28 July 2016

Syria/Russia: 47 cluster bomb attacks in 2 months

Use of banned weapon wreaks havoc among civilians

Unexploded AO 25RTRTM 599X350

Homepage photo: Unexploded AO-2.5RT/RTM submunitions collected after cluster munitions struck the outskirts of Termanin village, Idlib, on July 11. © 2016 Hussam Al-Termanini


No less than 47 cluster bomb attacks were documented in Syria in the past two months during the joint military operation by Russia and Syria. Among casualties recorded by Human Rights Watch thus far, all were civilians.

The Cluster Munition Coalition urges Syria and Russia to stop using the weapon and to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Since 2012, some 160 states have condemned the use of cluster munitions in the context of the Syrian conflict. Four resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly condemned use1, as well as seven resolutions of the United Nations Human Rights Council.2 The United Nations Secretary-General said that the carnage caused by cluster munitions in Syria was a direct violation of International Humanitarian Law.

The Cluster Munition Coalition expects that the upcoming 6th Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, presided by the Netherlands, will take a strong stance condemning any use of cluster munitions by any actor.

In the Dubrovnik Action Plan adopted in 2015, States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions committed to "condemn any instances of documented use by any actor" (Action 1.3).

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[1] Resolutions 67/262, 68/182, 69/189 and 70/234
[2] Resolutions 25/23, 26/23, 28/20, 29/16, 30/10, 31/17 and 32/25