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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party as of 1 March 2011 |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011 |
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Key developments |
Ratified on 7 September 2010, stockpile destruction underway |
Policy
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 7 September 2010, and became a State Party on 1 March 2011.
It is not known if specific legislation will be undertaken to enforce the convention in BiH.[1]
BiH’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report is due by 28 August 2011.
BiH actively participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the convention, making strong contributions based on its experience as a country affected by cluster munitions and declaring a national moratorium on cluster munition use prior to the conclusion of the process.[2] BiH has continued to engage in the work of the convention. It attended the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 as well as intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
At the First Meeting of States Parties, BiH made a statement calling for the full realization of the rights of victims and described the convention’s provisions on victim assistance as “extraordinary.”[3] BiH also expressed its confidence that clearance of unexploded submunitions could be completed in two to three years.[4]
Handicap International’s (HI’s) Sarajevo-based Office for South East Europe and Landmine Survivors Initiative are promoting the Convention on Cluster Munitions in BiH, including its ratification.[5]
BiH is party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
Interpretive issues
In July 2011, the head of the department of conventional weapons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Ministry’s views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations, the prohibitions on transfer and foreign stockpiling, and the prohibition on investment in cluster munitions producers. On the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations or “interoperability,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that, “under the same Article 21, para 3, we may engage in joint military operations with non-states Parties that might engage in activities prohibited by the Convention, however our personnel or nationals should not provide assistance with activities prohibited by the Convention.”[6]
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the “transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention.”[7] The Ministry, however, noted that it does not have “access to or information on weapon types” that are stockpiled in European Union Force (EUFOR) military bases “on our territory.”[8] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stated that it considers “investment in the production of cluster munitions to be prohibited.”[9]
Convention on Conventional Weapons
BiH is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). BiH played a central role in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2010 and the first half of 2011 in its capacity as Friend of the Chair on victim assistance.
While actively participating in the discussions on the draft chair’s text, BIH has maintained that a new protocol must have an immediate and measurable impact to address the humanitarian harm caused by the use of cluster munitions and be compatible with the Convention on Cluster Munitions. At a CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) meeting on 30 August 2010, BiH announced the completion of its domestic procedures to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions and pledged its readiness to destroy all its cluster munitions.[10]
Use, production, and transfer
Yugoslav forces and non-state armed groups used available stocks of cluster munitions during the 1992–1995 war. The various entity armies inherited cluster munitions during the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
BiH has acknowledged that it produced cluster munitions for a period of 11 years, but has stated that production has ceased.[11] It has noted that since there was a large technology investment in a few production facilities, it would need assistance for conversion of these facilities and care for employees.[12]
BiH produced KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions for the Orkan multi-barrel rocket system.[13] The production capacity included the ability to manufacture KB-series submunitions and integrate them into carrier munitions such as artillery projectiles and rockets.[14] According to Jane’s Information Group, the Ministry of Defense has produced the 262mm M-87 Orkan rocket, with each rocket containing 288 KB-1 dual purpose submunitions.[15] Jane’s also lists BiH Armed Forces as possessing KPT-150 dispensers (which deploy submunitions) for aircraft.[16]
Stockpiling and destruction
In June 2011, BiH stated that the Ministry of Defense adopted a decision on 10 February 2011 “to destroy high risk ammunition” and has designated the following types of cluster munitions for stockpile destruction. No official information is available on the numbers of each type of cluster munitions.
Types of Cluster Munitions Stockpiled by BiH[17]
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ORKAN MLRS 262mm |
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FAB 275 airfuel bomb with ground-launch capacity |
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FAB 275 M91 aircraft bomb |
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BL-755 |
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PRAB 250J piercing airbomb |
In addition, BiH has identified “other assets that are required to undergo a technical checkup control” to determine ways and means of destruction: FAB 100 M-80, FOTAB 50, and Sapy (durandal).[18]
BiH has said that it lacks the necessary technical means to destroy its cluster munitions and UNDP has agreed to provide financial and technical assistance.[19] In November 2010, BiH also stated that the Ministry of Defense had all necessary the legal provisions in place to enable the stockpile destruction.[20]
At the First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010, BiH announced that it would destroy KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions from the M87 Orkan rockets.[21] Binas Bugojno, a company that produced cluster munitions before the 1992–1995 war, would destroy the submunitions through a process of open detonation. According to HI, a total of 75,000 KB-1 submunitions were transferred to the facility for destruction on 8 October 2010.[22] As of 3 November 2010, a total of 50,000 KB-1 submunitions had been destroyed.[23] In June 2011, BiH stated that the destruction of its KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions would be completed by the end of 2011.[24] In early August 2011, HI stated that the remaining 25,000 submunitions had been destroyed.[25]
In November 2010, BiH stated that it possessed “a large quantity” of BL-755 bombs and lacked the capacity to destroy them.[26] In June 2011, BiH said that a contract had been signed with UNDP for their destruction.[27] According to UNDP information provided to HI, the stockpile totaled 321 BL-755 bombs and would be destroyed by the end of 2011.[28]
As of early August 2011, UNDP is working with the BiH Armed Forces to prepare for the destruction of a total of 56 Orkan rockets.[29]
In November 2010, BiH said that it had received an offer of assistance from the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia) to destroy cluster munitions stockpiled by BiH.[30] The proposed project was not carried out, however, and no cluster munitions or submunitions were transferred from BiH to FYR Macedonia for destruction.[31]
BiH has not yet indicated if it will retain cluster munitions for training or research purposes.
Cluster munition remnants
BiH is contaminated with cluster munition remnants, primarily as a result of the 1992–1995 conflict related to the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslav aircraft dropped BL-755 cluster munitions in the early stages of the conflict and NATO forces used them subsequently.[32]
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) completed a general survey of the extent and impact of cluster munitions contamination in June 2011, submitting its report to the BiH Mine Action Center (BHMAC), which will be responsible for defining the risk area more precisely and preparing clearance tasks. The survey identified two main types of cluster munition: air-dropped BL-755 submunitions and R262 projectiles fired from Orkan M-87 multiple rocket launchers, which contained Mk-1, Mk-3, or KB-1 submunitions. It also identified contamination by improvised bombs that dispersed KB-1 submunitions.[33]
The survey identified 140 areas hit by air strikes and artillery with an estimated total of 3,774 unexploded submunitions and additional contamination around a former ammunition factory at Pretis that was hit by a NATO air strike scattering submunitions in the surrounding area. It identified 699 suspected hazardous area (SHA) polygons covering a total of 12.18km2, of which 3.23km² is believed to high risk. Some 5km2 is contaminated by artillery-delivered submunitions, 3.9km2 by BL 755s and 3.1km2 by unexploded KB-1 submunitions. The survey found several previously unidentified areas affected by unexploded submunitions resulting in a significantly higher estimate of contamination. In 2009, NPA had estimated cluster munitions affected only 1–2km2.[34]
SHAs were found in 39 municipalities but 43% of the total SHAs were in the municipalities of Travnik, Bužim, Cazin, Tešanj, Gornji, Vakuf, and Vareš, with a population of more than 226,660 inhabitants. Agricultural land and forests make up more than 82% of the total suspect area and land needed for housing and reconstruction another 15%.[35]
Clearance of cluster munition contaminated areas
NPA completed three cluster munition clearance tasks in 2010, clearing an area of 88,126m². Two KB-1 submunitions were found and destroyed.[36] It also canceled an area of 151,879m2 of previously suspect land through non-technical survey.[37]
In addition, civil protection explosive ordnance disposal teams found and destroyed 68 KB-1 submunitions in 2010.[38]
Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, BiH is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2021. The government has not assigned responsibility for clearing cluster munitions, but NPA is supporting BHMAC in deciding how to address the problem.[39]
Cluster munition casualties
BiH reported having registered 225 cluster munition casualties (44 killed; 181 injured) for the period 1992–2011. The number was based on preliminary data, which still required verification.[40] At least 86 cluster munitions casualties during strikes were reported in BiH in 1995.[41] Some nine casualties caused by unexploded submunitions were identified between 1995 and the end of 2009.[42] However, submunitions were not distinguished from other ERW in BHMAC casualty data collection.[43] No casualties from submunitions were reported in 2010.
[1] In December 2004, the Parliament approved an amendment to the Criminal Code, Article 193A, applying penal sanctions for violations of the Mine Ban Treaty. In addition, the Demining Law of 2002 created the present framework for managing mine action in BiH.
[2] For details on BiH’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 44–45.
[3] Statement of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 9 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[4] Statements of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, Convention on Cluster Munitions, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[5] To celebrate the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010 and encourage swift ratification, HI’s Office for South East Europe and Landmine Survivors Initiative Bosnia and Herzegovina organized a drumming event in Sarajevo. CMC, “Entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions Report: 1 August 2010,” November 2010, pp. 13–14.
[6] Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Head of Convention Weapons Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011. Kundurovic noted that the views expressed to the Monitor “represent the position of MFA and may or may not differ from the interpretation of other relevant institutions, including but not limiting to the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, etc.”
[7] In addition, the Ministry noted, “in accordance with Article 3, paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Convention transfer is allowed only in exceptional cases” such as “for the purpose of destruction or for example, for the purpose of development of cluster munition counter measures.” Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011.
[8] Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Statement of BiH, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 30 August 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence. BiH also supported the retention of the Convention on Cluster Munitions’ definition of a cluster munition victim in the operable paragraphs of the draft protocol, advocated for stronger language on self destruct mechanisms, and the deletion of clauses that would allow for the continued use of cluster munitions based on a vague series of options or with two or more initiating mechanisms.
[11] Statement of BiH, Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2007. Notes by the CMC/WILPF.
[12] Statement of BiH, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 21 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.
[13] Statement of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[14] Statement of BiH, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 21 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.
[15] Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), p. 720.
[16] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 836.
[17] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Stockpile Destruction and Retention, 27 June 2011.
[18] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Stockpile Destruction and Retention, 27 June 2011.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Statement of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Email from Alma Al-Osta, Communication and Advocacy Manager, HI South East Europe, 7 October 2010.
[23] Email from Alma Al-Osta, HI South East Europe, 4 November 2010.
[24] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Stockpile Destruction and Retention, 27 June 2011.
[25] Email from Alma Al-Osta, HI South East Europe, 16 August 2011.
[26] BiH said the BL-755 cluster munitions could not be destroyed by open detonation. Statement of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[27] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Stockpile Destruction and Retention, 27 June 2011.
[28] Email from Alma Al-Osta, HI South East Europe, 16 August 2011.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Statement of BiH, First Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[31] Meeting with Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 July 2011. A number of FYR Macedonian media outlets reported on the stockpile destruction project that was never undertaken. A media source reported that 250 Orkan rockets containing nearly 75,000 KB-1 submunitions each would be transferred from BiH to Macedonia for destruction. The source stated that the cluster munitions were of Serbian origin and are 20 years old. It alleged that Serbia had refused to destroy the stockpile of cluster munitions remaining on the territory of BiH. “КАСЕТНИ БОМБИ СТАРИ 20 ГОДИНИ ЌЕ СЕ УНИШТУВААТ КАЈ НАС, Босна ќе ја бомбардира Македонија,” (20 Year Old Cluster Bombs Will Be Destroyed in Our Country: Bosnia bombing Macedonia,) VECER (Daily Evening), 10 November 2010, daily.mk. FYR Macedonia’s Minister of Defense, Zoran Konjanovski, responded to concerns raised in additional media articles over possible environmental impacts to the area around Krivolak or nearby towns of Kavadarci and Negotino by stating that the destruction process would not adversely affect the environment and that the only atmospheric discharge caused by the destruction process would be water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. “МИНИСТЕРОТ КОЊАНОВСКИ ГАРАНТИРА ЕКОЛОШКА БЕЗБЕДНОСТ НА КРИВОЛАК, Касетните бомби од Босна не ги загрозуваат Кавадарци и Неготино“ (Kojanovski Guarantees the Environmental Protection of Krivolak: Bosnian cluster bombs do not threaten Kavadarci and Negotino,) VEST (Daily News), 15 November 2010, www.vest.com.mk. For allegations, see: “АЛАРМ ПО НАЈАВАТА ДЕКА КАСЕТНИ БОМБИ ОД БИХ ЌЕ СЕ УНИШТУВААТ НА КРИВОЛАК: Босански бомби ќе трујат во Тиквешко,” (Alarm that after the announcement of BiH’s cluster bombs at Krivolak, Bosnian bombs will poison the Tikesko,” Време (Time) online, 11 November 2010, www.vreme.com.mk.
[32] NPA, “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Sarajevo, undated but 2010, provided by email from Darvin Lisica, Programme Manager, NPA, 3 June 2010.
[33] NPA, “Report on the danger of cluster munition remnants in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” (draft), undated but 2011, p. 23, received from Darvin Lisica, NPA, Sarajevo, 1 August 2011.
[34] NPA, “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Sarajevo, undated but 2010.
[35] NPA, “Report on the danger of cluster munition remnants in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” (draft), undated but 2011, p. 8.
[36] Telephone interview with Milan Rezo, Deputy Director, BHMAC, 1 August 2011; and email from Zeljko Djogo, Planning Sector, BHMAC, 1 August 2011.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Telephone interview with Darvin Lisica, NPA, Sarajevo, 1 August 2011; and interview with Tarik Serak, Mine Action Planning Manager, BHMAC, 18 January 2011.
[40] Statement of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Session on Victim Assistance, Geneva, 28 June 2011.
[41] HI, Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 60. Some 60 more casualties were reported during an aerial strike in which cluster munitions were used along with other weapons.
[42] HI, Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities, (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 60; and BHMAC, “Three persons injured in explosion of ‘bluebells,’” 20 September 2009, www.bhmac.org.
[43] See BHMAC data collection forms in: Suzanne L. Fiederlein, Landmine Casualty Data: Best Practices Guidebook (Harrisonburg: Mine Action Information Center, 2008), p. 39.
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