Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Uganda signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.

In March 2010, Uganda stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared the ratification instrument, and that consultations were underway, following which the ratification would be sent to parliament for approval. It indicated that ratification should be completed by the time of the First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010.[1] In June 2009, Uganda said that it had “completed the legal aspects of the ratification instruments” and “there is light at the end of the tunnel that we will ratify the treaty quickly.”[2]

Uganda participated extensively in the Oslo Process that produced the convention in 2007 and 2008. During the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, Uganda worked hard to achieve a strong treaty text, particularly on victim assistance. Uganda hosted the Kampala Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in September 2008 which resulted in the Kampala Action Plan, calling on states to sign and “take all necessary measures to ratify the convention as soon as possible.”[3]

Uganda continued to engage in the work of the convention in 2009 and 2010 through July. It attended the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, where it made an extensive presentation on many aspects of the cluster munition issue. Uganda participated in the Africa Regional Conference on the Universalization and Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Pretoria, South Africa in March 2010, where it chaired a session on “Understanding the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”[4] Uganda also attended the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile in June 2010, but did not make a statement. ICBL Ambassador Margaret Arach Orech of the Uganda Landmine Survivors Association represented civil society at these meetings.

Uganda is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not ratified Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It has not been an active participant in the CCW discussions on cluster munitions in recent years.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Cluster munitions were apparently used in the fighting in northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces. It is uncertain who used the cluster munitions, precisely when, or how many. On several occasions, Uganda has denied that its armed forces have used cluster munitions and said the LRA was responsible.[5] This message was reiterated by a senior official in June 2009.[6]

Uganda is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions.

Uganda now claims that it does not have a stockpile of cluster munitions.[7] In October 2007, a Foreign Ministry official said that Uganda had a stockpile of cluster bombs and pledged to destroy it.[8] However, in June 2009, a senior official said that in 2007 Uganda had pledged to “check and destroy all its stockpiles.”[9] He then stated that Uganda does not have any stockpiles,[10] noting that “Uganda wants to be known as ‘The Pearl of Africa’ and not a country of stockpile of cluster munitions.”[11]

Cluster Munition Remnants

Uganda had a problem with cluster munition remnants in the past.[12] According to the International Service Volunteers Association (AVSI), cluster munitions were responsible for approximately 40 civilian casualties in Uganda between 1986 and 2006.[13]

In June 2009, the Director of Uganda’s National Emergency Coordination and Operations Center claimed that Uganda is not currently contaminated by cluster munitions.[14] In April 2010, the Ugandan Mine Action Center (UMAC) told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that no unexploded submunitions remained.[15] It said all known unexploded submunitions had been cleared.[16]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants

No unexploded submunitions were reported to have been destroyed during battle area clearance in 2009.[17]

In June 2009, the Director of Uganda’s National Emergency Coordination and Operations Center stated that on 15 March 2007 “a heap of 90 cluster bombs type AOSCH-1” with Arabic inscriptions were recovered in villages in Cwero parish in Aswa county and in Awach sub-county, all near Gulu. He said that “in total 121 cluster munitions were recovered in Uganda and all were destroyed.” Additionally, the official noted that two “pieces of M42 type of cluster munitions were recovered from Mt. Rwenzori.”[18]