Burkina Faso
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Ten-Year Review: State Party Burkina Faso was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. Burkina Faso has indicated it intends to enact national implementing legislation for the convention. Burkina Faso has participated in several convention’s meetings, most recently in September 2019. It has voted in favor of an annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention since 2015.
In its initial transparency report for the convention provided in 2011, Burkina Faso indicated that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions. It possesses no stocks of cluster munitions and has not retained any for training or research purposes.
Policy
Burkina Faso signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 16 February 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
Burkina Faso said in 2015 that it was drafting implementing legislation for the convention, but, as of July 2020, it has not introduced such legislation to parliament for consideration and approval.[1] Burkina Faso has expressed its desire to prepare implementing legislation and says that the National Commission to Combat the Proliferation of Small Arms (Commission Nationale de Lutte contre la Prolifération des Armes Légères) has facilitated consultations on implementation measures for the convention.[2]
Burkina Faso submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in January 2011.[3] It provided an annual updated report in May 2013, but has not turned in any annual updates since then.
Burkina Faso participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[4]
Burkina Faso has participated in several Meetings of States Parties of the convention, most recently the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.[5] It previously attended the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015 and an intersessional meeting in Geneva in 2013. It has attended regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.
In December 2019, Burkina Faso voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[6] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Burkina Faso has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[7]
In 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that Burkina Faso considers that the transit of cluster munitions by states not party through the territory of States Parties is prohibited.[8] Burkina Faso has not elaborated its views on other important issues for the convention’s interpretation or implementation, such as the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations with states not party, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling, and the prohibition on investment in cluster munition production.
Burkina Faso is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Burkina Faso has reported that it has no production facilities and does not possess stocks of cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.[9] Burkina Faso has stated that it has never used cluster munitions.[10]
[1] Statement of Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Review Conference, Dubrovnik, 11 September 2015.
[2] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms A and H, 26 January 2011; statement of Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012; and Statement of Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San José, 2 September 2014. Translation by the Monitor.
[3] The initial Article 7 report lists the reporting period as calendar year 2011, but it was likely for calendar year 2010 as Article 7 reports are supposed to cover a previous period and not future activities. The annual updated report dated 13 May 2013 is for the reporting period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013, but most likely was meant to refer to calendar year 2012.
[4] For details on Burkina Faso’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 48–49.
[5] Burkina Faso participated in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2010–2014. It did not attend any of the convention’s meetings in 2016–2018.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 74/62, 12 December 2019.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 74/169, 18 December 2019.Burkina Faso voted in favor of similar resolutions in 2013–2018.
[8] Letter No. 2009-001228/MAE-CR/SG/DGAJC from Minata Samate, Acting Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, 24 March 2009.
[9] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B and C, 26 January 2011.
[10] Statement by Amb. Monique Ilboudo, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008.