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Uruguay
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Eastern Republic of Uruguay signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 24 September 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
Uruguay does not plan to enact any specific legislative measures to ensure implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] In September 2011, it informed States Parties that existing legislation already prohibits weapons that “by their nature, cause superfluous damage or unnecessary suffering or have indiscriminate effect in violation of international humanitarian law.”[2]
Uruguay submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 26 January 2011 and provided an updated report in 2013, but not 2014.[3]
Uruguay participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention and supported a comprehensive ban without exceptions.[4]
Uruguay has continued to participate in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Uruguay attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011, 2012, and April 2014. Uruguay also participated in a regional workshop on the convention held in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.
At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Uruguay urged full universalization of the convention, which it described as the only way to put an end to the suffering caused by cluster munitions.[5]
Uruguay voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at the Syrian government’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[6]
Uruguay has not yet stated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.
Uruguay is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Uruguay is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In February 2008, Uruguay confirmed that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[7] Uruguay’s responses of “not applicable” to the Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report information requirements indicates that it does not have facilities that produce cluster munitions and does not possess stockpiles, including for training or research purposes.[8]
[1] Email from Fabian Drufau, Legal Advisor, Department of Materials and Armament, Ministry of Defense, 8 May 2012.
[2] Cooperation with the International Criminal Court on the Fight Against Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity (Cooperación con la Corte Penal Internacional en Materia de Lucha Contra el Genocidio, Los Crímenes de Guerra y de Lesa Humanidad), Law No. 18.026, Article 26, Section 28, 4 October 2006. Statement of Uruguay, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 14 September 2011.
[3] The initial report covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2011. Uruguay responded “not applicable” to all of the information requirements contained in the Article 7 report, including Form A on national implementation measures. The Article 7 reporting database lists an undated one-page entry from Uruguay under reports received in 2013. Presumably this is the annual updated report that was due by 30 April 2012 and by 30 April 2013.
[4] For details on Uruguay’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), p. 180.
[5] Statement of Uruguay, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.
[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 68/182, 18 December 2013,.
[7] Statement of Uruguay, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.
[8] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A to Form I (inclusive), 26 January 2011. Response in all forms consists of “N/A” meaning “not applicable.”
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