Author(s):
Virginie Andre <andre@icbl.org> .
Haiti,
Tuesday 21 February 2006
On 15 February 2006, Haiti deposited its instrument of ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The treaty will enter into force for Haiti on 1 August 2006. Haiti’s first transparency report required under Article 7 of the treaty is due on 28 January 2007.
Haiti will become the 149th State Party to the treaty. Another five countries have signed but not yet ratified. The United States and Cuba are now the only countries in the Americas outside of the treaty.
Haiti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. Over the years, the ICBL and others involved in the promotion of the treaty have maintained contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Haiti in order to provide support for the ratification process, and encourage progress whenever the political situation in the country permitted.
Haiti has regularly demonstrated its support for a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines. It has voted in favor of every pro-ban United Nations General Assembly resolution since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 60/80 on 8 December 2005, calling for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Haitian officials attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005, marking the first time that Haiti participated in a Mine Ban Treaty-related meeting. Haiti has in the past stated that it has never produced, imported, stockpiled or used antipersonnel mines, and that it is not mine-affected.