+   *    +     +     
About Us 
The Issues 
Our Research Products 
Order Publications 
Multimedia 
Press Room 
Resources for Monitor Researchers 
ARCHIVES HOME PAGE 
    >
Email Notification Receive notifications when this Country Profile is updated.

Sections



Send us your feedback on this profile

Send the Monitor your feedback by filling out this form. Responses will be channeled to editors, but will not be available online. Click if you would like to send an attachment. If you are using webmail, send attachments to .

Sudan

Last Updated: 31 July 2012

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Convention on Cluster Munitions status

Non-signatory

Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings

Attended Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012

Key developments

Sudan denied allegations of new use of cluster munitions in 2011 in South Kordofan

Policy

The Republic of Sudan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

In April 2012, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated that “consultations are going on in Sudan and countries of the region to discuss accession” to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and said that further “discussions with legislative bodies and authorities” were necessary. The official stated that Sudan “expresses its full support to the convention and promises to accede once its consultations are completed.”[2]

Since November 2010, Sudan has emphasized the need to “take a collective regional approach” as it believes it is “important for all countries to accede to the convention.”[3] Previously, Sudan expressed its intent to join the ban convention, but did link it to the positions of other states.[4] Of Sudan’s immediate neighbors, Chad and the Central African Republic have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, while Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan have not joined.

Sudan participated in the Oslo Process that produced the convention and joined the consensus adoption of the convention at the conclusion of the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[5] At the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008, Sudan stated its intent to sign as soon as possible, once logistical and national measures had been completed.[6]

Sudan has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It attended as an observer the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and the Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011. In April 2012, Sudan attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, where it made a statement denying reports that its military forces used cluster munitions earlier in the year (see Use section below).

Sudan is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Sudan signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 10 April 1981, but has not ratified.

At the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, Sudan did not express its views on the draft text of the proposed CCW protocol on cluster munitions. Yet on the final day of the negotiations, Sudan was one of three states that have not yet joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions to endorse a joint statement made by Costa Rica on behalf of 50 countries declaring that there was no consensus on the draft protocol text and that it was not acceptable from a humanitarian standpoint.[7]

The Review Conference concluded without agreeing on a protocol, thus marking the end of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.

Use production, transfer, and stockpiling

There were two new allegations of cluster munition use by the armed forces of Sudan in the first half of 2012 in Southern Kordofan, a state bordering South Sudan that has seen fighting by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army North (SPLM-N) and the Sudan Armed Forces since June 2011.

On 1 March 2012, an independent journalist filmed and photographed dud explosive submunitions in the town of Troji in Southern Kordofan that Human Rights Watch (HRW) identified as Chinese Type-81 dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM).[8] Local residents told the journalist that the government of Sudan attacked Troji with cluster munitions on 29 February 2012 one day after the SPLM-N took control of the town. The Monitor has not been able independently to confirm definitively when the cluster munitions were used or by whom.

In April 2012, a representative of Sudan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva stated, “Sudan is not a producing country and does not own stockpilings, [sic] and did not use it before, neither in the far past, nor the near one. So any accusations to [sic] my country in this field are groundless. Accusations always come from political activists working against my country, such as the politicized constituencies. One of those who are accusing Sudan, who said he was an eye witness was declared persona Non Grata in 2003, because of his malicious work and politicized activities. This makes his allegations irrelevant and not valid.”[9] 

On 24 May 2012, The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom published photos of a failed cluster munition in the settlement of Ongolo in Southern Kordofan that residents said had been dropped from a government aircraft on 15 April 2012.[10] HRW identified the weapon as a Soviet-made RBK-500 cluster bomb containing AO-2.5RT explosive submunitions.[11] Again, the Monitor has not been able independently to confirm definitively the new use of cluster munitions or by whom.

This incident resulted in increased international attention, and calls by the CMC and others for Sudan to investigate the new allegation. Sudanese officials offered denials in a number of venues.[12] On 27 May, the spokesperson of Sudan’s armed forces, Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, was quoted in the local media stating, “Whether or not we end up joining the international treaty that bans cluster bombs, the fact remains that we never use them in our military operations and we don’t have them to begin with.”[13] A 31 May piece by CNN quoted a denial by an unnamed Sudanese military spokesperson, who stated, “We don't use cluster munitions in South Kordofan, we have no ties to such weapons. There is no need to use these kind of weapons to begin with, the fighting is in open space, the renegades don’t have concrete fortifications.”[14]

Previously, in November 2010, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Defense stated that Sudan does not possess any stockpiles of cluster munitions, does not produce the weapon, and has “never used cluster munitions, not even in the wars that have occurred in the south and east of the country and in Darfur.”[15] In April 2010, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Sudan stated that Sudan does not possess cluster munitions.[16]

The Monitor has no indications of any past production or export of cluster munitions by Sudan. However, it appears that Sudan imported cluster munitions in the past from a number of countries. The current status of Sudan’s stockpile is uncertain.

Numerous independent sources have documented the presence of cluster munitions remnants that indicate Sudanese government forces sporadically used air-dropped cluster munitions in southern Sudan between 1995 and 2000, including Chilean-made PM-1 submunitions.[17] Landmine Action photographed a Rockeye-type cluster bomb with Chinese-language external markings in Yei in October 2006. Additionally, clearance personnel in Sudan have identified a variety of submunitions, including the Spanish-manufactured HESPIN 21, United States-produced M42 and Mk-118 (Rockeye), and Soviet-manufactured PTAB-1.5.[18]

Jane’s Information Group reports that KMG-U dispensers, which deploy submunitions, are in service with the country’s air force.[19] Sudan also possesses Grad, Egyptian-produced Sakr, and Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[20]

 



[1] South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 – please see the separate entry on South Sudan.

[2] Statement of Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Session on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 19 April 2012, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/04/Sudan_Wrap-up.pdf.

[3] Statement of Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC. 

[4] In August 2010, State Minister to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr. Mutrif Siddiq, expressed Sudan’s intent to join the convention by its First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010, see “Sudan Joins Enforcement of Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Sudan Vision, Khartoum, 3 August 2010. In April 2010, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Sudan, General Mohamed Abd-al-Qadir, stated that Sudan was ready to join the convention. See statement by Gen. Abd-al-Qadir, Armed Forces of Sudan, Sudan Mine Action Day Celebration, Khartoum, 1 April 2010.

[5] For details on Sudan’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 243–244.

6 Statement of Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008. Notes by Landmine Action. Officials told the CMC that Sudan intended to sign, but the Minister of Foreign Affairs was unexpectedly unable to come and no one else had authorization to sign.

[7] Joint Statement read by Costa Rica, on behalf of Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 25 November 2011. List confirmed in email from Bantan Nugroho, Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1 June 2012.

[8] HRW press release, “Sudan: Cluster Bomb Found in Conflict Zone,” 25 May 2012, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/24/sudan-cluster-bomb-found-conflict-zone.

[9] Statement of Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meeting, Session on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 19 April 2012, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/04/Sudan_Wrap-up.pdf.

[10] Aris Roussinos, “In a Sudanese field, cluster bomb evidence proves just how deadly this war has become,” The Independent, 24 May 2012, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/in-a-sudanese-field-cluster-bomb-evidence-proves-just-how-deadly-this-war-has-become-7782501.html?origin=internalSearch.

[11] HRW press release, “Sudan: Cluster Bomb Found in Conflict Zone,” 25 May 2012, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/24/sudan-cluster-bomb-found-conflict-zone.

[12] See for example, CMC letter to Ali Ahmed Karti, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan, 8 March 2012. There was no response from the government, as of 15 June 2012.

[13]Sudan’s army denies using cluster munitions in South Kordofan,” Sudan Tribune, Khartoum, 28 May 2012, http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-s-army-denies-using-cluster,42728.

[14] David McKenzie, “New evidence shows Sudan is dropping cluster munitions onto civilian areas,” CNN International, 31 May 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/31/world/africa/sudan-cluster-bombs/index.html.

[15] Statement of Sudan, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.

[16] Statement by Gen. Abd-al-Qadir, Armed Forces of Sudan, Sudan Mine Action Day Celebration, Khartoum, 1 April 2010. See also, “Sudan armed forces deny possession of cluster bombs,” BBC Monitoring Middle East (English), 2 April 2010, citing original source as Akhir Lahzah (Khartoum newspaper in Arabic), 2 April 2010.

[17] Virgil Wiebe and Titus Peachey, “Clusters of Death, Chapter 4: Cluster Munition Use in Sudan,” Mennonite Central Committee, 2000, www.clusterbombs.mcc.org.

[18] Handicap International, Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI 2007), p. 55.

[19] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 846; Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2007–2008, CD-edition, 10 January 2008, (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2008).

[20] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 443.