Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Croatia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 17 August 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

In April and May 2014, Croatia reported that mine action legislation is being drafted to address clearance, victim assistance, and risk education with respect to explosive weapons including cluster munitions and said the draft legislation “states that each failure in treatment of cluster munitions is subject to misdemeanor sanction.”[1] Previously, in 2012, Croatia stated that a working group established to prepare national legislation, including penal sanctions to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, had produced a first draft of the proposed legislation.[2]

Croatia’s armed forces have included the convention’s obligations in an expanded curriculum on agreements and treaties that Croatia has joined.[3] In May 2013, Croatia reported that the government had established the Office for Mine Action to act as a focal point for coordination and monitoring of mine action related activities in Croatia, including the operation of the Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC).[4]

Croatia submitted its initial Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 April 2011 and provided annual updated reports in 2012, 2013, and on 5 May 2014.[5]

Croatia made many notable contributions throughout the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and, from its experience as an affected state, advocated for the strongest possible provisions on victim assistance.[6] Croatia enacted a moratorium on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions in 2007, prior to the conclusion of the process.[7]

Croatia has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2008. Croatia has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, where it made several statements, including on clearance, victim assistance, and stockpile destruction. Croatia has attended every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva, including in April 2014, where it made statements on universalization, stockpile destruction, and national implementation measures.

The Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre (RACVIAC) at the Centre for Security Cooperation held its sixth annual workshop on the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions during a wider symposium on mine action in Zadar, Croatia from 22–26 April 2014 attended by six governments from the region.[8]

In 2012–2013, Croatia served as co-coordinator on stockpile destruction and retention for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, together with Spain.

At the intersessional meetings in April 2014, Croatia called on all countries to sign and ratify the Convention on behalf of victims of cluster munitions, and out of human duty and common interest.[9]

In April 2013, Croatia said “the horrible situation in Syria necessitates that States Parties and others continue to communicate to those responsible that the use of cluster munitions must stop now.”[10] Croatia has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, 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.”[11]

Croatia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Interpretive issues

Croatia has expressed its views on a number of issues important to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Croatia considers that transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of State Parties is prohibited by the convention and also considers investment in the production of cluster munitions to be prohibited.[12] Croatia has stated, “As for the interoperability and use of cluster munitions by countries that are not signatories to the [convention], and are serving within joint military operations, Republic of Croatia will act in accordance with provisions stipulated in Article 21 of the Convention.”[13]

In 2012, Croatia stated that it agrees with the concerns raised by CMC that it is not clear how the convention’s phrase “minimum number of cluster munitions absolutely necessary” for the retention of cluster munitions will be interpreted and said that it is “crucial that states comply fully with the detailed reporting requirement on cluster munitions retained for development and training.”[14]

Use, production, and transfer

Croatia has stated that it does not produce cluster munitions, did not import them, and that the armed forces of Croatia have not used them, including in missions under UN auspices.[15]

Croatia informed the Monitor that “no Yugoslav production facilities for cluster munitions or their components were formerly located in Croatia” but acknowledged that until 1999, the Croatian company SUIS d.o.o., in Kumrovec produced a cluster munition called the M93 120mm mortar bomb.[16] In 2012, Croatia declared that the production facilities were officially decommissioned when bankruptcy proceedings for the company were completed in 2006.[17]

On 2–3 May 1995, forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK) under the leadership of Milan Martić shelled Zagreb with M87 Orkan rockets equipped with submunitions, killing at least seven civilians and injuring more than 200.[18] Additionally, the Croatian government has claimed that Serb forces dropped BL755 cluster bombs in Sisak, Kutina, and along the Kupa River.[19]

Stockpiling

Croatia has declared a stockpile totaling 7,235 cluster munitions and 178,785 submunitions, as shown in the following table. Croatia inherited the cluster munitions during the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[20]

Croatia’s cluster munition stockpile (as of 31 December 2013)[21]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia is required to destroy all its stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018.

In its May 2014 Article 7 report, Croatia stated that it has the necessary capabilities and facilities in place to destroy its remaining stocks ahead of the deadline.[22] In May and April 2014, Croatia reported that its stockpile destruction process had been delayed due to its “ongoing and demanding” clearance of the former military ammunition depot at Pađene, where a forest fire on 13 September 2011 caused a large uncontrolled explosion that destroyed a portion of Croatia’s stockpiled cluster munitions and resulted in explosive remnants. Croatia stated that clearance of the Pađene site was scheduled to conclude by August 2014 and then the process of its stockpile destruction can commence. It reported that it has a plan in place including standard operating procedures for the destruction process, which will be carried out by the Croatian armed forces.[23]

Croatia expects to complete the destruction within one year provided that adequate financial resources can be located.[24] It has estimated approximately €200,000 will be needed to fulfill its stockpile destruction obligations under the convention.[25]

Cluster munitions destroyed by Croatia (as of 31 December 2013)[26]

In 2011, the Ministry of Defence and NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) carried out research on each type of cluster munitions and their submunitions in the stockpile and also developed standard operating procedures.[27] During this period, Croatia destroyed six cluster munitions and their submunitions.[28] The September 2011 explosion at the Pađane military storage site caused an explosion that destroyed at least 153 stockpiled cluster munitions and their submunitions.[29] There were no casualties at the time of the incident, but on 10 July 2013 an engineer from the Croatian armed forces was killed and two others injured when a MK-1 submunition exploded during clearance operations at the site.[30]

During 2012, Croatia’s stockpile of cluster munitions was consolidated at two locations closer to the destruction site at the Slunj military training ground: Golubić and Pleso.[31]

In 2014, Croatia reported that standard operating procedures for the disassembly and destruction of the stockpile have been developed and disposal trials conducted to identify viable destruction options for each munition type. The stockpile will be destroyed through a combination of disassembly, recycling, open burning/detonation, and demilitarization techniques with a plan to minimize contamination and environmental impact by maximizing the re-use, recycling, and reprocessing of materials wherever possible.[32]

Retention

Croatia has not retained any live cluster munitions or submunitions for training and development purposes as permitted by Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Croatia declared in January 2011 that it intends to retain 14 cluster munitions and a total of 1,737 submunitions for training and educational purposes and for display at a military museum, but stated that the cluster munitions would be disassembled and the submunitions disarmed and made free from explosives.[33] In its May 2014 Article 7 report, Croatia listed 14 cluster munitions as retained for training, but stated this is “not actual retention” because the munitions are inert.[34] Croatia has encouraged other State Parties to “consider this technique of retention” by retaining inert and not live cluster munitions.[35]