Norway has since the early 90s gained a reputation as an international creator of peace. The Oslo-accords became historic by making way for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Norway showed how a small nation could follow through peace creating initiatives, where larger multi-national attempts failed. During the time period following the Oslo-accords, Norway has assumed the role of peace facilitator in several international conflicts. In October this year, Oslo once again becomes an important meeting point when the Colombian government and the Farc-guerilla enter peace negotiations.
«Norway – a nation for peace» has become a national truth. In an opinion survey done by «Hundreårsmarkeringen Norge», 92 per cent supported that Norway was «a rich nation that shares its resources through humanitarian activities and its work for peace». Statistics Norway could at the same time verify an increase of one billion NOK increase in the export of military equipment between 2005 – 2010, counting 2.6 billion NOK in 2011. Does Norway make a too large profit on wars and conflicts?
Norwegian weapons in wrong hands
The Norwegian arms’ export is regulated differently depending on destination. NATO, Scandinavia, and other approved recipients do not have to supply a declaration of use. Such a declaration would give information about the use and final destination of the exported goods. Thus, the Norwegian arms’ export is partly based on solidarity and trust; solidarity towards other nations in the same alliance, and trust in that these nations respect Norwegian arms’ export regulations.
Amnesty International and the Norwegian Church Aid has repeatedly commented on the Norwegian naïvety behind a trust based export of weapons – even within NATO. Norway has since 2001 had about a 20-fold increase in military exports to the USA, without requiring a declaration of use. USA is responsible for exporting large quanta of military equipment to Israel, a nation under Norwegian arms trade prohibition.
Earlier this year, the Norwegian king and government visited Poland to promote a Norwegian arms’ export. Poland is responsible for exporting weapons to Israel, Egypt and Pakistan - countries that are responsible for breaches on the UN declaration of human rights. Is the Norwegian arms’ export rooted in an attempt to avoid responsibility?
Human rights watch has described the export of Norwegian weapons as «gone wild». This happened after Norway earlier this year opened the possibility of arms’ export t the United Arab Emirates. During the Arab Spring, the Emirates gave military support to Bahrain in order to contain the peoples’ riot. The riot came as a consequence of political oppression, increasing poverty as well as increasing unemployment rates. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not however wish to elucidate their political assessments made before making the deal, referring to this information as «confidential». Does Norway support nations breaching human rights?
Arms’ export – The new oil?
Secretary of State Roar Ingebrigtsen exclaimed after a visit to Vinghøg arms factory in 2011 that the company «strengthens the belief that Norway may survive even after the oil disappears». This statement provoked among others filmmaker Erling Borgen. In 2006, Borgen made the documentary «A little piece of Norway», that described Norwegian enterprises’ involvement delivering equipment to the Guantanamo-base in Cuba. The documentary also showed how government owned enterprises heavily supported the development of the Hellfire missile – proved to be involved in several civilian killings during the Iraqi war.
The Norwegian broadcasting co-operation (NRK) had partially financed the documentary, but denied showing it based on its «bias and not well enough documented allegations». This decision was questioned, partly due to the fact that NRK itself had made numerous reports on the same themes as covered by the documentary. The Norwegian arms companies denied contributing to the documentary, among these Kongsberggruppen and Nammo AS. Being responsible for the majority of Norwegian arms’ export, their stock majorities are today owned by the Norwegian government.
Raufoss Nammo AS is responsible for several arms’ deals that may be characterized as «un-Norwegian» and their presence in Norwegian business has been debated. Apart from striking deals in conflict with Norwegian laws, the company also produces the so-called 12.7 ammunition. The projectiles explode on impact, and are illegal to use on human targets according to Norwegian rules. Still, increased availability of hand-held weapons has led to widespread use against humans, even by Norwegian soldiers in Afghanistan. Organizations like the Red Cross has presented this problem to the Norwegian government on several occasions, but production of this type of ammunition is however still legal. Is Norwegian ownership in the arms’ industry in conflict with our role as a nation for peace?
08 October 2012
