The Republic of Cuba has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Cuba and the United States are the only countries in the Americas that are not party to the treaty. Cuba’s policy has not evolved in recent years.[1] It believes that the Mine Ban Treaty does not take into consideration its “legitimate national security concerns,” such as the threat posed by the United States.[2] In an October 2005 statement to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee, Cuba stated, “[W]e continue to share the humanitarian concerns associated with...the indiscriminate and irresponsible use of antipersonnel mines.”[3]
As it has done for every annual pro-ban UNGA resolution since 1996, Cuba abstained from the 8 December 2005 vote on UNGA Resolution 60/80, which called for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Several non-States Parties, including Azerbaijan and China, voted in support of the resolution for the first time in 2005.
Cuba last attended a Mine Ban Treaty meeting in November 2004, when it participated in the treaty’s First Review Conference as an observer.
Cuba is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it has not ratified Amended Protocol II on landmines. It attended the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II on 23 November 2005.
Cuba’s state-owned Union of Military Industries (Unión de las Industrias Militares) is believed, in the absence of any denial or clarification from the Cuban government, to continue production of antipersonnel mines.[4] Cuba has stated several times since 1996 that it does not, and has never exported antipersonnel mines.[5] There is no official information available on the size and composition of Cuba’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[6]
Landmine Monitor received no reports of new mine-laying in Cuba in 2005 or the first half of 2006. In 2003, Cuba said it would, “continue to use antipersonnel mines exclusively for the defense and security of the country.”[7] Cuba maintains minefields around the US Naval Base at Guantánamo in the southeast of Cuba. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, existing minefields are duly “marked, fenced and guarded” as required by CCW Amended Protocol II.[8]
In 2005 and the first half of 2006, there were no known landmine casualties in Cuba. The last known mine casualties occurred in 2001; one person was killed and three injured in two mine incidents.[9]
Cuba has a free and universal healthcare system. The Cuban Association of Physically Disabled Persons (Asociación Cubana de Limitados Físico-Motores) has provided a support network for people with physical disabilities.[10]
As reported by the government in January 2006, through its Integrated Health Care Program (Programa Integral de Salud), there were 1,023 Cuban doctors working in 20 African countries.[11] A further 499 Cuban doctors were working in 12 African countries through contracts, bilateral agreements or as members of international organizations.[12] Activities included emergency medical care and surgical interventions.
[1] Every year since 2003, Cuba has declined to provide updated information to Landmine Monitor for this report.
[2] Letter to Landmine Monitor (Mines Action Canada) from Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios, Director, Directorate of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2003.
[3] “Discurso del Representante Permanente de Cuba, Embajador Orlando Requeijo, en el Debate General de la Primera Comisión de la 60 AGNU,” New York, 6 October 2005. Unofficial translation by Landmine Monitor.
[4] According to the US Department of Defense, Cuba has produced three different types of antipersonnel mines: the PMFC-1 and PMFH-1 fragmentation mines, and the PMM-1 wooden box mine. US Department of Defense, ORDATA Online, maic.jmu.edu, accessed 20 May 2004.
[5] Letter from Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2003. Cuban antipersonnel mines have, however, been cleared by deminers in Angola and Nicaragua. Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, online update, 18 November 1999, and ORDATA Online, maic.jmu.edu.
[6] One source has reported that Cuba stockpiles the Soviet-manufactured OZM-4, POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M mines, in addition to the mines manufactured domestically. Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, online update, 18 November 1999.
[7] Letter from Juan Antonio Fernández Palacios, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2003.
[8] Statement of the Directorate of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 19 June 2000.
[9] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 956.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Including Burundi, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Niger, Western Sahara, Chad, Gabon, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Rwanda. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Cooperation Department, “Current state of Cuban cooperation in the world,” (Situación actual de la cooperación cubana en el mundo), www.cubaminrex.cu, 31 January 2006, accessed 21 April 2006.
[12] Including South Africa, Angola, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, “Current state of Cuban cooperation in the world,” 31 January 2006. Ibid.