South Sudan
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: South Sudan acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 August 2023, after expressing interest in joining. South Sudan last participated in a meeting of the convention in August–September 2022, at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva. South Sudan voted in favor of an important United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the convention in December 2022.
South Sudan has provided annual voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the convention since 2020, which state that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of South Sudan acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 August 2023, and the convention will enter into force for the country on 1 February 2024.
Prior to joining, South Sudan had expressed strong interest in the convention after it became an independent state on 9 July 2011. In 2017, the executive Council of Ministers unanimously approved a proposal that South Sudan accede to the convention.[1] In 2018–2021, a legislative proposal to approve its accession was before the National Assembly.[2] It was approved on 9 May 2023 and the bill was then signed into law by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.[3] South Sudan deposited its instrument of accession to the convention with the United Nations (UN) in New York on 3 August 2023.
Before becoming a State Party, South Sudan provided four voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the convention covering the years 2011–2022.[4] According to the most recent report, provided on 30 April 2023, no legal measures such as sanctions had been put in place to enforce South Sudan’s implementation of the convention, as the parliament first needed to complete the accession approval process.[5]
South Sudan has participated as an observer at formal meetings of the convention since 2011, most recently attending the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in August–September 2022 and the intersessional meetings held in May 2022.[6]
In December 2022, South Sudan voted in favor of an important UNGA resolution that urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[7]
South Sudan is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty, having joined on 11 November 2011 through the rarely used process of “succession.”[8] South Sudan is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Production, transfer, and stockpiling
South Sudan’s voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the convention provided in 2020 and 2021 stated that “South Sudan does not have any cluster munitions and explosive sub munitions stockpiled under [its] jurisdiction and control.”[9] Previously, in 2014, South Sudan stated that it “does not produce nor possess any cluster munitions” and declared, “we do not intend to acquire or use cluster bombs.”[10] South Sudan stated in 2011 that it does not stockpile cluster munitions.[11]
The Monitor has seen no evidence to indicate past use, production, export, or stockpiling of cluster munitions by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) prior to South Sudan becoming an independent state.
Use
There have been no reports or allegations of South Sudanese government forces using cluster munitions.
Previous use
Uganda denied using cluster bombs near Bor, the capital of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, in early 2014, when it was providing air support to the government of South Sudan during an operation against opposition forces.[12] Remnants of Soviet-era RBK 250-275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs, including intact unexploded submunitions, were found near a major road 16km south of Bor.[13]
South Sudan denied using cluster munitions during the conflict, and also denied any Ugandan use of the weapons.[14] South Sudan has also described the use as an “unfortunate incident” and pledged not to use cluster munitions.[15]
No other use has been documented in South Sudan, although its voluntary transparency report submitted in April 2020 alleged that the government of Sudan used cluster munitions in 2012.[16]
The Article 7 report also listed areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants and identified unexploded submunitions that had been cleared, including air-dropped (Chilean-made PM-1 and PM-2, Soviet-made AO-1SCh, and United States (US)-made Mk-118 Rockeye) and ground-launched (M42, M85, M20G, and Type-81) dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM).[17] Prior to independence in 2011, cluster munition remnants, including unexploded submunitions, were documented in what is now South Sudan.[18]
[1] Statement of South Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4–6 September 2017; and Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), “South Sudan Bans Cluster Munitions,” 5 September 2017.
[2] Previously, in September 2018, South Sudan told States Parties that the National Assembly was considering a legislative proposal to approve its accession to the convention. Statement of South Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Eighth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 September 2018.
[3] International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) press release, “South Sudan: ICRC welcomes ratification of Convention on Cluster Munitions,” 25 May 2023.
[4] South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), 30 April 2023; South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), 30 April 2022; South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), 29 April 2021; South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), 30 April 2020. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.
[5] South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), Form A, 30 April 2023.
[6] South Sudan participated as an observer at the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2011–2012, 2014, and 2017–2019, as well as the First Review Conference in 2015 and regional workshops on the convention.
[7] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 77/79, 7 December 2022. South Sudan was absent from the vote on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention in 2016, 2018, and 2020, but voted in favor in 2015, 2017, and 2021.
[8] According to the UN Office of Legal Affairs, the Mine Ban Treaty took effect for South Sudan on 9 July 2011, the date of state independence and succession. In 2011, a representative of South Sudan told the CMC that the government would consider accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions after joining the Mine Ban Treaty. CMC meeting with South Sudan delegation to the Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011. Notes by the CMC.
[9] South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), Form B, 30 April 2020. The report states “not applicable” under Form E, on the status and progress of programs for the conversion or decommissioning of production facilities.
[10] Statement of South Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San José, 3 September 2014.
[11] Statement of South Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.
[12] In February 2014, evidence emerged showing that in the period since mid-December 2013, cluster munitions were used outside of Bor during a conflict between opposition forces loyal to South Sudan’s former vice president Riek Machar and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) government forces, with air support for the SPLA provided by Uganda. Human Rights Watch (HRW), “South Sudan: Investigate New Cluster Bomb Use,” 14 February 2014.
[13] The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) report noted that “UNMAS [United Nations Mine Action Service] found physical evidence of the use of cluster munitions in the Malek area of Bor County, approximately 16 kilometers south of Bor along the Juba-Bor Road.” The remnants of at least eight RBK 250-275 cluster bombs and an unknown quantity of intact unexploded AO-1SCh fragmentation submunitions were found in an area that was not known to be contaminated before. See, UNMISS, “Conflict in South Sudan: A Human Rights Report,” 8 May 2014.
[14] Jacey Fortin, “The Bad Bomb: Cluster Munitions, Cold Cases And A Case of Blame Game in South Sudan,” International Business Times, 12 March 2014. Both South Sudanese and Ugandan forces are believed to possess fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters capable of delivering air-dropped cluster munitions, such as the RBK 250-275 AO-1SCh cluster bomb, while South Sudan’s opposition forces are not believed to possess these means of delivery.
[15] South Sudan stated that a joint investigation conducted with the UN could not determine which party used the cluster munitions found in Bor. Statement of South Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San José, 3 September 2014. On 27 May 2014, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 2155, which noted “with serious concern reports of the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions” in Jonglei state in February 2014, and urged “all parties to refrain from similar such use in the future.” UNSC, “Security Council, Adopting Resolution 2155 (2014), Extends Mandate of Mission in South Sudan, Bolstering Its Strength to Quell Surging Violence,” 27 May 2014.
[16] South Sudan Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (voluntary), Form B, 30 April 2020.
[17] Ibid., Forms B and F.
[18] Virgil Wiebe and Titus Peachey, Clusters of Death: The Mennonite Central Committee Cluster Bomb Report, (Akron: Mennonite Central Committee, July 2000), chapter 4. Landmine Action photographed a Rockeye-type cluster bomb with Chinese language external markings in Yei in 2006. Clearance personnel in Sudan have also identified a variety of submunitions, including the Spanish-manufactured ESPIN 21, the US-produced M42 and Mk-118 (Rockeye), and the Soviet-manufactured PTAB-1.5. Humanity & Inclusion (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities(Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 55.