Summary: State Party Peru ratified the convention on 26 September 2012. It has participated in the convention’s meetings, most recently in September 2018. Peru voted in favor of key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2018.

Peru has not used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported and stockpiles them. Its stockpile of 2,005 cluster munitions and 152,982 submunitions must be destroyed by 1 March 2021. Peru destroyed 141 stockpiled cluster munitions and 6,584 submunitions during 2018. It does not intend to not retain any cluster munitions for research or training.

Policy

The Republic of Peru signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 26 September 2012, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2013.

Peru has not enacted specific legislation to enforce its implementation of the convention, but reports the 2012 ratification decree and other regulations under relevant national implementation measures for the convention.[1]

Peru submitted its initial Article 7 transparency measures report for the convention on 1 August 2013. It has provided annual updated reports since then, most recently in April 2019.[2]

As one of the small core group of nations that took responsibility for the Oslo Process that created the convention, Peru hosted an international conference on cluster munitions in Lima in May 2007.[3]

Peru has stated that it regards the Convention on Cluster Munitions as “a complete priority.”[4] It has participated in all of the convention’s meetings, most recently the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018.[5] Peru has coordinated the convention’s work on international cooperation and assistance since September 2017.

In December 2018, Peru voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the convention.[6] Peru has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Peru has condemned the “horrendous” use of cluster munitions in Syria and other countries, which it has called “alarming.”[7] It has voted in favor of Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in March 2019.[8] Peru has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2018.[9]

In September 2017, Peru elaborated its views on the convention’s prohibition on assisting with activities prohibited by the convention, stating that it interprets Article 1 as prohibiting investments in the production of cluster munitions, that is to say, it bans the provision of financial assistance to producers of cluster munitions.[10]

Peru has not expressed its position on other important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, and the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions.

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

Use, production, and transfer

Peru is not known to have ever used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. It however imported cluster munitions and possesses a stockpile.

Stockpiling

Peru has reported a stockpile of 2,005 cluster munitions and 152,982 submunitions, as listed in the following table. It possesses two types of air-delivered cluster munitions manufactured in two countries from the 1970s until 1996: BME-330 cluster bombs from Spain, and RBK-series cluster bombs from Russia/Soviet Union.[11]

Cluster munitions once stockpiled by Peru[12]

In 2013, Peru initially declared a stockpile of 676 cluster munitions of three types and 86,280 submunitions.[13] It subsequently reported another 1,331 cluster munitions and 66,894 submunitions in 2016.[14]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Peru is required to declare and destroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible but not later than 1 March 2021.

Peru has pledged to destroy its stocks by the deadline.[15]

Peru has destroyed 181 cluster munitions and 8,030 submunitions from stocks, including 141 stockpiled cluster munitions and 6,584 submunitions during 2018. Nine more cluster munitions and 888 submunitions were destroyed in 2017, during research into how to safely destroy the stockpile.[16]

Cluster munitions destroyed by Peru since entry into force[17]

The Peruvian Air Force is responsible for destroying the stockpiled cluster munitions, which are held at several locations, including Puntos Lobos Base in the Pucusana district, south of Lima.[18]

Humanitarian mine clearance operator Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has provided technical support for Peru’s stockpile destruction since 2015. In 2016, Peru completed a “preparation and testing” phase for the stockpile destruction.[19] NPA conducted trainings in stockpile destruction in May and June 2018.[20] Peru held a stockpile destruction planning workshop in Lima in 2017.[21]

Retention

Since 2013, Peru has reported that it does not intend to retain any cluster munitions for research or training in detection, clearance, and destruction techniques.[22]