Marshall Islands
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory theMarshall Islands has expressed support for prohibiting cluster munitions but has not taken any steps to accede to the convention. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017. The Marshall Islands 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.[1]
During the Oslo Process that created the convention, the Marshall Islands participated in the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions in February 2008 and endorsed the Wellington Declaration agreeing to conclude 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 never participated in a meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In December 2017, 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.”[3] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting the convention in 2015 and 2016.
The Marshall Islands has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[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] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017.
[4] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 72/191, 19 December 2017.The Marshall Islands voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013–2016.