Meeting the Challenge HUMAN Protecting Civilians through the Convention RIGHTS on Cluster Munitions WATCH Meeting the Challenge Protecting Civilians through the Convention on Cluster Munitions Copyright © 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-711-6 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org November 2010 ISBN: 1-56432-711-6 Meeting the Challenge Protecting Civilians through the Convention on Cluster Munitions Table of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................. i Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Cluster Munitions and their Human Toll .......................................................................................2 The Convention on Cluster Munitions ........................................................................................... 3 Overview of the Book ................................................................................................................... 3 Part I: Recognizing the Problems I. The Technological Evolution and Early Proliferation and Use of Cluster Munitions ........................... 5 Early Development and Use ......................................................................................................... 5 Southeast Asia ........................................................................................................................... 6 Early Proliferation of Cluster Munitions: 1970s and 1980s ........................................................... 8 A Spike in Use: 1990s ................................................................................................................ 11 The Gulf War of 1991 ............................................................................................................ 11 Other Conflicts in the 1990s ................................................................................................ 13 Modern Technological Developments......................................................................................... 14 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 18 II. A Decade of Cluster Munition Use: Recent Case Studies Documented by Human Rights Watch .... 19 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 20 The NATO Air Campaign in the former Yugoslavia ...................................................................... 20 Cluster Munition Strikes ...................................................................................................... 21 Aftereffects ......................................................................................................................... 22 Afghanistan ............................................................................................................................... 23 Cluster Munition Strikes ...................................................................................................... 24 Aftereffects ......................................................................................................................... 25 Iraq .......................................................................................................................................... 26 Cluster Munition Strikes in the Iraq Ground War .................................................................. 28 Cluster Munition Strikes in the Iraq Air War .......................................................................... 30 Aftereffects ......................................................................................................................... 31 Lebanon/Israel .......................................................................................................................... 33 Israel’s Use in Lebanon ....................................................................................................... 33 Hezbollah’s Use in Israel ..................................................................................................... 38 Georgia...................................................................................................................................... 39 Russian Use ....................................................................................................................... 40 Georgian Use ...................................................................................................................... 42 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 45 III. Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling ........................................................................................ 46 Production ................................................................................................................................ 46 Transfer .................................................................................................................................... 48 Stockpiling ................................................................................................................................ 53 Case Studies ............................................................................................................................. 57 China .................................................................................................................................. 57 Israel .................................................................................................................................. 58 Russia ................................................................................................................................ 60 United Kingdom .................................................................................................................. 61 United States ..................................................................................................................... 62 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 66 IV. The Need for Post-Conflict Measures: Clearance, Risk Education, and Victim Assistance ............ 67 Contamination and Casualties ................................................................................................... 67 Clearance .................................................................................................................................. 70 Professional Clearance Organizations.................................................................................. 70 Methods of Clearance ......................................................................................................... 71 Obstacles to Clearance ........................................................................................................ 73 Community Clearance ......................................................................................................... 77 Risk Education ........................................................................................................................... 79 Victim Assistance ...................................................................................................................... 81 Components and Implementation of Victim Assistance ........................................................ 81 Victim Assistance Challenges .............................................................................................. 83 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 85 Part II: Developing a Process V. Initial International Efforts to Govern Cluster Munitions .............................................................. 99 Existing International Humanitarian Law ................................................................................... 99 Early Attempts to Ban Cluster Munitions .................................................................................. 101 The Origin and Early Years of the Convention on Conventional Weapons .................................. 102 Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War ................................................................................. 104 The Birth of the Cluster Munition Coalition ............................................................................... 107 Cluster Munition Discussions