Concerning Human Rights Impacts of Italian Arms Transfers – Recommendations

Together with researchers at the Asser Institute, GRC has submitted a stakeholder contribution to the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concerning Italy’s arms export practices.  The UPR is a process carried out by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, which evaluates the human rights record of each UN Member State every 4.5 years.

You can read the full submission in English or Spanish

There is concerning and credible evidence that Italian firearms are often used in violent crimes in Central America. In addition, Italy’s approval of licenses falls outside of the practice of other EU states. In 2013, Italy approved the export of a 4 million USD deal of Beretta firearms to Guatemala, while shortly thereafter, Austria denied the export of a twin 1 million USD deal, citing concerns about corruption, criminality and risk of diversion. Shedding light on these practices in multilateral human rights fora is essential to greater accountability for arms exports.

Our Recommendations

1. Italy should ensure that any new initiative to amend its arms export regime is aligned with obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty.
2. Italy should ensure that the export of weapons is subject to thorough risk assessments. The authorisation should be granted by the national government at the ministerial level and be augmented by officials and non-governmental experts who possess the technical knowledge and capacity to assess the risks associated with their transfer.
3. Italy should ensure that business entities and their subsidiaries abide by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and, accordingly, report on the potential adverse human rights impacts of their operations. In this spirit, Italian arms companies should undertake human rights due diligence relating to their products’ manufacture, marketing, transport, storage, transfer and use. Italy should ensure that subsidiaries of Italian companies are obliged to follow the same standard for export authorisations as the parent company.
4. Italy should continue allowing civil society organisations to submit reports regarding the human rights situation in recipient states for the consideration of the governmental bodies charged with issuing arms export authorisations and licenses.

The recommendations may be presented to Italy in January 2025, during the next phase of the UPR process. At that time, Italy will have the opportunity to consider and respond to these suggestions in the context of an interactive dialogue hosted by the Human Rights Council’s UPR Working Group.