Lebanon

Last Updated: 12 August 2014

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Convention on Cluster Munitions status	State Party
National implementation legislation	Plans to amend existing legislation to enforce implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings	Attended Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka in September 2013 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014
Key developments	Spoke at a regional workshop on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Geneva on 27 May 2014

Policy

The Republic of Lebanon signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 5 November 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 May 2011.

Following a legislative review, Lebanon announced in September 2012 that it intends to amend existing legislation to ensure that the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions are enforced.[1] In April 2013, Lebanon said that a final report with recommendations on national legislation had been drafted and would be circulated to stakeholders.[2]

Lebanon submitted its initial Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 27 October 2011 and provided annual updated reports in 2012, 2013, and on 15 April 2014.[3]

Lebanon participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and advocated strongly for humanitarian protection to be given first priority in the development of the convention’s provisions.[4] Israel’s large-scale use of cluster munitions in Lebanon during the 2006 conflict contributed greatly to the sense of humanitarian urgency that underpinned the Oslo Process.[5]

Lebanon has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and hosted the Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut on 12–16 September 2011. Lebanon made several statements at the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, including on cooperation and assistance, national implementation measures, victim assistance, clearance and risk reduction, and universalization.

Lebanon has participated in all of the convention’s intersessional meetings held in Geneva. At intersessional meetings in April 2014, it made statements on universalization, clearance, and risk reduction.

Lebanon spoke in its capacity as president of the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties during a workshop on universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in the Middle East and North Africa held in Geneva on 27 May 2014.[6]

In April 2014, Lebanon remarked that in its region, “we continue to see allegations of use and to see countries with stockpiles of cluster munitions. We believe that the Middle East requires more efforts for the universalization of the convention and Lebanon is ready to support these efforts.”[7]

Lebanon is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Interpretive issues

Lebanon has provided interpretive statements on a number of the convention’s provisions. It has stated that the prohibition on the transfer of cluster munitions includes a prohibition on “transit,” that foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions is prohibited, that financing and investment in cluster munition production or transfer is prohibited, and that Article 1 of the convention takes precedence over Article 21 so that “States Parties must never undertake any act that could constitute deliberate assistance with a prohibited act.”[8]

In September 2011, Lebanon stated that it does not see any reason to retain cluster munitions or submunitions for training or research purposes, as permitted by Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, noting “detection of submunition remnants does not require a more sophisticated technology than what currently exists.”[9]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Lebanon has stated several times that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[10]

Israel used cluster munitions in Lebanon in 1978, 1982, and 2006.[11] The United States (US) dropped cluster bombs against Syrian air defense units near Beirut during an intervention in December 1983.[12] In 2006, Hezbollah fired cluster munitions from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.[13]

[1] Statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.

[2] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 15 April 2013.

[3] Various periods have been covered by the reports provided in October 2011 (from 13 October 1990 to 27 October 2011), April 2012 (27 October 2011 to 9 April 2012), April 2013 (calendar year 2012), and on 15 April 2014 (calendar year 2013).

[4] For details on Lebanon’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 105–107.

[5] For details on Israel’s use of cluster munitions in Lebanon and its impact, see HRW, “Flooding South Lebanon: Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006,” Vol. 20, No. 2(E), February 2008; and Landmine Action, “Foreseeable harm: the use and impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon: 2006,” October 2006.

[6] Statement of Lebanon, Workshop on Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 27 May 2014.

[7] Statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 7 April 2014.

[8] Letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 10 February 2009. It states: “It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that the transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention. Article /1/ paragraph (b) of the Convention explicitly prohibits all stockpiling and all transfers...It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that all assistance with prohibited acts is prohibited under Article /1/ paragraph (c) of the Convention. While Article 21 allows for military cooperation with states non party to the Convention it does not allow any assistance with prohibited acts. In the view of Lebanon Article /1/ paragraph (c) takes precedence over Article 21 and States Parties must never undertake any act that could constitute deliberate assistance with a prohibited act. It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that Article /1/ paragraph (c) of the Convention prohibits the investment in entities engaged in the production or transfer of cluster munitions or investment in any company that provides financing to such entities. In the view of Lebanon ‘assistance’ as stipulated in Article /1/ paragraph (c) includes investment in entities engaged in the production or transfer of cluster munitions and is thus prohibited under the Convention.”

[9] Statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.

[10] Letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 10 February 2009; Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 October 2011; “Cluster Munition Monitor 2012,” document provided in letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva to HRW, Ref 8/27/1 & 131/2012, 7 June 2012; and statement of Lebanon, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.

[11] HRW, “Meeting the Challenge: Protecting Civilians through the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” November 2010, pp. 33–38.

[12] US Department of the Navy, Attack Squadron 15, Memorandum from Commanding Officer, Attack Squadron 15, to Chief of Naval Operations, “Command History: Enclosure 5, Ordnance Expenditure for 1983,” 18 February 1984, declassified 28 April 2000.

[13] HRW, “Civilians Under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” August 2007, pp. 44–48. Hezbollah fired about 100 Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets, each of which contains 39 Type-90 submunitions, also known as MZD-2. In June 2012, Lebanon provided the Monitor with the following statement: “In the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli aggression, the Lebanese army found several kinds of unexploded cluster munitions on the Lebanese territory. Among these found were used and failed Chinese made MZD2. All (MZD2) were found in an area that is 10 kilometers away from the Lebanese – Occupied Palestine borders. Lebanon does not stockpile any kind of cluster munitions, it has not used any in the past, and the Lebanese Government considers all failed or unexploded cluster munitions or submunitions on the Lebanese soil as a legacy of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon; it should be noted though that these MZD2 munitions were only found after the 2006 aggression.” “Cluster Munition Monitor 2012,” document provided in letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva to HRW, Ref 8/27/1 & 131/2012, 7 June 2012.