Summary

Non-signatory Armenia says it cannot accede to the convention until its dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories is resolved. Armenia has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently in November 2020. It voted in favor of a key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention for the first time in December 2020.

Armenia reported in 2012 that it does not produce, export, stockpile, or use cluster munitions, and has no intent to do so. Armenian forces used or supplied cluster munitions to Nagorno-Karabakh forces who used them in attacks on Azerbaijan during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.

Policy

The Republic of Armenia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Armenia says it cannot consider joining the convention until its conflict with Azerbaijan is resolved, including the status of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.[1] Nagorno-Karabakh is claimed by Azerbaijan but under the control of a breakaway governing authority.

Armenia did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2]

Armenia has participated as an observer in several meetings of the convention, most recently the first part of the convention’s Second Review Conference held virtually in November 2020. This marked Armenia’s first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2014.[3] Armenia did not elaborate its views on the convention but draw attention to Azerbaijan’s use of cluster munitions in October 2020.[4]

In December 2020, Armenia for the first time voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[5] Previously, it abstained from voting on this annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention in 2015–2019.

Armenia has not joined the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In the past, Armenia has stated several times that it does not produce, export, stockpile, or use cluster munitions, and had no interest in doing so.[6] Recent use in 2020 indicates that there is compelling evidence that Armenia possesses and uses cluster munitions. According to independent arms trade research organizations and local media, Armenia acquired six BM-30 Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers from Russia in 2016 and 2017, but it is not known if the deal included cluster munition rockets.[7]

Use in October 2020

Armenia’s use of cluster munitions during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in September–October 2020 has been widely reported. There is compelling evidence that Armenian forces used or supplied 300mm Smerch cluster munition rockets, each containing 72 9N235 fragmentation submunitions, to Nagorno-Karabakh forces who used them in attacks on the following locations:[8]

• Gizilhajili on 3 October, killing one civilian and wounding three;
• Tapgaragoyunlu on 23 October;
• Kebirli on 24 October 2020, killing one civilian;
• Garayusifli on 27 October 2020, killing five civilians and wounding 15;
• Barda on 28 October, killing at least 21 civilians and wounding 70.

There’s no complete accounting of the use of cluster munitions by Azerbaijan and Armenian forces during the 2020 conflict as it has not been possible to investigate every reported or alleged attack.[9]

In a statement to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 25 November 2020, Armenia did not deny possessing or using cluster munitions, but rather drew attention to Azerbaijan’s use of cluster munitions in October 2020.[10] A representative from Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Human Rights Watch (HRW) on 27 November that Armenia does not possess cluster munitions.[11] A representative from Armenia’s Ministry of Defense said on 28 October that reports allegations that Armenia used cluster munition in Barda were “groundless and false.”[12]

Cluster Munition Monitor could not conclusively determine if cluster munitions were used in either case. None of these countries have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Previous Use

There is evidence that at least two types of ground-fired cluster munition rockets were used in Nagorno-Karabakh in the first week of April 2016, during fighting across the line of contact separating local Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces. Armenia’s Ministry of Defense published photographs showing the remnants of 300mm Smerch cluster munition rockets that it claimed were fired by Azerbaijan forces into Nagorno-Karabakh.[13] Cluster Munition Monitor was not able to conduct an independent investigation to make a conclusive determination about responsibility for this cluster munition use.

There is cluster munition contamination in Nagorno-Karabakh dating from the 1988–1994 conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.[14] There are also reports of cluster munition contamination in other parts of occupied Azerbaijan, adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, which are under the control of Armenian forces.[15]

(See the separate profile on Nagorno-Karabakh.)