Note on national moratoria announced during the Lima Conference on Cluster Munitions...

Switzerland mentioned that it had essentially enacted a moratorium on cluster munitions, saying that, ‘…At the national level, the government of Switzerland has just taken an important decision towards the prohibition of certain cluster munitions. Indeed, the Federal Council stated in a response to a Parliamentary motion that federal law on war materials should be amended with a prohibition on the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians, and that until the entry into force of such prohibition, Switzerland would declare a moratorium on the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of such cluster munitions.’

The Swiss position, however, is ambiguous. In May, a proposal for a ‘general interdiction on cluster munitions which present a serious humanitarian risk by reason of their unreliability and/or imprecision’ was approved by the executive branch. The proposal stated that a total ban was excessive and that cluster munitions are a diverse set of weapons with differing degrees of humanitarian risks. It also stated that it is in accordance with the political declarations made at the 3rd Review Conference of the CCW on cluster munitions and at the Oslo Conference, as it bans the production, stockpiling, transfer and use or submunitions that because of their unreliability and/or imprecision present grave humanitarian dangers. The proposal requires that, until the entry into force of the proposed partial ban, the Federal Council will declare a partial moratorium on cluster munitions (as defined above).

Yet, the Swiss government has not defined what cluster munitions are covered by the proposal or its partial moratorium. They have set up an inter-agency working group to discuss definitions, which ultimately will be decided by the executive branch, but there is no scheduled time-table for a decision on a definition and discussions will probably continue along side of the Oslo process for quite some time. It is unclear what actual effect the Swiss proposal or ‘partial moratorium’ has on the ground.

Italy also indicated its willingness to enter into regional moratoria on the use of cluster munitions and alluded to pursuing national measures.