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Ecuador

Last Updated: 12 August 2014

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Convention on Cluster Munitions status

State Party

National implementation legislation

Law Amending the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code for the Classification and Prosecution of Crimes Committed in the Military and Police (2010)

Stockpile destruction

Completed stockpile destruction in 2004

Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings

Attended Fourth Meeting of State Parties in Lusaka in September 2013 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014

Policy

The Republic of Ecuador signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 11 May 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 November 2010.

Ecuador amended its penal code on 19 May 2010 to enforce the Convention on Cluster Munitions by providing penal sanctions of up to 16 years imprisonment for activities relating to cluster munitions.[1]

Ecuador submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report on 23 June 2011.[2] As of 27 June 2014, it has yet to provide the latest annual updated Article 7 report due by 30 April 2014.

Ecuador participated fully in the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions and hosted a regional meeting in Quito in November 2008 to promote signature.[3]

Since 2008, Ecuador has continued to show strong support for the convention. It participated in the convention’s Meeting of States Parties held in 2010, 2011, and the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, where it made a statement.[4] Ecuador attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2012, 2013, and April 2014, where it made statements on national implementation measures and universalization.[5]

Ecuador participated in a regional workshop on cluster munitions held in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.

In October 2013, Ecuador reiterated its commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6] In April 2014, Ecuador welcomed the engagement of observer countries in the work of the ban convention and urged these nations to accede to the convention. It also proposed that the convention consider appointing a special envoy to promote its universalization as has been done by the Mine Ban Treaty.[7]

Ecuador has not condemned the Syrian’s government’s use of cluster munitions.

Ecuador is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Interpretive issues

In November 2008, Ecuador provided a detailed statement on its views concerning some key issues of interpretation and implementation. It stated that transit of cluster munitions should be prohibited; the number of units retained for training should not be greater than 1,000 and should reduce with time; Article 21 (on interoperability) should never be used to justify any derogation from the convention’s core prohibitions; and the article should not be interpreted as suspending other obligations under the convention. It said the spirit of Article 21 is to promote universalization of the convention.[8]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Ecuador has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions.[9]

In the Article 7 report, Ecuador declared that it destroyed a stockpile of 117 BL-755 cluster bombs in October 2004 and now has no stockpiled cluster munitions.[10]

Ecuador has declared that it is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research purposes.[11]

 


[1] See 2012 ban policy entry on Ecuador for full analysis of the law. Law Amending the Penal Code to the Definition of Crimes Committed in the Military and Police (Ley Reformatoria al Código Penal y Código de Procedimientos Penal para la Tipificación y Juzgamiento de los Delitos Cometidos en el Servicio Militar y Policial) adopted 19 May 2010. Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011. Ecuador’s initial Article 7 report made no mention of the penal code amendment, stating “no aplica” under national implementation measures. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 23 June 2011.

[2] The report covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 30 April 2011.

[3] For details on Ecuador’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 71–72.

[4] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of State Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.

[5] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 7 April 2014.

[6] Statement of Ecuador, UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control, New York, 29 October 2014.

[7] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 7 April 2014.

[8] Presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008. It also stated that it would have preferred a ban on all cluster munitions without exceptions; the establishment of the principle of retroactivity is key; the definition of victim assistance is a pillar of the convention; and international cooperation is fundamental.

[9] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011; statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV); statement of Ecuador, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 8 June 2010. Notes by AOAV; and presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008.

[10] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 23 June 2011. In November 2010, a government representative informed the Monitor that Ecuador had destroyed a stockpile of 200 BL-755 bombs in 2004 that it had acquired from the United Kingdom in 1978 as part of the purchase of an aircraft. “Bomba Cluster BL755 en el Ecuador” (“BL755 Cluster Bomb in Ecuador”), undated document provided to the CMC by the Ecuadorian delegation, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010.