CLEARING CLUSTER MUNITION REMNANTS 2017 A REPORT BY MINE ACTION REVIEW FOR THE SEVENTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT WWW.MINEACTIONREVIEW.ORG September 2017 8038 NPA Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2017 Updates TEXT ART.indd I 29/01/2018 09:40 A Report by Mine Action Review for the Seventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions Sudan Bosnia and Herzegovina Tajikistan Somalia United Kingdom Serbia Yemen Iran South Sudan Afghanistan Croatia Vietnam Chad Cambodia Montenegro Kosovo Iraq Angola Chile Georgia Colombia Ukraine Azerbaijan Germany Syria Nagorno-Karabakh Western Sahara Libya Lao People’s Democratic Republic Lebanon Acknowledgements Disclaimer This report was researched and written by Nick The report and the views expressed in it are the work of Cumming-Bruce, Katherine Harrison, Lucy Pinches, and the authors. The designation of armed non-state actors, Stuart Casey-Maslen. The report was edited by Stuart states, or territories does not imply any judgement by The Casey-Maslen and laid out by Optima Design in the United HALO Trust, MAG, NPA, the Royal Norwegian Ministry Kingdom. The Mine Action Review project is managed of Foreign Affairs, or any other organisation, body, or by Lucy Pinches. The HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group individual regarding the legal status of such actors, (MAG), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) are on the states, or territories, or their authorities and institutions, project’s Advisory Board. Mine Action Review would like or the delimitation of their boundaries, or the status of to thank the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs any states or territories that border them. for funding its work as well as all those who contributed data and information. Other information The publication is available for download at www.mineactionreview.org Mine Action Review conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on cluster munition remnants survey and clearance, and shared all its country reports (excluding the sections on programme performance, performance commentary, and recommendations for action) with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)’s Cluster Munition Monitor. Please send any comments to [email protected] 8038 NPA Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2017 Updates TEXT ART.indd II 29/01/2018 09:40 FOREWORD The implementation of the Convention on Cluster Cluster munition contamination should be identifi ed Munitions (CCM), and particularly its obligations to and defi ned using evidence-based survey to confi rm survey and clear cluster-munition-contaminated areas, the location, nature, and extent of hazardous areas. is a priority for each of our three organisations. In the last Clearance should be driven by nationally defi ned 12 months, our work has contributed to the completion priorities framed by a clear strategic plan that addresses of cluster munition remnant clearance in Mozambique, humanitarian and development needs. And national a CCM state party, as well as in the Democratic Republic standards should refl ect international good practice, of Congo, a signatory state. Eleven countries have the foundations of which are based on sound risk successfully fi nished the job since the adoption of the management principles. In countries with very high CCM and we hope that, within the coming 12 months, levels of contamination, structures and processes at least Angola (a signatory) and Tajikistan (a state not to address residual risk also need to be planned for, party) will be added to this growing list. With political developed, and put in place. Let us not forget that will, sustained funding, and application of effi cient land there is an opportunity cost inherent in all clearance: release techniques, it is possible for all but the most wherever areas are cleared that prove not to have been heavily contaminated countries to complete cluster contaminated, we are delaying the release of areas that munition clearance within a few years. do have cluster munition remnants. That opportunity cost is counted in lives and livelihoods. The deadline for the completion of clearance, along with the other provisions set out in Article 4 of the CCM and We need to work together ever more closely to hasten Action 3 of the Dubrovnik Action Plan, compels states progress, especially as the fi rst of the Article 4 deadlines parties to meet their obligations. This includes creating are on the not too distant horizon. But if we are to achieve dedicated national survey and clearance plans and, our common goal, states must be politically as well where necessary, seeking and receiving assistance from as fi nancially engaged in supporting cluster munition others to fulfi l their legal obligations. Critical to effective survey and clearance. Best practice in standards and programme management is high-quality information principles of effective mine action are all well known. management, and in some countries signifi cant What is sometimes missing is the willingness to put them improvements on this issue are still required. During our into action. We hope that Mine Action Review’s annual work in the fi eld, too often we see programmes struggle Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants report, with its because they do not systematically collect, store, and country-level analysis and recommendations for action, analyse data on cluster munition contamination, survey, continues to serve as an important tool for the sector and clearance, disaggregated from other forms of and can be used to bring national authorities, clearance explosive remnants of war (ERW) and mines. Accurate operators, donors, and other stakeholders together to and well managed data is essential to effective survey discuss and drive forward progress towards completion and clearance operations. on a country-by-country basis. The adoption of the CCM in 2008, and its implementation during the intervening years, has helped the mine action community to understand that cluster munition contamination, and the methodology to address it, is inherently different to that of landmine contamination and operations. However, in setting standards for cluster munition remnant operations, some states have yet to refl ect this fully and embrace the most effi cient survey and clearance methodologies to tackle this specifi c type of explosive ordnance. JANE COCKING STEINAR ESSEN JAMES COWAN CBE DSO Chief Executive Head Chief Executive Offi cer Mines Advisory Group Department for Humanitarian Disarmament The HALO Trust Norwegian People’s Aid 8038 NPA Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2017 Updates TEXT ART.indd III 29/01/2018 09:40 CLEARING CLUSTER MUNITION REMNANTS CONTENTS OVERVIEW 1 STATES NOT PARTY 91 Summary 1 Azerbaijan 92 Global Contamination 1 Cambodia 96 Clearance in 2016 4 Georgia 100 Treaty Deadlines for Clearance 4 Iran 104 Programme Performance 6Libya 106 Reporting on Survey and Clearance 8 Serbia 108 Outlook 8 South Sudan 112 Sudan 118 STATES PARTIES 9 Syria 124 Afghanistan 10 Tajikistan 126 Bosnia and Herzegovina 14 Ukraine 130 Chad 22 Vietnam 142 Chile 26 Yemen 148 Colombia 28 Croatia 30 OTHER AREAS 151 Germany 36 Kosovo 152 Iraq 40 Nagorno-Karabakh 156 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 44 Western Sahara 162 Lebanon 52 Montenegro 62 ANNEXES 167 Mozambique 66 Annex 1: Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions 168 Somalia 70 Annex 2: Reporting Templates 170 United Kingdom 78 Glossary of Acronyms SIGNATORY STATES 83 and Abbreviations 171 Angola 84 Democratic Republic of Congo 86 8038 NPA Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2017 Updates TEXT ART.indd IV 29/01/2018 09:40 OVERVIEW OVERVIEW SUMMARY Twenty-seven states and three other areas are added globally through signifi cant new use of cluster contaminated with cluster munition remnants (CMR). munitions in 2016: by Syrian, and possibly also Russian, Since the last report by Mine Action Review in mid-2016, forces in Syria and in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and possibly Mozambique, a state party to the Convention on Cluster other members of the coalition.2 Cluster munitions Munitions (CCM), and the Democratic Republic of Congo were also used in Nagorno-Karabakh, albeit on a much (DR Congo), a treaty signatory, have completed clearance smaller scale, during the year. of all areas known or suspected to contain CMR. In Although, in 2016, the greatest area of clearance addition, Tajikistan, which has yet to join the CCM, was was once again recorded in the world’s most heavily expected to complete clearance in the course of 2017. contaminated state, the Lao People’s Democratic Targeted survey in Colombia, a state party, and Angola, Republic (Lao PDR), output was one-quarter down on a signatory, may enable these two states to soon fulfi l results in 2015, reducing from 41km2 in 2015 to 30km2 the requirements of Article 4 of the CCM.1 in 2016 (though the total number of submunitions Mine Action Review has recorded meaningful progress destroyed dropped only slightly, suggesting that targeting in the destruction of CMR in 13 states and 3 other of clearance may be continuing to improve). Clearance areas. More than 140,000 submunitions were destroyed of CMR-contaminated areas in Iraq also dropped by clearance operations in 2016 from over 88km2 of signifi cantly in 2016 compared to the previous year. These contaminated area. Global clearance in 2016 cleared 25% reductions in area cleared were, however, compensated more area and destroyed 15% more submunitions than for by clearance output in Vietnam, which increased the previous year’s total even though overall funding for signifi cantly on 2015 results, the result of increased operations is decreasing. This suggests CMR clearance capacity and the Cluster Munition Remnants Survey operations have, overall, continued the effi ciency gains (CMRS) methodology used to identify contamination. identifi ed in 2015. But contamination continues to be GLOBAL CONTAMINATION As at June 2017, 13 states parties to the CCM were confi rmed or strongly suspected to contain CMR, as well as 1 signatory, 13 states not party, and 3 other areas (see Table 1).