The Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 12 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999. The Netherlands is a former antipersonnel mine producer and importer. The government announced a unilateral ban on use in March 1996. The Netherlands believes that existing legislation is sufficient to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically. It submitted its tenth Article 7 transparency report on 7 May 2010.

Between 1996 and 2002 the Netherlands destroyed its stockpile of 254,798 antipersonnel mines. The Netherlands initially retained 4,076 mines for training and development purposes but this number was reduced to 2,214 by the end of 2009.[1]

The Netherlands served as co-rapporteur and then co-chair of the Standing Committees on mine clearance (1999–2001) and general status and operation of the convention (2002–2004).

The Netherlands is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. On 1 July 2010, the Lower House of Parliament unanimously voted in favor of ratification of the convention.[1] As of mid-August 2010, ratification had yet to be approved by the Senate.[2] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that ratification is expected to be completed in 2010.[3]

Upon signing the convention, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen stated that the Netherlands would “start the process of ratifying the Convention right after the signing ceremony.”[4] In February 2009, the Netherlands confirmed that it had initiated the ratification procedure and stated it was “fully committed to the quick entry into force of the Convention.”[5] According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the process of parliamentary ratification had been delayed by the fact that the Netherlands had a caretaker government prior to elections on 9 June 2010.[6]

The Netherlands had announced that pending the convention’s entry into force, the Netherlands would apply Article 1 (the basic prohibitions on use, production, stockpiling, transfer, and assistance with prohibited acts) provisionally.[7]

In June 2010, Minister of Foreign Affairs Verhagen noted the importance of the universalization of the convention and the obligation of States Parties to encourage non-signatories to join. The Minister stated that he had been, and would continue to be, active in promoting the convention to NATO allies, European Union member states, and others.[8] The ministers of foreign affairs and defense have said they will also appeal to states like China, Finland, Georgia, Russia, and the United States via bilateral contacts to join the convention, as well as to inform them of the convention’s obligations and consequences.[9] The Minister of Foreign Affairs has urged Russia many times to investigate the death of Dutch cameraman Stan Storimans, who was apparently killed by a Russian cluster munition attack in Georgia.[10]

The Netherlands continued to engage with the work of the convention in 2009 and 2010. The Netherlands attended the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, the Special Event on the Convention on Cluster Munitions held at the UN in New York in October 2009, and the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile in June 2010.

The Netherlands actively participated throughout the Oslo Process that produced the convention in 2007 and 2008. Initially, the Netherlands expressed reservations about the process and the draft convention text, particularly the notion of a comprehensive ban. The Netherlands’ shift in position to adopt the convention text at the conclusion of the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 was due in part to the passing of a motion calling for the government to support a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions in the lower house of Parliament on 22 May 2008.[11]

Interpretative issues

The Netherlands has expressed its views on a number of issues important to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the transit and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations, the prohibition on investment in cluster munition production, and the retention of cluster munitions for training or research purposes.

In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that in its view “the transit across Dutch territory of cluster munitions that remain the property of the third party in question is not prohibited under the Convention.”[12] In June 2010, the Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the convention prohibits the transfer of cluster munitions, but not the “transit” of cluster munitions across the territory of States Parties, due to the necessity of balancing States Parties’ treaty obligations with alliance obligations during military operations with states not party.[13] In March 2010, the ministers of foreign affairs and defense told Parliament that the convention “does not contain a ban on transit, but only on transfer…. the new treaty determines specifically that transfer refers to both physical movement as well as transfer of ownership. Transit is only physical movement, not transfer of ownership. Transit of cluster munitions over Dutch territory that remains property of allies are not subject to the provisions of the convention.”[14]

The ministers of defense and foreign affairs stated that they do not consider the storage of cluster munitions by states not party on the territory of States Parties to be prohibited under the convention, provided that the cluster munitions remain under the ownership of the state not party. They noted that no cluster munitions owned by a third party are stored on the territory of the Netherlands.[15]

On the issue of the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations (interoperability), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that States Parties should encourage others to accede to the convention and “try to discourage them from using cluster munitions.” However, “military cooperation with States not Party is still permitted, including operations where the use of cluster munitions cannot be ruled out.”^[16] The ministers of foreign affairs and defense told Parliament in March 2010 that the Netherlands will urge military partners not party to the convention not to use cluster munitions, in accordance with its treaty obligations. In situations during joint military operations with states not party where the rules of engagement permit the use of cluster munitions, certain national reservations or “caveats” would be made by the Dutch government.^[17] In June 2010, the Minister of Defense stated that these “caveats” would be presented to Parliament for confidential inspection in the case that the Netherlands would be sending troops.^[18]

Disinvestment

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that investments in the production of cluster munitions run counter to the spirit of, but are not banned by, the convention.[19] It has also said that the convention cannot be applied to private institutions or persons and that an additional law banning investments in cluster munitions is not deemed necessary.[20]

In July 2009, a coalition of NGOs released a report on the financial links between Dutch banks and controversial weapons, including cluster munitions.[21] In response to questions asked in the Parliament about this report, the Minister of Finance replied that it was the ethical responsibility of the financial sector how to invest their money so long as it did not break any national or international law.[22] After increased pressure by civil society, some Dutch banks and financial institutions changed their policies on investing in cluster munitions in the Netherlands.[23]

In December 2009, the Socialist Party and the Labor Party proposed a motion that called upon the Dutch government to prohibit investments in cluster munitions. The motion was adopted by Parliament on 8 December 2009.[24] However, on 31 March 2010, the Dutch Minister of Finance decided not to carry out the motion. In his refusal, the Minister of Finance stated that taking into account the caretaker status of the government at the time of his decision, he would leave open the possibility for the next government to reconsider the decision.[25] CMC member organization IKV Pax Christi, among others, has stated that it will continue to strive for implementation of the motion.

In May 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided an explanation for the refusal to implement the motion, saying that the convention applies only to States Parties and not to individuals or private institutions: “Therefore, the Convention does not prohibit financial institutions to invest in arms industries, nor does it oblige state parties to impose such a prohibition to these institutions.” The Ministry stated that the Dutch government would “encourage transparency in companies’ governance policies,” noting that a majority of Dutch financial institutions had already taken steps to prevent investments in controversial arms producers. The ministry concluded that “against this background the question rises what added value a prohibition would provide and if it would not be counterproductive to the purpose.”[26]

IKV Pax Christi and the Belgian NGO Netwerk Vlaanderen have been key members of the CMC’s Stop Explosive Investments Campaign, which was launched in London on 29 October 2009, alongside the release of the report written by the two organizations, “Worldwide investments in cluster munitions: a shared responsibility.”[27] On 14 April 2010, IKV Pax Christi and Netwerk Vlaanderen launched an updated version of their report at an event outside the UN in Geneva.[28]

Convention on Conventional Weapons

The Netherlands is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. The Netherlands participated in the CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2009 and the first half of 2010.

In 2009, the Netherlands stated that it remained in favor of continued negotiations in the CCW on a legally-binding instrument on cluster munitions. The Netherlands said that “a Sixth Protocol [on cluster munitions] should make a significant contribution to addressing the humanitarian consequences of cluster munitions, contain an immediate prohibition and be compatible with the [Convention on Cluster Munitions.]”[29]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In the past, the Netherlands used, produced, imported and, reportedly, exported cluster munitions. It has a stockpile, now slated for destruction.

The Royal Netherlands Air Force dropped 173 CBU-87 cluster bombs (with 202 bomblets each) during the 1999 NATO air campaign in the former Yugoslavia.[30]

In the past, the company Eurometaal NV produced cluster munitions in the Netherlands. It produced M483A1 and M864 155mm artillery projectiles with dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions. This capacity was terminated in 2002.[31]

In total, the Netherlands once possessed more than 191,500 cluster muntions containing some 26 million submunitions.[32] As of February 2009, three cluster munition systems remained in the stockpiles: 293 CBU-87 bombs (containing 59,186 submunitions), 1,879 M261 Multi-Purpose Submunition (MPSM) 70mm unguided air-to-surface rockets (containing 16,911 submunitions), and an unknown quantity of M483A1 155mm projectiles (which contain 88 submunitions each).[33] The Netherlands had already removed from service two other cluster munition types: M26 ground rockets and BL-755 aerial bombs (see below).

In June 2010, the Minister of Defense informed Parliament that a large part of the Dutch stockpile had already been removed for destruction, and that the tendering process for the remainder to be destroyed by the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) had started.[34]

In May 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that destruction would be completed “well before the eight years” provided under the convention.[35]

In March 2010, the ministers of defense and foreign affairs stated that the destruction of the BL-755 aerial bombs had been completed, and the destruction of the M483 artillery projectiles would be completed during that month. They said that a tender application with regard to the destruction of the CBU-87 aerial bombs was in process with NAMSA. The ministers stated that the Netherlands’ objective is to remove its M261 rockets for Apache helicopters for destruction in the third quarter of 2010.[36]

In October 2009, the Netherlands confirmed that its process of stockpile destruction was ongoing. It said that a “significant part of these stockpiles (air-dropped cluster bombs and artillery shells) will be destroyed by February 2010” and that that all cluster munitions would be destroyed “long before” the convention’s eight-year deadline. It called on all countries to destroy their stockpiles “if possible even before being legally bound to do so.”[37]

In February 2009, the Netherlands said that the length of time to complete stockpile destruction will depend on “international procedures and industrial capacity,” and will include the involvement of NAMSA. It said that destruction of the M483 artillery projectiles “is already in progress and the Dutch government has already started making preparations for the destruction of the other stocks.”[38]

On 30 May 2008, the day the Dublin negotiations concluded, the Netherlands announced that it would destroy all remaining stockpiled cluster munitions, which it said included CBU-87 aircraft bombs and M261 rockets used by Apache helicopters.[39] 

In January 2006, the Ministry of Defense announced the transfer of 18 M26 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) launchers to Finland.[40] It was reported that 400 M26 rockets, each containing 644 M77 DPICM grenades, would be included in the sale for qualification testing and conversion into training rockets. The remaining stockpile of 16,000 M26 rockets were to be destroyed, as there was “no market” for them, according to the State Secretary for Defense Procurement.[41]

In October 2005, the State Secretary for Defense Procurement stated that the Air Force’s BL-755 cluster bombs would be destroyed (likely due to age and reliability concerns), with the disposal process to be completed by the end of 2006.[42]

In May 2005, the government said, “Due to replacement of artillery systems most M483 DPICM grenades [submunitions] are to be taken out of inventory.”[43] In 2004, the army reportedly had a stockpile of 174,000 M483A1 155mm artillery projectiles containing 15.3 million submunitions. Of these, 120,000 projectiles were to be destroyed (likely due to age and reliability concerns) and 54,000 retained until the delivery platform was taken out of service.[44]  

Retention

The Netherlands has stated on several occasions its intention to retain a “limited number” of cluster munitions, as permitted by the convention.[45] The Ministry of Defense has said the cluster munitions will be used for training explosive ordnance disposal personnel.[46]

In 2009 the Netherlands contributed €13,216,275^[1] (US$18,416,879)^[2] to nine countries and the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance (VTF) covering clearance, victim assistance, and risk education. The largest amount, representing more than one-third of the Netherlands’ contribution, went to the VTF.^[3]

The Netherlands’ 2009 contribution was its smallest contribution since 2003.^[4]

Contributions by recipient: 2009

Contributions by thematic sector: 2009

Summary of contributions: 2005–2009^[5]

N/A = not applicable