Marshall Islands
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: Non-signatory Marshall Islands has not commented on its position on joining the convention, but it has expressed support for the goal of prohibiting cluster munitions. It has not attended any meetings of the convention and is not known to have ever used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of the Marshall Islands has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Marshall Islands has never commented on its position on accession, but expressed support for prohibiting cluster munitions during the Oslo Process that created the convention.[1]
The Marshall Islands participated in the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions in February 2008, where it endorsed the Wellington Declaration agreeing to the conclusion of a legally-binding instrument.[2] Yet it did not attend the subsequent Dublin negotiations or the convention’s Signing Conference in Oslo.
The Marshall Islands has not attended any meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, such as the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014. It participated in a regional workshop on explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the Pacific held in Brisbane, Australia in June 2013.[3]
The Marshall Islands has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, such as Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[4]
The Marshall Islands is the last signatory left to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
The Marshall Islands is not known to have ever used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
[1] In October 2009, a government representative indicated that joining the convention would require a realistic assessment of existing treaty commitments. CMC/ICBL meeting with Caleb Christopher, Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the UN in New York, 16 October 2009. Notes by the CMC/ICBL.
[2] Statement of the Marshall Islands, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.
[3] The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and ICBL-CMC member organization Safe Ground (renamed from the Australian Network to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions) co-hosted the workshop with the support of AusAID. Draft Outcomes Statement, Pacific Regional ERW Workshop, 27–28 June 2013. Provided to the Monitor by Lorel Thompson, National Coordinator, Safe Ground, 30 March 2014.
[4] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Marshall Islands voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013, on 15 May and 18 December.