Cluster munitions scatter explosive submunitions over wide areas, many of which fail to detonate on impact, contaminating environments with deadly unexploded ordnance. This jeopardizes the safe return of displaced families, access to services, and the ability to repair or rebuild infrastructure.
“Cluster munitions have wide-area effects. Their use in urban areas raises particular humanitarian concerns. And long after their use, they continue to inflict suffering, especially on children, and prevent communities from rebuilding” said Cordula Droege, ICRC Chief Legal Officer.
To end the suffering caused by these appalling weapons, 124 states have signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and over 110 remain bound by it today. Adopted in 2008, the convention prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of cluster munitions. This landmark humanitarian treaty has helped save countless lives. States parties have destroyed over a million stockpiled cluster munitions and cleared vast swathes of land, which can then be safely returned to communities for productive use.
Lithuania’s withdrawal is unprecedented, as no state has ever denounced a global humanitarian treaty. The ICRC deeply regrets that Lithuania has not heeded the call issued by states parties in September 2024, urging it to reconsider its decision.
Children are often drawn to unexploded cluster munition remnants resembling toys, making them particularly vulnerable. According to the latest Cluster Munition Monitor, nearly half of all casualties from cluster munition remnants in 2023 were children. Clearing these munitions is a complex and dangerous process, often taking decades. Bosnia and Herzegovina only recently declared itself free from cluster munitions nearly 30 years after the war came to an end.
The ICRC is concerned that retreating from internationally agreed limitations on weapons which cause unacceptable harm on the grounds of national security will undermine international humanitarian law. The security situation is constantly evolving, but the appalling human cost exacted by the use of cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines and other horrendous weapons remains unchanged.
“Withdrawal from any humanitarian treaty erodes life-saving humanitarian protections in war, and tears at the fabric of international humanitarian law,”, said Droege. “The ICRC urges all states to reinforce, not erode, the frameworks that protect civilians in conflict”.
Media contact:
Aurélie LACHANT, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 79 731 04 03, email: alachant@icrc.org
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