Peru

The Republic of Peru signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008.

On 18 March 2009, at a special event on the convention at the UN in New York, Peru announced that the ratification process had begun and it expected to ratify soon.^[1]

Peru was one of the small “Core Group” of nations that took responsibility for the Oslo Process and the development of the Convention on Cluster Munitions outside of traditional diplomatic fora. Peru hosted the second international conference on cluster munitions in Lima in May 2007.

Peru is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not ratified Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW).

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Peru was one of the early supporters of a prohibition on cluster munitions. At the conclusion of the CCW’s Third Review Conference in November 2006, Peru was one of 25 countries to issue a joint declaration calling for an agreement that would prohibit the use of cluster munitions “within concentrations of civilians” and completely prohibit cluster munitions that “pose serious humanitarian hazards because they are for example unreliable and/or inaccurate.”^[2]

Norway then announced that it would start an independent process outside the CCW to negotiate a treaty banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians, and invited other governments to join. A voluntary “Core Group” of countries emerged to take responsibility for moving forward what became known as the Oslo Process, and Peru became one of the seven countries in the “Core Group.”

Peru participated in the international conference to launch the Oslo Process in February 2007, then hosted the second conference in May 2007 (see below). It subsequently participated in the international conferences to develop the convention text in Vienna and Wellington, as well as the formal negotiations in Dublin. It also participated in the Latin American regional meetings of the Oslo Process in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Ecuador.

At the initial Oslo conference, Peru promoted the notion that a small group of countries could, as in the case of the Mine Ban Treaty, take the lead to create an international instrument and avoid being blocked by technical issues or debates over the best fora to do so.^[3] Peru joined 45 other countries in endorsing the Oslo Declaration, committing to conclude in 2008 a new convention banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

From 23–25 May 2007, Peru hosted the Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions. Representatives of 67 states attended the Lima conference, of which 27 were participating in the Oslo Process for the first time, including many African countries. The first draft text of a ban convention, largely modeled on the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, was introduced for discussion.^[4] In its interventions, Peru emphasized the importance of assisting developing states in fulfilling their treaty obligations, supported national implementation measures, spoke out against any broad exceptions to the prohibition in the definition of cluster munition, and announced an initiative for a Latin America Cluster Munition Free Zone.^[5]

Shortly after the conclusion of the Lima conference, the Peruvian Minister of Defense publicly revealed that Peru had a stockpile of cluster munitions, a fact not previously known by most involved in the Oslo Process.^[6]

During the Vienna and Wellington conferences, Peru emphasized the humanitarian aspects of the convention, as a stronger motivation than disarmament. It also expressed willingness to show flexibility on issues such as the stockpile destruction deadline and “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party).^[7]

During the Dublin negotiations, Peru emphasized the need for the international community to assist developing countries, saying that states had not made enough effort under the Mine Ban Treaty.^[8] Peru questioned the exclusion from the definition of weapons based on technical criteria, saying that the burden of proof that such weapons do not cause unacceptable harm to civilians lies with the producers and users.^[9] Peru supported the retention of cluster munitions for training, stating that its participation in peacekeeping missions required knowledge of the deactivation of cluster munitions.^[10] In joining the consensus adoption of the convention, Peru stated it found the final definition acceptable and welcomed in particular the provisions on victim assistance, international cooperation, and destruction of cluster munitions.^[11]

At a CCW meeting in July 2008, Peru joined several other Latin American countries in expressing continued support of CCW work on cluster munitions, but also stressed that any new CCW protocol on cluster munitions would have to actually prohibit the use of cluster munitions with the clear main objective of preventing harm to civilians.^[12]

At the CCW in November 2008, Peru was one of 26 states that issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to the weak draft text on a possible CCW protocol on cluster munitions, indicating it was an unacceptable step back from the standards set by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.^[13]

Upon signing the convention in Oslo in December, Peru said that the international community could not remain calm in the face of the catastrophe created by cluster munitions, and now, with the convention, has taken on a major responsibility. It also said the convention and Oslo Process provide a road map for other humanitarian issues.^[14]

Use, Production, Stockpiling, and Transfer

Peru is not believed to have ever used or produced cluster munitions. After the Lima conference in May 2007 it was disclosed that the Peruvian Air Force possesses stockpiles of CB-470 cluster bombs of South African origin, BME-330 bombs of Spanish origin, and RBK-500 bombs of Russian/Soviet origin.^[15] The status and precise composition of the current stockpile is not known.

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