Paraguay

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

Although Paraguay was not present at the launch of the Oslo Process in February 2007, it participated in the other three international treaty preparatory conferences in Lima, Vienna, and Wellington.^[2] In Wellington, it advocated for a comprehensive prohibition, stating that it would not accept any exceptions for certain cluster munitions in a new convention.^[3] Paraguay endorsed the Wellington Declaration, indicating its intention to participate fully in the formal negotiations in Dublin.

During the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, Paraguay aligned itself with many other Latin American states in pushing for the strongest convention possible, without any weakening amendments. It opposed the introduction of a transition period in which states could still use cluster munitions.^[4] At the conclusion of the negotiations, it joined the consensus in adopting the convention. The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Antonio Dos Santos, signed the convention in Oslo on behalf of Paraguay.

Paraguay is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified its Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War on 3 December 2008. Paraguay has not participated in the CCW discussions on cluster munitions in recent years.