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Lebanon
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
Signatory |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended global conferences in Berlin in June 2009 and Santiago in June 2010 |
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Key developments |
Ratification process underway |
Policy
The Republic of Lebanon signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
On 3 August 2010, Lebanon wrote to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, “The Lebanese Government has already endorsed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the very first constitutional step in the process of ratification. The draft legislation has also been forwarded by the Cabinet to the Parliament for final adoption; however, it is still under discussion within the competent parliamentarian committees.”[1]
The Cabinet approved ratification of the convention on 21 April 2010.[2] At the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile on 9 June 2010, Ambassador Najla Riachi Assaker informed other states that Parliament would enact the necessary ratification legislation shortly.[3] Parliamentary approval was expected in June, but has been delayed at the request of some political parties that indicated they need more time.[4]
Lebanon told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that the government “has not decided yet on the mandate and the shape of the body that will oversee the implementation of the [convention]. The inter-ministerial committee is only one among other feasible alternatives. Pending a decision on this matter, the Lebanese Mine Action Center…is coping with the cluster munition contamination alongside other related activities.” [5]
Lebanon has remained actively engaged in the work of the convention. At the conference in Santiago in June 2010, Lebanon also spoke of the need to sustain the partnership of affected and non-affected states, and the importance of NGOs. [6] Lebanon participated in the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, where it called upon “all countries stockpiling cluster munitions to start without delay destroying their stockpiles, pending the entry into force of the [Convention on Cluster Munitions].”[7]
Lebanon was actively engaged from the very beginning of the diplomatic Oslo Process in 2007 and 2008 that produced the convention. The large-scale use of cluster munitions by Israel on the territory of Lebanon during the 2006 war with Hezbollah contributed greatly to the sense of humanitarian urgency that underpinned the Oslo Process.[8] Lebanon participated in the international preparatory conferences in Oslo, Lima, Vienna, and Wellington, the formal negotiations in Dublin, and the regional conference in Belgrade for affected countries. Lebanon hosted the Beirut Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions from 11–12 November 2008.
Throughout the Oslo Process, Lebanon consistently argued that humanitarian protection should be given primacy in the development of the conventions provisions. On adopting the convention in Dublin in May 2008, Lebanon saw it as ushering in a new approach to international law “that put humanitarian concerns at the very centre.” Lebanon transmitted a message of sincere thanks from the individuals and communities affected by cluster munitions to the states that had worked together to adopt the convention.[9]
Lebanon has provided interpretive statements on a number of important provisions in the convention. These include that the prohibition on transfer of cluster munitions includes also a prohibition on “transit;” that foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions is prohibited; that financing and investment in cluster munition production or transfer is prohibited; and that Article 1 of the convention takes precedence over Article 21, so that “States Parties must never undertake any act that could constitute deliberate assistance with a prohibited act.”[10]
Lebanon is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
The National Committees for Mine Risk Education and Mine Victim Assistance in Lebanon and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) declared 10–16 August 2009 as a week of solidarity with the victims of mines and cluster bombs. Candlelight vigils, a Scouts’ march, and awareness campaigns were held throughout Lebanon, calling upon the government to rapidly ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[11]
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Lebanon has stated that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[12]
In 2006, Hezbollah fired more than 100 Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.[13] The source for these 122mm cluster munition rockets fired by Hezbollah is not known.
Cluster munitions were used in Lebanon by Israel in 1978, 1982, and 2006.[14] United States Navy aircraft dropped 12 CBU-59 and 28 Rockeye bombs against Syrian air defense units near Beirut during an armed intervention in December 1983.[15]
[1] Letter N/Ref: 210/2010-8/27/1 from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 3 August 2010.
[2] Mohammed Zaatari, “UN urges Lebanon to ratify land-mine treaty,” Daily Star, 24 April 2010.
[3] Statement by Amb. Najla Riachi Assaker, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 9 June 2010. Notes by AOAV/HRW.
[4] Emails from Khaled Yamout, Landmine Program Coordinator, NPA, to Laura Cheeseman, Campaigning Officer, CMC, 12 July 2010 and 18 June 2010.
[5] Letter N/Ref: 210/2010-8/27/1 from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 3 August 2010.
[6] Statement by Amb. Najla Riachi Assaker, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 9 June 2010. Notes by AOAV/HRW.
[7] Statement of Lebanon, Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, 26 June 2009.
[8] For details on Israel’s use of cluster munitions in Lebanon and its impact, see Human Rights Watch (HRW), “Flooding South Lebanon: Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon in July and August 2006,” Vol. 20, No.2(E), February 2008; and Landmine Action, “Foreseeable harm: the use and impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon: 2006,” October 2006.
[9] Statement of Lebanon, Closing Ceremony, Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, 30 May 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.
[10] Letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 10 February 2009. It states: “It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that the transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention. Article /1/ paragraph (b) of the Convention explicitly prohibits all stockpiling and all transfers…. It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that all assistance with prohibited acts is prohibited under Article /1/ paragraph (c) of the Convention. While Article 21 allows for military cooperation with states non party to the Convention it does not allow any assistance with prohibited acts. In the view of Lebanon Article /1/ paragraph (c) takes precedence over Article 21 and States Parties must never undertake any act that could constitute deliberate assistance with a prohibited act. It is the understanding of the Government of Lebanon that Article /1/ paragraph (c) of the Convention prohibits the investment in entities engaged in the production or transfer of cluster munitions or investment in any company that provides financing to such entities. In the view of Lebanon ‘assistance’ as stipulated in Article /1/ paragraph (c) includes investment in entities engaged in the production or transfer of cluster munitions and is thus prohibited under the Convention.”
[11] Email from the CMC, 19 August 2009.
[12] Letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the UN in Geneva, 10 February 2009. Lebanon is reported to possess Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but according to Lebanon these do not include versions with submunition payloads. International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2005–2006, (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 198; and Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2007–2008, CD-edition, 15 January 2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2008).
[13] HRW, “Civilians Under Assault: Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks on Israel in the 2006 War,” August 2007, pp. 44–48.
[14] HRW, “Cluster Munition Information Chart,” April 2009.
[15] Ibid.
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