Benin
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: State Party Benin ratified the convention on 10 July 2017 and the convention will enter into force for the country on 1 January 2018. The status of Benin’s national implementation measures is not yet known. Benin has participated in several of the convention’s meetings and voted in favor of a key UN resolution on the convention in December 2016. Benin states that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Benin signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
On 21 June 2017, Benin’s head of state, President Patrice Talon, signed the country’s instrument of ratification for the convention.[1] Benin’s Ambassador Jean-Claude do Rego deposited the ratification instrument with the United Nations (UN) in New York on 10 July 2017.[2] The convention will enter into force for Benin on 1 January 2018.
The status of Benin’s national implementation measures is not yet known. In 2012, an official said that once Benin ratifies, the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions may be enforced by amending existing implementing implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.[3]
Benin must provide an initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention no later than 30 June 2018.
Benin participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was a strong advocate for a comprehensive ban.[4]
Benin has participated in all the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, except in 2011 and 2016, and also participated in intersessional meetings in 2011–2014. It did not attend the First Review Conference, but has participated in regional workshops on the convention.
In December 2016, Benin voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[5]
Benin has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[6]
Benin is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Benin has stated several times that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions, is not a transit country, and has no intention to acquire cluster munitions.[7] Benin must submit a transparency report for the convention to formally confirm its cluster munition-free status.
[1] Email to the CMC from Bienvenu Alogninou Houngbedji, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, 5 July 2017.
[2] CMC, “Benin Ratifies Global Cluster Bomb Ban,” 10 July 2017.
[3] CMC meeting with Evelyne Agonhessou, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Geneva, 19 April 2012.
[4] For details on Benin’s cluster munition policy and practice up to early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 42–43.
[5] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016. Benin voted in favor of a similar UNGA resolution on the convention in 2015. “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 71/203, 19 December 2016. Benin voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013–2015.
[7] Statement of Benin, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 22 May 2013. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV); and statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Benin signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 25 September 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Benin has never used, produced, imported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically has not yet been enacted. Benin submitted its seventh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 24 June 2008, but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Benin is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but not its Amended Protocol II on landmines or Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Benin attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
In 2002, Benin opened a regional demining training center for Economic Community of Western African States members.
Support for Mine Action
Since 2011, the West African Humanitarian Mine Action Training Center (Centre de perfectionnement aux actions post-conflictuelles de déminage et de dépollution,CPADD) based in Ouidah in the Republic of Benin, has received almost US$3 million in international support.
France has been a major donor to the CPADD since it opened in 2003. In 2014, France contributed €70,785 ($94,123) to support training. In addition to financial support, France provided demining experts and logistical support to the CPADD (valued at €475,000/$631,608).[1] In 2013, France and Japan contributed a combined total of approximately $1.3 million.[2] France also provides trainers to the center.
Summary of international contributions: 2011–2014[3]
|
Year |
Amount ($) |
|
2014 |
94,123 |
|
2013 |
1,252,103 |
|
2012 |
970,578 |
|
2011 |
895,698 |
|
Total |
3,212,502 |
[1] France, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, May 2015. Average exchange rate for 2014: €1=US$1.3297. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 2 January 2015.
[2] France, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2014; and Japan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2014. Average exchange rate for 2013: €1=US$1.3281; ¥97.6=US$1. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 2 January 2015.
[3] See previous Monitor reports.