Latvia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
Non-signatory Latvia has not taken any steps to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has never participated in a meeting of the convention, even as an observer. Latvia has consistently abstained from voting on the annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Latvia states that it has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions and says that it is in de facto compliance with the convention.
Policy
The Republic of Latvia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Latvia has not taken any steps to accede to the convention, but claims to be in de facto compliance with its provisions. In July 2018, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs remarked that Latvia “fully shares the concerns” over the “indiscriminate use of certain cluster munitions,” and “supports the objectives” of the convention.[1] Latvia often states that the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions must be balanced against “security concerns and strategic defense considerations.”[2]
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials have responded to requests for updates by the Monitor since 2010.[3] In May 2017, Latvia told the Monitor that its position on accession “has not changed” and said it is committed to “act in line” with the convention’s provisions.[4]
Latvia participated as an observer at several meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 and the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.[5]
Latvia attended the second part of the convention’s Second Review Conference in Geneva in September 2021, but did not make a statement. This marked the first time that it has participated in a meeting of the convention.
In December 2021, Latvia abstained from the vote on a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[6] Latvia has abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
In March 2022, Latvia endorsed a joint statement by eight Nordic-Baltic states that condemned Russia’s use of cluster munitions in Ukraine, calling it one of several “inhuman and immoral actions [that] embody Russia’s disregard for international law, including international humanitarian law, and the principles upon which the UN is based.”[7]
Latvia has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2020.[8]
Latvia is party to the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In July 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that “Latvia neither produces nor possesses cluster munitions, nor does it store or use them,” adding that “Latvia currently has no plans to acquire or use this type of munitions in future.”[9] Latvia has repeated on several occasions that it has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions.[10]
Latvia has often stated that it is committed “to act in line” with the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and claims that it is de facto compliant.[11]
[1] Letter No. 32-1892 from Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, 20 July 2018.
[2] Latvia Explanation of Vote on United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 71/45, UNGA, New York, 5 December 2016.
[3] Emails from Martins Pundors, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 May 2014 and 30 July 2013; Letter No. 32/63-1434 from Amb. Baiba Braže, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 April 2012; email from Ieva Jirgensone, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 April 2011; and Letter No. 32/112-1697 from Kaspars Ozolins, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 April 2010.
[4] Letter No. 32-11923 from Amb. Ingrida Levernce, Director-General of Security Policy and International Organizations Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 11 May 2017.
[5] For details on Latvia’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 225–226.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.
[7] Statement of Lithuania on behalf of eight Nordic-Baltic states (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden), UNGA, New York, 23 March 2022.
[8] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2020. Latvia voted in favor of similar UNGA resolutions in 2013–2019.
[9] Letter No. 32-1892 from Edgars Rinkēvičs, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, 20 July 2018.
[10] Latvia has stated that it “neither produces nor possesses cluster munitions nor do we store or use them.” Latvia Explanation of Vote, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 4 November 2015. See also, Letter No. 32/202-2010 from Amb. Baiba Braže, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 11 May 2015; email from Martins Pundors, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 July 2013; Letter No. 32/112-1697 from Kaspars Ozolins, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 April 2010; and email from Ieva Jirgensone, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 April 2011.
[11] In a May 2015 letter, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official reiterated Latvia’s “firm support” for the convention and said the country “de-facto complies” with the convention’s provisions. Letter No. 32/202-2010 from Amb. Baiba Braže, Director-General of Security Policy and International Organizations Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Mary Wareham, HRW, 11 May 2015. See also, Latvia Explanation of Vote on UNGA Resolution 71/45, UNGA, New York, 5 December 2016.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Latvia acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 July 2005, becoming a State Party on 1 January 2006. Latvia has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty, but has detailed a number of national implementation measures.[1]
Latvia has attended most meetings of the treaty since becoming a State Party, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided a statement on Article 5 extension requests. Latvia also attended the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019. However, Latvia did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014.
Latvia consistently submits annual Article 7 transparency reports. Before adhering to the treaty, Latvia submitted three voluntary reports.[2]
Latvia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Latvia is not a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention
Latvia did not produce or export antipersonnel mines in the past, but inherited a small stockpile of Soviet antipersonnel mines. Latvia completed destruction of its stockpile of 2,490 PMN-2 mines on 2 August 2006.[3] Latvia’s reporting on its stockpile had been inconsistent. Over the years, it had declared its stockpile to consist of between 0 and 4,666 of six types of antipersonnel mines.[4]
In 2011, Latvia reported that it does not retain any mines for training, and that “APMs retained for training were destroyed in 2010.”[5] It indicated that the PMN-2 and OZM-4 mines were disposed of by detonation.
[1] In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2007, Latvia for the first time included details about national implementation measures in accordance with Article 9 of the treaty. The report lists four measures. The four measures are: (1) Law on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction, which is the law authorizing accession to the treaty; (2) Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No. 645 of 25 September 2007 on the List of National Strategic Goods and Services, which prohibits export and transit of antipersonnel mines; (3) The Code for Administrative Violations, which lays down liability for violations of circulation, manufacturing, storage and use of strategic goods and arms and explosive devices as well as their export, import and transfer; and (4) The Criminal Law, which provides for liability in case of smuggling explosive devices. Section XX of the Criminal Law stipulates punishment for unauthorized manufacture, acquisition, storage and sale as well as transportation and conveyance of weapons and explosives. Latvia had in the past only reported its Law on the Circulation of Arms prohibiting the export and transit of antipersonnel mines. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2007), Form A.
[2] It submitted voluntary reports on 16 June 2005, 14 May 2004 and 1 May 2003.
[3] Statement of Latvia, Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 September 2006.
[4] See, Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 403. Also, in its four formal Article 7 reports, Latvia did not include in its stockpile the MON-50, MON-100, MON-200, and “Defense Charge-21” Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines listed in its previous voluntary reports. It has stated “they are defence charge and not observed by the Ottawa Convention. Latvia is committed not to use them as APM.” Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 28 April 2006. Use of Claymore-type mines in command-detonated mode is permissible under the Mine Ban Treaty, but use in victim-activated mode (with tripwires) is prohibited. The ICBL has urged States Parties to report on steps taken to ensure that these types of mines can only be used in command-detonated mode.
[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for period 01 January 2010 to 31 December 2010), Form D, Form G. In the report, Latvia indicated that the PMN-2 and OZM-4 mines were disposed of by detonation. However, it did not explain the decrease in the number of mines retained from 2009 to 2010. Previously, in its Article 7 report submitted in 2010 (for calendar year 2009), Latvia recorded 118 mines retained for training, and it noted “781 paces [sic] of bounding mines OZM-4 were destroyed as part of training and demilitarization.”