Marshall Islands

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 17 July 2017

Summary: Non-signatory the Marshall Islands has expressed support for the prohibition of cluster munitions, but has not indicated if it intends to accede to the convention. The Marshall Islands voted in favor of a UN resolution on the convention in December 2016. It is not known to have 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]

In December 2016, the Marshall Islands voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[2] It also voted in favor of the first UNGA resolution on the convention in December 2015.[3]

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.[4] Yet it did not attend the subsequent Dublin negotiations or the convention’s Signing Conference in Oslo.

The Marshall Islands has never participated in a meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

It has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[5]

The Marshall Islands is the last signatory left to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty.

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]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016.

[3]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.

[4] Statement of the Marshall Islands, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.

[5]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 71/203, 19 December 2016. The Marshall Islands voted in favor of similar resolutions on 2013–2015.