It was the best of times, it was the worst of times might be a little dramatic sounding, but for the disarmament community in July 2024, it feels accurate.
This month, Lithuania took an unprecedented step away from disarmament and international law when their parliament voted for to leave the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM). No country has withdrawn from the CCM since it was adopted in Dublin on May 30, 2008.
Lithuania’s withdrawal sets a terrible precedent for the convention and for international humanitarian law more generally, and was swiftly condemned by civil society, including the ICRC, and other states.
When it signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on December 3, 2008. Lithuania pledged its full support for the convention, describing it and the Oslo Process as “an outstanding example of cooperation” that it hoped would continue.
With war continuing to rage in Ukraine following Russia's illegal invasion in 2022, we can understand the desire to protect one’s country from a threat as existential as Russian aggression, but the use of cluster munitions will only lead to more civilian casualties during conflict and for decades after. There is no evidence that Ukraine’s extensive stockpile of cluster munitions deterred the Russian Federation from invading eastern Ukraine in 2014 and carrying out the illegal full-scale invasion in 2022. But there is plenty of evidence that large numbers of submunitions fail to detonate as intended, contaminating large areas with deadly unexploded ordnance, making farming, infrastructure development and life dangerous activities.
As you may know, the United States’ Third Infantry Division’s assessment following the 2003 invasion of Iraq described cluster munitions, also know as DPICMs, as “losers” and asks “Is [the] DPICM munition a Cold War relic?”. Cluster munitions will not make Lithuania any safer, but they will make any future conflict more difficult on infantry, more costly, and deadlier for years afterwards.
The idea that the Lithuanian government has willingly chosen to leave the CCM and work to obtain a weapon that causes over 90% civilian casualties is hard to believe even without considering the additional consequences. Lex International has called this choice by Lithuania "an act of self-harm" because of the serious repercussions for Lithuania's reputation as a reliable partner and for international law more broadly.
Additionally, withdrawing from the Convention on Cluster Munitions sends a message to the Russian Federation that international law and the rules based international order only apply to NATO states when times are good. That is a dangerous message and could create space for additional threats and hostile behaviour. Russia currently is engaged in violations of international humanitarian law in its illegal war on Ukraine. Seeking possession of an inherently indiscriminate weapon places Lithuania on moral par with the Russian Federation but will not ultimately ensure her survival. This is a dark time for disarmament but the Cluster Munition Coalition has a way for you to send a message to Lithuania urging them to reconsider using this padlet. Padlet is a message board that allows you to post messages, images and videos to a message board that will be shared with the Lithuanian authorities over the next little while - just click the + in the bottom right corner to add your own message!
Just days after this terrible decision by Lithuania, MAC was in Grenada working with youth from across the Caribbean in our first of three regional Youth in Disarmament Seminars!
We are so excited about these seminars which bring together young people from across a region to learn more about landmines, cluster munitions and explosive weapons in populated areas and how to advocate for the relevant international agreements. Eight youth took part in the seminar in person in Grenada from three countries - Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana in addition eleven youth from Haiti joined online for morning of three of the days. We would have loved to have some of the Haitian youth in the room in Grenada but the current situation in Haiti made it impossible to travel and local security considerations meant that they could only be in room with the connection until noon.
The youth discussed their violence prevention and disarmament work, how the Caribbean can be a leader in humanitarian disarmament, which states still need to join the CCM and the EWIPA political declaration and leadership as well as developed their advocacy skills. We had guest speakers from the Grenadian Red Cross, the UK Resident Commissioner, the Explosive Weapons Monitor and the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. We partnered with the Women's Institute for Alternative Development from Trinidad and Tobago to put on the seminar which was sponsored by the United Kingdom.
Despite the terrible decision being made by Lithuania, the youth participants energy, commitment to disarmament and expertise have left us hopeful for the future of disarmament. The next generation is already achieving great things in their communities and is ready to take that leadership to the next level.
