Summary: State Party Rwanda ratified the convention on 25 August 2015. It has participated in one meeting of the convention over the past decade. Rwanda voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in 2018.

Rwanda states that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions. It must submit a transparency report for the convention to formally confirm this cluster munition-free status.

Policy

The Republic of Rwanda signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 25 August 2015, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 February 2016.

Rwanda has not enacted implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. [1]

As of 15 June 2019, Rwanda had not provided its initial Article 7 transparency measures report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, originally due by 31 July 2016. Timely submission of the report is a legal obligation.

Rwanda attended one regional meeting of the Oslo Process, in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008, that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions before it signed the convention in Oslo in December 2008. [2]

Rwanda attended the convention’s Third Meeting of the States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012. This marked its first and, to date, only time Rwanda has participated in a meeting of the convention.

In December 2018, Rwanda voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation and universalization of the convention. [3] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting the convention in 2015 and 2017. [4]

During its term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), Rwanda expressed concern in 2014 at the “reported use of cluster munitions” in Ukraine. [5] It voted in favor of a 2014 UNSC resolution that expressed concern at the “indiscriminate” use of cluster munitions in South Sudan. [6] Rwanda has also voted in favor of Human Rights Council (HRC) and UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in March 2019 and December 2018, respectively. [7]

Rwanda has not elaborated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and the need for retention of cluster munitions for training and development purposes.

Rwanda is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Rwanda stated in 2008 that it does not use, produce, transfer, or stockpile cluster munitions. [8] It must submit a transparency report for the convention to formally confirm this cluster munition-free status.