Grenada
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: State Party Grenada was the first country in the world to accede to the convention on 29 June 2011. Grenada has participated in several meetings of the convention and reports that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
Grenada acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 29 June 2011, becoming the first country in the world to accede to the convention.[1] The convention entered into force for Grenada on 1 December 2011.
In 2013, it reported that the convention’s adoption into domestic law was “ongoing.”[2]
Grenada submitted its initial Article 7 transparency measures report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 April 2012 and provided an annual updated report on 30 April 2013. Since then it has not provided any annual updated reports due by 30 April of each year.
Grenada participated in a regional meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Quito, Ecuador in November 2008), but did not engage in any of the international preparatory conferences or the formal negotiations of the convention. It participated in a regional conference on cluster munitions in Santiago, Chile in September 2009.
Grenada has attended two Meetings of States Parties of the convention, in 2011 and 2013, but it did not participate in the First Review Conference of the convention in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015.[3]
Grenada attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva twice, in 2012 and 2013. Grenada has also participated in regional workshops on cluster munitions, for example in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.[4]
On 7 December 2015, Grenada voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[5] Grenada has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[6]
Grenada has not yet provided its views on certain important issues related 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.
Grenada is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Grenada stated “N/A” for not applicable in its Article 7 report forms on production and stockpiling, thereby confirming that it has not used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions. It reports that no cluster munitions have been retained for research or training purposes.
United States (US) Navy aircraft dropped Mk-20 Rockeye cluster bombs on Grenada during the invasion of Grenada in October–November 1983.[7] In 2012, Grenada announced that a survey had found no contamination of the areas where cluster munitions were used by the US during the invasion.[8]
[1] Since the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force in 2010, it is no longer open for signature and states can no longer sign and then ratify. States must now become bound through the process of “accession,” which has the same effect as ratification. Grenada never signed the Convention, but instead acceded to it.
[2] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2012; and 30 April 2013.
[3] Statement of Grenada, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.
[4] Grenada gave a regional overview on the status of the Convention on Cluster Munitions at the Santiago workshop. Presentation by Marlon Glean of Grenada, Santiago Regional Workshop on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 12 December 2013.
[5] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 69/189, 18 December 2014. Grenada voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.
[7] US records state that this took place in November 1983. US Department of the Navy, Attack Squadron Fifteen, Memorandum from Commanding Officer, Attack Squadron Fifteen, to Chief of Naval Operations, “Command History: Enclosure 5, Ordnance Expenditure for 1983,” 18 February 1984, declassified 28 April 2000.
[8] Statement of Grenada, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
Grenada signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 19 August 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Grenada has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty.
Grenada has not attended any recent meetings of the treaty. It did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Grenada submitted its second Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 21 June 2004 but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
On 5 December 2018, Grenada voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolution 73/61 promoting universalization and implementation of the convention, as it has done previously.[1]
Grenada is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, including Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Grenada has never used, produced, imported, exported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.
[1] “Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,” UNGA Resolution 73/61, 5 December 2018.
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war
In October–November 1983, during the invasion of Grenada, United States (US) Navy aircraft dropped 21 Mk-20 Rockeye cluster munitions in air-support operations.[1]
The extent to which Grenada is affected by cluster munition remnants was not known until June 2012 when, at the invitation of the government of Grenada, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) conducted a non-technical survey and found no evidence of cluster munition contamination. NPA also conducted a technical survey of a random sample of five percent of the suspected contaminated area for quality assurance. Additionally, NPA interviewed a small sample of the local population, the Royal Grenada Police Force, the government of Grenada and US embassy personnel.[2]
On 16 July 2012, NPA notified Grenada that no further action was needed and Grenada could declare with confidence its compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3]
At the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2012, Grenada declared it was free of cluster munition contamination and noted that the areas where cluster munitions were dropped by the US were now used for new housing and resort development for tourism.[4]
[1] US records state that this took place in November 1983; see US Department of the Navy, Memorandum from Commanding Officer, Attack Squadron Fifteen, to Chief of Naval Operations, “Command History: Enclosure 5, Ordnance Expenditure for 1983,” 18 February 1984, declassified 28 April 2000. A personal account by one of the commanders of the operation claimed there were approximately 30 Mk-20 Rockeye cluster strikes. See Timothy J. Christmann, “TacAir in Grenada,” Naval Aviation News, November–December 1985, p. 8.
[2] Statement of Grenada, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.; Caribbean Land and Property, “Grenada: Egmont;” and “Grenada Egmont Development.”