Saudi Arabia

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 13 September 2021

Summary

Non-signatory Saudi Arabia has not commented on the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions or taken any steps to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Saudi Arabia has participated as an observer in meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2019. However, it abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2020.

Saudi Arabia is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but has imported them and possesses a stockpile. Saudi Arabia used cluster munitions in 2015–2017 in Yemen, during its military operation against Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces, but subsequent cluster munitions attacks in Yemen have likely gone unrecorded.

Policy

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Saudi Arabia has shown interest in the convention, but has not taken any steps to accede to it. In 2017, Saudi Arabia acknowledged the humanitarian rationale for convention and said the government was considering its position on joining.[1]

Saudi Arabia attended several meetings of the Oslo Process, including the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, as an observer.[2] Yet Saudi Arabia did not participate in the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008 or explain why it did not sign the convention.

Saudi Arabia has attended meetings of the convention as an observer, but has never made a statement at those meetings.[3] It was invited to, but did not attend the first part of the convention’s Second Review Conference held virtually in November 2020.

In December 2020, Saudi Arabia abstained from voting on a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] Saudi Arabia has not explained why it has abstained from the vote on the annual UNGA resolution since it was first introduced in 2015.

Saudi Arabia has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2020.[5] It has also voted in favor of Human Rights Council resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in September 2019.[6]

Saudi Arabia is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty, but is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production and transfer

Saudi Arabia is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported them and possesses a stockpile.

The United States (US) suspended its sales and deliveries of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia in May 2016, after evidence that Saudi Arabia had used them in civilian areas in Yemen.[7]

Stockpiling

Saudi Arabia has not shared information on the quantities or types of munitions in its stockpile, which includes Brazilian, US, and United Kingdom (UK)-made cluster munitions.

Saudi Arabia purchased 1,300 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons manufactured by US company Textron Defense Systems in 2013, after concluding a previous deal in 2011 for 404 CBU-105s.[8] Other US transfers of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia include 1,000 CBU-58 and 350 CBU-71 cluster bombs between 1970 and 1995.[9] In 1991, the US concluded agreements to provide 1,200 CBU-87 Combined Effects Munitions cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, and to provide another 600 CBU-87 cluster bombs in 1992.[10]

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has UK-produced BL-755 cluster bombs in service, according to Jane’s Information Group.[11] Saudi Arabia also possesses Hydra-70 and CRV-7 air-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if the stocks include the M261 submunition variant.[12]

Use

Saudi Arabia has used cluster munitions, most recently in 2015–2017 in Yemen, during the military operation it led against Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces.[13] There has been no evidence of cluster munition attacks by Saudi Arabia since then, including in 2020 and the first half of 2021.

Use in Yemen: 2015–2017

From 2015 to 2017, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of states used seven types of air-delivered and ground-launched cluster munitions in Yemen. The cluster munitions were manufactured and exported by three countries.

Cluster munition attacks in Yemen (April 2015 to February 2017)[14]

Type of cluster munition	Country of origin	Stocks possessed by	Governorate and date of attack
Air-delivered
CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon,each deploying 10 BLU-108 canisters that disperse four submunitions called “skeet” by the manufacturer Textron	US	Saudi Arabia, UAE	Al-Shaaf in Saada, 17 April 2015 Al-Amar in Saada, 27 April 2015 Harf Sofian in Amran, 29 June 2015 Sanhan in Sanaa, 1 November 2015 Al-Hayma in Hodaida, 12 December 2015 Amran in Sanaa, 15 February 2016 Al-Hayma in Hodaida, 5 October 2016
CBU-87 bomb,each containing 202 BLU-97 submunitions	US	Saudi Arabia, Egypt	Al-Nushoor in Saada, 23 May 2015 Al-Maqash in Saada, 23 May 2015
CBU-58 bomb, each containing 650 BLU-63 submunitions	US	Saudi Arabia, Morocco	Sanaa city in Sanaa, 6 January 2016
BL-755 cluster bomb, each containing 147 No. 2 Mk 1 submunitions	UK	Saudi Arabia	Al-Khadhra in Hajja, 6 January 2016
Ground-launched
ASTROS II rocket, each containing up to 65 submunitions	Brazil	Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia	Ahma in Saada, 25 October 2015 Sadaa City, 6 December 2016 Sadaa City, 15 February 2017 Qahza in Saada, 22 February 2017
M26 rocket,each containing 644 M77 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) submunitions	US	Bahrain, Egypt, UAE	Bani Kaladah in Hajja, April/May 2015 Al-Hazan in Hajja, May/June 2015 Malus in Hajja, 7 June 2015 Dughayj in Hajja, June/July 2015 Al-Qufl in Hajja, 14/15 July 2015 Haradh in Hajja, 25 July 2015 Al-Fajj in Hajja, 25 July 2015
“ZP-39” DPICM submunition (unknown delivery system)	Unknown	Unknown	Baqim in Saada, 29 April 2015

Note: UAE=United Arab Emirates.

Between April 2015 and October 2016, the Saudi-led coalition used CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons in seven attacks.[15] Saudi Arabia’s spokesperson said the coalition used a CBU-105 once, in April 2015, but claimed they are not prohibited weapons.[16] The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also stockpiles CBU-105s, but has denied using them in Yemen.[17]

As a recipient of US cluster munitions, Saudi Arabia has agreed to use cluster munitions “only against clearly defined military targets and…not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”[18] The US suspended its cluster munition transfers to Saudi Arabia in May 2016 following reports of civilian harm in Yemen.[19]

The Saudi-led coalition’s use of BL755 cluster munitions marked the first recorded use of UK-made cluster munitions since the Convention on Cluster Munitions—to which the UK is a State Party—took effect in 2010.[20] The last UK transfers of BL755 cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia occurred in 1989.[21] Saudi Arabia committed to stop using BL755 cluster munitions in December 2016.[22]

In September 2016, States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions issued a joint declaration stating that they “condemn any use by any actor” and expressing deep concern at “any and all allegations, reports or documented evidence of the use of cluster munitions, most notably in Syria and Yemen in the past year.”[23]

A December 2016 statement by the Saudi-led coalition did not deny the use of cluster munitions in Yemen and argued that “international law does not ban their use.”[24]

Other Use

The RSAF conducted airstrikes and Saudi military forces intervened on the ground in late 2009 in Saada governorate, after fighting between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels intensified and spilled over the border into Saudi Arabia.[25] Remnants of CBU-52 cluster bombs were filmed near Saada city.[26]

In 1991, both Saudi and US forces used cluster munitions on the territory of Saudi Arabia in response to an incursion by Iraqi armored units in the prelude to Operation Desert Storm. During the battle of Khafji in January 1991, Saudi Arabia attacked Iraqi forces with cluster munitions fired from ASTROS multi-barrel rocket launchers, which Saudi Arabia had acquired from Brazil.[27] The weapons reportedly left behind a significant number of unexploded submunitions.[28]

[1] CMC interview with Amb. Abdulaziz Alwasil, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 5 September 2017. Previously, in 2012, the diplomatic mission in Geneva informed the Monitor that the Convention on Cluster Munitions was “still under examination by the competent authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” Statement of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia to the UN in Geneva, to Human Rights Watch (HRW) Arms Division, 26 April 2012.

[2] For more details on Saudi Arabia’s cluster munition policy and practice up to early 2009, see, HRW and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 235.

[3] Saudi Arabia participated as an observer in the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2015 and annual Meetings of States Parties in 2010–2014, and 2019.

[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions”, UNGA Resolution 75/62, 7 December 2020.

[5] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2020. Saudi Arabia voted in favor of similar resolutions from 2013–2019.

[6] “The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Human Rights Council Resolution 42/27, 27 September 2019. Saudi Arabia voted in favor of similar Human Rights Council resolutions in 2015–2019.

[7] According to an article in Foreign Policy, a senior US official said the administration acknowledged reports that the weapons had been used “in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present or in the vicinity.” John Hudson, “White House blocks transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia,” Foreign Policy, 27 May 2016; and HRW, “US: Stop Providing Cluster Munitions,” 2 June 2016.

[8] The contract called for the construction of 1,300 cluster bomb units by December 2015. US Department of Defense, “Contracts,” No. 593-13, 20 August 2013. See also, US Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (US-DSCA) press release, “Saudi Arabia – CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons,” Transmittal No. 10-03, Washington, DC, 13 June 2011.

[9] US-DSCA, Department of Defense, “Cluster Bomb Exports under FMS, FY1970–FY1995,” 15 November 1995. Obtained by HRW in a Freedom of Information Act request, 28 November 1995.

[10] US-DSCA, Department of Defense “Notifications to Congress of Pending US Arms Transfers,” 25 July 1991.

[11] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, 2004), p. 845. This research was confirmed in 2016 by Amnesty International as they documented the use of this weapon in Yemen. See, Amnesty International, ‘‘Yemen: Evidence counters UK claims about use of British-made cluster munitions in Yemen,’’ 6 June 2016.

[12] Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal, CD-edition, 14 December 2007 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, 2008).

[13] No state participating in the Saudi-led coalition—Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Sudan, and the UAE—are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

[14] Amnesty International, “Yemen: Saudi Arabia-led coalition uses banned Brazilian cluster munitions on residential area,” 9 March 2017; HRW, “Yemen: Brazil-Made Cluster Munitions Harm Civilians,” 23 December 2016; Amnesty International, “Children among civilians killed and maimed in cluster bomb minefields in Yemen,” 22 May 2016; HRW, “Technical Briefing Note: Cluster Munitions in Yemen,” February 2016; and Amnesty International, “Yemen: Brazilian cluster munitions suspected in Saudi Arabia-led coalition attack,” 30 October 2015.

[15] “Yemen: The Saudi-American aircraft dropped parachute bombs internationally prohibited,” YouTube.com, 17 April 2015 (title translated from Arabic by the Monitor; video no longer available); Al-Rodaini, Fatik (Fatikr), “Types of bombs being parchuted [sic] by Saudi warplanes in Saada N #Yemen”. 27 April 2015, 08:50 UTC. Tweet. Another attack was recorded in a subsequent visit by HRW researchers to al-Amar village, 30km south of Saada city. HRW confirmed a cluster munition attack on 27 April, and reported the presence of explosive remnants. HRW, “Yemen: Saudi-led Airstrikes Used Cluster Munitions,” 3 May 2015.

[16] Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri informed CNN on 4 May 2015 that Saudi Arabia had used CBU-105 cluster bombs in Yemen against armored vehicles only, describing it as an “antivehicle weapon” and stating, “We do not use it against persons. We don’t have any operation in the cities.” Ben Brumfield and Slma Shelbayah, “Report: Saudi Arabia used U.S.-supplied cluster bombs in Yemen,” CNN, 4 May 2015. Asiri also acknowledged to The Financial Times that Saudi forces had used a US-made weapon that engages targets such as armored vehicles and is “equipped with self-destruct and self-deactivation features” but did not call it a cluster munition and argued it was being used to target vehicles and not people. “Saudi Arabia accused of using cluster bombs in Yemen airstrikes,” The Financial Times, 3 May 2015. Asiri told Bloomberg that the categorization of the cluster munitions as banned “isn’t correct.” Glen Carey, “Saudis deny sending troops to Yemen, reject cluster-bomb report,” Bloomberg, 3 May 2015. Asiri further informed CNN on 11 January 2016 that Saudi Arabia had used cluster munitions against concentrated rebel camps and armored vehicles, but never against civilian populations. Zachary Cohen, “Rights group: Saudi Arabia used US cluster bombs on civilians,” CNN, 29 February 2016.

[17] A diplomatic representative of the UAE told the CMC that the UAE is not using CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons because they are banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Interview with UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative, in Geneva, 12 April 2016.

[18] This language is required by a US law restricting the export of cluster munitions. The US Department of Defense also said that “Saudi Arabia intends to use Sensor Fused [sic] Weapons to modernize its armed forces and enhance its capability to defeat a wide range of defensive threats, to include: strong points, bunkers, and dug-in facilities; armored and semi-armored vehicles; personnel; and certain maritime threats…The Royal Saudi Air Force will be able to develop and enhance its standardization and operational capability and its interoperability with the USAF, Gulf Cooperation Council member states, and other coalition air forces.” US-DSCA, Department of Defense, “Saudi Arabia – CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons,” News Release #10-03, 13 June 2011.

[19] According to an article in Foreign Policy, a senior US official said the administration acknowledges reports that the weapons had been used “in areas in which civilians are alleged to have been present or in the vicinity” and added, “We take such concerns seriously and are seeking additional information.” John Hudson, “White House blocks transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia,” Foreign Policy, 27 May 2016; and HRW, “US: Stop Providing Cluster Munitions,” 2 June 2016. HRW collected evidence showing CBU-105s were used in or near civilian areas in apparent violation of US export laws. A woman and two children were injured in their homes by a CBU-105 attack on 12 December 2015 in the port town of Hodaida, while at least two civilians were wounded in an attack near al-Amar village in Saada governorate on 27 April 2015. HRW also found at least three instances where CBU-105s malfunctioned as their “skeet” or submunitions did not separate from the BLU-108 canister and did not explode. HRW, “Yemen: Cluster Munitions Harm Civilians,” 31 May 2015; and HRW, “Yemen: Saudis Using US Cluster Munitions,” 6 May 2016.

[20] Amnesty International, “Children among civilians killed and maimed in cluster bomb minefields in Yemen,” 22 May 2016; and Amnesty International, “Yemen: Evidence counters UK claims about the use of British-made cluster munitions in Yemen,” 6 June 2016.

[21] Patrick Wintour, “MoD to investigate claims Saudis used UK cluster bombs in Yemen,” The Guardian, 24 May 2016.

[22] Rowena Mason and Ewen MacAskill, “Saudi Arabia admits it used UK-made cluster bombs in Yemen,” The Guardian, 19 December 2016.

[23] See the political declaration annexed to: “Final report of the Convention on Cluster Munitions Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5–7 September 2016,” CCM/MSP/2016/9, 30 September 2016.

[24] “International law does not ban the use of cluster munitions. Some States have undertaken a commitment to refrain from using cluster munitions by becoming party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. Neither the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia nor its Coalition partners are State Parties to the 2008 Convention, and accordingly, the Coalition’s use of cluster munitions does not violate the obligations of these States under international law.” See, “Coalition Forces supporting legitimacy in Yemen confirm that all Coalition countries aren't members to the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Saudi Press Agency, 19 December 2016.

[25] In July 2013, the Monitor reviewed photographs taken by clearance operators in Saada governorate showing the remnants of unexploded BLU-97 and BLU-61 submunitions as well as DPICM submunitions of an unknown origin. Interviews with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, Deputy Director, Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), Sanaa, 7 March 2013; and with Ali al-Kadri, Director, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013; and email from John Dingley, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Yemen, 9 July 2013.

[26] “VICE on HBO Debriefs: Crude Awakening & Enemy of My Enemy,” TV news report, HBO Television Network, 19 May 2014; and Ben Anderson and Peter Salisbury, “US Cluster Bombs Keep Killing Civilians in Yemen,” VICE News, 16 May 2014. See also, “Saudi Arabia used cluster bombs against Houthi Shiites,” AhlulBayt News Agency, 19 May 2014.

[27] Terry Gander and Charles Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001–2002 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, 2001), p. 630.

[28] HRW interviews with former explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel from a western commercial clearance firm and a Saudi military officer with first-hand experience in clearing the unexploded submunitions from ASTROS rockets and Rockeye cluster bombs, names withheld, in Geneva, 2001–2003.