Djibouti
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: Signatory Djibouti has pledged to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions on several occasions, but the current status of the ratification process is not known. Djibouti participated in several meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions until 2012, but has not attended any since then. Djibouti states that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Djibouti signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 July 2010.
The status of ratification is not known. Previously, in September 2012, Djibouti informed Sates Parties that ratification of the convention was underway, but provided no details on the status of the process or timeframe for completion.[1]
Djibouti participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention. It did not attend the Oslo signing conference in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in July 2010 after making several positive statements in support of the convention.[2]
Despite not ratifying, Djibouti has engaged in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It participated in the convention’s Meeting of States Parties in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but has not attended any since, such as the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014. Djibouti attended the first intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in 2011, but has not participated in any intersessional meetings held since then. Djibouti has participated in regional workshops relating to the convention, such as one held in Togo in 2013.
Djibouti has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, including Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[3]
Djibouti is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Djibouti has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[4]
[1] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.
[2] For more information on Djibouti’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through mid-2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 143–144.
[3] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Djibouti voted in favor of similar resolutions on 18 December 2013 and 15 May 2013.
[4] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012; interview with Amb. Mohamed Siad Douale, Permanent Mission of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, 13 April 2010; and statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.