Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 31 July 2015

Five-Year Review: State Party Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ratified the convention on 7 September 2010. It views its ratification law as sufficient to ensure implementation of the convention’s provisions. BiH has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and has elaborated its views on important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention.

During the 1992–1995 war, Yugoslav forces and non-state armed groups used cluster munitions. BiH has acknowledged past production of cluster munitions. In 2011 and 2012, BiH completed the destruction of a stockpile of 445 cluster munitions and 148,059 submunitions.

Policy

Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 7 September 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2011.

BiH has declared its ratification law under national implementation measures for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] In September 2013, it stated that, “all the necessary legislation is in place.”[2]

BiH submitted its initial Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 20 August 2011 and has provided annual updated reports ever since, most recently in June 2015.[3] 

BiH actively participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, making strong contributions based on its experience as a country affected by cluster munitions and declaring a national moratorium on cluster munition use prior to the conclusion of the process.[4]

BiH engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Cost Rica in September 2014, where it made statements on clearance. BiH has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva. BiH has participated in regional workshops on the convention and attended a mine action symposium in Biograd, Croatia on 27–29 April 2015, which included discussion on cluster munitions.[5] BiH served as the convention’s coordinator on victim assistance in 2012–2013 together with Afghanistan.

BiH has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, including Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[6]

Interpretive issues

In July 2011, the director of the department of conventional weapons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs elaborated the ministry’s views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the convention. On the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations or “interoperability,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “under the same Article 21, para 3, we may engage in joint military operations with non-states Parties that might engage in activities prohibited by the Convention, however our personnel or nationals should not provide assistance with activities prohibited by the Convention.”[7]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the “transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention.”[8] The ministry, however, noted that it does not have “access to or information on weapon types” stockpiled in European Union Force (EUFOR) military bases “on our territory.”[9] In May 2013, a Ministry of Defense official said the ministry has not inquired about the status of any foreign cluster munitions stored on EUFOR military bases in BiH.[10]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stated that it considers “investment in the production of cluster munitions to be prohibited.”[11]

BiH is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Yugoslav forces and non-state armed groups used available stocks of cluster munitions during the 1992–1995 war. The various entity armies inherited cluster munitions during the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In its initial Article 7 report, BiH declared, “There are no production facilities for CM [Cluster Munitions] in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”[12]

BiH has acknowledged past production of cluster munitions and first stated in 2007 that production had ceased.[13] It produced KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions for the Orkan multi-barrel rocket system, artillery projectiles, and mortar bombs.[14] The production capacity included the ability to manufacture KB-series submunitions and integrate them into carrier munitions such as artillery projectiles and rockets.[15] According to Jane’s Information Group, the Ministry of Defense produced the 262mm M-87 Orkan rocket, each containing 288 KB-1 dual-purpose submunitions.[16] It also lists BiH armed forces as possessing KPT-150 dispensers (which deploy submunitions) for aircraft.[17]

Stockpile destruction

BiH once possessed a stockpile of 445 cluster munitions of three types and 148,059 submunitions, as listed in the following table.

Cluster munitions formerly stockpiled by BiH[18]

Quantity and type of munition

Quantity and type of submunition

56 M-93 120mm mortar bombs

1,288 KB-2 (23 per container)

56 M-87 Orkan 262mm rockets

16,128 KB-1 (288 per container)

321 BL-755 bombs

47,187 Mk-1 (147 per container)

12 M-87 Orkan 262mm rockets

75,163 KB-1

Individual submunitions

4,815 KB-1 and 3,478 KB-2

445

148,059

 

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, BiH was required to destroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction and control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2019.

In September 2012, BiH announced that the completion of its destruction of “all known and reported stocks of cluster munitions in 2011” and declared that it has “fulfilled all obligations relating to Article 3” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[19]

A total of 441 cluster munitions and 147,967 submunitions were destroyed in 2011, while 16,128 KB1 submunitions from M-87 Orkan 262mm rockets were destroyed in 2012,[20] along with four M-93 120mm mortar bombs containing 92 submunitions discovered after the 2011 stockpile destruction.[21] In 2014, the Ministry of Defense informed Landmine Survivors Initiatives that it destroyed the four bombs and their submunitions by open detonation.[22]  

In June 2015, BiH reported the destruction of 341 KB-1 submunitions on 16 April 2014 at Pretis in Vogosca.[23] It reported the discovery of the KB-1 submunitions in Pretis as well as four KB-2 submunitions in Krupa, Hadzici in the 2013 and June 2014 Article 7 reports.[24] On 17 June 2014, a cache of 114 KB-2 submunitions was found behind a house near Sarajevo.[25] According to the Federal Civil Protection the submunitions were taken to Lapov Do in Koniic municipality and destroyed the same day.[26]

Retention

BiH is not retaining any cluster munitions for research or training purposes.[27]



[1] The 2011 report cited Parliamentary Decision 514/10 of 28 May 2010 and the BiH Presidential Decision of 17 June 2010 approving ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 20 August 2011. Subsequent Article 7 reports have indicated no change to the national implementation measures declared in 2011.

[2] Statement by Ivica Dronjic, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of BiH to the UN in Geneva, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 12 September 2013. Previously, officials indicated that BiH was considering national legislation to enforce the ban convention. CMC meeting with Tarik Serak, Director of Department, BiH Mine Action Center, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2013; and interview with Anesa Kundurovic, Director of Conventional Weapons Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sarajevo, 6 April 2012.

[3] The Article 7 reports submitted by BiH cover annual periods and were submitted on 20 August 2011 (for calendar year 2010), 4 May 2012 (for calendar year 2011), in November 2013 (for calendar year 2012), on 13 June 2014 (for calendar year 2013), and in June 2015 (for calendar year 2014).

[4] For details on BiH’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 44–45.

[5] The workshop was organized by the Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre (RACVIAC) Centre for Security Cooperation in Southeast Europe and the government of Croatia’s Office for Demining and Croatian Mine Action Centre (CROMAC).

[6]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. BiH voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.

[7] Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011. Anesa Kundurovic noted that the views expressed to the Monitor “represent the position of MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] and may or may not differ from the interpretation of other relevant institutions, including but not limiting [sic] to the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, etc.”

[8] In addition, the ministry noted, “in accordance with Article 3, paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Convention transfer is allowed only in exceptional cases” such as “for the purpose of destruction or for example, for the purpose of development of cluster munition countermeasures.” Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011.

[9] Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011.

[10] Email to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the BiH Ministry of Defense, 17 May 2013.

[11] Email from Anesa Kundurovic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2011.

[12] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form E, 20 August 2011.

[13] Statement of BiH, Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2007. Notes by the CMC/Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

[14] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 11 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.

[15] Statement of BiH, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 21 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.

[16] Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), p. 720.

[17] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 836.

[18] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form B, 20 August 2011, and 4 May 2012.

[19] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.

[20] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 18 April 2012.

[21] Statement of BiH, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012. In May 2013, the Ministry of Defense informed the CMC that the destruction was approved, but the cluster munitions had not been destroyed yet. Email to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the BiH Ministry of Defense, 17 May 2013.

[22] Letter to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the Ministry of Defense, 3 April 2014. BiH did not declare destruction of the munitions in its 2014 Article 7 report, which covers activities in calendar year 2013. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, dated April 2014 but submitted 13 June 2014. The Ministry of Defense subsequently confirmed that four M-93 120 mm mortar bombs were destroyed on 1 April 2014 by open detonation at the Glamoc polygon. Letter to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the Ministry of Defense, 24 July 2014.

[23] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, June 2015.

[24] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form B, dated April 2013 but submitted in November 2013. On 9 April 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations stated the munitions are under its jurisdiction and would be destroyed. Letter to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, 9 April 2014.

[26] Letter to Landmine Survivors Initiatives from the Federal Civil Protection, 8 April 2015

[27] It declared that the “Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are not planning to keep in possession the cluster munitions that will be intended for the purpose of training and education.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form C, 20 August 2011, and 4 May 2012. In 2013, it reported 20 KB-1 submunitions had been retained by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) for mine detection dog training purposes. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form C, November 2013. According to NPA, 30 inert KB1 submunitions—which have no fuzes—have been retained for training mine detection dogs. Email from NPA, 17 June 2014.