph 1(c) of the Convention.”[7] Montenegro has also stated that it “does not intend to invest in the production of cluster munitions.”[8] Montenegro has not yet expressed its views on the matters of foreign stockpiling or transit of cluster munitions.

Montenegro is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Montenegro is not known to have used cluster munitions, but cluster munitions were used by NATO forces in air strikes on Serbian and Montenegrin military positions during the Kosovo conflict in 1999. In 2012, a court case confirmed evidence of at least one instance of Yugoslav army use of cluster munitions on Montenegrin territory in 1999.[9]

Montenegro has declared that there are no cluster munition production facilities in the country.[10]

Stockpile destruction

Montenegro inherited a stockpile of cluster munitions upon the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro.[11] It completed the destruction of the entire stockpile of 353 BL755 cluster bombs containing a total of 51,891 Mk1 submunitions on 5 October 2010, concluding a two-year destruction process conducted near the town of Nikšićas as part of a technical agreement with the United States for the disposal of surplus weapons and ammunition.[12]

Montenegro has not retained any cluster munitions for training and research purposes.[13]

Contamination and Impact

The Republic of Montenegro became contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), as a result of conflicts during the break up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.[1]

Mines

In 2007, Montenegro was reported to have become the first Balkan country to be cleared of mines following clearance of antipersonnel mines in the territories of Rožaje and Plav, near the border with Serbia and Albania.[2] Its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2008 stated “there are no areas under Montenegro’s jurisdiction or control in which anti-personnel mines are known or suspected to be emplaced.”[3] However, Montenegro still had to survey a mountainous area on its borders with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to clarify if contamination on the Croatian side of the border also affects Montenegro.[4] As of July 2012, Montenegro had not formally declared completion of its Article 5 obligations.[5]

Cluster munition remnants

NATO air strikes between March and June 1999 involved the use of 22 cluster bombs of four different types: AGM-154A JSOW guided missiles, BL-755s, CBU-87/Bs, and Mk-20 Rockeyes. These scattered a little over 4,000 submunitions consisting of three different types: BLU-97A/B, MK-1, and MK 118.[6]

Montenegro’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report affirmed that, as of 27 January 2011, “there are no contaminated areas in Montenegro.”[7] In July 2011, however, the director of the Regional Centre for Divers’ Training and Underwater Demining (RCUD) confirmed that unexploded submunitions had been found in 2007.[8] In 1999, after the air strikes, military units collected more than 1,800 submunition remnants, but Montenegro informed the intersessional meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions that clearance had not been conducted “fully according to humanitarian mine action standards” and that it planned to conduct a survey.[9]

Non-technical survey (NTS) conducted by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) between December 2012—April 2013 identified 87 polygons of suspected or confirmed hazardous areas covering a total area of 1.72km² located in 11 locations affecting five communities in three municipalities: municipality of Golubovci (communities of Mataguži and Golubovci), municipality of Rožaje (communities of Jablanica and Njeguši), and municipality of Tuzi (community of Šipčanik).[10] Of these, the most affected area was Golubovci municipality, particularly around its airport, which accounted for 1.38km² of the total, followed by Tuzi and Rožaje municipalities.

There are signs that submunitions may also be present in two other areas of Plav municipality, Bogajice and Murino, which could not be immediately investigated because of high levels of snow.[11]

Mine Action Program

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration established a Department for Emergency Situations and Civilian Safety in 2007. It lacks human resources and equipment, however. Because of a shortage of funds, the responsibility for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) remained with the police.[12] Police set up an EOD team that currently has three trained members who conduct demolitions.[13]

RCUD has continued its role as the national mine action center.[14] RCUD was set up in 2002 by the government, which assigned the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration to “develop [the center’s] organization and its specification.”[15] It describes itself as a “public institution and has status of a legal entity realizing independently its functions assigned by the [government].”[16]

RCUD and NPA signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2012 under which NPA agreed to fund and implement a two-phase project—the “Cluster Munition Convention Completion Initiative for Montenegro”—involving, first, the conduct of NTS and, secondly, technical survey (TS) and clearance of areas where the presence of cluster munitions is confirmed. NPA agreed to set up a database and to develop capacity for NTS and quality management.[17] NPA has reported that the first phase of NTS was completed by April 2013 and involved one NPA survey team (two surveyors), one RCUD survey team (two surveyors), one NPA quality monitor, and two RCUD quality monitors.[18] Technical survey and clearance planned for the second phase are planned to begin in 2014 once funds are secured. Clearance is planned to be completed within 12 months from the start of operations.[19] NPA plans to engage operational recourses for phase two as follows: two to three manual teams (each team consisting of six operators and a team leader), one mine detection dog team (two dog handlers and two mine detection dogs), two medics, and one project coordinator.[20]

Land Release

Montenegro did not report any release of areas contaminated by mines or cluster munitions in 2013,[21] although NPA had previously stated that it expected to release 1.2–1.3km² through TS and clearance and 0.4–0.5km² through NTS.[22]

Survey in 2012–2013

NPA began a non-technical survey in December 2012 which was completed in April 2013 and identified 87 polygons of suspected or confirmed hazardous areas covering a total area of 1.2km² affecting five communities in three municipalities (see Contamination and Impact section above).[23] Technical survey, clearance of confirmed hazardous areas, and the release of residual suspected hazardous areas through NTS was planned to commence in 2014 under phase two of the Completion Initiative.[24]

Mine clearance in 2013

No mine clearance on land has been reported in Montenegro since 2008.[25]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Montenegro is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2017. Officials stated publicly in November 2007 that Montenegro was free of mines, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not formally declared completion of its Article 5 obligations and has not said when it plans to do so.[26]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2013

Montenegro did not conduct clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2013.

NPA, in cooperation with RCUD, has prepared 10 clearance and TS projects covering 834,630m² to be undertaken during the second phase of the Completion Initiative, in addition to one project for underwater clearance covering 24,150m². This reportedly corresponds to approximately 70% of the contaminated area that will be included in the TS and clearance activities.[27]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Montenegro is required to complete clearance of all areas affected by cluster munition remnants under its jurisdiction or control by 1 August 2020.

In April 2013, Montenegro said it planned to complete clearance of all contaminated areas in 2014 “if the funds are provided.”[28] In early 2014, Montenegro indicated that clearance would be complete by “the end of 2016.”[29]

Battle area clearance in 2013

In 2013, Montenegro reported that one item of UXO was found in Golubovci during construction work. The item was destroyed by the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.[30]

In the first six months of 2012, RCUD underwater teams worked on clearance of 8,000m², finding and destroying a total of four tons of various UXO.[31] In July and August 2012, RCUD underwater teams reported that 2.5 tons of explosives had been removed from the Zeta river, in addition to an “aircraft bomb” from the Moraca in the center of Podgorica.[32]

Explosive ordnance disposal in 2013

In 2013, Montenegro reported that the police department had found and destroyed two “shells of antitank mines” and two pieces of antipersonnel mines without fuzes. An unidentified number of improvised explosive devices were also reported as having been destroyed. No further information on the location of the demining activities was given.[33]

Support for Mine Action

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs contributed a total of approximately US$60,500 in 2013 in support of the joint NPA-RCUD non-technical survey and training for five quality monitors from RCUD.[34]

Support in 2013[35]

Victim assistance commitments

Montenegro is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Montenegro has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

There were no mine/ERW casualties identified in Montenegro in 2013. In 2012, six casualties were identified in one incident with an antivehicle mine in Montenegro. In July 2012, four adults and two children were injured while traveling in a car near the city of Gusinje, close to the border with Albania. One of the adults, a woman, was Albanian.[1]

Prior to 2012, the last casualties reported in Montenegro were in 2008, when a border police officer was injured when he drove over a landmine and, in a separate incident, a child was injured by a hand grenade he found in a wall in Podgorica.[2] The Monitor identified 18 mine/ERW casualties (four killed and 14 injured) between 1999 and December 2013. This included seven children; adult casualties included a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Albanian citizen (in 2012).[3]

Cluster munition casualties

At least nine cluster munition casualties have been reported for Montenegro.[4] Unexploded submunitions have caused four civilian casualties since their use in 1999. Another five casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes, of which at least four were civilians.[5]

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors living in Montenegro is not known; in 2004, 260 mine/ERW survivors were recorded as living in Montenegro.[6] In 2013, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), in cooperation with the Montenegrin Regional Centre for Underwater Demining, identified seven survivors of cluster munitions in Montenegro.[7]

Victim assistance coordination and participation

Montenegro designated contacts within the ministries of health and labor and social welfare as victim assistance focal points for the implementation of Article 5 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions; there is no specific victim assistance coordination mechanism.[8] In 2013, the government re-established the council on the rights of persons with disabilities within the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. The then short-lived council had been abolished in 2011.[9] National NGOs criticized the placement of the council within the ministry, asserting that its lack of independence would limit its role and importance.[10]

The ministries of health, labor and social welfare, education and sports, science, culture, and human and minority rights all have responsibilities for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. In December 2007, Montenegro adopted the Strategy for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Montenegro (2008–2016) to ensure compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[11] An action plan for implementing the strategy in 2014–2015 was adopted in March 2014, including specific targets to improve availability and access to services and programs such as healthcare, social protection, and professional rehabilitation as well as to align policies and laws with the provisions of the CRPD.[12] The implementation of the strategy and its action plan is monitored by an intergovernmental working group which includes representatives of persons with disabilities.[13] The implementation of the strategy and its action plans was considered “poor” and “significantly behind.”[14]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

According to the government, emergency medical care is available for all citizens of Montenegro through the national Institute for Urgent Health Care.[15] Mine/ERW survivors, including survivors of cluster submunitions, along with all victims of war, are entitled to free medical care and physical rehabilitation, including prosthetic limbs, through the national health insurance system. This law, regulating the national health insurance, recognizes the category of victims of cluster munitions. However, it does not discriminate against or among cluster munitions victims, or between cluster munitions victims and those who have suffered injuries or disabilities from other causes; differences in treatment are based only on medical, rehabilitative, psychological, or socio-economic needs of victims.[16]

In November 2012, the Montenegrin court system awarded €85,000 in compensation for pain and suffering to the family members of a boy who was killed by a cluster submunition in 1999.[17] The court ruled that the state of Montenegro failed in its obligation to “protect and guarantee the safety of the citizens” when it failed to “warn the citizens about the immediate danger to life and safety and to properly control the area in the given circumstances;” those circumstances included the presence of cluster munition remnants following bombing.[18]

Survivors may be entitled to a monthly pension and other benefits, based on the degree of their disability, on equal terms as other persons with disabilities.[19] A law passed in May 2013 severely cut benefits for persons with disabilities, eliminating the subsidies received by some persons with disabilities. Disability allowances provided in 2013 did not cover the cost of living.[20]

In 2013, unemployment remained a serious problem for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors. While there was a quota system that required employers to hire persons with disabilities, many employers opted instead to make payment into the government fund for employment and professional rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.[21] In 2013, there were allegations that the use of resources by the fund was not transparent.[22]

The Law on Prohibition of Discrimination of People with Disabilities (2011) was not implemented effectively in 2013. Montenegrin law required that public facilities be made accessible to persons with disabilities by September 2013, but a number of institutions remained inaccessible after the deadline.[23]

Montenegro ratified the CRPD on 2 November 2009. In March 2014, Montenegro submitted its initial report on the implementation of the CRPD, which was due in 2011. As of March 2014, Montenegro had not designated a focal point for the implementation of the CRPD or an independent mechanism to promote, protect, and monitor its implementation as called for by Article 33 (1) of the convention.[24]