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Senegal
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012, intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2013, and a regional meeting in Lomé, Togo in May 2013 |
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Key developments |
Submitted initial Article 7 report in October 2012 |
Policy
The Republic of Senegal signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 3 August 2011.[1] The convention entered into force for Senegal on 1 February 2012.
In May 2013, a government official informed the CMC that Senegal would enact specific legislation to enforce the provisions of the ban convention in domestic law, but the process had not started yet.[2] In April 2012, Senegal first indicated its intent to adopt implementing legislation for the convention.[3]
Senegal submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report on 3 October 2012, covering the period from 26 April 2011 to 26 April 2012.[4] As of 27 June 2013, Senegal had not yet provided its updated annual Article 7 report which was due by 30 April 2013.
Senegal actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention and sought a total and immediate ban on cluster munitions with no exceptions.[5] Senegal continued to engage enthusiastically in the work of the convention in 2012 through the first half of 2013, promoting its universalization on several occasions. At the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012, Senegal called on all states that had not yet ratified to do more to complete this obligation and fully participate in the work of the convention.[6]
At the convention’s intersessional meetings in April 2013, Senegal called on all states to mobilize and strengthen their efforts to promote the ban convention with states that have not yet joined and noted the contributions of the strong coalition of NGOs. [7]
At a regional meeting held in Lomé, Togo in May 2013, Senegal urged all states to join the convention and urged all African states which have not yet joined the convention to do so in 2013.[8]
Senegal has not made a national statement condemning Syria’s use of cluster munitions, but on 15 May 2013 it voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that strongly condemned “the use by the Syrian authorities of...cluster munitions.”[9] Senegal also endorsed the Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at the regional meeting in May 2013, which expresses “grave concern over the recent and on-going use of cluster munitions” and calls for the immediate end to the use of these weapons.[10]
Senegal is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Interpretive issues
Senegal has expressed its views on a number of important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2012, Senegal stated its view that assistance with acts prohibited under the convention during joint military operations with states not party is prohibited by the convention. Senegal said that its commitment to humanitarian disarmament prevents it from participating in any military operations using cluster munitions.[11]
In 2011, Senegal stated that it considers foreign stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions a violation of the convention. On the issue of investment in cluster munition production, Senegal expressed its view that investment in cluster munitions would similarly be prohibited by the convention.[12]
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Senegal has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[13]
[1] Senegal’s National Assembly unanimously approved Law No. 14/2010 to ratify the convention on 23 June 2010.
[2] CMC meeting with Abdoulaye Bathily, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Senegal to the UN in Geneva, in Lomé, 22 May 2013.
[3] An official stated the matter was being discussed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ legal department. Response to Monitor questionnaire from Amb. Papa Omar Ndiaye, Director, Senegal National Centre for Mine Action (CNAMS), 17 April 2012; meeting with Amb. Ndiaye, CNAMS, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012.
[4] The report did not include any information on national implementation measures as Form A on national measures was left blank. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 3 October 2012.
[5] For details on Senegal’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. 149–150.
[6] Statement of Senegal, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/09/GEV-Senegal-new.pdf.
[7] Statement of Senegal, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.
[8] Statement of Senegal, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).
[9] “The situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/67/L.63, 15 May 2013, www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2013/ga11372.doc.htm.
[10] “Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2013/04/Lome-Strategy-for-the-Universalization-of-the-CCM-Final-Draft_En.pdf.
[11] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Amb. Ndiaye, CNAMS, 17 April 2012.
[12] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Col. Meïssa Niang, Director, Control Research and Legislation of the Ministry of Armed Forces of Senegal, 3 February 2011.
[13] Statement of Senegal, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013. Notes by AOAV; statement of Senegal, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012, www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/09/GEV-Senegal-new.pdf.; response to Monitor questionnaire by Col. Niang, Control Research and Legislation of the Ministry of Armed Forces of Senegal, 3 February 2011; and statement of Senegal, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
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