Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. It became the fifth country globally and the first in Asia to ratify the convention on 18 March 2009, when it deposited its instrument of ratification at a special event to promote the convention at UN headquarters in New York.[1] Thus, it was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the entry into force of the convention on 1 August 2010.

Lao PDR will host the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in Vientiane from 9–12 November 2010.[2] The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that formally welcomed Lao PDR’s offer to host the meeting on 28 October 2009.[3] Lao PDR, together with Ireland, undertook significant consultations to ensure consensus adoption of this UN General Assembly resolution in support of the convention. 

In a speech to the UN, Lao PDR stated, “We fully endorse the objective of achieving the total elimination of cluster munitions, which cause excessive injury and have indiscriminate effects, especially on the civilian populations. As one of the most cluster munitions affected countries, the Lao PDR attaches enormous importance to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and its contribution toward protecting civilians and addressing the humanitarian impact of this silent killer.”[4]

Lao PDR has established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the focal point for implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The ministry receives support for this through a Treaty Support Unit created in March 2010 within the National Regulatory Authority (NRA).[5]

 The government is now focused on preparations for the First Meeting of States Parties, but will turn to the drafting of national implementation legislation for the convention following the conclusion of the meeting.[6]

In March 2010, Lao PDR established a National Preparatory Committee on the First Meeting of States Parties, chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Eight sub-committees have been established, with members from government agencies, to be responsible for specific tasks.[7]

On 7 July 2010, the government and UNDP held a media event to launch the “official start for the November meeting, which is so far the largest international meeting ever organized in the Lao PDR.”[8]

The event was also used for the government and UNDP to officially launch a UXO trust fund, created to encourage strong support for the convention and the First Meeting of States Parties. As of early September, four countries (Australia, Canada, France, and Ireland) had contributed about US$4.15 million to the fund.[9]

Preparations for the First Meeting of States Parties—substantive, procedural, and logistical—have been at the heart of the work of the convention in 2009 and 2010, and Lao PDR has been deeply involved in all aspects.

In early 2009, a group of states came together on a voluntary, informal basis to form the Lao Support Group. Under the guidance of Lao PDR, they have taken on the responsibility of ensuring that preparations for the First Meeting of States Parties are advancing in a thorough and timely manner. The Lao Support Group met nine times between May 2009 and August 2010, and will continue to do so in the lead-up to the November conference. Lao PDR and 10 states, serving as Friends of the President of the First Meeting of States Parties, are taking the lead on specific issue areas, developing the topics for discussion and drafting substantive papers for consideration at the First Meeting of States Parties. UN agencies, the CMC, and the ICRC have also participated extensively.[10]

Lao PDR participated in the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, the Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean on Cluster Munitions held in Santiago, Chile in September 2009, the Regional Conference on the Promotion and Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009, the Africa Regional Conference on the Universalization and Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Pretoria, South Africa in March 2010, and the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile in June 2010. 

At each of the conferences, Lao PDR provided an update on the preparations for and “roadmap” to the First Meeting of States Parties. It has also promoted the convention and the First Meeting of States Parties at UN events and briefings in other diplomatic fora, such as the intersessional Standing Committee meetings and Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, as well as Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings.

At the global meeting in Santiago in June 2010, Lao PDR proposed that the President of the First Meeting of States Parties appoint a special envoy to visit non-signatory countries to urge them to join the convention and attend the First Meeting of States Parties.[11]

Lao PDR has not expressed its views on several important matters related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations, the prohibition on transit of cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on investment in the production of cluster munitions.

As the most heavily affected country in the world, Lao PDR’s support was a crucial element in the success of the Oslo Process that produced the convention.[12] It participated extensively in the Oslo Process, calling for a comprehensive ban. During the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, it advocated strongly against proposals to weaken the treaty text. Lao PDR hosted the South East Asia Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 20–22 October 2008 in Xieng Khouang, aimed at promoting signature to the convention in the region.

Lao PDR is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not ratified Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It has participated, though not extensively, in the CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in recent years. During a CCW session in April 2010, Lao PDR expressed its hope that states could reach agreement on a new protocol on cluster munitions, but stressed that it must complement, and not in any way compromise, the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It encouraged more states to join the ban convention prior to the November First Meeting of States Parties.[13]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Lao PDR has stated that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[14]

Cluster Munition Remnants

Lao PDR experienced the heaviest aerial bombardment in history during the Indochina War of the 1960s and 1970s which left it with the world’s worst contamination from cluster munition remnants (known locally as “bombies”). After more than 13 years of UXO/mine action, there is today no reliable estimate for the total area contaminated in the country. Lao PDR lacks up-to-date information on the location and impact of explosive remnants of war (ERW), and even the extent of land designated a priority for clearance.[15] The NRA says that 10 of Lao PDR’s 17 provinces are “severely contaminated” by ERW, affecting up to one-quarter of all villages.[16] A 2002 evaluation for the Japan International Cooperation Agency estimated that 236.8km² of potential agricultural land was contaminated by UXO.[17]

Bombies accounted for a little over half (52%) of all items cleared in 2009.[18] UXO Lao, Lao PDR’s largest clearance operator, reported in 2009 that during 12 years of operations, munitions fired by ground forces made up most (52%) of total items cleared and unexploded submunitions accounted for a little under half (47%).[19]

UNDP reports that as a result of unexploded submunition contamination, “economic opportunities in tourism, hydroelectric power, mining, forestry and many other areas of activity considered main engines of growth for the Lao PDR are restricted, complicated and made more expensive.”[20] For example, the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project, one of the country’s biggest economic development projects, spent more than $16.7 million on UXO clearance between February 2003 and October 2007.[21]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lao PDR is required to complete clearance of all areas affected by unexploded submunitions under its jurisdiction or control not later than 1 August 2020. If it is unable to complete clearance within 10 years, it may request an extension of up to five years.

In 2010, the NRA, which coordinates UXO/mine action in Lao PDR, drew up plans for a pilot district-level survey to determine the extent of contamination. The survey is intended to pull together household and village priorities, district plans for development, and national plans for development and investment. It is expected to provide a basis for districts to draw up annual work plans and for the NRA and clearance operators to draw up a multiyear plan in line with its obligations under the convention.[22]

At least 40,499 unexploded submunitions were reportedly destroyed by operators in 2009. The UXO/mine action program in Lao PDR did not, though, disaggregate areas cleared of cluster munition remnants from other battle area clearance.[23]