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Key developments since May 2001: Mauritius submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 20 May 2002, indicating that the Special Mobile Force of the Mauritius Police Force possesses 93 non-metallic antipersonnel mines.
Mauritius both signed and ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. Mauritius enacted domestic legislation, The Anti-Personnel Mines (Prohibition) Act (No. 1 of 2001), prohibiting the use, development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines in April 2001.[1]
Mauritius submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 20 May 2002, for the period 30 April 2001-30 April 2002. The report had been due on 27 August 1999; the delay was reported to be mainly “administrative.”[2]
In October 2001, the National Humanitarian Law Committee was established under the chairpersonship of the Prime Minister's Office. This inter-ministerial Committee's task is to promote the effective implementation, application, and dissemination of international humanitarian law instruments, including the Mine Ban Treaty.[3]
While the government did not participate in the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001 in Nicaragua, it was present at all sessions of the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002, represented by its Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Mauritius cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, promoting the Mine Ban Treaty.
Mauritius acceded to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its original Protocol II in May 1996 and attended the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001 in Geneva.
Mauritius has never produced, exported or used antipersonnel mines and “no area in the Republic of Mauritius is known/suspected to be implanted with anti-personnel (or anti-tank) mines.”[4]
There is no military as such in Mauritius. The Special Mobile Force, the para-military element of the Mauritius Police Force, reported a stock of 93 non-metallic mines of Indian origin, brought into the country by the Indian army.[5] Mauritius reported that the mines are “retained for purpose of destruction.”[6] Under the Mine Ban Treaty, Mauritius is obliged to destroy all stocks of mines (other than those retained for training) by 1 March 2003. Mauritius reported that as of 30 April 2002, destruction was “not yet programmed.”[7]
No Mauritian national is known to have been killed or injured in an incident caused by landmines. Since May 2002, Mauritians travelling to Marromeu, Beira, Mozambique, to work on a sugar estate, are issued with notices in English and French warning them of the dangers and presence of landmines. The practice previously was to warn expatriate workers verbally.[8]
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[1] For some detail on provisions of the Act, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 105.
[2] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, Ref: TS/M/76/1, 26 June 2002.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form I, 20 May 2002.
[5] Article 7 Report, Form B, 20 May 2002; information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their response to the Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, Ref: TS/M/76/1, 26 June 2002.
[6] Article 7 Report, Form D, 20 May 2002.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form F, 20 May 2002.
[8] E-mails from the Human Resource Manager of Companhia de Sena, SARL, in Beira, Mozambique, 22 and 23 May 2002.
