Policy

The Cook Islands signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 23 August 2011, and became a State Party on 1 February 2012.

The Cluster Munitions Act of 2011 serves as the Cook Islands’ implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

As of 14 May 2014, the Cook Islands had not submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report, originally due by 30 July 2012.

The Cook Islands joined the Oslo Process in February 2008 and actively supported efforts to create a strong treaty text during the Dublin negotiations.[2]

The Cook Islands has not participated in any meetings of the convention since 2008, such as the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013.

The Cook Islands voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at the Syrian government’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[3]

The Cook Islands has not yet provided its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and the need for retention of cluster munitions and submunitions for training and development purposes.

The Cook Islands is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The Cook Islands has stated on several occasions that it does not use, develop, produce, or stockpile cluster munitions.[4]