I. IntroductionCluster munitions stand out as the weapon category most in need of stronger national and international law in order to protect civilians during armed conflict. They pose an immediate danger to civilians during attacks due to their inaccuracy and wide dispersal pattern. After conflict they pose another lasting hazard due to the high number of landmine-like submunition duds that litter the landscape. There is a potential future danger of widespread proliferation. Human Rights Watch has been raising concerns about cluster munitions since the early 1990s, and in 1999 was the first non-governmental organization to call for a global moratorium on use of cluster weapons until their humanitarian problems have been resolved. Human Rights Watch calls on states to negotiate urgently a legally-binding instrument that addresses the humanitarian concerns posed by the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions. The Norwegian-led initiative to develop an international treaty to prohibit cluster munitions that pose unacceptable humanitarian harm is the best opportunity to do just that. Human Rights Watch believes that any country that is serious about acting quickly to protect civilians from the horrible effects of cluster munitions should take part in and support this initiative, as it is the only credible process for alleviating the suffering that they cause. Human Rights Watch has for many years identified what steps should be taken to minimize the harm cluster munitions cause to civilians. They include: a) prohibiting the use of cluster munitions in or near populated areas; b) prohibiting the use, production, and trade of unreliable and inaccurate cluster munitions; and c) destroying stockpiles of such cluster munitions. Human Rights Watch believes that the vast majority, if not all, cluster munitions in existing stockpiles should never be used. These “legacy” weapons are so inaccurate and/or so unreliable that they pose unacceptable risks to civilians, either during strikes, post-conflict or both. It is up to states to demonstrate conclusively that any specific cluster munition is accurate and reliable enough to avoid excessive harm to civilians. This document contains an overview of states practice regarding cluster munitions, a timeline of cluster munition use since 1943, and country-by-country profiles of the policy and practice of all the states that are known to stockpile cluster munitions, as well as several others. For each country, it highlights any known cluster munition production, use, and transfer, as well as any statements on the applicability of existing international humanitarian law to cluster munition use. |