New Cluster Munitions Report Released Documenting Use of Weapon in Russia and Georgia
Students from the International Human Rights Clinic contribute to the Human Rights Watch report
The harm that cluster munitions caused the civilian population in the August 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia underscores the importance of the new international treaty banning the weapons, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report authored by Bonnie Docherty, clinical instructor with the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program, and senior researcher in the Arms Division of the Human Rights Watch. Under the supervision of Docherty, two students from the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard Law School contributed to researching and writing the report.
HRW released the report, “A Dying Practice: Use of Cluster Munitions by Russia and Georgia in August 2008,” in April 2009, almost a year after 107 states adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which categorically bans the weapon. According to the report, this Convention “is the best tool for preventing future use of these weapons and thereby mitigating and eliminating their effects on civilian population,” To date, 98 states have signed the Convention and 11 have ratified it. Russia, Georgia, the United States, and China, are among those who have not.
The use of cluster munitions, large weapons containing up to hundreds of submunitions, is dangerous for two reasons: cluster munitions blanket broad areas with little precision, and they leave significant numbers of “duds,” unexploded submunitions that can be set off accidentally long after a strike. According to the report, when these weapons are deployed in or near populated areas, “civilian casualties are virtually guaranteed.”
Russia has repeatedly denied the use of cluster munitions in the conflict, despite evidence to the contrary from HRW researchers, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) deminers, and Dutch government investigators. Georgia publicly acknowledged that it launched M85 submunitions against invading Russian forces in South Ossetia and was investigating the possibility that a massive failure caused many of the submunitions to land on Georgian villages further south instead. Cluster munitions used by both militaries during the conflict over South Ossetia killed at least 16 civilians and injured at least 54.
In the months after the Georgia-Russia ceasefire in August 2008, HRW researchers conducted fact-finding missions to investigate the harm caused during strikes as well as the aftereffects of unexploded submunitions, which often remain hidden in fields, endangering civilians and interfering with agricultural activity. HRW found that Russian cluster munitions killed and injured civilians during strikes on heavily populated areas, including the city of Gori. Georgian cluster munitions caused civilian casualties in towns and villages both during and after attacks. According to the report, to rid the region of the ongoing threat of explosive duds, “efficient and effective clearance is imperative.”
In its investigation, HRW determined that Russia violated international humanitarian law, using cluster munitions indiscriminately in and near populated areas. It is unclear if Georgia intended to target towns and villages south of the South Ossetian border, or if the cluster munitions landed there because of a massive failure. HRW could therefore not determine whether Georgia violated international humanitarian law in that region; regardless, the casualties caused illustrate that cluster munitions are too dangerous to use anywhere.
In the face of this evidence, “A Dying Practice” calls on Russia and Georgia to conduct public, impartial investigations into cluster munition use and possible violations of international law, to facilitate clearance of duds in affected areas, and to sign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions as soon as possible. According to the report, “the humanitarian harm caused by cluster munitions in Georgia should serve as an impetus for states to sign and ratify it.”
The IHRC students who contributed to this report were Rebecca Agule (J.D. ’10), and Vladyslav Lanovoy (Harvard Law School Exchange Student, Fall 2008). They gathered background research and used that material and notes from Docherty’s field mission to help write the first draft of the report. In April, Agule, Lanovoy, and Miriam Cohen (LLM ’09) traveled to Geneva for the release of the report at a meeting of states parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, another weapons treaty. The students attended a press conference, a public briefing for government officials and non-governmental organizations, and several private lobbying sessions.
For more information, or to view a copy of the report, click here.