| <SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES | URUGUAY> |
Suriname’s Ambassador to the United Nations, His Excellency Sushas Ch. Mungra, signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. Suriname has yet to ratify. In a statement to the signing ceremony, Ambassador Mungra said, “The Government of the Republic of Suriname is proud to participate and to be among the first signatories at this historic event.... The Ottawa Convention is a landmark step in the history of disarmament.... The signing of this Convention...by some 120 countries promotes this convention to become the International Code of Conduct on this issue and also reflects the future direction of International Humanitarian Law.”[1]
Suriname did not attend the treaty preparatory meetings or participate in the treaty negotiations in Oslo in September 1997. However, it did endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, voted for the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and supported the pro-ban Organization of American States resolutions. Suriname is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor a member of the Conference on Disarmament. Suriname is not believed to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines.
During the 1986-1992 internal conflict in Suriname, an estimated 1,000 mines were laid. At the cessation of conflict in August 1992, the Government of Suriname requested assistance from the OAS to help clear the emplanted mines. Under the OAS-sponsored program, “Operation Pur Baka,” land in Suriname was surveyed and cleared and Suriname has since been declared clear of mines.[2]
The supplier of the mines used in the conflict is not known. It is also not known if Suriname currently maintains a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.
| <SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES | URUGUAY> |
[1]Statement to Signing Ceremony by His Excellency Sushas Ch. Mungra, Suriname’s Ambassador to the United Nations, 4 December 1997.
[2]UN Database Country Report: Suriname,see: www.un.org/Depts/landmine/country
