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Brunei Darussalam signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but has not yet ratified. It did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001, or any of the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January or May 2002. Brunei cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M promoting the implementation and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2001, as it had in previous years. Brunei is not party to Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Brunei responded to a letter from the ICBL on 17 June 2002, stating simply, “I wish to inform you that Brunei Darussalam is not ready at this stage to ratify the Convention.”[1] Landmine Monitor requests for interviews with the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs have not received any response in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Brunei attended the regional seminar Landmines in Southeast Asia hosted by Thailand from 13-15 May 2002 in Bangkok, but made no public statements and would not respond for the record to the Landmine Monitor researcher’s questions. Brunei did not attend the regional stockpile destruction seminar held in Malaysia in August 2001.
In 1999, the Ministry of Defense indicated that Brunei needed to retain the option of using antipersonnel mines for security concerns. At that time, Brunei stated that it has never used, produced or exported antipersonnel mines and has a small stockpile largely for training purposes.[2] The Army has an Engineer unit.
Brunei is not mine-affected.
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[1] Letter from Pehin Dato Lim Jock Seng, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brunei Darussalam, to Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator, ICBL, 17 June 2002.
[2] Interview with Ministry of Defense officials, 11 February 1999. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 449 for more details.
