The Republic of Paraguay became the 90th State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, having deposited its instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 12 March 2015. The Convention will enter into force for Paraguay on 1 September 2015. The Cluster Munition Coalition congratulates Paraguay on its ratification and encourages it to actively promote the universalization of the Convention by inviting all states not party to join the Convention, in particular Latin American and Caribbean countries that have not yet renounced cluster munitions. “Paraguay’s ratification brings Latin America one step closer to being a cluster munition-free region,” said Hector Guerra, representative of the Cluster Munition Coalition in Mexico. “Latin America will only be free... Read more »
Japan announced this week having destroyed its entire stockpile of cluster munitions. As a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Japan had until 1 August 2018 to finish destroying its stocks. The task was completed way ahead of the obligatory deadline. Congratulations, omedetou gozaimasu! With this important accomplishment, Japan joins the United Kingdom, Denmark, Chile, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ecuador and many other countries that have destroyed their entire stockpiles of cluster munitions, ensuring these unacceptable weapons can never be used again. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the destruction was completed on 9 February 2015. The President-Designate of the First Review Conference of the Convention, Croatia, welcomed the good news from Japan and encouraged other States... Read more »
On 2 January Palestine became the 116th nation to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, after depositing its instrument of accession with United Nations authorities in New York. This makes Palestine the first nation to join the Convention in 2015, and the fifth to do so since states met in Costa Rica in September 2014 to assess treaty progress and to call for universal adoption of the ban on cluster munitions. In December 2014, the Costa Rica Chair of the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, called on states to join the Convention in the run up to the First Review Conference taking place September 2015 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. “Palestine’s accession is a great start... Read more »