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Andorra
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Principality of Andorra has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Andorra is preparing to join the ban Convention on Cluster Munitions. On 13 June 2012, the government of Andorra approved accession to the convention and on 19 June 2012, Andorra’s Head of Government Antoni Marti Petit submitted an accession proposal to the General Council (legislative body) for consideration and approval.[1] In July 2012, a government representative informed the Monitor that the General Council is due to consider the accession proposal in October 2012 and, if approved, the instrument of ratification should be deposited “around December 2012.”[2] For successful adoption by the General Council, an absolute majority must support the proposal.[3]
Previously, in 2010 and 2011, Andorra expressed support for the convention, but stated that limited resources were interfering with more rapid accession.[4]
According to the accession package submitted in June 2012, following a legislative review, the government “understand[s] that the current domestic legislation already complies with the main obligations under the Convention, it is not necessary to develop its internal regulations, especially considering that, from the entry into force of Andorra, the definitions contained therein immediately become part of the internal legal system.”[5]
Andorra attended a regional meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Brussels in October 2007), but has not participated in any subsequent regional or international meetings on cluster munitions.
Andorra is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Andorra is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In March 2011, Andorra confirmed that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[6]
The June 2012 accession package included a technical report dated March 2012 that confirmed that Andorra does not stockpile cluster munitions and is not contaminated by cluster munition remnants.[7]
[1] “Proposal of approval to the accession of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008,” accession package submitted to the Council General (Consell General) by Andorra’s Head of Government, 25 June 2012, http://www.parlament.ad/micg/webconsell.nsf/0/50A89FE0306B71B6C1257A28003BE978. Translation by the Monitor.
[2] Email from Montserat Gesse Mas, First Secretary and Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Andorra to the United Nations in Geneva, 3 July 2012.
[3] “Domestically, the adoption of this agreement will require prior approval by an absolute majority of the council in accordance with the provisions of Article 64 of the Constitution.” See “Proposal of approval to the accession of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008,” accession package submitted to the Council General (Consell General) by Andorra’s Head of Government, 25 June 2012, http://www.parlament.ad/micg/webconsell.nsf/0/50A89FE0306B71B6C1257A28003BE978. Translation by the Monitor.
[4] In March 2011, Andorra’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Relations, Xavier Espot Miró, informed the Monitor that as “a small country with limited economic and human resources at its disposal,” Andorra’s accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions is “not foreseen …for the moment.” Letter to Mary Wareham, Senior Advisor, Arms Division, Human Rights Watch (HRW), from Xavier Espot Miró, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Institutional Relations, 9 March 2011. In September 2010, Andorra’s former Head of Government, Jaume Bartumeu Cassany stated that Andorra intended to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions “to show its commitment to disarmament.” Statement by Jaume Bartumeu Cassany, Head of Government of Andorra, to UNGA General Debate, 27 September 2010.
[5] The document notes that a decree dated 3 July 1989 addresses the “possession, use and circulation of arms, prohibits the manufacture, import, circulation, possession, use, sale and advertising of weapons of war. The definition the Decree provides for weapons of war seems large enough to qualify cluster bombs and weapons of war and to contain, implicitly, its prohibition.” In addition, the document states that Article 265 of Andorra’s Penal Code, “punishes by imprisonment of four to ten years for manufacturing, development, marketing, transfer or stockpiling of weapons of war and their munitions.” See “Proposal of approval to the accession of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008,” accession package submitted to the Council General (Consell General) by Andorra’s Head of Government, 25 June 2012, .http://www.parlament.ad/micg/webconsell.nsf/0/50A89FE0306B71B6C1257A28003BE978. Translation by the Monitor.
[6] Letter to Mary Wareham, HRW, from Xavier Espot Miró, 9 March 2011.
[7] The technical report was issued by TEDAX (Técnico Especialista en Desactivación de Artefactos Explosivos), which is the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit of the national police force. See “Proposal of approval to the accession of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008,” accession package submitted to the Council General (Consell General) by Andorra’s Head of Government, 25 June 2012, http://www.parlament.ad/micg/webconsell.nsf/0/50A89FE0306B71B6C1257A28003BE978. Translation by the Monitor.
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