11MSP Statement on Mines Retained

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Statement on Retained Mines
Delivered under the agenda item on Transparency
11th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2 December 2011

Thank you Mr President.

A total of 76 States Parties have reported that they retain antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes. Seventy-nine States Parties have declared that they do not retain any antipersonnel mines. The status of three States Parties is uncertain: Equatorial Guinea has never submitted initial transparency report; Botswana has indicated an intent to retain, but never made formal declaration; and a declaration is pending from our new member Tuvalu. While we applaud the large number of States Parties that do not retain mines, it is of concern that 44 States Parties retain more than 1,000 mines and that Bangladesh and Turkey each retain more than 12,000 mines.

On a positive note, we welcome that Brazil recently destroyed 1,075 retained mines. We are also encouraged by Latvia’s and Ukraine’s announcements this year that they have destroyed of all their retained mines. Venezuela, for the first time since 1999, has reported that it has consumed retained mines in training activities, a total of 86 mines in 2010.

On the other hand, 11 States Parties retain mines but have not reported consuming any for permitted purposes since the treaty entered into force for them. These are Angola, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Burundi, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. And many others have not reported consumption for multiple years. We encourage those states to clarify what is being done with these mines. If retained mines are not being utilized at all for the permitted purposes, it would appear to constitute ongoing stockpiling that should be treated as a compliance issue.

Thank you.