Summary: State Party Croatia was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It has participated in every meeting of the convention and hosted the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik in 2015. Croatia voted in favor of a United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2017. It has firmly condemned the use of cluster munitions and elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the convention’s interpretation and implementation.

Croatia completed the destruction of its stockpile of 7,235 cluster munitions and 178,318 submunitions at the end of July 2018.

Policy

The Republic of Croatia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 17 August 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

In 2015, Croatia enacted comprehensive mine action legislation that it says “states that each failure in treatment of cluster munitions is subject to misdemeanor sanction.”[1] The law does not impose sanctions to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited under the convention on territory under its jurisdiction or control, however Croatia’s Penal Code does apply.[2]

Croatia’s armed forces include the convention’s obligations in an expanded curriculum on agreements and treaties that Croatia has joined.[3] The Office for Mine Action acts as a focal point for coordination and monitoring of mine action related activities in Croatia, including the operation of the Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC).[4]

Croatia provided its initial Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 April 2011 and has submitted annual updated reports since then, most recently on 24 April 2018.[5]

Croatia made many notable contributions throughout the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and, from its experience as an affected state, advocated for the strongest possible provisions on victim assistance.[6] Croatia enacted a moratorium on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions in 2007, prior to the conclusion of the process.[7]

Croatia has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and attended every intersessional meeting held in 2011–2015. It hosted the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik on 7–11 September 2015.[8] Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović served as president of the First Review Conference, which adopted an action plan and the “Dubrovnik Declaration” committing to “work towards a world free of the suffering, casualties and socio-economic impacts caused by cluster munitions.”[9] Croatia has also hosted and participated in regional workshops on the convention.

Croatia voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the convention in December 2017.[10] As the convention’s president, Croatia successfully co-sponsored and introduced the first UNGA resolution on the convention in 2015 and voted in favor of the second one in 2016.

Croatia has condemned the use of cluster munitions in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.[11] In 2017, Croatia repeated its call to all states to refrain from the use of cluster munitions, particularly in Syria.[12]

Croatia voted in favor of recent UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[13] It also voted in favor of Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in March 2018.[14]

Croatia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Interpretive issues

Croatia has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It considers transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of States Parties to be prohibited by the convention and also views investment in the production of cluster munitions as prohibited by the convention’s prohibition on assistance.[15] Croatia has stated, “As for the interoperability and use of cluster munitions by countries that are not signatories to the [convention], and are serving within joint military operations, Republic of Croatia will act in accordance with provisions stipulated in Article 21 of the Convention.”[16]

In 2012, Croatia stated that it agrees with concerns raised by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) about how the convention’s phrase “minimum number of cluster munitions absolutely necessary” for the retention of cluster munitions would be interpreted and said it is “crucial that states comply fully with the detailed reporting requirement on cluster munitions retained for development and training.”[17]

Use, production, and transfer

Croatia has stated that it does not produce cluster munitions, never imported them, and that the armed forces of Croatia have not used them, including in missions under UN auspices.[18]

Croatia informed the Monitor that “no Yugoslav production facilities for cluster munitions or their components were formerly located in Croatia,” but it has acknowledged that until 1999 a Croatian company named SUIS d.o.o. in Kumrovec produced a cluster munition called the M93 120mm mortar projectile.[19] Croatia has reported that the production facilities were officially decommissioned when bankruptcy proceedings for the company were completed in 2006.[20]

On 2–3 May 1995, forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK)under the leadership of Milan Martić attacked Zagreb with M87 Orkan cluster munition rockets, killing at least seven civilians and injuring more than 200.[21] Additionally, the Croatian government has claimed that Serb forces dropped BL755 cluster bombs in Sisak, Kutina, and along the Kupa river.[22]

Stockpiling

Following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia inherited a stockpile of 7,235 cluster munitions and 178,318 submunitions, as listed in the following table.[23]

Croatia’s cluster munition stockpile (as of 1 August 2017)[24]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia was required to destroy all its stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018.

Croatia informed the Monitor on 31 July 2018 that it has completed destruction of its stockpiled cluster munitions.[25] The convention’s president welcomed this development in a statement.[26]

In April 2018, Croatia reported that all active cluster munitions in the Croatian armed forces stockpile were decommissioned by a Chief of Defense order dated 25 October 2017 and would be destroyed during the first half of 2018.[27] On 9 July 2018, a government official told the Monitor thatdestruction process had been delayed by “unfavorable weather conditions at the beginning of the 2018, which cannot be controlled by human action.” He however affirmed that the destruction process was taking place and “on its way to meet the set deadline.”[28]

During 2017, Croatia destroyed 6,596 cluster munitions and separated the 154,118 submunitions they contained for subsequent destruction.[29] It essentially destroyed their capacity to function by decommissioning or disassembling each individual cluster munition, which included destroying or recycling the bomb bodies, tail units, burster charges, and the mechanical-time fuze for the nose. The submunitions were destroyed by 31 July 2018.

Previously, Croatia destroyed 639 cluster munitions and 24,200 submunitions in 2015, but none in 2016.

Croatia’s stockpile destruction could not commence until it completed the clearance of a former military ammunition depot at Pađene, where a September 2011 explosion caused by a forest fire destroyed at least 153 stockpiled cluster munitions and resulted in other unexploded ordnance.[30] Croatian armed forces destroyed the cluster munition stocks at the Eugen Kvaternik military training ground near the town of Slunj through a combination of disassembly, recycling, and open burning/detonation.[31]

Croatia has reported its aim to minimize contamination and environmental impact by maximizing the re-use, recycling, and reprocessing of materials wherever possible.[32] It has estimated the cost of destroying the stocks at approximately €200,000.[33]

Retention

Croatia is not retaining any live cluster munitions or submunitions for training and development purposes as permitted by Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Croatia has retained six inert cluster munitions and 813 inert submunitions for training, educational purposes, and for static displays at a military museum that have been disarmed and rendered free from explosives.[34] It has encouraged other States Parties to follow its example by retaining inert rather than live cluster munitions.[35]