Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

Norway signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified that same day. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

On 20 November 2008, Norway adopted national legislation allowing it to sign and simultaneously deposit its instrument of ratification.[1] The law prohibits use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, or transfer of cluster munitions. It includes sanctions for violations and provides for extraterritorial application with respect to Norwegian nationals or persons with residency in Norway.[2]

In 2011, Norway reported that armed forces personnel are “given appropriate education and training on the Convention” as are all Norwegians officially deployed in international operations.[3]

Norway submitted its annual updated Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report on 30 April 2012, covering the 2011 calendar year.[4]

Norway was an early supporter of action to deal with the harmful effects of cluster munitions and played an unparalleled leadership role in bringing about the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It initiated the Oslo Process in November 2006 after failed efforts to address cluster munitions within the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[5] Norway held the first international diplomatic conference of the process in Oslo in February 2007 and provided crucial support for all of the meetings through to the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, which it also hosted in Oslo in December 2008. Norway was key to ensuring the strongest, most comprehensive convention text possible. It also promoted a prominent and influential role for the CMC and civil society, including cluster munition survivors.[6]

Norway has continued its leadership role in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011 and the first half of 2012, devoting extensive time and resources to its universalization and implementation. In September 2011, Norwegian Ambassador Steffen Kongstad was made President-Designate of the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties to be held in Oslo on 11–14 September 2012.[7]

State Secretary Gry Larsen led Norway’s delegation to the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 and also visited Norwegian People’s Aid’s clearance operations in south Lebanon. At the meeting, Norway gave an update on its progress clearing cluster munitions remnants at Hjerkinn firing range and made statements on stockpile destruction and retention, cooperation and assistance, and the convention’s draft 2012 work plan. Norway took responsibility for coordinating the development of the Beirut Progress Report issued by the Second Meeting of States Parties, which presented trends and aggregated information on implementation of the Vientiane Action Plan issued by the First Meeting of States Parties.

At the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012, Norway made a number of statements, including on universalization, victim assistance, clearance, stockpile destruction and retention, cooperation and assistance, compliance, and the convention’s architecture. In the session on compliance, Norway questioned the activity of an observer delegation from US arms manufacturer Textron, and stated, “We have noted that representatives from the arms industry appear to be trying to argue that the definition of a cluster munition … need not be taken literally.”[8]

At the conclusion of the intersessional meetings, Norway, as president-designate, invited all delegations who attended the conventions to come to Oslo in September 2012 for the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties.

In the implementation of the convention, Norway has placed particular emphasis on the importance of ensuring cooperative partnership between affected states and other states, as well as with international organizations and civil society.[9] Norway remains one of the largest mine action donors and provides support to the implementation of the convention in a number of countries, including projects related to victim assistance, clearance, and stockpile destruction.[10] With the support of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has continued to clear cluster munition remnants, provide technical support on stockpile destruction, and play a leadership role in the CMC, promoting the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norway and internationally.[11]

Universalization

In April 2012, Norway underlined that universalization would be a “high priority” for the incoming Norwegian presidency of the Third Meeting of States Parties. It has continued to promote the convention in bilateral meetings and multilateral forums, and at both the political and working level.[12] Norway emphasized the importance of regional approaches to universalization, as well as the benefits from working in partnership with other states and organizations. Norway believes that all states are in a position to provide assistance in some form or another, and thus all able to contribute to promoting the convention’s universalization and implementation.[13]

At the Second Meeting of States Parties, State Secretary Larsen noted that the convention has been recognized by more than half of the UN member states and “has become a new benchmark for assessing how states conduct warfare.”[14] Following the defeat of the CCW cluster munitions protocol negotiations, in April 2012, Norway welcomed the fact that “there is no competing standard” to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which it said “has become an accepted norm.”[15]

Norway has emphasized that any use of cluster munitions must be strongly condemned. In April 2012, Norway said that any allegation of use must be taken “most seriously,” noting, “Actual users should face the consequences any use of an illegitimate weapon deserves.”[16] Norway has acknowledged that, “the massive reactions from states, media and civil society throughout the world demonstrate that no one can use these weapons without facing global public outrage and widespread condemnation.” It has noted that cluster munitions have gone from being “a perceived military asset” to “a political liability.”[17]

In September 2011, Norway’s State Secretary Larsen reported to States Parties on new use of cluster munitions earlier in the year. Regarding Libya, she said that “a desperate and increasingly illegitimate regime used cluster munitions against its own citizens as one of its last acts. The ousted regime’s choice of weapons will not inspire others to follow suit.” She cited the “encouraging aftermath” of Thailand’s use of cluster munitions in 2011, noting “Here, a state outside the convention became aware of some of the highly problematic aspects of their use of cluster munitions, and has chosen constructive dialogue over a public retraction in the face of international condemnation.”[18]

Norway assisted Thailand to organize an interagency seminar on cluster munitions in Bangkok in August 2011 to promote Thailand’s accession to the convention.

Interpretive issues

Norway has stated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, through both statements and its national implementation legislation.

According to Norway’s implementation legislation, the convention’s prohibitions, including the prohibition on assistance, apply in all circumstances, even during joint military operations. The preparatory section of the implementation legislation states that, “the exemption for military cooperation does not authorize states parties to engage in activities prohibited by the convention.”[19]

During the Oslo Process, Norway argued against the inclusion of language on “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party), stating that it had yet to see any insurmountable difficulties with interoperability in the context of other legal instruments, including the Mine Ban Treaty. As a NATO member, Norway stated that the issue merited discussion, but it was unfounded to automatically assume that a future treaty would be an obstacle to joint military action. Norway noted that it had solved issues regarding criminal liability for its service personnel in its national legislation, which contained “penal provisions regulating issues such as command responsibility, effective control and individual culpability, in relation to international operations.”[20]

In April 2012, Norway informed the Monitor of its views on the prohibitions on transit and foreign stockpiling.[21] On the subject of transit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to Norway’s implementation legislation adopted on 20 November 2008 and associated commentary, which explains that the prohibition on assistance encompasses transit.[22] With regard to the issue of foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of a State Party, Norway noted that it is “prohibited under Article 1 to stockpile cluster munitions, and that it would be contrary to the prohibition on assistance etc. in Article 1 c to allow another state to stockpile cluster munitions on its territory.”[23]

The US stockpiled cluster munitions in Norway until 2010. According to a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, “After the adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Norway discussed with the USA the issue of their stockpile of cluster munitions on Norwegian territory. Norway offered to destroy these cluster munitions together with our own stockpiles. However, the USA decided to remove their stocks, something which happened during the spring of 2010.”[24]

A US cable dated 17 December 2008 includes a description of the cluster munitions stored by the US in Norway at that time and states, “Norwegian legal experts are of the opinion that Norway has jurisdiction over all CM stored on Norwegian soil, including the US CM stored in the MCPP-N [Marine Corps Pre-positioning Program – Norway] caves.”[25]  

In 2009, Norway announced its decision not to retain any cluster munitions for training or research purposes, and urged all states to make the same decision.[26] In 2011 and 2012, Norway reiterated its view that it is unnecessary to retain live submunitions for training and research purposes.[27] In June 2011, Norway described the arguments in favor of retaining cluster munitions as “flawed.”[28] Norway has stated that retention of large numbers of cluster munitions could be seen as undermining the categorical approach of the prohibitions of the convention.[29]

In 2004, the Ministry of Finance decided to include cluster munitions in a category of indiscriminate or inhumane weapons which are to be excluded from investment under the Norwegian Government Pension Fund’s ethical guidelines. In June 2005, eight foreign companies involved in the production of cluster munitions were excluded from the fund’s investments. Additional companies were excluded in 2006 and 2008.[30] A June 2012 report by NGOs IKV Pax Christi and FairFin (formerly Netwerk Vlaanderen) highlighted four Norwegian financial institutions for their policies prohibiting investments in cluster munitions producers: the Norwegian Government Pension Fund-Global, DNB, Storebrand Group, and the KLP.[31]

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Norway is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It actively participated in CCW work on cluster munitions in 2011, but regularly questioned the need for such work in light of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

At the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2011, Norway expressed concern at what it said were “the effort[s] of some states to go against progress…to abuse existing instruments of international humanitarian law to move backwards and to regress existing standards…[and] to attempt to take steps that would diminish the protection already afforded to civilians through another established international instrument.” Norway said it is “unacceptable” to adopt a new CCW protocol on cluster munitions “that does not provide an added humanitarian value” and said the chair’s draft text “is not an acceptable response to address the humanitarian impact on cluster munitions.”[32]

At the outset of the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, Norway stated that that adoption of a CCW protocol on cluster munitions “would be a major step in the wrong direction” and emphasized that the chair’s draft “remains incompatible” with the Convention on Cluster Munitions because it “legitimizes the continued use, production and stockpiling of cluster munitions.” Norway warned that if the protocol was adopted, the CCW “would become a vehicle for lowering the existing humanitarian legal protection.”[33]

Throughout the negotiations, Norway played a key role in leading a group of states opposed to the conclusion of the proposed CCW protocol, working in close cooperation with other states, several UN agencies, the ICRC, and the CMC. Norway, together with Austria and Mexico, proposed an alternative draft protocol text. Beyond substantive matters, Norway also raised procedural concerns about the conduct of the negotiations, describing the chair’s draft text as a “non-negotiated and static text” that had failed to evolve or change in accordance with concerns and suggestions put forth by many states.[34]

On the final day of the conference, Norway was one of 50 countries which endorsed a joint statement declaring that the chair’s draft text of the proposed CCW protocol on cluster munitions does not address fundamental humanitarian concerns and does not enjoy consensus.[35]

The Review Conference concluded without agreement on a protocol or further proposals to continue negotiations in 2012, thus concluding the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.

Use, production, and transfer

Norway has not used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. In the past, it imported cluster munitions. It obtained Rockeye cluster bombs from the United States, but destroyed them sometime between 2001 and 2003.[36] Norway obtained 155mm artillery projectiles with dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions from Germany.[37]

Stockpile destruction

On 16 July 2010, Norway completed the destruction of its remaining stockpile of 52,190 155mm DPICM artillery projectiles containing over three million (3,087,910) submunitions.[38] The destruction was carried out by the Norwegian Armed Forces and Nammo Demil Division in 2009 and 2010.[39] The cluster munitions were destroyed 910m below ground in an old copper mine at Løkken Verk in Trøndelag, south of the city of Trondheim.[40]

Previously, in November 2003, Norway reported that on the basis of a 2001 parliamentary resolution, “All air-delivered cluster bombs previously in Norwegian stock have been destroyed, because of their low level of precision and high dud-rate.”[41] According to NPA, Norway had 745 Rockeye bombs, each with 247 bomblets.[42]

Retention

Norway has not retained any cluster munitions or submunitions for training or other permitted purposes.[43]