Summary: State Party the Dominican Republic ratified the convention in December 2011. It has participated in some meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2017, and voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2017.

In 2017, the Dominican Republic provided its initial transparency report for the convention, which formally confirms it has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess any stocks, including for research and training.

Policy

The Dominican Republic signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 November 2009, ratified on 20 December 2011, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 June 2012.

In 2017, the Dominican Republic submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] Under national implementation measures, the report lists Articles 26 and 252 of the country’s constitution, an October 2008 resolution approving the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials, and an August 2016 law regulating various arms, munitions, and related materials.[2] The Dominican Republic’s Senate approved the country’s ratification of the convention in March 2011.[3]

The Dominican Republic actively participated in the Oslo Process and supported a strong convention text during the Dublin negotiations in May 2008.[4]

The Dominican Republic has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2017. It has also attended regional workshops on cluster munitions.

In December 2017, the Dominican Republic voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[5]

The Dominican Republic has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in 2016.[6]

The Dominican Republic has yet to elaborate its views on certain important issues relating to interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions, and the retention of cluster munitions for training and development purposes.

The Dominican Republic is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, transfer, production, and stockpiling

According to its transparency report, the Dominican Republic has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess any stocks, including for research and training.[7] Previously, in 2008, the Dominican Republic stated that it “does not use, stockpile, produce, or have anything to do with cluster munitions.”[8]