Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. Upon signing the convention, Minister of Foreign Affairs General Marcel Ranjeva asserted Madagascar’s commitment to ratify the convention soon, “so that it can enter into force as soon as possible.”^[1]

Madagascar has stated that it has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions.^[2]

Madagascar did not attend the initial meeting in Oslo in February 2007 to launch the Oslo Process, or the next international conference in Lima, but was present at the last two international diplomatic conferences to develop the convention text in Vienna and Wellington. It participated in the African regional conference in Livingstone in March/April 2008 and the formal negotiations in Dublin in May. It also attended the African regional conference in Kampala in September 2008.

During the Wellington conference, Madagascar stated that it would not support any exceptions in the definition of “cluster munition.”^[3] It endorsed the Wellington Declaration, thereby committing to participate fully in the formal negotiations in Dublin on the basis of the draft Wellington text. At the Livingstone regional conference on 1 April 2008, Madagascar endorsed the Livingstone Declaration, calling for a comprehensive treaty with a prohibition that should be “total and immediate.”^[4]

During the Dublin negotiations, Madagascar joined other African countries in opposing efforts to weaken the convention text. It made statements in favor of an inclusive definition of “cluster munition” and a comprehensive victim assistance provision.^[5] It opposed the introduction of a transition period during which cluster munitions could still be used.^[6] At the conclusion, Madagascar joined the consensus adoption of the convention.

At the Kampala regional conference in September 2008, Madagascar announced that it would sign the convention in Oslo and work to ratify it without delay. It endorsed the Kampala Action Plan, which declared that states should sign and “take all necessary measures to ratify the convention as soon as possible.”^[7]

When signing the convention in Oslo, Madagascar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs General Marcel Ranjeva said that the question of “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party) should not constitute a barrier for countries to sign the convention. He stated that the goal is to encourage those outside of the convention not to resort to the use and transfer of cluster munitions. He expressed Madagascar’s belief that the transit and storage of cluster munitions by a state not party within the territory of a State Party would weaken the effects of the convention.^[8]

Madagascar is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War on 14 March 2008. It has not been an active participant in the CCW discussions on cluster munitions in recent years.