Uruguay
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: State Party Uruguay was among the first 30 countries to ratify and trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It views existing legislation as sufficient to enforce its implementation of the convention. Uruguay has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties and most of its intersessional meetings. Uruguay provided its initial transparency report for the convention in 2011, confirming it has not produced cluster munitions and possesses no stockpile, including for training or research purposes. It has never used cluster munitions.
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 its 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.[3] As of 15 June 2015, it had not provided any more of the updates due annually by 30 April.
Uruguay participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention and supported a comprehensive ban without exceptions.[4]
Uruguay has continued to engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014. Uruguay has attended all but one (2013) of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva. It has participated in regional workshop on cluster munitions, most recently in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.
Uruguay voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[5]
Uruguay has not yet elaborated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as 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 stated that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[6] Uruguay’s responses of “not applicable” in its Article 7 report forms indicates that it does not have facilities that produce cluster munitions and does not possess any stockpile of cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.[7]
[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] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 69/189, 18 December 2014. Uruguay voted in favor of a similar resolution on 18 December 2013.
[6] Statement of Uruguay, Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 22 February 2008. Notes by the CMC.
[7] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A to Form I (inclusive), 26 January 2011. Response on all forms consists of “N/A” meaning “not applicable.”
Mine Ban Policy
The Eastern Republic of Uruguay signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 7 June 2001, becoming a State Party on 1 December 2001. It has never used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. It has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Uruguay submitted its fourth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in December 2007 but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
On 15 September 2004, Uruguay completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines, more than a year ahead of its 1 December 2005 treaty-mandated deadline. The number of mines reported as destroyed has varied. Uruguay’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2007 reported that 2,013 antipersonnel mines had been destroyed.[1] Uruguay initially retained 500 antipersonnel mines for training and development purposes; as of the end of 2007 Uruguay had reduced this number to 260.[2]
Uruguay did not attend the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November–December 2010 in Geneva, but it attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
Uruguay is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.