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Brazil

Last Updated: 04 August 2011

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

The Federative Republic of Brazil has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In October 2010, government officials said that accession to the convention is not being considered because Brazil sees military utility in cluster munitions and views the weapon as a deterrent.[1] Brazil has objected to the non-traditional diplomatic process that brought about the convention, which, in its view, did not balance legitimate defense needs with humanitarian concerns.[2]

Brazil’s new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Patriota, has not yet made his views known on cluster munitions. In 2008, Brazil’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim, called cluster munitions an inhumane weapon that should be eliminated.[3]

On 3 February 2009, Congressional Deputy Fernando Gabeira (PV-RJ) introduced Bill 4590/09 in the Chamber of Deputies to ban the use, production, import, and export of cluster munitions.[4] On 4 May 2010, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense held a public hearing on the draft legislation.[5] Gabeira left congress at the end of 2010, but has continued to advocate for Brazil to join the international ban on cluster munitions.[6]

Brazil participated minimally in the Oslo Process that produced the convention and did not attend the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, even as an observer.[7] During the Oslo Process, Brazil maintained that cluster munitions were effective militarily and said the most appropriate way to address cluster munitions was through existing international humanitarian law and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[8] Brazil has criticized two provisions in the convention: the provision that excludes from the ban munitions that contain submunitions but may not have the same negative humanitarian effects as cluster munitions, and the provision designed to facilitate “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party).[9]

Brazil has not engaged in the work of the convention in 2010 or 2011. It was invited to, but did not attend, the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010. Brazil did not participate in intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in June 2011.

Brazil is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Brazil is a party to the CCW and ratified CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 30 November 2010. Brazil continued to actively participate in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2010 and the first half of 2011. In November 2010, Brazil stated its “strong” support for a continuation of CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2011, noting the result should be a “universally accepted instrument that produces real impact on the ground and can be regularly improved and developed as necessary.”[10] At a September 2010 CCW session, Brazil led an informal working group on transparency measures and recommended that some transparency reporting under the proposed protocol be made voluntary instead of mandatory as originally intended.[11] Brazil has continued to make CCW statements criticizing the Convention on Cluster Munitions and countries that have joined it.[12]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Brazil has stated several times that it has never used cluster munitions.[13] It produces, exports, and stockpiles cluster munitions.

In May 2010, the Ministry of Defense stated that national military doctrine prohibits the use of cluster munitions in urban areas. It also stated that Brazil’s stockpiles of cluster munitions are limited and cluster bombs held by the Air Force should be destroyed soon because they are out of date. The Ministry of Defense also asserted that Brazil needs to retain its cluster munition production capacity at current levels in order to support local defense manufacturing capacity.[14]

At least three companies have produced cluster munitions in Brazil, according to the companies’ own materials and to standard reference works. Avribrás Aeroespacial SA has produced the ASTROS family of surface-to-surface rockets with submunition warheads. At the hearing in May 2010, a representative from Avribrás said that the company generates US$60–70 million per year from cluster munitions and claimed that cluster bombs produced by Avribrás have a failure rate of less than 1%.[15]

These weapons have been exported to Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.[16] Brazil also exported the ASTROS system to Malaysia in 2002, and an additional sale of more launch units was completed in 2010, but it is not known if the ammunition types include the variant with a submunition payload.[17]

In March 2011, Deputy Gabeira said the government had refused “as a matter of security” to respond to his request for a list of the countries to which Brazil has exported cluster munitions.[18]

The ASTROS Multiple Launch Rocket System was used by Saudi Arabian forces against Iraqi forces during the Battle of Khafji in January 1991, leaving behind significant numbers of unexploded submunitions.[19]

The company Ares Aeroespacial e Defesa Ltda has produced the FZ-100 70mm air-to-surface rockets, akin to the Hydra M261 multipurpose submunitions.[20] Additionally, Target Engenharia et Comércio Ltda. has produced two types of cluster bombs (BLG-120 and BLG-252) for the Brazilian Air Force and reportedly for export.[21]

In a May 2010 letter to the Minister of Defense, the CMC wrote, “There are a number of positive steps Brazil could take as it considers joining the Convention. Most notably, Brazil could clarify if any production of cluster munitions is ongoing and it could put in place a moratorium on use, production and transfer…. As a confidence-building measure, Brazil should provide complete information on its stockpile of cluster munitions.”[22]

 



[1] CMC meeting with João Marcelo Galvão de Queiroz, Counselor, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the Conference on Disarmament, New York, 19 October 2010.

[2] For example, Statement of Brazil, CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 7 November 2008. Notes by Landmine Action.

[3] The minister said this in June 2008 to a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies. Mylena Fiori, “Brasil poderá aderir a acordo para acabar com produção de bombas cluster” (“Brazil may join the agreement to end production of cluster bombs”), 17 June 2008, www.agenciabrasil.gov.br. He said it again in December 2008 at the time of the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo. “Brazil not to sign treaty banning cluster bombs,” Xinhua, 4 December 2008, news.xinhuanet.com.

[4] Chamber of Deputies, Proposition PL-4590/2009, www.camara.gov.br. See also, Rodrigo Bittar,Projeto proíbe fabricação e uso de bombas de fragmentação” (“Project prohibits the manufacture and use of cluster bombs”), Agência Câmara, 27 February 2009, www.direitos.org.br.

[5] Email from Gustavo Oliveira Vieira, Brazil Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, 13 August 2010; and Hearing, Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies, Brasilia, 4 May 2010. The Monitor has a Portuguese transcript of the hearing.

[6] See Fernando Gabeira web update, “Kadafi usa bombas condenadas,” 15 April 2011, www.gabeira.com.br; and Fernando Gabeira media statement, “Brasil, Líbia e os outros,” 3 April 2011, www.itamaraty.gov.br.

[7] For more details on Brazil’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. 191–193.

[8] Statement of Brazil, Latin American Regional Conference on Cluster Munitions, San José, 5 September 2007. Notes by Human Rights Watch.

[9] Statement by Santiago Irazabal Mourão, Director, Disarmament and Sensitive Technologies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hearing, Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies, Brasilia, 4 May 2010; and “Report on the Hearing” provided by Gustavo Oliveira Vieira, Brazil Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, 13 August 2010.

[10] Statement of Brazil, CCW Meeting of the High Contracting Parties, Geneva, 25 November 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).

[11] Statement of Brazil, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 2 September 2010. Notes by AOAV.

[12] For example, at the November 2010 meeting, Brazil referred to the Convention on Cluster Munitions as an “illusory achievement” and criticized the “trend” of what it described as “aristocratic multilateralism” amongst like-minded countries. Statement of Brazil, CCW Meeting of the High Contracting Parties, Geneva, 25 November 2010. Notes by AOAV.

[13] Statement of Brazil, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 8 April 2008, notes by Landmine Action; Statement of Brazil, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 16 February 2009, notes by Landmine Action;  and Statement of Brazil, CCW GGE on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 14 April 2009, notes by Landmine Action.

[14] Statement by Marcelo Mário de Holanda Coutinho, Ministry of Defense, Hearing, Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies, Brasilia, 4 May 2010; and “Report on the Hearing” provided by Gustavo Oliveira Vieira, Brazil Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, received 13 August 2010.   

[15] Statement by José de Sá Carvalho, Jr, “Commercial Director–Brazil and Americas,” Avribrás Aeroespacial SA, Hearing, Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies, Brasilia, 4 May 2010; and “Report on the Hearing” provided by Gustavo Oliveira Vieira, Brazil Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs, received 13 August 2010. In a letter to the Defense Minister, the CMC noted this claim and stated, “However, failure rates in combat are always higher than failure rates in tests and so reliability performance in tests does not prevent the humanitarian harm that is caused in reality. The majority of the world has already rejected a prohibition based on failure rates as it cannot safeguard against the humanitarian impact of these weapons.” Letter from the CMC to Nelson Jobim, Minister of Defense, 17 May 2010.

[16] Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 20012002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001); and Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne, “Scandals: Not Just a Bank,” Time Magazine, 2 September 1991, www.time.com.

[17] Federative Republic of Brazil, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Submission for Calendar Year 2002, 28 April 2004. It reported the transfer of 12 launch units. The Arms Transfers Database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute notes that the US$300 million deal was signed in 2007 and deliveries began in 2009.

[18] Media statement by Gabeira Brasil, “Líbia e os outros,” 3 April 2011, www.itamaraty.gov.br.

[19] Human Rights Watch interviews with former explosive ordnance disposal personnel from a Western commercial clearance firm and a Saudi military officer with firsthand experience in clearing the dud dual purpose bomblets from ASTROS rockets, names withheld, Geneva, 2001–2003.

[20] Aeroespacial e Defesa Ltda,Cabeza Cargo de Submuniciones” (“Head charged submunitions”), www.ares.ind.br.

[21] Brazilian Association of the Industries of Defense Materials and Security, “Product List, 2000 to December 2005,” abimde.com.br.

[22] Letter from the CMC, to Nelson Jobim, Minister of Defense, 17 May 2010.