Fiji

The Republic of the Fiji Islands signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. The status of the ratification process is not known. Fiji has stated that it does not use, produce, or stockpile cluster munitions.^[1] It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Fiji joined the Oslo Process in February 2008, when it participated in the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions and endorsed the Wellington Declaration (indicating its intention to participate fully in the formal negotiations in Dublin). In Wellington, Fiji intervened on the contentious issue of definitions, expressing “concern that proposed amendments or alternative texts currently in circulation will dilute the original intention of the current draft text.”^[2] During the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, Fiji opposed any efforts to weaken the convention text, although it supported the retention of cluster munitions for training purposes—despite the fact that it does not possess any—citing its participation in peacekeeping operations.^[3]

Upon signing the convention in Oslo, Fiji called on others to sign “without delay and without pre-conditions,” urged rapid ratification, called for stockpile destruction to be carried out “sooner rather than later,” and urged states to undertake all necessary measures to ensure clearance of contaminated areas and assistance to victims.^[4]