Ten-Year Review: State Party Antigua and Barbuda ratified the convention on 23 August 2010. It reported in 2012 that the convention’s provisions would be incorporated into domestic law, but it is unclear if it has done so. Antigua and Barbuda has participated in several meetings of the convention, but not since 2014.

According to its initial transparency report for the convention, Antigua and Barbuda has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.

Policy

Antigua and Barbuda signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 16 July 2010 and ratified on 23 August 2010. The convention entered into force for Antigua and Barbuda on 1 February 2011, making it the first State Party from the Caribbean.

Antigua and Barbuda has not enacted specific legislation to enforce its implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In March 2020, it reported that existing law is being reviewed to determine if new legislative measures are needed and requested guidance.[1]

Antigua and Barbuda provided its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 15 October 2012. Since then, it submitted annual updates on 16 February 2016 and 4 March 2020 indicating no changes with the exception of pending national implementation measures.[2]

Antigua and Barbuda did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention, but it signed and ratified in 2010, after officials expressed the government’s intent to join on several occasions.[3]

Antigua and Barbuda participated in three Convention on Cluster Munitions Meetings of States Parties, but none since 2014.[4] It participated in an intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva in 2013 and regional workshops on cluster munitions, most recently in Grenada in March 2020.

In December 2019, Antigua and Barbuda voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[5] It has voted in favor of the UNGA resolution promoting the convention since 2015. Antigua and Barbuda has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[6]

Antigua and Barbuda has not expressed its views on certain important issues relating to the convention’s interpretation and implementation such as the prohibitions on transit, foreign stockpiling, investment in production, and assistance during joint military operations with states not party.

Antigua and Barbuda is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Antigua and Barbuda reported “N/A” or not applicable on all its Article 7 report forms on production and stockpiling, thereby confirming that it has not used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[7]

Policy

Antigua and Barbuda signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 3 May 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 November 1999. Antigua and Barbuda has stated that existing legislation makes any treaty it joins part of domestic law, and as such, it has no plans to enact separate legislation imposing penal sanctions as required by the treaty.

Antigua and Barbuda has not attended any recent meetings of the treaty. It did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Antigua and Barbuda submitted its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 29 March 2000, but has not provided subsequent annual reports.

On 5 December 2018, Antigua and Barbuda voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolution 73/61 promoting universalization and implementation of the convention, as it has done previously.[1]

Antigua and Barbuda is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but it has not ratified its Amended Protocol II on landmines or Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Antigua and Barbuda is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Antigua and Barbuda has never used, produced, imported, exported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.