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Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The United Mexican States signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 6 May 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
Mexico has declared that the Convention on Cluster Munitions is “the supreme law of the entire Union” in accordance with Article 133 of the Constitution of the United Mexican States.[1] It has informed the Monitor that international treaties that Mexico joins become “the supreme law of the land and supersedes federal law.”[2] In 2012, Mexico said it was drafting legislation to classify the use of cluster munitions as a crime, but no new legislative initiatives developments were reported in 2013 or 2014.[3]
Mexico provided its initial Article 7 transparency report on 27 January 2011 and has provided annual updated reports ever since, including on 14 April 2014.[4]
As a member of the core group of nations that guided the Oslo Process to its successful conclusion, Mexico played an active leadership role in securing the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including by hosting a regional meeting in Mexico City in April 2008.[5]
Mexico has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has attended every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Mexico has participated in every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva, including those held in April 2014, where it made several statements, including on stockpile destruction and retention, and universalization.
Mexico participated in a regional workshop on cluster munitions in Santiago, Chile on 12–13 December 2013.
Mexico is serving as the convention’s co-chair on cooperation and assistance together with Sweden.
Mexico was one of the first states to express concern at Syria’s cluster munition use in October 2012.[6] In April 2013, Mexico condemned Syria’s cluster munition use during intersessional meetings of the convention, describing the use as “unacceptable.”[7] In October 2013, Mexico described the use of cluster munitions by any actor under any circumstances as contrary to the convention and international humanitarian law.[8]
Mexico has voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013 which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[9]
Interpretive issues
In March 2009, Mexico offered its interpretation of several key provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Mexico believes that “both the transit and storage of cluster munitions is prohibited under any circumstances, unless these actions are performed for the purposes specifically stated in Article 3, paragraphs 6 and 7. This rule is also applicable in relations with States not Party to the Convention, as stated in Article 21.” It stated that “investment for the production of cluster munitions is also prohibited by the Convention.”[10]
Concerning Article 21 and the issue of interoperability, Mexico stated that “even when a State Party does not itself engage in prohibited activities during a joint military operation with States not Party to the Convention, deliberately providing assistance for the execution of prohibited activities is not allowed.”[11]
During the Oslo Process, Mexico opposed the retention of cluster munitions for training or research purposes.[12]
Mexico is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In its Article 7 reports, Mexico has declared that it “does not produce, store, possess, use or transfer cluster munitions.”[13]
Mexico has confirmed that it has not engaged in any of these activities in the past.[14]
[1] “De acuerdo con el artículo 133 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, la Convención sobre Municiones en Racimo constituye ley suprema de toda la Unión.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011.
[2] Mexico has also stated that “since cluster munitions are weapons for exclusive military use, Mexican law forbids any activity involving the acquisition, possession, transfer, development or manufacturing of such weapons by private parties. Any violation in this regard would constitute a serious crime.” Letter SSMH-00433/10 from Amb. Juan Manual Gómez Robledo, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 April 2010, with attached document “Implementation by Mexico of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, March 2010.” Translation provided by the Embassy of Mexico, Washington, DC. Similarly, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told the Monitor in March 2010 that international agreements in Mexico are self-executing, and that upon entry into force, the convention becomes fully enforceable domestic law. The official also noted that the possibility of additional national implementation measures was being considered. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Edgar C. León, Head of Department, Department of Chemical, Biological, and Conventional Arms, General Directorate of UN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 March 2010.
[3] Mexico’s 2014 and 2013 Article 7 reports declare no change under national implementation measures (Form A) and do not mention any draft legislation. In April 2012, Mexico informed the Monitor that it had decided specific legislation was needed as the existing law “does not contain the necessary prohibitions for these arms [cluster munitions].” “Informe de México sobre la implementación nacional de la Convención sobre Municiones en Racimo” (“Report from Mexico regarding the national implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions”), in letter to the Monitor from Amb. Gómez Camacho, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN Mission in Geneva, 16 April 2012.
[4] A range of dates are covered by Mexico’s Article 7 reports provided 27 January 2011 (covering the period from 1 August 2010 to 27 February 2011), 24 April 2012 (for the period from 28 January 2011 to 24 April 2012), 2 May 2013 (for the period from 25 May 2012 to 30 April 2013), and 14 April 2014 (for the period 1 May 2013 to 30 March 2014).
[5] For details on Mexico’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. 118–119.
[6] “Mexico condemns the use of cluster munitions and calls on Syria to adhere to the Oslo Convention” (“México condena el uso de municiones en racimo y hace un llamado a Siria para que se adhiera a la Convención de Oslo”), Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, 17 October 2012.
[7] Statement of Mexico, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2013. Notes by the CMC.
[8] Statement of Mexico, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 30 October 2013.
[9] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Mexico voted in favor of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013.
[10] Letter from Amb. Gómez Robledo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 March 2009. Translation by the Embassy of Mexico, Washington, DC.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Katherine Harrison, “Report on the Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 18–22 February 2008,” Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, March 2008, pp. 28–29.
[13] “En virtud de las obligaciones previstas en la Convención y de conformidad con la política nacional en materia de armamento se informa que el Gobierno de México no emplea, desarrolla, produce, adquiere, almacena, conserva o transfiere municiones en racimo y no se tiene información sobre la existencia de dicho armamento en territorio mexicano.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011.
[14] Letter from Amb. Gómez Robledo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 March 2009. Translation by the Embassy of Mexico, Washington, DC.
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