Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Colombia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008. 

The ratification process is underway. As of August 2010, the ratification of the convention had been analyzed by a Colombian Senate Committee and was due to be considered by the full Senate later in the year.[1] In June 2010, a government official informed the CMC that ratification of the convention had been delayed by congressional elections held in March 2010 and the presidential elections held in May–June 2010.[2]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had worked in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense during 2009 to prepare documentation for congressional approval of the convention, but due to the busy legislative schedule in 2009, Senate consideration of ratification was postponed until 2010.[3] In June 2009, Colombia had told other states that it was in the initial stages of its ratification process, which was “lengthy due to internal procedures.”[4] 

Since signing the convention, Colombia has shown strong interest in its implementation and universalization. Colombia participated in the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, where it gave a presentation on national planning of stockpile destruction. Colombia also gave a presentation on stockpile destruction at the Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean on Cluster Munitions held in Santiago, Chile in September 2009, where it urged states to start their stockpile destruction early. Colombia also attended the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Santiago, Chile in June 2010.

On 2 December 2009, Colombia co-hosted an event with Lao PDR during the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena, Colombia to promote the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Colombia’s Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs Dr. Adriana Mejía Hernández spoke at the event.[5]

Colombia is a member of the Lao Support Group, a voluntary group of states which is tasked with advancing preparations for the First Meeting of States Parties to be held in Lao PDR in November 2010. In particular, Colombia is assisting with matters related to international cooperation and assistance.

In a March 2010 response to a Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor questionnaire, Colombia made known its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention.[6] The government “absolutely rejects and prohibits any manner of transfer or storage of foreign cluster bombs in Colombian territory,” as well as “military operations with states not party to the convention in which they carry out exercises or actions prohibited by the Convention.” It also prohibits investment in production of cluster munitions. In addition, “Colombia considers that the countries that are still not a part of this convention can take steps toward honoring the spirit of the convention.”

Colombia was not an early supporter of a ban on cluster munitions, and did not participate much in the Oslo Process that produced the convention. It did not attend the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008. However, Colombia signed the convention when it first opened for signature in Oslo in December 2008, saying that it was the “humanitarian impact” of cluster munitions that led to Colombia’s decision to sign.[7]

Colombia is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not ratified Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. In 2009, Colombia stated its view that the Convention on Cluster Munitions represents “significant progress in international humanitarian law” and cautioned that CCW work on cluster munitions not “run counter to international standards” set by the ban convention.[8] Colombia did not make any statements during the CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2010 through July.

Use, production, and transfer

In March 2010, Colombia confirmed that its armed forces had used and stored cluster munitions in the past, namely CB-250K and ARC-32 cluster munitions, prior to signing the convention. However, it declined to specify the quantity or time period when these weapons were used.[9]  

In May 2009, during an event to destroy the last of Colombia’s stockpile of CB-250K cluster munitions, Colombia’s Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos said the weapon had been used in the past “to destroy clandestine airstrips and camps held by illegal armed groups,” but sometimes the submunitions did not explode and “became a danger to the civilian population.”[10]

Colombia is not known to have produced cluster munitions. It imported them from Chile and Israel. In March 2010, Colombia stated that it “has not transferred Cluster Bombs to a third state.”[11]

Stockpile destruction

On 24 November 2009, Colombia announced the completion of the destruction of its stockpile of cluster munitions. The commander of the Colombian armed forces, Freddy Padilla de León, said, “Now we can declare with great satisfaction, and in compliance with the Oslo Convention [on Cluster Munitions], that there are no cluster bombs of any type left under the control of the Armed Forces of Colombia.”[12] 

On that day, Colombia finished destruction of its stock of 31 ARC-32 cluster bombs. Earlier, on 7 May 2009, it finished destruction of its stock of 41 CB-250K cluster bombs.[13] In total, it destroyed 72 cluster munitions containing 10,832 submunitions.

The CB-250K bombs were produced by Chile, each contains 240 submunitions. The ARC-32 bomb is apparently a 350kg weapon containing 32 antirunway submunitions produced by Israel.[14]

Colombia destroyed all 41 CB-250K cluster munitions in April and May 2009 at the Marandúa Air Force Base in Terecay municipality, Vichada department. On 7 May 2010, a destruction event was held at Marandúa, with participation by Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos, diplomats from 14 countries, and civil society representatives including the Campaña Colombiana contra Minas (CCCM).[15]

Colombia destroyed its stock of 31 ARC-32 cluster bombs in October and November 2009. On 24 November 2009, the last ARC-32 cluster bombs were destroyed Marandúa Air Force Base in an event witnessed by CCCM and others. As noted above, the Commander of the Colombian armed forces declared that Colombia had fulfilled its Convention on Cluster Munition stockpile destruction obligation.[16]

In response to inquiries since then about the possible existence of other stocks of cluster munitions, Colombia stressed that the military forces “currently do not have any type of cluster munitions; the different types of cluster munitions that were under the control of the Military Forces have been destroyed.”[17]

In November 2008, the CMC received information from Colombian military sources that in addition to the CB-250K and ARC-32 cluster bombs, Colombia also possessed M971 120mm mortar projectiles produced by Israel which contain 24 dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) self-destructing submunitions, as well as AN-M41 “cluster adapters.”[18] 

In May 2010, the army’s Director of Artillery replied to a Human Rights Watch inquiry about the M971 mortars that “currently the Tactical Artillery Units do not have the type of munitions mentioned in your letter.”[19] In August 2010, an official stated, “With respect to the M971 munitions, the Army had these in the past, but currently the Tactical Artillery Units do not have this or any type” of cluster munition.[20] It is not known when the mortars were destroyed.

In another May 2010 letter, the commander of the Air Force wrote, “With respect to the AN-M41 bombs, the Air Force currently does not have a stock” and has “abandoned the acquisition” of such bombs. He also noted that “this type of armament is not considered a cluster munition by the Oslo Convention.”[21]

In keeping with its June 2009 declaration, Colombia has decided not to retain any cluster munitions or submunitions for training or development purposes.[22]