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Humanitarian, Military, Technical and Legal Challenges of Cluster Munitions

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HUMANITARIAN, MILITARY, TECHNICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES OF CLUSTER MUNITIONS MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND 18 TO 20 APRIL 2007 G /002 05.2007 2,000 0915 MISSION STATEMENT N I The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of persons affected by armed conflict or internal disturbances and to provide them with assistance. It directs and coordinates the international relief activities conducted by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – meaning the ICRC, the National Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies and their Federation – in situations of conflict. It also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. EXPERT MEET International Committee of the Red Cross 19, Avenue de la Paix 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Products with 100% FSC label come T + 41 22 734 60 01 F + 41 22 733 20 57 from forests certified as meeting the E-mail: [email protected] environmental and social standards of www.icrc.org the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). © ICRC, May 2007 © 1996 Forest Stewardship Council CONTENTS Introduction 3 Programme 4 Statement of Dr Philip Spoerri, ICRC 8 Session I – The military role and human costs of cluster munitions 11 Ø The evolution of cluster munitions 11 Ø Historical overview of use and human impacts 13 Ø Discussion 18 Session II – Military aspects and possible alternatives 22 Ø Survey of cluster munitions produced and stockpiled 23 Ø The continuing military utility of cluster munitions 28 Ø Discussion 29 Ø Benchmarks for alternative munitions to cluster munitions 32 Ø Discussion 35 Session III – Technical approaches to minimising the human costs of cluster munitions 36 Ø Achieving high reliability rates on cannon fired cluster munitions 36 Ø Designing fuzes 37 Ø Discussion 39 Ø Unexploded cluster bombs and submunitions in South Lebanon: reliability from a field perspective 41 Ø Discussion 43 Ø Reliability of cargo [cluster] munition tests 45 Ø Discussion 46 Ø Achieving higher accuracy 48 Ø Discussion 49 Ø Feasibility of increasing the reliability and accuracy of cluster munitions 50 Ø Discussion 51 Session IV – Cluster munitions and International Humanitarian Law 54 Ø The case for a new treaty 54 Ø Taking account of IHL of protecting civilians in military operations: the case of cluster munitions 56 Ø Discussion 58 Ø Cluster munitions: overview of existing and proposed definitions 61 Ø Discussion 63 Session V – Rapporteurs thematic summaries 66 Ø Summary on military aspects and possible alternatives 66 Ø Comments 69 Ø Summary on technical approaches 70 Ø Comments 72 Ø Summary on International Humanitarian Law 73 Ø Comments 76 Session VI – Challenges and solutions: discussions on the way forward 77 Closing remarks by the International Committee of the Red Cross 81 List of participants 83 2 INTRODUCTION The effects of cluster munition use have been a persistent humanitarian problem for decades. History has shown that many models have problems of accuracy and reliability. In nearly every conflict in which they have been used on a large scale, there have been serious humanitarian consequences. Large numbers of cluster submunitions have failed to detonate as intended and instead left a long-term and deadly legacy of contamination. Their use in populated areas has also had direct and indirect impacts. All too often it is civilians who are killed and injured, and it is fragile post-conflict societies which must deal with the social and economic costs of these weapons. Although the international community has begun to address the problems of explosive remnants of war generically through the adoption of Protocol V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, it is widely acknowledged that the specific problems caused by cluster munitions need to be urgently addressed. Discussions in recent years in the Group of Governmental Experts of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and among the 47 States associated with the Oslo Declaration on Cluster Munitions as well as reports by a variety of organisations have identified important issues that require frank and in-depth dialogue at the expert level, as well as political decisions, if progress is to be made. The intention of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in hosting the Montreux Expert Meeting was to bring together a limited but balanced group of governmental and independent experts to examine a range of humanitarian, military, technical and legal issues related to cluster munitions and to consider all possible means of reducing their negative impact on civilian populations. Issues addressed in the meeting included: · An historical overview of the use and humanitarian impact of cluster munitions; · The military role of cluster munitions and their technical evolution; · Possible future alternatives to cluster munitions; · Potential technical developments to improve reliability and accuracy; · The adequacy or inadequacy of existing international humanitarian law; · Potential restrictions on the use of cluster munitions; and · Next steps foreseen at the national and international levels. This report contains a short summary by each speaker of his or her presentation, a summary by the ICRC of key issues raised in the discussions and a synthesis by rapporteurs of the state of the debate on three key themes: military aspects, technical issues and international humanitarian law. The CD-ROM annexed to this report contains the actual presentations made as well as working documents presented to the meeting by two States in Session VI. Although the identity and affiliation of speakers is recorded, views presented in the discussions are not attributed to individuals or countries. The ICRC hopes that the meeting itself and the distribution of this report to the many States and organisations which could not be accommodated in Montreux will promote the development of national policy on cluster munitions and contribute to international efforts to address this humanitarian problem in multilateral fora. 3 Note An internationally accepted definition of "cluster munitions" does not yet exist. Because most proposed definitions entail assumptions about specific technologies, the matter of definitions was addressed only on the third day of the Montreux Expert Meeting. For working purposes in the meeting, the meaning of cluster munitions was taken to be the same as, and was used interchangeably with, "submunitions", which is defined in the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS 04.10, First Edition, 1 October 2001). The IMAS definition of a submunition is any munition that, to perform its task, separates from a parent munition. Frequently used abbreviations CCW: Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons EOD: explosive ordnance disposal ERW: explosive remnants of war IHL: international humanitarian law UXO: unexploded ordnance 4 Expert Meeting on Humanitarian, Military, Technical and Legal Challenges of Cluster Munitions Montreux, Switzerland 18 to 20 April 2007 Programme Time periods indicated include presentations and discussion. Tuesday, 17 April 5-8pm Registration of participants open at Hotel Eden Palace au Lac Dinner in Montreux at participants' leisure Wednesday, 18 April 9:00-10:00 Registration open 10:00-10:30 Opening remarks and introductory comments · Opening remarks Philip Spoerri, Director for Law and Cooperation within the Movement, ICRC · Introductory comments Peter Herby, Head of the Arms Unit, Legal Division, ICRC 10:30-11:15 Session I - The military role and human costs of cluster munitions Chair: Peter Herby, Head of the Arms Unit, Legal Division, ICRC · Historical overview of the military role of cluster munitions and their technical evolution Colin King, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Consultant, C King Associates Ltd., UK · Historical overview of use and human impacts Simon Conway, Director, Landmine Action, UK 11:15-11:45 Coffee Break 11:45-13:00 Session I continued 13:00-14:30 Lunch 14:30-16:00 Session II - Military aspects and possible alternatives Chair: Dominique Loye, Deputy-Head, Arms Unit, Legal Division, ICRC 4 · Survey of the variety of cluster munitions produced and stockpiled Mark Hiznay, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch, USA · The ongoing military utility and role of cluster munitions Stephen Olejasz, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army, US Department of Defence, The Joint Staff (presentation prepared by Ernest Carbone, Chief Scientist, Joint Staff, Department of Defence, USA) 16:00-16:30 Coffee Break 16:30-18:00 Session II continued · Possible alternatives to cluster munitions Commander Thomas Frisch, Deputy Head, Arms Control Division, Ministry of Defence, Germany 19:00 Dinner Thursday, 19 April 9:00-10:30 Session III - Technical approaches to minimising the human costs of cluster munitions Chair: Dominique Loye, Deputy-Head, Arms Unit, Legal Division, ICRC · Achieving high reliability rates Philipp Marti, Director, ARMASUISSE, Switzerland Leon Springer, Director, Army Fuze Management Office, US Army, Picatinny Arsenal, USA · "High reliability" cluster munitions: clearance perspectives Chris Clark, Programme Manager, UN Mine Action Coordination Centre, South Lebanon 10:30-11:00 Coffee Break 11:00-12:30 Session III continued · The reliability of reliability testing Ove Dullum, Chief Scientist, Norwegian Defence
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