Brazil

The Federative Republic of Brazil signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999. Brazil is a former antipersonnel mine producer, importer, and exporter. Brazil ceased production and export of antipersonnel mines in 1989. Brazil has never used antipersonnel mines. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically was enacted in 2001. In 2011 Brazil submitted its 12^th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.

Brazil completed destruction of its stockpile of approximately 27,852 antipersonnel mines in March 2003, ahead of its 1 October 2003 treaty-mandated destruction deadline. Brazil initially retained 17,000 mines for training purposes, but this was reduced to 10,051 by the end of 2009.[1] By December 2010, it destroyed 1,075 mines for training purposes, reducing the total number to 8,976. Brazil stated its intention to keep mines for training up to 2019.[2]

Brazil attended the Mine Ban Treaty Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.

Brazil is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. Brazil joined CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 30 November 2010.

In May–July 2011, Human Rights Watch documented the use of Brazilian-produced T-AB-1 plastic antipersonnel mines in Libya by Qaddafi forces in six separate locations.[3] The T-AB-1 personnel mine appears to be the most frequently used antipersonnel mine favored by pro-Gaddafi forces. Its low metal content makes the mine particularly challenging for detection and clearance efforts.[4] Amnesty International documented the use of T-AB-1 mines in the Tammina neighborhood of Misrata on 25 May 2011.[5] There have been multiple instances of T-AB-1 antipersonnel mines emplaced together with Chinese Type-72 antivehicle mines.[6] In July, unconfirmed reports by rebel forces claimed that Gaddafi troops were laying T-AB-1 and Type-72SP mines around the western towns near the Tunisian border, including at Ghazaya, Ruwas, and Kiklah.[7] The same mines have been found in al-Qawalish, Zintan, Khusha, and the rest of the surrounding Nafusa mountain region.[8]

The Federative Republic of Brazil has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In October 2010, government officials said that accession to the convention is not being considered because Brazil sees military utility in cluster munitions and views the weapon as a deterrent.[1] Brazil has objected to the non-traditional diplomatic process that brought about the convention, which, in its view, did not balance legitimate defense needs with humanitarian concerns.[2]

Brazil’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Patriota, has not yet made his views known on cluster munitions. In 2008, Brazil’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim, called cluster munitions an inhumane weapon that should be eliminated.[3]

On 3 February 2009, Congressional Deputy Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ) introduced Bill 4590/09 in the Chamber of Deputies to ban the use, production, import, and export of cluster munitions.[4] On 4 May 2010, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense held a public hearing on the draft legislation.[5] Gabeira left congress at the end of 2010, but has continued to advocate for Brazil to join the international ban on cluster munitions.[6]

Brazil participated minimally in the Oslo Process that produced the convention and did not attend the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, even as an observer.[7] During the Oslo Process, Brazil maintained that cluster munitions were effective militarily and said the most appropriate way to address cluster munitions was through existing international humanitarian law and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[8] Brazil has criticized two provisions in the convention: the provision that excludes from the ban munitions that contain submunitions but may not have the same negative humanitarian effects as cluster munitions, and the provision designed to facilitate “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party).[9]

Brazil has not engaged in the work of the convention in 2010 or 2011. It was invited to, but did not attend, the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010. Brazil did not participate in intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in June 2011.

Brazil is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Brazil is a party to the CCW and ratified CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 30 November 2010. Brazil continued to actively participate in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2010 and the first half of 2011. In November 2010, Brazil stated its “strong” support for a continuation of CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2011, noting the result should be a “universally accepted instrument that produces real impact on the ground and can be regularly improved and developed as necessary.”[10] At a September 2010 CCW session, Brazil led an informal working group on transparency measures and recommended that some transparency reporting under the proposed protocol be made voluntary instead of mandatory as originally intended.[11] Brazil has continued to make CCW statements criticizing the Convention on Cluster Munitions and countries that have joined it.[12]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Brazil has stated several times that it has never used cluster munitions.[13] It produces, exports, and stockpiles cluster munitions.

In May 2010, the Ministry of Defense stated that national military doctrine prohibits the use of cluster munitions in urban areas. It also stated that Brazil’s stockpiles of cluster munitions are limited and cluster bombs held by the Air Force should be destroyed soon because they are out of date. The Ministry of Defense also asserted that Brazil needs to retain its cluster munition production capacity at current levels in order to support local defense manufacturing capacity.[14]

At least three companies have produced cluster munitions in Brazil, according to the companies’ own materials and to standard reference works. Avribrás Aeroespacial SA has produced the ASTROS family of surface-to-surface rockets with submunition warheads. At the hearing in May 2010, a representative from Avribrás said that the company generates US$60–70 million per year from cluster munitions and claimed that cluster bombs produced by Avribrás have a failure rate of less than 1%.[15]

These weapons have been exported to Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.[16] Brazil also exported the ASTROS system to Malaysia in 2002, and an additional sale of more launch units was completed in 2010, but it is not known if the ammunition types include the variant with a submunition payload.[17]

In March 2011, Deputy Gabeira said the government had refused “as a matter of security” to respond to his request for a list of the countries to which Brazil has exported cluster munitions.[18]

The ASTROS Multiple Launch Rocket System was used by Saudi Arabian forces against Iraqi forces during the Battle of Khafji in January 1991, leaving behind significant numbers of unexploded submunitions.[19]

The company Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa Ltda has produced the FZ-100 70mm air-to-surface rockets, akin to the Hydra M261 multipurpose submunitions.[20] Additionally, Target Engenharia et Comércio Ltda. has produced two types of cluster bombs (BLG-120 and BLG-252) for the Brazilian Air Force and reportedly for export.[21]

In a May 2010 letter to the Minister of Defense, the CMC wrote, “There are a number of positive steps Brazil could take as it considers joining the Convention. Most notably, Brazil could clarify if any production of cluster munitions is ongoing and it could put in place a moratorium on use, production and transfer…. As a confidence-building measure, Brazil should provide complete information on its stockpile of cluster munitions.”[22]