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Congo, Democratic Republic
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
Signatory |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012, and regional conference in Accra, Ghana in May 2012 |
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Key developments |
Ratification process underway, submitted second voluntary Article 7 report, destroyed an abandoned stockpile |
Policy
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009.
In May 2012, a DRC official informed a regional conference that ratification legislation is awaiting Senate consideration and approval.[1] In April 2012, a DRC official stated that a draft ratification law was adopted by the National Assembly in 2011 and then referred to the Senate for approval.[2]
A DRC official said in April 2012 that the Convention on Cluster Munitions would likely be enforced through an amendment to the existing implementation law for the Mine Ban Treaty.[3] The convention has been included as an “integral component” in the work of the National Committee for Disarmament and International Security established in December 2011 and chaired by the Prime Minister.[4]
The DRC submitted a second voluntary Article 7 transparency measures report on 10 April 2012, covering the period of 1 January to 31 December 2011.[5]
The DRC actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and strongly supported a comprehensive ban as well as the inclusion of provisions on international cooperation and assistance. Due to inadequate signing authority the DRC was not able to sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in March 2009.[6]
The DRC continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011 and the first half of 2012. It attended the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012.
The DRC attended the Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Ghana in May 2012, where it provided an update on its ratification status. At the meeting the DRC endorsed the Accra Universalization Action Plan, which among other actions, encourages states not party to the convention to “take all necessary steps” to ratify by the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2012.
At the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2011, a DRC official described the convention’s adoption and entry into force as one of the most notable advancements in the domain of international humanitarian law and disarmament over the past decade.[7]
In April 2012, the government’s National Focal Point of the Struggle Against Mines (Point Focal National pour la Lutte Antimines, PFNLAM) coordinator said that the DRC agreed with the views of the CMC that the provisions of the convention forbid the transit, foreign stockpiling, and investment in the production of cluster munitions, as well as assistance with the use of cluster munitions in joint military operations with non-States Parties.[8]
The DRC is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Convention on Conventional Weapons
The DRC is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it attended the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in Geneva in November 2011 as an observer. A month before the Review Conference, the DRC expressed strong concern that the Convention on Cluster Munitions would be seriously compromised if its States Parties agreed to adopt a CCW protocol permitting continued use of cluster munitions.[9]
At the conclusion of the CCW Fourth Review Conference, the DRC joined a group of 50 countries in endorsing a joint statement that there was no consensus on the draft protocol on cluster munitions and emphasizing its serious humanitarian inadequacies.[10] The Review Conference ended without agreement on a draft protocol, thus marking the conclusion of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
The DRC has reported that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not stockpile them.[11]
It is not known which party to the various conflicts in the DRC used cluster munitions or when. In June 2011, the DRC stated that cluster munitions were used in armed conflict by foreign armies, both invited and not invited, and were a serious concern of the government.
According to the DRC, there is cluster munition contamination from BLU 755 cluster bombs, BLU 63 cluster munitions, and PM1 munitions.[12]
In April 2012, the DRC reported that on 9 November 2011 in Goma, North Kivu Province, its armed forces turned over an abandoned stockpile containing 1,593 ShOAB submunitions to humanitarian demining organization Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for destruction.[13] It stated that the authorization of destruction reflected the goodwill of the DRC, its respect for international law and its obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[14]
[1] Statement of DRC, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/06/Session-II_Statement-DRC.pdf.
[2] Statement by Sudi Alimasi Kimputu, Coordinator, National Focal Point of the Struggle Against Mines (Point Focal National pour la Lutte Antimines, PFNLAM), Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012. According to a government official, the National Assembly approved the ratification law on 10 June 2011, after which it was immediately sent to the Senate for approval. Statement of the DRC, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Geneva, 28 June 2011, www.clusterconvention.org; and CMC meeting with Sudi Kimputu, PFNLAM, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Geneva, 27 June 2011.
[3] CMC meeting with Kimputu, PFNLAM, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 17 April 2012. In June 2011, the DRC stated that it was considering the amendment of its national implementation for the Mine Ban Treaty to include obligations relating to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In October 2010, the National Assembly adopted a national law on antipersonnel mines to enact the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Statement of the DRC, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Session on Clearance and Risk Reduction, Geneva, 28 June 2011.
[4] Statement by Kimputu, PFNLAM, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012.
[5] On 15 May 2011, the DRC submitted an initial voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report, for the period from February 2002 to 15 May 2011.
[6] For details on the DRC’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 60–61.
[7] Statement by Jose Ikongo Isekotoko Boyoo, Director, Ministry of the Interior, Security, Decentralization, and Territorial Management, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 18 October 2011.
[8] Meeting with Kimputu, PFNLAM, Brussels, 15 April 2012.
[9] The DRC called for a solution to be found which would convince major users and producers of the importance of a strong instrument and would present a complementary alternative and not weaken standards set by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Statement by Jose Ikongo Isekotoko Boyoo, Director, Ministry of the Interior, Security, Decentralization, and Territorial Management, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 18 October 2011.
[10] Joint Statement read by Costa Rica, on behalf of Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 25 November 2011. List confirmed in email from Bantan Nugroho, Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1 June 2012.
[11] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Capt. Roger Bokwango, Deputy Coordinator, PFNLAM, 30 March 2010; and statement by Nzuzi Manzembi, Director, Directorate of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 6 March 2009. Notes by the CCIM.
[12] Statement of the DRC, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, Lao PDR, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[13] Convention on Cluster Munitions (voluntary) Article 7 Report, 10 April 2012, Form F; and Statement by Sudi Alimasi Kimputu, PFNLAM, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012. The DRC stated that the submunitions were left in the eastern part of the country by foreign troops invited onto its territory in recent armed conflicts. The stockpile consisted of three bombs containing 531 submunitions each.
[14] Statement by Sudi Alimasi Kimputu, PFNLAM, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012.
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