Rwanda
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
State Party Rwanda ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 25 August 2015. It voted in favor of the key annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021. Rwanda last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2012.
Rwanda says it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions, but must submit a transparency report for the convention to formally confirm its cluster munition-free status.
Policy
The Republic of Rwanda signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 25 August 2015. The convention entered into force for the country on 1 February 2016.
Rwanda has not enacted implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]
As of August 2022, Rwanda had not provided its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention, which was originally due by 31 July 2016. Timely submission of this report is a legal obligation.[2]
Rwanda attended one regional meeting of the Oslo Process, in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008 and signed the convention in Oslo in December 2008.[3]
Rwanda attended the convention’s Third Meeting of the States Parties in Oslo in September 2012, which marked its first and, to date, only participation in a meeting of the convention.
In December 2021, Rwanda voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the convention, which urged States Parties to provide “complete and timely information” to promote transparency and compliance.[4]
Rwanda expressed concern in 2014 at the “reported use of cluster munitions” in Ukraine.[5] It voted in favor of a 2014 Security Council resolution that expressed concern at the “indiscriminate” use of cluster munitions in South Sudan.[6] Rwanda has also voted in favor of Human Rights Council and UNGA resolutions condemning use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]
Rwanda has not elaborated its views on certain important issues related to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibitions on transit; on assistance during joint military operations with states not-party that may use cluster munitions; on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions; on investment in production of cluster munitions; and the need for retention of cluster munitions for training purposes.
Rwanda is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Rwanda stated in 2008 that it does not use, produce, transfer, or stockpile cluster munitions.[8] It must submit a transparency report for the convention to formally confirm this cluster munition-free status.
[1] Rwanda’s parliament adopted ratification legislation (Law 13/2011) on 30 May 2011. See, Official Gazette of the Parliament of Rwanda, Law 13/2011, published on 9 June 2011.
[2] Reports should be emailed to the UN Secretary-General via the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs at: ccm@un.org. For more information, see: https://www.clusterconvention.org/transparency-measures/.
[3] Rwanda also attended a regional meeting on the convention in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008, and the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009. For details on Rwanda’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 147.
[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021. Rwanda voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting the convention in 2015 and 2017–2020.
[5] Security Council, “Provisional report of the 7287th meeting of the UN Security Council,” S/PV.7287, 24 October 2014, p. 17.
[6] Security Council, “Security Council, Adopting Resolution 2155 (2014), Extends Mandate of Mission In South Sudan, Bolstering Its Strength to Quell Surging Violence,” SC11414, 27 May 2014. The resolution noted “with serious concern reports of the indiscriminate use of cluster munitions” and called for “all parties to refrain from similar such use in the future.”
[7] “The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Human Rights Council Resolution 42/27, 27 September 2019; and “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 74/169, 18 December 2019.
[8] Statement of Rwanda, Kampala Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 30 September 2008. Notes by the CMC.