Saint Kitts and Nevis

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 25 June 2019

Summary: State Party Saint Kitts and Nevis acceded to the convention on 13 September 2013 and enacted national implementing legislation for the convention in August 2014. It has attended several meetings of the convention, most recently in 2018. Saint Kitts and Nevis provided an initial transparency report for the convention in December 2015, confirming it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.

Policy

The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 13 September 2013 and became a State Party on 1 March 2014.

Saint Kitts and Nevis enacted domestic implementing legislation entitled the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act on 27 August 2014. [1] The act includes penal and financial sanctions for contravention of the provisions of the convention. [2] It prohibits the use, development, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions in Saint Kitts and Nevis. [3]

Saint Kitts and Nevis submitted its initial Article 7 transparency measures report for the convention in December 2015. It has provided annual updates since then indicating no changes from the first report. [4]

Saint Kitts and Nevis attended one meeting of the Oslo Process that created the convention (Vienna in December 2007) and one regional meeting (Mexico City in April 2008).

Saint Kitts and Nevis participates in meetings of the convention, most recently the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2018. [5]

In 2015–2017, Saint Kitts and Nevis voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. [6] It was not present for the vote on the UNGA resolution in December 2018. [7]

Saint Kitts and Nevis has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2018. [8]

The Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act of 2014 does not permit assistance in prohibited conduct, but allows members of the Defence Force of Saint Kitts and Nevis to participate in military activities with armed forces of states that are not party to the convention. [9] The law also prohibits the investment of funds in the development and production of cluster munitions. [10] During the Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Saint Kitts and Nevis stated its commitment to ensuring its territory is never used as a transit or shipment point for cluster munitions. [11]

Saint Kitts and Nevis is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Saint Kitts and Nevis reports that it has never produced cluster munitions and possesses no stocks, including for research and training. [12] It has never used or transferred cluster munitions.



 [1]Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act, 2014,” Law No. 12 of 2014, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, 27 August 2014. Saint Kitts annexed the law to its second Article 7 transparency report.

 [2] Section 4(3) states that violators of the provisions of the law are “liable on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or both.” See, “Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act, 2014,” Section 4(3), Law No. 12 of 2014, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, 27 August 2014.

 [3]Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act, 2014,” Section 6(3), Law No. 12 of 2014, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, 27 August 2014.

 [4] The initial report covered calendar year 2015, while annual updates are for 2016, 2017, and 2018.

 [5] Saint Kitts and Nevis attended in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2018, as well as the First Review Conference in 2015 and a regional workshop in Santiago, Chile in 2013.

 [6]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017. It voted in favor of previous resolutions on the convention in 2015 and 2016.

 [7]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 73/54, 12 December 2018.

 [8]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 73/182, 17 December 2018. Saint Kitts and Nevis voted in favor of a similar UNGA resolution in December 2017.

 [9] The law applies to Saint Kitts and Nevis citizens, incorporated companies, and members of the Defence Force outside the territory of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Section 6(3) states: “A member of the Defence Force does not commit an offence against section 4 merely by engaging, in the course of his or her duties, in operation, exercises, or other military activities with the armed forces of a State that is not a party to the Convention.” “Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act, 2014,” Section 6(3), Law No. 12 of 2014, Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, 27 August 2014.

 [10] “A person shall not provide or invest funds with the intention that those funds are to be used, or knowing that they are to be used, in the development or production of cluster munitions.”

 [11] Statement of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 September 2017. Official audio recording. UN Digital Recordings Portal.

 [12] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B, C, and E, 31 December 2015.