Swiss War Materiel and Arms Exports

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Army vehicles for Angola

Goods category: M113s would be war materiel; the classification of the trucks and off-road vehicles is unresolved

Swiss M113 at the Steel Parade in Thun, 27.10.2006.

Public Domain (weltweite Freigabe durch Urheber)

In 1999 and 2000, decommissioned Swiss army vehicles reached Angola. The transaction by Lucerne dealer Urs Studer included more than 2’000 trucks and off-road vehicles. It was handled through Slovak company Hermes; Angola’s Casa Militar ordered the material. In April 2000, General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias confirmed a delivery. In May 2004, allegations also became public that dismantled M113 armoured personnel carriers had reached Luanda via Antwerp. RUAG said it knew nothing of such armoured-vehicle sales; the Department of Defence reported no known breaches of export rules. A February 2001 fax described in the article concerned an offer of two further M113s. Hermes’s managing director initially confirmed vehicle purchases but subsequently denied that a contract had been concluded with Studer.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. The Federal Council could add Angola to Annex 2 by amending the War Materiel Ordinance. This would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases. Article 18 paragraph 1 would abolish non-re-export declarations in the vast majority of cases. Weapons for Angola could thus easily be supplied through a subsidiary or intermediary in a third country. France could serve as a third country, having, according to SIPRI, supplied substantial quantities of war materiel to Angola in recent years (78 million TIV).

Countries

Conflicts

Companies

Time period

Vehicle deliveries in 1999–2000; M113 offer in 2001; report in 2004

Sources

  • Facts, 13.05.2004, S. 18: Nachschub aus der Schweiz; Neutral ist nicht genug (Andreas Schmid)