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Italy
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party |
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National implementation measures |
Law. No. 95 (2011) |
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Stockpile destruction |
Destruction process underway |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut in September 2011 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012 |
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Key developments |
Ratified on 21 September 2011, became a State Party on 1 March 2012. Not retaining cluster munitions for training purposes |
Policy
The Republic of Italy signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 21 September 2011. The convention entered into force for Italy on 1 March 2012.
Legislation to ratify and implement the convention was unanimously adopted by the Senate on 16 March 2011 and then by the Chamber of Deputies on 18 May 2011. It was promulgated by President Giorgio Napolitano on 14 June 2011. “Law on the Ratification and Implementation of the Oslo Convention on the ban on cluster munitions” (Law No. 95) took effect on 5 July 2011 and serves as Italy’s national implementation legislation for the convention.[1]
Italy’s Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Vincenzo Scotti, deposited its instrument of ratification with the UN in New York on 21 September 2011, International Peace Day, during the annual UN Treaty Event. Italy was the 65th State Party to the convention.[2]
Italy’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report is due by 28 August 2012.
Italy participated in the Oslo Process that produced the convention, and its position evolved significantly to support the prohibition on cluster munitions.[3] Italy has continued to engage in the work of the convention in 2011 and the first half of 2012. It attended the Second Meeting of States Parties to the convention in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, where it provided an update on ratification. At the intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in April 2012, Italy provided an update on its stockpile destruction progress.
Italy is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Law No. 95 requires that Italy work to prevent the use of mines and cluster munitions, advocate for adherence to the total ban on mines and cluster munitions, and seek to universalize the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
Interpretive issues
Italy has not yet stated its views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations, the prohibition on transit of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on foreign stockpiling. Italy’s national implementation legislation allows for the retention of cluster munitions for training and research purposes.
The US is believed to store cluster munitions in Italy (see Foreign stockpiling section below).
Disinvestment
Law No. 95 bans financial assistance to anyone for any act prohibited by the convention. This provision supports a ban on investment in the production of cluster munitions. However, the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines has advocated for a separate, more detailed law.[5]
On 26 April 2010, draft legislation was introduced in the Senate to prohibit all Italian financial institutions from providing any form of support to Italian and foreign companies involved in a range of activities including the production, use, sale, import, export, stockpiling, or transport of antipersonnel mines as well as cluster munitions and explosive submunitions.[6] On 26 May 2010, the draft legislation was referred to the Senate Financial and Treasury Commission.[7]On 1 June 2011, the Commission agreed to examine the draft legislation in the “coming weeks.”[8]The bill was expected to be examined in the second half of 2011, but no further progress had been reported as of June 2012.
On 18 May 2011, the House of Deputies voted in favor of a motion (l’ordine del giorno) to consider increased controls on financial brokers and institutions to provide increased controlson activities relating to the financing, production, use, import, export, and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines banned by the Mine Ban Treaty in addition to cluster munitions and explosive submunitions banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The motion also requests that the government consider producinga detailed annual list of all banks that invest in the arms trade.[9]Also on 18 May 2011, three other motions on disinvestment from cluster munition production were accepted by the government as recommendations, which means they do not carry the same weight as motions approved by a vote.[10]
Several Italian financial institutions have enacted policies to disinvest from companies producing cluster munitions. In their June 2012 report on worldwide investments in cluster munition production, NGOs IKV Pax Christi and FairFin listed three Italian financial institutions—Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Etica, and UniCredit Group—as having policies on disinvestment from companies producing cluster munitions.[11]
Convention on Conventional Weapons
Italy is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and in 2011 actively engaged in CCW work to negotiate a protocol on cluster munitions.
At the outset of the Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, Italy said that the “the vast majority of the world’s stockpiles of cluster munitions” are held by CCW states that have not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions and thus a CCW protocol on cluster munitions was needed.[12]
During the Review Conference, Italy proposed and endorsed a number of amendments to the chair’s draft text, including its proposal for cluster munition use to be allowed in extreme circumstances for national defense during a transition period.[13]
On the last day of the Review Conference, Italy did not join a group of 50 states that issued a joint declaration that the draft protocol did not enjoy consensus and was unacceptable from a humanitarian standpoint.[14] The conference ended without adopting a protocol and with no proposals to continue negotiations in 2012, marking the end of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.
Use, production, and transfer
Italy is not known to have used cluster munitions, but it has imported and stockpiled them. Italy has reportedly produced cluster munitions as well, but the full extent to which Italian companies have in the past developed, co-produced, or otherwise assembled cluster munitions is not fully known. Italy participated in the “European Producers Group” of the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).[15]It is not known if Italy has exported cluster munitions.
According to standard reference works, the company Simmel Difesa SpA (formerly known as BPD Difesa e Spazio)[16] at one point produced 81mm mortar bombs called RS6A2 and S6A2 and a 120mm mortar bomb called S12B, which contained a dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunition.[17] Simmel reportedly also produced a 155mm projectile called the RB63 (also called 155mm IM 303 BCR) that was a copy of the German DM642 projectile and was the result of a joint development and marketing program between Simmel and the German company Rhienmetall. The projectile contained 63 DM1383 DPICM “self-destructing” submunitions.[18]
In April 2012, a military official told the Monitor that Simmel had the capability to produce cluster munitions, but never actually produced any. The official also stated that there are no records that any cluster munitions were ever exported.[19]
Stockpiling and destruction
Italy has stated that it once possessed a stockpile comprised of 610 Mk20 Rockeye cluster bombs, 414 RBL 755 cluster bombs, and 4,044 M26 cluster munition rockets.[20]
Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Italy is required to declare and destroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 March 2020.
Law No. 95 requires the destruction of Italy’s stockpile of cluster munitions and budgets for the expenditure of funds for the destruction process.[21]In April 2012, Italy stated that a new plan for destruction had been prepared, with the timeframe for destruction reduced from five to four years and reaffirmed its commitment to complete the stockpile destruction by 2014 in a “safe and environmentally aware way.”[22]
In April 2012, Italy announced that its stockpile of Mk20 and RBL 755 cluster bombs had been destroyed. It said that 14% of its M26 rockets were disassembled in 2011 and 1% of their more than 2 million submunitions had been destroyed. According to Italy, a further 18% of the M26 rockets are scheduled for disassembly in 2012, 27% in 2013, and the remaining 41% in 2014. At the end of the destruction process, a total of 720 M26 rockets will have been be “transformed” into M28 practice rockets.[23]
Retention
Italy’s national implementation legislation allows for the retention of a “limited quantity” of cluster munitions not exceeding “1,000 units.” “Units” is believed to refer to individual submunitions.
In April 2012, Italy stated that it does not intend to retain any cluster munitions for training and research purposes.[24] In June 2012, a government official confirmed to the CMC that the Italian Armed Forces “do not currently intend to retain live cluster munitions” but cautioned that the decision “is not irreversible and it can be revised if required.”[25]
Previously, in September 2011, Italy informed States Parties that it intended to retain “a limited number of cluster munitions in the stocks of our Armed Forces, purely for training reasons.” Italy described the Mine Ban Treaty’s “similar provision” as “indispensable in order to enhance the safety and security of our personnel and of the civilian populations in areas affected by unexploded ordnances of that kind.”[26]
Foreign stockpiling
According to a US diplomatic cable dated 26 November 2008 and released by Wikileaks in 2011, US military forces store cluster munitions in Italy. The cable states, “Rome should note that cluster munitions are stored at Aviano and Camp Darby.”[27]
Italy has not indicated if it agrees with the views of a number of states and the Cluster Munition Coalition that foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
[1]The law contains penal sanctions for violations of the convention’s prohibitions of three to 12 years imprisonment as well as fines of between €258,228 (US$342,436) and €516,456 ($684,872). “Ratifica ed esecuzione della Convenzione di Oslo sulla messa al bando delle munizioni a grappolo, fatta a Dublino il 30 maggio 2008, nonche’ norme di adeguamento dell’ordinamento interno” [“The Law on the Ratification and Implementation of the Oslo Convention on the ban on cluster munitions, done at Dublin on 30 May 2008, and adjustment of domestic standards”], No. 95, 14 June 2011, www.altalex.com/index.php?idnot=14797. Hereafter referred to as Law No. 95 of 14 June 2011. Published in the Official Gazette (Gazzetta Ufficiale della Republica Italiana), No. 153, 4 July 2011. For full analysis of Law. No. 95, please see: CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2011), p. 217.
[2] See Cluster Munition Coalition, “Order of ratifications/accessions,” http://stopclustermunitions.org/treatystatus/. Legislation to ratify and implement the convention was unanimously adopted by the Senate on 16 March 2011 and then by the Chamber of Deputies on 18 May 2011. It was promulgated by President Giorgio Napolitano on 14 June 2011.“Law on the Ratification and Implementation of the Oslo Convention on the ban on cluster munitions” (Law No. 95) was published in the Official Gazette on 4 July 2011 and took effect the following day.
[3] For more details on Italy’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. 97–99.
[4] Article 5(1), Law No. 95 of 14 June 2011, www.altalex.com.
[5] For more information on the provisions of Law No. 95 on financial assistance and the proposed draft legislation Act no. 2136 see “Worldwide investments in cluster munitions: a shared responsibility, June 2012 update,” IKV Pax Christi and FairFin, June 2012, p. 126, http://www.stopexplosiveinvestments.org/uploads/pdf/5.%20Worldwide%20investments%20in%20cluster%20munitions;%20a%20shared%20responsibility%20June%202012.pdf.
[6] The bill prohibits the provision of any form of financial support, including for example, granting credit in any form, issuing financial guarantees, equity participation, acquisition or subscription of securities issued by companies producing antipersonnel mines or cluster munitions. It stipulates that both Italian and foreign companies are prohibited from financing companies involved in a range of activities relating to antipersonnel mines, cluster munitions, and submunitions. It requires that within six months, the Bank of Italy to issue appropriate instructions for tighter controls on financial brokers, designate offices responsible for the publication of a list of companies involved in production of mines or cluster munitions, and authorizes the Bank to conduct audits of brokers. The bill provides fines of €50,000 ($66,305)–€1,000,000 ($1,326,100) for brokers that violate its provisions and fines of €10,000 ($13,261)–€100,000 ($132,610) for persons that perform administrative or management for brokers or on their behalf. It also provides for a probationary period for brokers of a minimum prison term of between two months and three years. “Draft law on measures to counter financing of companies producing antipersonnel mines, cluster munitions, and submunitions,” No. 2136, submitted by Silvana Amati, 26 April 2010, www.senato.it. The bill was drafted with the assistance of the Italian Ethical Bank (Banca Etica). CMC, “CMC Newsletter,” September 2010. Average exchange rate for 2010: €1=US$1.3261. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 6 January 2011.
[7] See “Senate Act No. 2136,” Senate of the Republic of Italy, XVI Legislature, www.senato.it.
[8] See “Summary of the 262th Session of the Financial and Treasury (6th) Commission,” Senate of the Republic of Italy, 1 June 2011, http://www.senato.it/japp/bgt/showdoc/frame.jsp?tipodoc=SommComm&leg=16&id=565289.
[9]The list is part of an annual report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister. Motion (L’ordine del giorno) submitted by Augusto Di Stansilao, No. 9/04193/004, 18 May 2011, www.camera.it; and email from Giuseppe Schiavello, Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines, 23 May 2011. The motion was approved by a vote after it was initially rejected as a recommendation by the government.
[10] See: CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2011), p. 218.
[11] “Worldwide investments in cluster munitions: a shared responsibility, June 2012 update,” IKV Pax Christi and FairFin, June 2012, pp. 65, 90, 111, and 117, http://www.stopexplosiveinvestments.org/uploads/pdf/5.%20Worldwide%20investments%20in%20cluster%20munitions;%20a%20shared%20responsibility%20June%202012.pdf. In 2011, Intesa Sanpaolo decided to expand its disinvestment policy to exclude companies producing cluster munitions from its lending and banking activities. IKV Pax Christi and FairFin commended Intesa Sanpaolo for work to strengthen their policy, but called on the institution to exclude cluster munition producers from its asset management, to take stronger measures to prohibit indirect financing, and to exclude holding companies when any subsidiaries are involved in cluster munition production. Their report also lists Intesa Sanpaolo as involved in financing activities with known cluster munition producer Lockheed Martin. In 2011, UniCredit Group informed IKV Pax Christi and FairFin that its asset management arm, Pioneer Investments, decided to exclude investments in cluster munitions producers, with an exception for quant and funds following an index. IKV Pax Christi and FairFin called the policy decision “a step in a good direction,” but called on UniCredit to extend its policy to all of its financial products and make a version of its policy publicly available. Banca Etica was the only Italian financial institution to receive a top rating by IKV Pax Christi and FairFin for its positive disinvestment policy and founding charter that excludes all financial relations, even indirectly, with any company involved in the arms industry.
[12] Statement of Italy, CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 15 November 2011. Notes by AOAV.
[13] Ibid., 17 November 2011. Notes by AOAV and HRW.
[14]Joint Statement read by Costa Rica, on behalf of Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 25 November 2011. List confirmed in email from Bantan Nugroho, Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1 June 2012.
[15] The online edition of the Jane’s Ammunition Handbook partially available to the public states, “European participation was introduced by a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US. The MLRS-Europaische Produktions Gesellschaft mbH (MLRS-EPG) consortium was established the same year, with its main office at Ottobrunn in Germany. Entities initially involved in MLRS-EPG included Aérospatiale (France), Diehl (Germany), SNIA BPD (Italy - now Simmel Difesa S.p.A) and Hunting Engineering (UK). The consortium ceased operation within Europe after 284 launchers and 201,000 rockets had been produced. For the rockets produced within MLRS-EPG, Diehl was responsible for the rocket and pod integration, while Simmel Difesa S.p.A was responsible for the integration of the rocket motors. See, “227 mm MLRS rockets (United States), Artillery rockets,” http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Ammunition-Handbook/227-mm-MLRS-rockets-United-States.html, accessed 25 June 2012.
[16]In March 2007 Simmel Difesa was acquired by the British company Chemring Group PLC, www.chemring.co.uk.
[17]Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), pp. 468–469; and Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001–2002, (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001), p. 522.
[18] Ness and Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008,, pp. 674–675.
[19] Monitor meeting with Mario Amadei, Brigadier General, Military Advisor, Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Geneva, 17 April 2012.
[20]Statement of Italy, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/04/Italy_StockpileDestruction.pdf.
[21] Article 3 requires destruction and Article 8(1) specifies funding, Law No. 95 of 14 June 2011. Article 8(1) provides for the expenditure of funds for the destruction of its stockpile of cluster munitions as follows: €500,000 ($663,050) in 2011, €2,006,400 ($2,660,687) in 2012, and €2 million ($3 million) per year from 2013 to 2015.
[22] Statement of Italy, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2012/04/Italy_StockpileDestruction.pdf.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid., notes by ICBL-CMC.
[25] Email from Mario Amadei, Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN and Other International Organizations in Geneva to ICBL-CMC, 22 June 2012.
[26] Statement of Italy, Second Meeting of States Parties, Convention on Cluster Munitions, Beirut, Lebanon, 12 September 2011, http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2011/09/statement_italy_updated.pdf.
[27]The cable states that, “Unlike other potential signatory states (Germany, Japan, UK) where U.S. military forces store cluster munitions, Italy, Spain, and Qatar have not yet approached the Department or DoD on this issue.”“Demarche to Italy, Spain and Qatar Regarding Convention on Cluster Munitions,”US Department of State cable 08STATE125632 dated 26 November 2008, released by Wikileaks on 1 September 2011. http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08STATE125632&q=cluster%20munitions%20spain
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