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Eritrea
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
Non-signatory |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 |
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Key developments |
Considering accession |
Eritrea has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In November 2010, Eritrea’s ambassador to Japan said that Eritrea supports the convention and would join “one day” in the future.[1] In October 2010, a government official said that Eritrea is prioritizing the convention and sees benefits in joining.[2]
Previously, in 2008, Eritrea said that as a contaminated state, it understood the problems caused by cluster munitions and supported a prohibition on the weapon.[3]
Eritrea did not participate in the international meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, but did attend the two Africa regional meetings, where it supported a comprehensive ban.[4] Since 2008, Eritrea has shown an interest in the convention. It attended a regional conference on cluster munitions in Pretoria, South Africa in March 2010 and participated as an observer in the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010.
In Eritrea’s statement to the First Meeting of States Parties, Eritrea said it, “looks forward to full implementation of the convention, not tomorrow but today.”[5] Eritrea did not make any commitment to accede.
Eritrea is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In October 2010, Eritrea confirmed that it has not produced cluster munitions.[6] Eritrean and Ethiopian forces both used cluster munitions during their 1998–2000 border war. Eritrean aircraft attacked the Mekele airport in Ethiopia with cluster bombs in 1998.[7]
Eritrea has denied stockpiling cluster munitions.[8] Eritrea reportedly inherited Chilean-manufactured CB-500 cluster bombs when it achieved independence from Ethiopia.[9] According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, it also possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[10]
Cluster Munition Remnants
It is not known to what extent Eritrea still has cluster munition remnants on its territory. In addition to use by Ethiopia in the 1998–2000 conflict, Ethiopia is reported to have dropped cluster bombs on Eritrean forces in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the struggle for independence.[11] The UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia’s Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMEE MACC) reported that in 2007, unexploded PTAB 2.5 and BL755 submunitions were found in Eritrea.[12] A UN explosive ordnance disposal team in the area of Melhadega in Eritrea identified and destroyed a dud M20G dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunition of Greek origin in October 2004, but it is not known who used the weapon.[13]
[1] CMC meeting with Amb. Estifanos Afewerki, Embassy of Eritrea to Japan, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[2] CMC meeting with Elsa Haile, Director, Department of International and Regional Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New York, 20 October 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[3] CMC, “Report on the Kampala Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” September 2008, www.stopclustermunitions.org.
[4] For details on Eritrea’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 199.
[5] Statement of Eritrea, First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Vientiane, 9 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[6] CMC meeting with Elsa Haile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New York, 20 October 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[7] See Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: Handicap International, 2007), p. 52, citing Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, Partial Award—Central Front—Ethiopia’s Claim 2 between The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea, The Hague, 28 April 2004, p. 24.
[8] CMC meeting with Elsa Haile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New York, 20 October 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[9] Rae McGrath, Cluster Bombs: The Military Effectiveness and Impact on Civilians of Cluster Munitions (London: Landmine Action, 2000), p. 38.
[10] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 423.
[11] Africa Watch, “Ethiopia: ‘Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood,’ Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force,” News from Africa Watch, 24 July 1990, pp. 16–17; and Africa Watch, “Evil Days: 30 Years of War and Famine in Ethiopia,” September 1991, pp. 241–242.
[12] UNMEE MACC, “Annual Report 2008,” undated draft, p. 1, provided by email from Anthony Blythen, Programme Officer, UN Mine Action Service, 7 April 2009.
[13] UNMEE MACC, “Weekly Update,” Asmara, 4 October 2004, p. 4.
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