Ecuador
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: State Party Ecuador ratified the convention in May 2010 and amended its penal code later that month to enforce the convention’s provisions. Ecuador has participated in nearly all the convention’s meetings and has served as the convention’s co-coordinator on universalization since September 2014. It has condemned new use of cluster munitions, including in Syria.
Ecuador has not used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. In its initial transparency report provided in 2011, Ecuador declared the destruction of a stockpile of 117 cluster bombs in 2004 and confirmed it no longer possesses cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.
Policy
The Republic of Ecuador signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 11 May 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 November 2010.
Ecuador amended its penal code on 19 May 2010 to enforce the Convention on Cluster Munitions with penal sanctions of up to 16 years imprisonment for activities relating to cluster munitions.[1]
Ecuador submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 23 June 2011 and provided an updated annual report on 30 April 2013.[2] In September 2014, Ecuador committed to provide the annual updated report due by 30 April 2014 “as soon as possible.”[3]
Ecuador participated fully in the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions and hosted a regional meeting in Quito in November 2008 to promote signature.[4]
Ecuador engages proactively in the work of the convention. It has participated in all but one of the convention’s Meeting of States Parties, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014, where it made several statements.[5] Ecuador has attended every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva since 2012, most recently in June 2015.
Ecuador participated in a regional workshop on cluster munitions held in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.
At the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2014, Ecuador reiterated its commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6]
Ecuador has condemned any use of any prohibited weapons, including the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]
Ecuador is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Interpretive issues
In November 2008, Ecuador provided a detailed statement elaborating its views on several key issues relating to its interpretation and implementation of the convention. Ecuador stated that transit of cluster munitions should be prohibited; the number of units retained for training should not be greater than 1,000 and should reduce with time; Article 21 (on interoperability) should never be used to justify any derogation from the convention’s core prohibitions; and the article should not be interpreted as suspending other obligations under the convention. It stated the spirit of Article 21 is to promote universalization of the convention.[8]
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Ecuador has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions.[9]
In its Article 7 report, Ecuador declared that it destroyed a stockpile of 117 BL-755 cluster bombs in October 2004 and has possessed no cluster munitions since then.[10]
It is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research purposes.[11]
[1] See 2012 ban policy entry on Ecuador for full analysis of the law. Law Amending the Penal Code to the Definition of Crimes Committed in the Military and Police (Ley Reformatoria al Código Penal y Código de Pr ocedimientos Penal para la Tipificación y Juzgamiento de los Delitos Cometidos en el Servicio Militar y Policial), adopted 19 May 2010. Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011. Ecuador’s initial Article 7 report made no mention of the penal code amendment, stating “no aplica” under national implementation measures. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 23 June 2011.
[2] The inital report covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 30 April 2011, while the 30 April 2013 report is for the period from 30 April 2011 to 30 April 2012.
[3] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 2 September 2014.
[4] For details on Ecuador’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. 71–72.
[5] Ecuador did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012.
[6] Statement of Ecuador, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 23 October 2014.
[7] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.
[8] Presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008. It also stated that it would have preferred a ban on all cluster munitions without exceptions; the establishment of the principle of retroactivity is key; the definition of victim assistance is a pillar of the convention; and international cooperation is fundamental.
[9] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011; statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV); statement of Ecuador, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 8 June 2010. Notes by AOAV; and presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008.
[10] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 23 June 2011. In November 2010, a government representative informed the Monitor that Ecuador destroyed a stockpile of 200 BL-755 bombs in 2004 that it acquired from the United Kingdom in 1978. “Bomba Cluster BL755 en el Ecuador” (“BL755 Cluster Bomb in Ecuador”), undated document provided to the CMC by the Ecuadorian delegation, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010.
[11] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form C, 23 June 2011.