Liechtenstein
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: State Party Liechtenstein ratified the convention on 4 March 2013 after amending legislation to implement the convention’s provisions. It has not attended any of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties. Liechtenstein provided its initial transparency report for the convention in March 2014 and has confirmed it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Principality of Liechtenstein signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 4 March 2013, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 September 2013.
Liechtenstein has reported that its Customs Union Treaty with Switzerland governs implementation of the convention’s provisions.[1] It also lists an amendment to the Law on Brokering in War Material, which took effect on 1 September 2013.[2] Liechtenstein has stated that its domestic legislation “goes beyond” what is required by the convention and prohibits the “funding of cluster munitions, both directly and indirectly.”[3]
Liechtenstein submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 20 March 2014 and provided its first annual updated report on 28 April 2015, indicating no change.[4]
Liechtenstein participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention.[5]
It has not attended any meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since a conference on cluster munition stockpile destruction in Berlin in June 2009. Liechtenstein has voted in favor of recent UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, including Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[6]
Liechtenstein has not elaborated its views on a number of interpretive matters relating to the convention, such as the transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on the national territory of States Parties. It has not made an explicit statement explaining its views on the prohibition on assistance with acts prohibited under the convention, but under the Swiss legislation applicable in Liechtenstein, “assistance or encouraging” is a violation of the Convention on Cluster Munition’s core prohibitions.[7]
The amendment to Liechtenstein’s Law on Brokering in War Material expressly prohibits “brokering and direct, as well as indirect, financing of cluster munitions.”[8]
Liechtenstein is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Liechtenstein has stated that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[9] It has reported that there are no production facilities, stockpiled cluster munitions, or any areas contaminated by cluster munitions in the country.[10]
[1] The Swiss national implementation law for the Convention on Cluster Munitions includes penal sanctions for violations of the convention of up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine for intentional violations and up to one year imprisonment and/or a fine for negligence. It applies to both explosive bomblets and cluster munitions. Under the Swiss legislation applicable in Liechtenstein, “assistance or encouraging” is a violation of the Convention on Cluster Munition’s core prohibitions. Under Article 7(a) of Liechtenstein’s amended Law on Brokering in War Material, it is prohibited: (a) to “broker” cluster munitions or to have them under one’s command/control, (b) to tempt someone to act against the clause/provision (“letter”) (a), and (c) to promote an action according to clause/provision (“letter”) (a). See Article 7 Report, Form A, 20 March 2014; and letter from Christine Stehrenberger, Office for Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 28 May 2013.
[2] The Liechtenstein Law on Brokering in War Material was published in the Liechtenstein Law Gazette No. 197 of 2013 (in German only).
[3] Statement of Liechtenstein, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 11 October 2013.
[4] No time period was indicated for the “initial report” while the second is for calendar year 2014.
[5] For details on Liechtenstein’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), p. 109.
[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Liechtenstein voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.
[7] Letter from Christine Stehrenberger, Office for Foreign Affairs to Mary Wareham, HRW, 28 May 2013.
[8] According to Liechtenstein’s initial Article 7 report, under the law’s Article 7b “the following acts are considered as direct financing: the direct the direct extension of credits, loans and donations or comparable financial benefits to cover the costs of or to promote the development, manufacturing or the acquisition of prohibited war material.” Liechtenstein goes on to state that, “Article 7c defines indirect financing as the participation in companies that develop, manufacture or acquire forbidden war material as well as the purchase of bonds or other investment products issued by such companies. According to article 29b violations of article 7b or 7c shall be punished with imprisonment up to 5 years.” Article 7 Report, Form A, 20 March 2014; and Liechtenstein Law on Brokering in War Material, Liechtenstein Law Gazette No. 197, 2013.
[9] Letter from Amb. Norbert Frick, Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the UN in Geneva, 7 April 2010; and email from Esther Schindler, Office for Foreign Affairs, 26 May 2011.
[10] Liechtenstein stated “N/A” for not applicable on the relevant forms and stated “There are no cluster munitions contaminated areas in Liechtenstein.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B, C, D, E, and F, 20 March 2014.