Gugu Dube, Intern: Arms Management Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)

At a meeting on cluster munitions held in Livingstone, Zambia, from 31 March to 1 April this year, Africa’s role in curbing the use of cluster munitions, as part of the Oslo Process, was discussed.

African states debated key issues such as the devastating humanitarian and developmental effects of cluster munitions, as well as the controversial proposed transition periods. The discussions were to conceptualise matters and avoid confusion in the diplomatic negotiations in Dublin, Ireland, due to take place from 19-30 May 2008.

The Oslo Process to prohibit the use by the military of cluster munitions formally began in February 2007 with a call by the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, for states to negotiate a new legally binding instrument in 2008 that prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm and which would provide adequate resources to assist survivors and clear contaminated areas.

Since then, three international conferences have been held in Lima (Peru), Vienna (Austria) and Wellington (New Zealand), and regional meetings have been held in Costa Rica, Serbia and Belgium. The aim according to Gahr Store, is to “establish concrete measures that will put an end to the untold human suffering caused by cluster munitions".

Cluster munitions are air- or ground-launched canisters that contain up to 650 individual sub-munitions. They are notorious for the explosive remnants of war (ERW) they produce. Although generally designed to explode on impact, the sub-munitions often fail to do so causing death and injuries long after armed conflicts have ended. At least 76 countries stockpile cluster munitions and 34 are known to have produced more than 210 types. Fourteen states have used cluster munitions in at least 30 countries and territories. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Sudan are amongst the latter 14.

South Africa’s retired Anglican Archbishop, Desmond M. Tutu, speaking at  the Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions in May 2007, emphasised that African states need to come together and drive the process of bringing about a treaty banning cluster munitions. African states had previously illustrated that they have the capacity to engage in human security issues such as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997.

Perhaps in response to this call and in an attempt to garner greater African participation in the Oslo Process and to possibly develop an African Common Position, Zambia announced in Wellington that it would convene the first All-Africa Regional Conference on Cluster Munitions in Livingstone.

 The Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kabinga J. Pande opened the meeting with a strong statement illustrating Zambia’s commitment to the Oslo Process. He stated Africa should strive to strengthen the Wellington Declaration [see ISS Today: 18 February 2008: Penultimate Step in Banning Cluster Munitions Starts in New Zealand] by subscribing to the proposed Livingstone Declaration, which in turn will confirm Africa’s support for a treaty that will see a comprehensive ban of cluster munitions.

Africa accounts for nearly a third of the countries affected by Cluster Munitions - Uganda, Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and the Western Sahara are all affected - contributing to regional instability, and hindering development. According to Sylvie Bouko, Regional Technical Advisor in Mine Risk Education for Handicap International, there is no doubt that cluster munitions is one of the most problematic legacies of warfare today, due to their fatal “footprint”: the wide area they are designed to cover, their high failure rates, and their sensitive nature as Explosive Remnants of War (ERWs).

 As a result, some African countries have been vocal about their respective stances on whether all or only some types of cluster munitions should be banned. Of particular significance is that the Livingstone Conference represented the first time Eritrea, Tunisia and Zimbabwe were participating in the Oslo Process. Ghana and Zimbabwe emerged as strong advocates on the debates surrounding the definition to be used in the treaty. Mauritania and Sierra Leone actively promoted victim assistance while Guinea Bissau was very vocal on stockpile destruction. The DRC, Kenya, Mali and Uganda were extremely frank on the subject of past users taking responsibility for the clearance of sub-munitions and the need for international co-operation and assistance. Liberia argued for no loop holes in the final text of the treaty especially with regard to ‘interoperability’ that is, the ability of a State which has signed up to a ban, to neverthesless participate in combined operations with a non-signatory state that uses cluster munitions.

To date, the African Union (AU) has not released a formal statement on the Oslo Process. Hence, delegates discussed and broadly agreed on the possibility of engaging the AU in the process. Zambia, as the current chair of SADC, was appointed as the official convenor of the African group and was requested to initiate an informal African co-ordination mechanism for the Dublin Conference.

The South African government’s intervention was a pivotal moment in the conference proceedings. South Africa’s armament manufacturing facility, Denel, has the capacity to produce such weapons, including what it calls the 155mm Cluster Bomb Artillery Ammunition which disperses 42 bomblets in the air above the target. South Africa believes that cluster munitions are a valid weapon of war provided they have a functional reliability in excess of 98% (at a confidence level of 95%) and are targeted according to the laws of Armed Conflict. “South Africa is however also mindful of the need to give serious consideration to addressing the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while balancing military and humanitarian considerations.” As a result, while opting to remain part of the Oslo Process, found it difficult to agree to the strong Livingstone Declaration. Egypt, on the other hand, completely disassociated itself from both the Wellington and Livingstone Declarations.

The following weeks will be crucial in determining whether the Livingstone meeting will be enough for Africa to make its mark at the Diplomatic Conference in Dublin in May, where states are expected to negotiate and finalise the text of the Treaty which will hopefully ban the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. A post-Dublin African meeting is scheduled to take place in Uganda in September where the signing and ratification of the new Treaty will be at the forefront of discussions.