Press Dossier Brussels, 18th October 2005 Netwerk Vlaanderen vzw AXA invests heavily in new US landmine producers Landmines: Pariahs of the weapon world Since 1975 landmines have created more than 1 million victims. The majority of these victims are innocent civilians, as landmines often claim their victim long after the end of the conflict in which they were deployed. Landmine Monitor estimates the number of surviving victims of landmines worldwide to be between 300,000 and 400,000, almost all of whom have suffered serious injury, and have had to undergo amputation. Anti-personnel mines are banned in most of the world. In 1997 the Ottawa Treaty produced an international ban on landmines. At this point 145 countries have ratified the treaty. Even amongst the non-signatories there is a willingness to work towards a worldwide ban on these weapons. The new landmine policy of the Bush administration The former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, announced his intention that the United States would sign the Ottawa treaty at some point in the future. The United States halted its production of antipersonnel mines in 1997. In 2004 President Bush made a drastic change in this policy. He announced that the United States will not join the Ottawa Treaty, and will begin again to produce and use landmines. The Pentagon refers to the development of new “smart mines” - mines with a self-destruction mechanism. Apart from the fact that these mine are banned under the Ottawa Treaty, expert organisations such as Human Rights Watch have given serious criticism of these “smart mines”. These mines remain a danger to civilians. For example, the self-destruction mechanism is never 100% reliable. Some mines therefore remain active. This is not only a danger for civilians, but also for demining teams. Civilians are also at risk when the mines destroy themselves. Thousands of these mines are normally spread at the same time, which further increases the risk to civilians. But this new policy also represents a risk to the existing consensus on the need for a worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines. The new landmine producers The Bush administration will make a final decision in December 2005 on the production of the new anti-personnel mine SPIDER. $390 million has been budgeted for the production of 1620 SPIDER systems, and 186,300 mines. The system consists of a control unit that controls 84 landmines. The mines also release a web of trip wires over the area in which they are deployed. When someone touches a tripwire, the mine is activated. Between 1999 and 2004, $146 million was spent on developing this system. The developers of the SPIDER system, and the companies that will produce the weapons are Textron and Alliant Techsystems (ATK). These two producers are not unknown. ATK is the largest supplier of ammunition to the US army. Between 1985 and 1995 it was also the largest US producer of landmines. In this period, ATK attracted $486 million in contracts for producing landmines. ATK also produces weapons such as cluster munitions, anti-tank mines and weapons with depleted uranium. It is the 28th largest arms producer in the world. Textron is 30th largest arms producer in the world. Textron Systems, the company that developed the SPIDER, is a subsidiary of Textron Inc., a company that has 49,000 employees in 49 countries, and has a turnover of $10 billion. As well as being a weapon producer, Textron is also active in aviation, industry and financing. ATK and Textron are the prime contractors for the development and production of the new US landmines. AXA invests heavily in landmine producers Netwerk Vlaanderen has discovered that AXA, a worldwide banking and insurance group that is
also active in Belgium, is investing heavily in these two American landmine producers. Worldwide, the American and European sections of AXA invest more than $2.7 billion in Textron and ATK. The investment in Textron is particularly significant. Through direct investments, and investments via investment funds offered to customers, AXA controls a little less than 29% of the shares in Textron. Table: investments of AXA in two US landmine producers Number of shares Value in US$ ATK 403,46 29,493,218 Textron 38,975,650 2,704,910,110
Percentage of shares 1.08% 28.84%
The fact that AXA is investing in the most controversial weapons in the world does not, unfortunately, come as a surprise. In spring 2004 Netwerk Vlaanderen revealed that the five most prominent financial groups in Belgium (AXA, Dexia, Fortis, ING and KBC) had investments in a landmine producer based in Singapore (Singapore Technologies Engineering). This discovery, and the pressure from the campaign “My Money. Clear Conscience?” persuaded four of these groups to halt their worldwide investments in antipersonnel mines. Only AXA refused to distance itself from anti-personnel mines. The Belgian part of AXA has been legally obliged to end investment in Singapore Technologies Engineering. Since June 2005, Belgium is the first country in the world with a law that forbids investments in producers of landmines. AXA continues to offer investment funds to clients in Belgium that include shares of Textron. Textron is, for example, in the portfolios of AXA Luxemburg Fund Global Assets Neutral and AXA Luxemburg Fund World Equities. Netwerk Vlaanderen can only conclude that AXA Group is not willing to take any social responsibility for its investments. Even investing in antipersonnel mines is no problem for AXA. AXA must demine! The initiators of the campaign “My Money. Clear Conscience?”1 demand: That AXA uses the significant investment in Textron to convince the company to immediately stop involvement in the development and production of antipersonnel mines; That AXA ends all investments in landmine producers, worldwide, including investment in Textron if it does not meet the above demand. Sources: Human Rights Watch, Back in Business? U.S. Landmine Production and Exports. A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, August 2005 Christophe Scheire, Cluster Bombs, Landmines, Nuclear Weapons and Depleted Uranium Weapons: A report on the financial links between banks and the producers of controversial weapons. Netwerk Vlaanderen, April 2004 Christophe Scheire and Luc Weyn, Banks Disarm(ed): An Overview of the results of the campaign 'My Money. Clear Conscience?', April 2005 SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook 2005 Shareworld databank, consulted October 2005 Netwerk Vlaanderen vzw Vooruitgangstraat 333/9 1030 Brussels Tel: +32 (0)201 0770 Fax: +32 (0)201 0602 www.netwerk-vlaanderen.be
1Netwerk Vlaanderen, Réseau Financement Alternatif, Vrede, Forum voor Vredesactie and For Mother Earth.
Netwerk Vlaanderen is a member of BankTrack, an international movement for sustainability in the financial sector. www.banktrack.org