National Council calls for a ban on cluster munitions
Against the proposition of its consultative commission, the National Council has accepted a ban on cluster munitions. The bill is now being returned for detailed discussion to the National Council Security Policy Committee (SIK-N). The National Council’s approval is necessary, so the Federal Council can ratify the international convention to ban the use, production, stockpiling and acquisition of cluster bombs. Humanrights.ch is relieved about this wise decision.
The Swiss Army shall not be equipped with cluster bombs in future. On 21 December 2011, the National Council accepted the ratification bill on the Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) clearly with 143 against 37 votes and decided on amendments to the War Material Act (WMA). A proposal from the liberal party, that suggested waiting with a decision until after a report by the Federal Council on the future of artillery, was rejected clearly.
Strong arguments in favour of the Convention
In a joint proclamation issued on 20 December 2011, six Swiss NGOs, among them Humanrights.ch, called for the ratification of the CCM, pointing out that in the case of the use of cluster munitions in Switzerland in a war, it would yearly be thousands of Swiss civilians who would be affected by the long-term effects.
This line of reasoning was also brought into the debate in the National Council by several advocates of a ban. Geri Müller (Green Party) argued that even the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) had by now realised that due to the dense population of Switzerland this type of ammunition could barely be used. Former Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey added: «Imagine the use of these weapons within Switzerland. The humanitarian consequences would be dramatic». Ursula Haller (BDP) warned of a «bomb carpet» which would come down over densely populated areas and continued to ask whether any MP really thought that the Swiss Army would ever use these weapons within Switzerland. Some MPs got the impression that the discussion in the consultative commission was led «as if Switzerland was still in the middle of WW2».
Unanimity in the Council of States
The decision of the SIK-N on 18 October 2011 had come as a great surprise to everybody after the Council of States had ratified the convention unanimously. But the political majority in the Committee consisting of conservative MPs feared a weakening of Swiss artillery forces and argued that the respective ammunition wou8ld only be used in defence and on Swiss territory.
The Convention bans the use, development and production of cluster munitions, thus adding them to the existing list of banned military equipment (nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as anti-personnel mines). It does not only lay down a comprehensive ban on the use of cluster munitions but obliges Switzerland to destroy all its existing relevant ammunition within a time frame of eight years, should the Convention be ratified. The Federal Council wants to dismantle the projectiles within Switzerland, necessitating investments of around 30 million francs.
The CCM was signed by 111 countries over a short period of time, and ratified by 66 – among them all neighbours of Switzerland, except for the Principality of Liechtenstein. Countries such as Russia, China and the USA have not ratified the Convention either.
- Switzerland must ratify the Oslo Convention
Media release of humanrights.ch and others, 20 December 2011 (pdf, 2 pages in German) - NGO appeal for the ratification of the Oslo Convention on Cluster Munitions
Appeal to the members of the National Council, November 2011 (pdf, 2 pages in German) - Vote on 21 December 2011 in the National Council: Convention on Cluster Munitions. Amendment to the War Material Act
Letter from the Swiss Red Cross containing an appeal to the members of the National Council, 1 December 2011 (pdf, 2 pages in German) - Convention on Cluster Munitions. War Material Act. Amendment
Documentation of the process (11.036 – business of the Federal Council) on the Swiss parliament website (with links to the parliament protocols, in German)
Update: 11.01.2012
