Djibouti
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Signatory Djibouti has pledged to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions on several occasions, but does not appear to have made any progress towards ratifying. It voted in favor of a key UN resolution on the convention in December 2016 and has participated in several meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, most recently in 2012. Djibouti states that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Djibouti signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 July 2010.
The status of ratification is not known. In April 2017, a representative from Djibouti told the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that the government intends to ratify, but could not provide a timeline for when ratification might be completed.[1] In August 2016, officials from Djibouti said that ratification has been discussed in the capital, but has not progressed due to other priorities.[2]
Djibouti participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention. It did not attend the Oslo signing conference in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in July 2010 after making several positive statements in support of the convention.[3]
Djibouti participated in the first Meetings of States Parties of the convention in 2010–2012, but none since. It attended an intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva once, in 2011, and has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in August 2016.[4]
In December 2016, Djibouti 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] Djibouti voted in favor of a similar UNGA resolution on the convention in 2015.[6]
Djibouti has also voted in favor of UNGA resolution expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[7]
Djibouti is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Djibouti has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[8]
[1] CMC meeting with Mr Houmed-Gaba Maki, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 25 April 2017. Notes by the CMC. Previously, in September 2012, Djibouti informed States Parties that ratification of the convention was underway, but provided no details on the status of the process or timeframe for completion. Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.
[2] ICBL-CMC meeting with Houmed-Gaba Maki, Permanent Mission to the Republic of Dijibouti to the UN in Geneva, in Addis Ababa, 5 August 2016.
[3] For more information on Djibouti’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through mid-2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 143–144.
[4] “The Addis Ababa Commitment on Universalization and Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” African Regional Workshop of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Addis Ababa, 5 August 2016.
[5] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 71/203, 19 December 2016. Djibouti voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013–2015.
[8] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012; interview with Amb. Mohamed Siad Douale, Permanent Mission of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, 13 April 2010; and statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.