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Poland

Last Updated: 27 October 2010

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Policy

The Republic of Poland has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2010, Poland reiterated its position that it does not foresee joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions at present due to “legitimate security needs” and a lack of alternatives to cluster munitions.[1] Poland has consistently expressed a preference for work on the issue of cluster munitions within the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

In July 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeated that Poland attaches “the utmost importance to the humanitarian aspects of the use of cluster munitions and supports measures designed to reduce civilian losses and suffering,” but confirmed that Poland was not in a position to join the convention, “nor to introduce a moratorium on the use/production/acquisition and transfer of cluster munitions. No new decisions or actions on this subject have been taken recently.”[2]

Poland has emphasized that it considers cluster munitions which meet “high reliability criteria” to be “legitimate weapons of significant military value.”[3] When asked to define “high reliability criteria,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that “high reliability criteria” are met by “types of munitions for which the rate of unexploded submunitions does not exceed 3% or which are equipped with self-destruct or self-neutralize mechanisms.”[4]

Poland did not attend any of the international or regional conferences on the convention in 2009 or 2010 through July. Poland has, however, stated it is planning to attend as an observer the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010.[5]

In July 2010, 43 Polish Members of the European Parliament voted 35 to seven (with one abstention) in favor of a European Parliament resolution that was passed in support of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and that expressed concerns about work on cluster munitions in the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). [6]

Poland participated in a number of the international preparatory conferences of the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the convention. However, from the start, Poland made it clear that it did not support a comprehensive prohibition on cluster munitions and that it preferred to address the issue within the framework of the CCW. Poland was one of three states present at the initial conference launching the process in February 2007 that did not endorse the Oslo Declaration, in which states pledged to negotiate a legally-binding instrument by the end of 2008 prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable humanitarian harm. Poland attended both the negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008 and the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008 only as an observer.[7]

Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty, but has yet to ratify it. Poland has indicated that it will do so in 2012.[8] 

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Poland is party to the CCW, but has yet to ratify Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland intends to ratify Protocol V by the end of 2010.[9]

Poland actively engaged in the work of the CCW in 2009 and the first half of 2010 on cluster munitions. Within the CCW forum, Poland has stated that it is prepared to accept restrictions for certain types of munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians and stated that “in our opinion it would be counterproductive to insist on establishing any ban covering the whole category of cluster munitions or any immediate prohibitions without a possibility for states to ask for a transitional period.”[10] 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that in its view, restrictions on cluster munitions, or a ban on cluster munitions after a transition period, should cover types of submunitions not equipped with self-destruction or self-neutralization devices, or those exceeding a 3% failure rate.[11]

During discussions in the CCW in April 2010, Poland stated that it was still technically feasible to produce cluster munitions with only one safeguard that “will not cause humanitarian harm” and opposed provisions requiring additional safeguards.[12] It strongly objected to proposals requiring a self-destruct mechanism to be “in addition to the primary fuzing mechanism.”[13]

Poland has emphasized that in its view a future CCW agreement on cluster munitions would not be contradictory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[14] Poland has said that countries that have adopted a higher standard on cluster munitions should have no problem with others adopting a lesser one. For those adopting the lesser standard, it should be seen as a time of transition.[15]

Use

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “The Polish Armed Forces have never used cluster munitions in combat.”[16] However, Polish forces deployed in Afghanistan possessed the weapon. In a July 2010 letter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that the Polish Military Contingent (PMC) in Afghanistan “has been equipped with 98mm mortars and appropriate cluster munitions.”[17] The ministry stated, “To date, cluster munitions have never been used in combat in Afghanistan by members of the PMC.”[18] 

One press report suggested that Polish forces in Afghanistan came close to using cluster munitions in September 2007 at Nangar Khel. Allegedly, a platoon was ordered to take cluster munitions for its 98mm mortars to the operation. During combat, the platoon commander allegedly refused to fire cluster munitions at some of the targets fearing they might be civilian objects.[19]

Asked about the 2007 Nagnar Khel incident and whether the PMC received orders to fire cluster munitions, the ministry replied, “PMC patrols are not equipped with 98 mm mortars, so the order could not have been given.”[20] 

The Foreign Ministry also described the Polish rules of engagement for the use of cluster munitions in Afghanistan, stating, “Pursuant to the 2008 order of the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces cluster munitions at the disposal of the PMC in Afghanistan may be used exclusively to repel a direct attack on a PMC base, as a last resort when the lives of base personnel are under threat. They may be used exclusively at the order of the PMC Commander. These principles constitute part of the rules of engagement of the PMC.” The ministry said that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force policy not to use cluster munitions in Afghanistan “has been put into effect through the order of the Chief of General Staff” described above. [21]

Poland acknowledged that before the 2008 order of the Chief of General Staff was issued, cluster munitions “had been used for test firing” in Afghanistan, stating, “When such tests were conducted, the area used was specially secured and checked before and after firing tests by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Additionally, during the firings, the area was under observation by designated troops from the unit conducting the firings. Meticulous checks conducted in the firing zone proved in every case that the cluster munitions were 100% effective (no unexploded remnants).” [22]  

In another communication with Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, Poland confirmed that it did not use cluster munitions in combat operations in 2009, but noted that Polish Air Force Su-22M4 aircraft crews dropped cluster bombs in 2009 on training grounds.[23] 

Stockpiling

Poland acknowledges possessing both air-dropped and surface-launched cluster munitions.[24]  Polish Land Forces are equipped with the following types:

·         122mm unguided rocket projectile M-21FK “FENIKS-Z,” containing 42 GKO submunitions. These munitions are deployed by BM-21/21M or RM-70/85 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

·         122mm unguided artillery shell “HESYT-1,” containing 20 GKO submunitions. These munitions are deployed by the self-propelled howitzer HS 2S1 “GOŹDZIK.”

·         98mm unguided mortar shell “RAD-2,” containing 12 GKO submunitions and deployed by M-98 mortars.

The Polish Air Force possesses the following types of cluster munitions:

·         ZK-300 cluster bomb, containing 315 PLBOk fragmentation bomblets; both the carrier and bomblets were designed and produced in Poland.

·         BKF expendable unit loader with anti-tank, incendiary and fragmentation bomblets, imported from the former Soviet Union.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “The GKO submunitions are typical DPICM (Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions) that combine anti-personnel fragmentation feature with an anti-armour shaped charge. It should be stressed that the GKO – the entirely Polish design – is relatively new and modern. Both the GKO submunitions and their carriers, which the Polish Armed Forces are equipped with, have been produced in Poland since 2001. The GKO incorporate a back-up self-destruction mechanism, which destroys the unexploded on impact submunitions after a set delay of about 20 seconds. The simple and reliable fuse sequence with two independent detonators ensures negligible failure rate of the submunitions in all environmental conditions. High reliability of the GKO has been confirmed during acceptance trials and field trials in different conditions.”[25]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that the “obsolete [air-dropped] cluster munitions entered into service in 1980s during the Warsaw Pact Era. These weapons are carried by Su-22 aircrafts. It should be stressed that the current military Air Forces doctrine does not anticipate any use of air-delivered cluster munitions in military operations. Therefore, it is almost certain that those weapons will be left untouched in their storage sites until their life span expires.”[26]

However, as indicated above, Poland acknowledged in April 2010 that the Polish Air Force used cluster munitions in 2009 for training crews of Su-22M4 aircraft. It confirmed that the Polish Armed Forces are equipped with cluster munitions for the Su-22M4 aircraft and stated, “If this ammunition is not fully used in training purposes, after the exhaustion of services life, they will be subject to disposal and destruction.”[27]

In 2010, in response to a Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor inquiry about contradictory information on whether Poland purchased CBU-87 and CBU-97 cluster munitions along with F-16 multirole fighter planes from the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “Poland did not seek to purchase cluster munitions for the aircraft. Accordingly, no purchases of cluster munitions – including CBU-87 and CBU-97 – have been made. There are no plans to acquire cluster munitions under the F-16 program in the future. Furthermore, cluster munitions have not been acquired for other aviation weapons systems.”[28]

A standard reference work has listed Poland as also possessing KMG-U dispensers, RBK-250, RBK-275, and RBK-500 cluster bombs.[29] However, in 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the “Armed Forces do not any longer possess cluster bombs of the RBK-250, RBK-275 and RBK-500 types. In view of their aging (distant production dates) these bombs were withdrawn from use during the Nineties and destroyed in accordance with the rules in forces at the time.”[30]

Poland has acknowledged that Polish Su-22 aircraft are equipped with KMG-U dispensers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that this information was not previously declared however as “in line with the terminology used in the Polish Armed Forces they were not considered to constitute cluster munitions.”[31]

Production

Several Polish companies produce cluster munitions. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the types of cluster munitions it lists as being in the Polish arsenal “are produced by the Polish companies exclusively for the needs of the Polish Armed Forces.”[32] The ministry confirmed in 2010 that cluster munitions “are still produced by the Polish companies” for its armed forces.[33]

The Polish company Zakłady Metalowe “Dezamet” S.A. has produced the ZK-300 Kisajno cluster bomb and also lists producing another type of cluster bomb called the LBKas-250, which contains 120 LBok-1 bomblets.[34] The Kraśnik defense plant has produced cluster munitions for 98mm mortars, 122mm artillery, and 152mm artillery.[35] The Polish company Tlocznia Metali Pressta Spolka Akcynjna has manufactured 122mm rockets.[36]

Regarding future procurement of cluster munitions, Poland stated in 2005, “The Ministry of Defense requires during acceptance tests less than 2.5% failure rate for the purchased submunitions.”[37]

Transfer

In 2010, the Foreign Ministry told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, “Poland has not exported any cluster munitions in 2009–2010 or in previous years. We do not have any information on past exports of cluster munitions from Poland.[38] In 2009, the ministry said Poland “has not exported any cluster munitions in recent years.”[39]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, however, that Polish companies could—theoretically—be granted permission to export cluster munitions, if an application was requested. It informed that, unlike landmines, cluster munitions are not banned from export under regulations regarding trade control of goods of strategic importance. It emphasized that administrative decisions regarding permissions for export of arms are taken on an individual basis, in consultation with relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[40]

As noted above, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated Poland is not prepared to introduce a moratorium on the use, production, or transfer of cluster munitions.[41]



[1] Letters from Adam Kobieracki, Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010, 10 March 2009, and 22 September 2008.

[2] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[3] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[4] Ibid, 8 April 2010.

[5] Ibid.

[6] The resolution called for European Union members to sign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, promote the convention to states not party, implement and provide assistance for the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, participate in the First Meeting of States Parties in Lao PDR, and not to support a protocol within the Convention on Conventional Weapons that would be incompatible with the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. See, European Parliament, “Joint Motion for a Resolution,” 7 July 2010, www.europarl.europa.eu. Voting record available at www.votewatch.eu.

[7] For details on Poland’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. 226–227.

[9] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.

[10] Statement of Poland, CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 16 February 2009.

[11] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.

[12] Statement of Poland, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, 14 April 2010. Notes by AOAV.

[13] Statements of Poland, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, 12, 13, and 14 April 2010. Notes by AOAV.

[14] Statement of Poland, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 16 February 2009.

[15]Statement of Poland, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 2 September 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.

[16] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[17] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Marcin Górka, Marcin Kącki, and Adam Zadworny, “Cztery szybkie w wioskę” (“Four Quick in the Village”), Gazeta Wyborcza, 29 July 2008, wyborcza.pl.

[20] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.

[24] All information on current stockpiles provided by letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[25] Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.

[28] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010. See Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 228.

[29] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 844.

[30] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[33] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[34] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 391; and Dezamet, “Air Armament,” undated, www.dezamet.com.pl.

[35] Dezamet, “Cargo Ammunition,” www.dezamet.com.pl; and Marcin Górka, “Poland Sees Nothing Wrong in Cluster Bombs,” Gazeta Wyborcza, 9 September 2008, wyborcza.pl.

[36] Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 20012002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001), p. 626.

[37] Communication from the Polish Ministry of Defense, to Pax Christi Netherlands, 14 February 2005. The information was provided to Pax Christi Netherlands with the proviso that the “content of the paper does not necessarily reflect the official position of Poland.”

[38] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.

[39] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.

[40] Ibid, 8 April 2010. The response stated: “Currently regulations on control of trade in goods of strategic importance do not provide for a total ban on exports of cluster munitions, as opposed to anti-personnel mines falling within CN code 9306 90 10 Combined Nomenclature, whose export from the territory of the Republic of Poland shall be prohibited (with limited exceptions) under the Regulations Ministers of 20 October 2009 amending Regulation on the introduction of bans and restrictions on goods of strategic importance for national security (Journal of Acts 2009, No. 183, pos. 1427). Administrative decisions on the granting of permits to export weapons are considered on an individual basis with the involvement of consulting authorities, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 29 November 2000 on foreign trade in goods, technologies and services of strategic importance for national security and for the maintenance of international peace and security (Journal of Laws of 2004 No. 229, item. 2315, as amended later). Obtaining permission for export of cluster munitions is theoretically possible, in the case of approval of the transaction by the trade control authority, after having received a positive opinion of consulting bodies, including the Foreign Ministry.” Translation by Marta Kulikowska, Polish Red Cross, 30 May 2010.

[41] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.