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Although the Republic of Serbia played an important role in the Oslo Process and adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Dublin in May 2008, it did not sign the convention in Oslo on 3 December 2008. Serbia attended the signing conference only as an observer.
Serbia is affected by cluster munitions, and stockpiles the weapon. Serbia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has yet to ratify Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
In November 2006, during the Third Review Conference of the CCW, Serbia supported a proposal for a mandate to negotiate a legally binding instrument “that addresses the humanitarian concerns posed by cluster munitions.”[1] When that proposal was rejected by other CCW States Parties, Serbia was one of 25 nations that endorsed a declaration calling for an international agreement that would prohibit the use of cluster munitions “within concentrations of civilians,” prohibit the use of cluster munitions that “pose serious humanitarian hazards because they are for example unreliable and/or inaccurate,” and require destruction of stockpiles of such cluster munitions.[2]
Serbia participated in the Oslo Process from its beginning, attending the Oslo conference in February 2007, and the subsequent international meetings to develop the convention text in Lima and Vienna . Serbia did not attend in the Wellington conference in February 2008, but adopted the Wellington Declaration on 3 March 2008, indicating its intention to participate fully in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[3]
Serbia hosted an Oslo Process conference for cluster munition affected states in October 2007, gathering together affected states to discuss critical issues for them as the new treaty was being developed. Serbia also attended regional Oslo Process conferences in Brussels (October 2007) and Sofia (September 2008).
At the Oslo conference in February 2007, Serbia stated that it was fully aware of the dangers and impact of cluster munitions on civilian populations, having experienced 78 days of NATO bombing in 1999, and appealed to NATO to provide the coordinates of its cluster munition strikes on Serbian territory.[4] Serbia endorsed the Oslo Declaration, committing states to conclude in 2008 a new convention prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. It also said it would soon join CCW Protocol V.[5] During the Lima conference, Serbia advocated for provisions on international cooperation and assistance. It also reiterated its appeal for NATO strike coordinates and stated it was accelerating its efforts toward joining Protocol V.[6]
On 3–4 October 2007, Serbia hosted the Belgrade Conference for States Affected by Cluster Munitions. Twenty-two governments from affected states participated in the conference and cluster munition survivors from Serbia played an active role.[7] At the outset of the conference, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremić stated that Serbia was discussing the possibility of enacting a unilateral moratorium on the use of cluster munitions.[8] During the conference, Albania announced it would not produce or trade in cluster munitions, and Montenegro and Uganda announced they would destroy their stockpiles.[9]
In November 2007, during the Meeting of the States Parties to the CCW, Serbia announced that NATO had provided it with the coordinates of its cluster munitions strikes after it became a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace. Serbia also stated that it would unilaterally declare a moratorium on the use of cluster munitions in the near future. However, this moratorium was never declared. Serbia said it would support both the work of the Oslo Process and the efforts of the CCW to produce an instrument on cluster munitions.[10]
During the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, Serbia raised concerns that a five-year deadline for clearance was too short and that there were insufficient financial resources provided by donors. Serbia instead suggested a ten-year deadline for clearance. Serbia supported provisions regarding the responsibilities of past users of cluster munitions. Serbia said that timely and effective assistance for victims was among its highest priorities and it supported the inclusion of a broad definition of victim.[11] Serbia joined the consensus adoption of the convention, stating that it was the best possible text.[12]
On 1 October 2008, the Ban Bus, a mobile advocacy initiative to promote awareness on cluster munitions and the convention, started in Serbia on a 12,000km trip through 18 European countries.[13] Serbian cluster munition survivors Branislav Kapetanović, Dejan Dikic, Dusica Vučković, and Slađan Vučković have been strong campaigners in Serbia and at many of the international and regional conferences of the Oslo Process. Together with campaigners from other affected countries and Handicap International Belgium, they formed the “Ban Advocates,” a group of individuals affected by cluster munitions who took an active role in supporting the Oslo Process as prominent campaigners, powerful lobbyists and a source of inspiration.[14]
Despite Serbia’s strong engagement throughout the Oslo Process, it did not sign the convention in Oslo on 3 December 2008. There has not been an official explanation given for the decision. Serbia is the only country from the former Yugoslavia that did not sign the convention.
When questioned by journalists, representatives from the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense made statements seeming to support signature of the convention, but claimed that neither ministry could decide independently on the matter. On 12 March 2009, a representative of the Serbian Ministry of Defense told the BETA news agency that the Ministry of Defense “has sent its opinion on the matter to the Foreign Ministry and National Security Council.” The representative also reported that the Minister of Defense personally supported signing the convention. The decision to sign the convention rests with the National Security Council.[15]
Use, Production, Stockpiling, and Transfer
Cluster munitions were used by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as numerous ethnic militias and secessionist forces during the conflicts resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia starting in 1991. Forces of the successor Federal Republic of Yugoslavia used cluster munitions during the 1998–1999 conflict in Kosovo. Yugoslav forces also launched several cluster rocket attacks into border regions controlled by Albania. Additionally, aircraft from the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands dropped cluster bombs in Serbia and Kosovo during the 1999 NATO air campaign.[16]
Serbia stated in May 2007 that it was an “unwilling possessor” of cluster munitions inherited from the former Yugoslavia which “will be, of course, destroyed.”[17] In February 2009, Serbia informed Human Rights Watch that it does not have the capacity to produce cluster munitions and has not produced cluster munitions since the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[18]
According to standard reference works, Serbia inherited some of the production capabilities of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The company Yugoimport-SDPR was associated with the production of 152mm 3-O-23 artillery projectiles (containing 63 KB-2 submunitions) and 262mm M87 Orkan surface-to-surface rockets (containing 288 KB-1 submunitions).[19] Yugoslavia was the first non-Western country to produce and export dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions.[20]
According to Jane’s Information Group, “At the 1991 Paris Air Show it became known that the Yugoslav Air Force was in possession of several bomblets of various types and at least one cluster bomb and cluster bomb unit. Some bombs were thought to have been bought direct from the USSR, and it is believed that others were manufactured under license or even designed by the Federal Directorate of Supply and Procurement (SDPR) in Belgrade, now Serbia.”[21] The designations of the cluster bombs are RAB-120 and KPT-150. Jane’s Information Group also lists Serbia as possessing BL-755 cluster bombs.[22]
[1] Proposal for a Mandate to Negotiate a Legally-Binding Instrument that Addresses the Humanitarian Concerns Posed by Cluster Munitions, Presented by Austria, Holy See, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, and Sweden, Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW, Geneva, CCW/CONF.III/WP.1, Geneva, 25 October 2006.
[2] Declaration on Cluster Munitions, Third Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW, CCW/CONF.III/WP.18, Geneva, 17 November 2006.
[3] New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “List of countries subscribing to the Declaration of the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions,” 23 May 2008, www.mfat.govt.nz.
[4] Serbia stated that while good results had been achieved in demining its territory, the biggest threat came from cluster munition remnants. Statement by Amb. Bratislav Djordjevic, Director General for NATO and Defense Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2007. Notes by CMC/ WILPF.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Statement of Serbia, Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions, 23 May 2007. Notes by CMC/WILPF.
[7] CMC, “Report on the Belgrade Conference,” 3–4 October 2007, www.stopclustermunitions.org. Countries that attended were: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uganda, Vietnam, and Yemen.
[8] “Cluster Bomb Conference in Belgrade,” B-92 News, 3 October 2007, www.b92.net.
[9] CMC, “Survivors and States Join Forces Against Cluster Bombs,” Press release, Belgrade, 4 October 2007. Statement by Steve Goose, CMC co-chair and director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, Opening Session, Belgrade Conference on States Affected by Cluster Munitions, 3 October 2007: In an address to the opening session, Steve Goose, CMC co-chair and director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, said, “This is a rather extraordinary gathering. The very concept of it is quite radical in international affairs. With this meeting, we are saying that the interests of those who have suffered the effects of an indiscriminate weapon—effects that sometimes last for decades on end—their interests are paramount, not the interests of those who want to continue to use, produce, stockpile, and trade in that pernicious weapon. This boldness in approach—putting humanitarian concerns above all else—is why we will succeed in concluding a new treaty banning cluster munitions in 2008.”
[10] Statement of Serbia, 2007 Meeting of the States Parties to the CCW, Geneva, 7 November 2007. Notes by WILPF.
[11] Statement of Serbia, Committee of the Whole on Articles 4 and 5, Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, 20 May 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.
[12] Statement of Serbia, Committee of the Whole, Dublin Diplomatic Conference, 28 May 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.
[13] CMC, “The Ban Bus in Serbia, 1–3 October 2008,” 4 October 2008, www.stopclustermunitions.org.
[14] Ban Advocates Blog, blog.banadvocates.org. At the opening ceremony of the signing conference in Oslo in December 2008, Branislav Kapetanović, a former deminer who lost his arms and legs in a cluster munition accident, made a moving statement, saying, “The Oslo Process gave me a new life, gave me strength to live on. Now my life has a new meaning, and I have a future. Now I feel there is light. I’m extremely glad to have come here to Oslo for the second time in less than two years to witness the Treaty signing. It is a mere coincidence that tomorrow is my birthday and I think that I’m the happiest person in the world.” Statement by Branislav Kapetanovic, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008.
[15] “Serbian MoD on convention on cluster munitions,” BETA, 12 March 2009, www.emportal.rs. The National Security Council includes the President, Prime Minister, Ministers of Defense, Justice, and Police, Army Chief of Staff, and Directors of civilian and military intelligence agencies.
[16] Human Rights Watch , “Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign,” vol. 12, no. 1(D), February 2000, www.hrw.org; Human Rights Watch, “Cluster Munition Information Chart,” March 2009, www.hrw.org; Norwegian People’s Aid, “Yellow Killers: The Impact of Cluster Munitions in Serbia and Montenegro,” 2007, www.stopclustermunitions.org; and Norwegian People’s Aid, “Report on the Impact of Unexploded Cluster Munitions in Serbia,” January 2009, www.stopclustermunitions.org. The three countries dropped 1,765 cluster bombs containing 295,000 submunitions in what is now Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo.
[17] Statement of Serbia, Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions, 24 May 2007. Notes by WILPF.
[18] Letter from Dr. Slobodan Vukcevic, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the UN in Geneva, No. 235/1, 9 February 2009.
[19] Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), pp. 598–599, p. 720.
[20] US Defense Intelligence Agency, “Improved Conventional Munitions and Selected Controlled-Fragmentation Munitions (Current and Projected) DST-1160S-020-90.”
[21] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 291.
[22] Ibid, p. 845.