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Financial institutions found to invest in internationally banned munition
United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany, among others, have been noted in a PAX report to have financial institutions investing in cluster bombs, which are banned under international law
Cluster bombs scatter explosive bomblets over a wide area, and are responsible for the deaths and injuries of thousands of civilians
More than 150 financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America invested €24.8 billion in companies that produce cluster bombs despite an international ban, a new report by the Netherlands-based peace organization PAX has discovered.
The report includes a list of 158 banks, pension funds and other financial institutions that have invested in cluster munitions producers since June 2012, according to the 2016 report “Worldwide Investments in Cluster”.
A majority of the institutions on the list are from countries that have not signed the 2008 Oslo treaty “the Convention on Cluster Munitions”, which bans cluster bombs under international law.
The convention was the result of a years-long campaign against the weapons, which kill indiscriminately. It was signed by more than 100 countries, but the United States, China and South Korea are not among them.
Despite this, the PAX report notes that several financial institutions are from signatory countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.
The report calls for all of the financial institutions to sever all financial links with companies involved in cluster munitions productions and develop divestment policies that apply to all aspects of their business, including commercial banking, investment banking and asset management.
“It is an absolute outrage that financial institutions are investing billions into companies that produce weapons which are banned under international law,” Suzanne Oosterwijk, the author of the report, said in a statement.
“Canada has also banned these weapons. It is time for financial institutions to stop disregarding the international norm with these explosive investments into producers of illegal weapons that maim and kill civilians.”
Cluster bombs scatter explosive ‘bomblets’ over a wide area, and are responsible for the deaths and injuries of thousands of civilians. Often the bomblets do not explode on impact and can continue to kill and maim civilians long after the initial bombing campaign.
Recently, the weapons have been used in conflicts in Syria and Yemen, according to the Guardian.
