Summary

Non-signatory Kuwait acknowledges the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions, but has not taken any steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2013. In December 2021, Kuwait voted in favor of the key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention for the second time.

Kuwait is not known to have used or produced cluster munitions, but has imported them and possesses a stockpile.

Policy

The State of Kuwait has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Kuwait said in 2009–2011 that it was studying the implications of accession, but it has not taken any steps to join the convention and rarely comments on its position on acceding.[1] It said in 2011 that the convention has “important humanitarian, social, economic dimensions that oblige the international community to put forward suitable solution [sic] to end future use of this weapon.”[2]

Kuwait participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention, and attended the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 as an observer.[3]

Kuwait has participated as an observer at meetings of the convention, but not since 2013.[4] Kuwait was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.

In December 2021, Kuwait voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, urging states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[5] Kuwait previously abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention in 2015–2019, before voting in favor in 2021.

Kuwait has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning use of cluster munitions in Syria.[6]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Kuwait is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but has imported them and possesses a stockpile.

Kuwait imported the Russian-produced 27 Smerch 300mm multiple launch rocket system, fitted with dual-purpose and sensor-fuzed submunitions, in 1995.[7] Additionally, Jane’s Information Group lists Kuwait as possessing the Hydra-70 air-to-surface unguided rocket system, but it is not known if this includes the M261 multipurpose submunition variant.[8]

The United States (US) may stockpile cluster munitions in Kuwait, according to a May 2007 US diplomatic cable.[9]

Policy

The State of Kuwait acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 30 July 2007, becoming a State Party on 1 January 2008.

As of October 2019, Kuwait has not submitted an annual update to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report since 2011. In its last report, dated 24 May 2010, Kuwait indicated that efforts were “in progress to enact the required legislation to meet the elements of this convention,” but provided no further detail.[1] It indicated the same thing in its report dated May 2009. In July 2009, Kuwait stated that government “has submitted a draft Military Law to the Parliament in Kuwait to prohibit the possession of conventional weapons for those not authorized…”[2]

Kuwait has also cited elements of its existing law as serving to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. In a November 2009 letter, Kuwait cited three existing articles, stating that through these “the State of Kuwait enjoys the appropriate legal and administrative measures” in line with Article 9 on national implementation measures.[3]

Kuwait regularly attends meetings of the treaty, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it did not make a statement. However, Kuwait did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Kuwait also did not attend the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019.

Kuwait is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its amended Protocol II on landmines, as well as Protocol V on explosive remnants. Kuwait is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Stockpiling, destruction, production, transfer, and use

Kuwait is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It did not declare any production facilities in its Article 7 reports.[4] Officials from the Ministry of Defense told the Monitor in 2002 that Kuwaiti forces have never used mines.[5]

In its initial Article 7 report of May 2008, Kuwait declared a stockpile of 91,432 antipersonnel mines, composed of six types.[6] In a July 2009 letter, Kuwait informed States Parties that it had destroyed its stockpile.[7] This was accomplished far in advance of its treaty-mandated deadline of 1 January 2012. The letter did not provide any details on the destruction process, such as the location and method of destruction, the quantities or types of mines destroyed, or the dates of initiation and completion of destruction. Kuwait’s Article 7 reports submitted in May 2009 and May 2010 do not report specifically on the destruction of the mines, nor do they report any mines transferred for the purpose of destruction. Both reports list “non” on the form for stockpiled mines.[8] In a statement at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties Kuwait affirmed that the destruction process was finished in June 2008.[9]

Kuwait has stated that it does not retain any mines for training purposes, and has not indicated in previous Article 7 reports that it retains mines.[10]

The Monitor identified four landmine casualties in the State of Kuwait for 2017. A Kuwaiti man was killed by a landmine on Al-Salmi road.[1] A Sudanese man and a Bangladeshi national were killed when one stepped on a landmine at the Al-Abraq desert area.[2] An eight-year-old child was injured in a landmine explosion in Kabd area.[3] 

People most affected by landmines in Kuwait are migrant workers, mainly shepherds from south Asia who work in the desert areas of the country and are often unaware of the mine/ERW threat.

In 2016, three landmine causalities were identified in Kuwait. Two Ethiopian shepherds were injured in a mine incident on Al-Salmi road,[4] and a Bangladeshi shepherd was killed by a landmine explosion, also in the Al-Salmi desert in southwestern Kuwait.[5] In March 2015, a Bangladeshi shepherd was killed and his colleague injured by a landmine near the Ahmad Al-Jaber base at Abdullah Port.[6] In April 2014, a Sudanese shepherd was killed in the north of the country.[7] In 2013, an Indian shepherd lost both legs and was blinded by a landmine in the Al-Salmi desert; in 2012, a Bangladeshi shepherd was killed.[8]  

After the first gulf war, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) recorded 1,405 mine/ERW casualties in Kuwait from August 1990 to 2002, including 85 killed and 1,026 injured by mines, and 119 killed and 175 injured by ERW.[9] 

Cluster munition casualties

Between 1990 and 2006, at least 198 cluster munition remnants casualties were recorded in Kuwait (61 killed; 137 injured). These casualties were mostly deminers and clearance personnel.[10] 

The State of Kuwait provided assistance to victims of mines/ERW, including free medical care and physiotherapy, education, and financial support, as well as access to social and residency services, transportation services, and prosthesis workshops for survivors.[1] The two mine survivors from Ethiopia in 2016 were taken to intensive care by ambulance because weather conditions prevented a medivac.[2]

Approximately 68% of residents in Kuwait are non-citizens, many of whom are migrant workers from the Indian subcontinent. Societal discrimination against non-citizens is prevalent and occurs in most areas of daily life, including employment, education, housing, and healthcare. In June 2013, the government began segregating public hospital staff as well as treatment times between citizens and non-citizens, reserving mornings for the treatment of citizens exclusively, except in case of non-citizen emergencies.[3]

Kuwait has legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities, including those resulting from mines/ERW, in a variety of sectors including education, employment, transportation, healthcare, and access to government services. These provisions were generally enforced, but non-citizens with disabilities did not receive equal access to financial or social assistance.[4]

Kuwait ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 22 August 2013.