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Abkhazia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Background
Abkhazia is a breakaway region of Georgia recognized by only a small number states.[1] Due to its status, Abkhazia cannot accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Policy
Abkhazia last made statements on the convention in March 2010, when a defense official informed the Monitor that Abkhazia does not support a ban on cluster munitions and stated that Abkhazian military forces do not possess cluster munitions.[2] It is not known if Russian units stationed in Abkhazia possess cluster munitions.
During the August 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, Abkhazian and Russian forces retook the upper Kodor Valley from Georgian forces. Abkhazia has asserted that Georgia fired large numbers of cluster munitions with M095 submunitions from LAR-160 rockets in the Kodor Valley.[3] The Monitor has not been able to independently investigate and confirm this information. In March 2010, the Abkhazian Ministry of Defense stated that the submunitions had been cleared and destroyed.[4]
[1] After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, conflict erupted between Abkhazia and Georgia, which ended with a cease-fire agreement in May 1994. Abkhazia is a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. As of May 2013, 66 UN member states had declared that they do not recognize Abkhazia, while six had recognized Abkhazia: Nauru, Nicaragua, Russia, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.
[2] Interview with Roland Jojua, Press Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Sukhum, 19 March 2010.
[3] Email from Maxim Gunjia, Deputy Foreign Minister, 24 August 2009. See ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2009), p. 1,159. The deputy foreign minister provided photographs of submunitions and containers. The M095 is described as an M85-type submunition.
[4] Interview with Roland Jojua, Ministry of Defense, Sukhum, 19 March 2010.
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