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Norway

Last Updated: 27 August 2014

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Convention on Cluster Munitions status

State Party

National implementation measures

Act relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law, 15 May 2009

Stockpile destruction

Completed destruction on 16 July 2010

Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings

Attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014

Key developments

Served as president of the Third Meeting of States Parties until September 2013, condemned cluster munition use by Syria and South Sudan, and provided updated transparency report in April 2014

Policy

The Kingdom of 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 and provides sanctions for violations.[2] Since 2011, Norway has 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 initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 27 January 2011 and provided annual updated reports in 2012, 2013, and on 30 April 2014.[4]

Norway was an early supporter of action to deal with the harmful impact 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 since 2008. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and hosted the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo in September 2012.[7] Norway has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including in April 2014, where it announced the completion of clearance of cluster munition-contaminated Hjerkinn firing range in the third quarter of 2013.[8]

Norway’s Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Steffen Kongstad, served as president of the Third Meeting of States Parties until September 2013. Upon handing over the presidency to Zambia at the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Kongstad summarized the “extraordinary” progress made under the convention, which he was centrally involved in negotiating, and stated, “Together, we have stigmatised cluster munitions to the extent that no state can be indifferent to the norms established by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. And as a result, any use of cluster munitions today is generally considered unacceptable, illegal and unbefitting of responsible members of the international community.”[9]

During Norway´s presidency of the convention, it issued a working paper to begin discussions aimed at improving the implementation of Article 4 clearance obligations, supporting efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of meetings of the convention—including the convening of nine coordinating committees—, continuing consultations on the establishment of an implementation support unit, and launching an improved official website for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[10]

At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Norway was appointed co-coordinator of the convention’s work on universalization together with Ghana. In a statement to the meeting, Norway stressed the need to solidify the convention’s norms and for renewed efforts to advance its universalization, emphasizing the need for states affected by cluster munitions to join as soon as possible. It reported on its efforts to initiate dialogue with non-signatories Cambodia, Serbia, Vietnam, and other contaminated states during its presidency and pledged to continue the engagement.[11]

At the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2013, Norway described its continued focus on promoting the convention’s universalization and its norms.[12] At the convention’s intersessional meetings in April 2014, Norway and Ghana co-chaired the meeting’s session on universalization.

Norway first expressed concern at reports of cluster munition use in Syria in September 2012.[13] Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide issued a statement a month later that called on the Syrian authorities to “cease all use of cluster munitions with immediate effect” and “take steps to protect the civilian population by clearing contaminated areas and providing adequate information.”[14]

Norway has continued to condemn Syria’s use of cluster munitions in 2013 and the first half of 2014.[15] In September 2013, Norway described Syria’s ongoing use of cluster munitions over the past year as “the first instance of intended and sustained use of these weapons since the Convention was adopted in 2008.”[16] Norway has welcomed the expressions of concern from a large number of states in response to Syria’s cluster munition use, noting, “Such reactions underscore the global support enjoyed by the Convention on Cluster Munitions and reflect the strength of the norm that has been established, despite the unacceptable actions that have taken place in the ongoing Syrian conflict.”[17]

Norway has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s cluster munition use, 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.”[18]

Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende issued a statement in February 2014 that strongly condemned the use of cluster munitions in South Sudan.[19]

Norway has continued to place particular emphasis on the importance of ensuring cooperative partnership between affected states and other states, as well as with international organizations and civil society.[20] In September 2013, it stated that “the Convention on Cluster Munitions was borne by the focused and constructive efforts of multiple actors, working in partnership towards a shared objective: to end human suffering caused by cluster munitions. This partnership remains strong, and is a characteristic feature of the work undertaken under this Convention.”[21]

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. 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.[22]

Interpretive issues

Norway has provided its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, through 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.”[23]

At the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2012, Norway stated:

“Article 1(1) states the absolute prohibition on any use of all cluster munitions, linked to the unambiguous phrase ‘never under any circumstances.’ This prohibition applies to all kinds of conflicts as well as situations falling below the threshold of armed conflict. The prohibition against use, production, etc., cannot be bypassed or circumvented by creative interpretations of other articles in the Convention. Article 21(4) of the Convention specifies that nothing in the Convention shall authorise a State Party to inter alia use cluster munitions. Article 9 requires that what is prohibited to States Parties must also be prohibited for all individuals.”[24]

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.”[25]

Norway’s national implementation legislation bans the transit of cluster munitions under its prohibition on assistance.[26] With regard to the issue of foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of a State Party, Norway made its view clear in 2012 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.”[27]

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.”[28]

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 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.[29] A 2012 report by NGOs IKV Pax Christi (now PAX) and FairFin 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.[30]

Norway is a State Party of the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the CCW.

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 US, but destroyed them sometime between 2001 and 2003.[31] Norway obtained 155mm artillery projectiles with dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions from Germany.[32]

Stockpile destruction

On 16 July 2010, Norway completed the destruction of its remaining stockpile of 52,190 155mm DPICM artillery projectiles containing 3,087,910 submunitions.[33] The destruction was carried out by the Norwegian Armed Forces and Nammo Demil Division in 2009 and 2010.[34] The cluster munitions were destroyed 910m below ground in an old copper mine at Løkken Verk in Trøndelag, south of the city of Trondheim.[35]

In November 2003, Norway stated 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.”[36] According to NPA, Norway had 745 Rockeye bombs, each with 247 bomblets.[37]

Norway has not retained any cluster munitions or submunitions for training or other permitted purposes.[38]

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.[39] In 2013, as in past years, Norway reiterated its view that it is unnecessary to retain live submunitions for training and research purposes.[40] In June 2011, Norway described the arguments in favor of retaining cluster munitions as “flawed.”[41] 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.[42]

 



[1] Act relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law of 15 May 2009 No. 28 (adopted 20 November 2008). Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011. Proposition No. 7 (2008–2009) to the Odelsting on a Bill relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law; and Proposition No. 4 (2008–2009) to the Storting on consent to ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

[2] Act relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law of 15 May 2009 No. 28 (adopted 20 November 2008). Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011. The penalty for violating the act is a fine or imprisonment for up to two years for cases where the perpetrator acts intentionally, and a fine or imprisonment for up to six months for negligent acts. The act amends the General Civil Penal Code of Norway to establish criminal jurisdiction over violations of the convention, when committed on Norwegian territory, including Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and other Norwegian dependencies, or on any Norwegian vessel or aircraft, or abroad by any Norwegian national or person with residency in Norway.

[3] Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Reports, Form A, 30 April 2014, 30 April 2013, 30 April 2012, and 27 January 2011.

[4] Norway submitted Article 7 reports on 27 January 2011 (for the period from 1 August 2010 to 31 December 2010), 30 April 2012 (for calendar year 2011), 30 April 2013 (for calendar year 2012), and 30 April 2014 (for calendar year 2013).

[5] In 2011, Wikileaks released a number of US diplomatic cables that show how the US sought to engage with Norway over the course of the Oslo Process, especially with respect to US concerns about “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party). In a May 2007 cable, US officials noted that Norway had “dismissed U.S. concerns” over the draft text of the ban convention, stating that Norwegian officials “rejected our point that as written the text would have any impact on alliance or coalition activities. They stated that the penal sanctions clause had been copied directly from the land mine treaty and that the land mine treaty did not have any negative effects on alliance interoperability. They also stressed the involvement of many NATO allies in the Oslo process. They requested specific examples of how the land mine treaty impacted alliance operations.” See “Cluster Munitions: Norway asks the U.S. to prove military utility,” US Department of State cable 07OSLO525 dated 18 May 2007, released by Wikileaks on 1 September 2011.

[6] For more details on Norway’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 134–140.

[7] See the official website for the Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11–14 September 2012. The list of participants is available.

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

[9] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013.

[10] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.

[11] Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.

[12] Statement of Norway, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 68th Session, 29 October 2013.

[13] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.

[14] Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, “Norway Condemns use of Cluster Munitions in Syria,” 15 October 2012.

[15] Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013; and statement of Norway, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 68th Session, 29 October 2013.

[16] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013 and statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.

[17] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 9 September 2013.

[18]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Norway voted in favor of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013.

[19] Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press release, “Norge fordømmer bruk av klasevåpen i Sør-Sudan” (“Norway condemns the use of cluster munitions in South Sudan”), 22 February 2014.

[20] Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2012; and statement by Gry Larsen, State Secretary, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011.

[21] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.

[22] For more information, see NPA website.

[23] Proposition No. 4 (2008–2009) to the Storting on consent to ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, p. 23.

[24] Statement by Amb. Steffen Kongstad, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 11 September 2012.

[25] Statement of Norway, Session on General Obligations and Scope, Vienna Conference on Cluster Munitions, 6 December 2007. Notes by the CMC/Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

[26] 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. Act relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law of 15 May 2009, No. 28 (adopted 20 November 2008). Email from May-Elin Stener, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 3 April 2012. See Proposition No. 7 (2008–2009) to the Odelsting on a Bill relating to the implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Norwegian law; and Proposition No. 4 (2008–2009) to the Storting on consent to ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, p. 8.

[27] Email from May-Elin Stener, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, HRW, 3 April 2012.

[28] Email from Ingunn Vatne, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 August 2012. 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 [cluster munitions] stored on Norwegian soil, including the US CM stored in the MCPP-N [Marine Corps Pre-positioning Program – Norway] caves.” According to the cable, the US stockpile in Norway was believed to consist of “2,544 rounds” of “D563 Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions (DPICM)” and “2,528 rounds” of “D864 Extended Range Dual Purpose ICM.” See, “Norway Raises question Concerning U.S. Cluster Munitions,” US Department of State cable 08OSLO676 dated 17 December 2008, released by Wikileaks on 1 September 2011.

[29] The fund’s Council on Ethics, an independent council of five people, provides advice to the Ministry of Finance which then makes the exclusion decision. See Ministry of Finance press releases: “A Further Eight Companies Excluded from the Petroleum Fund,” No. 57/2005, 2 September 2005; “South Korean producer of cluster munitions excluded from the Government Pension Fund-Global,” No. 89/2006, 6 December 2006; and “One producer of cluster munitions and two producers of nuclear weapons excluded from the Government Pension Fund-Global,” No. 3/2008, 11 January 2008.

[30] IKV Pax Christi and FairFin, “Worldwide investments in Cluster Munitions: a shared responsibility,” June 2012, pp. 93–94, 96–97, 100, and 136.

[31] Norway, “National interpretation and implementation of International Humanitarian Law with regard to the risk of Explosive Remnants of War,” CCW/GGE/VI/WG.1/WP.3, CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), Geneva, 24 November 2003.

[32] Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007–2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), pp. 674–676. This indicates a contract was awarded in late 2006.

[33] The stockpile was comprised of 37,900 DM-642 155mm artillery projectiles (each with 63 DM-1383 DPICM submunitions) and 14,290 DM-662 155mm artillery projectiles (each with 49 DM-1385 DPICM submunitions). Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011; and presentation by the Norwegian Defense and Logistics Organization/Surplus Material Management Program, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.

[34] Ministry of Defence press release, “Norwegian cluster munitions soon to be history,” 7 May 2009. At the First Meeting of States Parties, Norway gave a detailed presentation on its stockpile destruction process, which it said cost US$4 million. Presentation by the Norwegian Defense and Logistics Organization/Surplus Material Management Program, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.

[35] Statement of Norway, Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, 25 June 2009. Notes by AOAV.

[36] Norway, “National interpretation and implementation of International Humanitarian Law with regard to the risk of Explosive Remnants of War,” CCW/GGE/VI/WG.1/WP.3, CCW GGE on ERW, Geneva, 24 November 2003.

[37] Email from Atle Karlsen, Mine Action Advisor, NPA, 23 April 2009.

[38] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form C, 30 April 2014, 30 April 2013, 30 April 2012, and 27 January 2011. The Article 7 reports state “none” on Form C for cluster munitions retained for training and research purposes.

[39] Amb. Steffen Kongstad said, “The minimum number of cluster munitions absolutely necessary is zero.” Statement of Norway, Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, 25 June 2009. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

[40] Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012; statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012; and statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.

[41] Norway said the accreditation of mine detection dogs was the only situation where there could possibly be a need for training with live munitions, but even then the explosive submunitions required for this type of training would be those used in the area where the dog would work, so the training would best be done in the affected country using submunitions cleared from that contaminated area. Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 June 2011.

[42] Statement of Norway, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 18 April 2012; and presentation of the Norwegian Defense and Logistics Organization/Surplus Material Management Program, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.