Key developments: With the support of the Organization of American States, Suriname cleared the last 13 antipersonnel mines from its territory between February and April 2005.
The Republic of Suriname signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 23 May 2002, and became a State Party on 1 November 2002. Suriname has not reported any national implementation measures, including penal sanctions, in accordance with Article 9 of the treaty.[1]
Suriname prepared an annual Article 7 transparency report for calendar year 2005, dated 28 April 2006. Suriname has prepared three previous Article 7 reports.[2]
Suriname participated in the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November-December 2004 in Nairobi and also attended the Sixth Meeting of States Parties one year later in Zagreb, Croatia. It was not present at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 and May 2006.
Suriname states it has never produced antipersonnel mines.[3] It is not known to have exported them. On 25 February 2004, Suriname destroyed 146 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, declaring completion of its Article 4 obligation. It has retained 150 antipersonnel mines for training military engineers for participation in peacekeeping missions.[4] Suriname has not reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines―a step agreed by States Parties in the Nairobi Action Plan that emerged from the First Review Conference in November-December 2004.
An estimated 1,000 mines were laid during an internal conflict which took place between 1986 and 1992. Following the peace accords in August 1992, the Suriname army cleared nearly all of these mines under Operation Pur Baka, which was sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS). However, it was believed that 13 antipersonnel mines laid by the army on 26 February 1987 remained emplaced at Stolkertsijver, some 50 kilometers east of Paramaribo, in an estimated area of 75 by 30 meters. Dense vegetation had made clearance of the mines too difficult.[5] The mined area was marked with new hazard signs and barbed wire in September 2003. Personnel from a permanent military post near the area monitored the minefield; on-site visits were also said to be made on a “regular basis” by members of the Inter-Departmental Commission of Antipersonnel Mines.[6]
No mine casualties have been reported in Suriname since 1989.[7]
In addition, a number of explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO), remain in Suriname. According to a March 2005 media report, an ammunition depot from World War II was discovered in 2004 some 30 kilometers south of Paramaribo. The report stated that, “the arms depot was supposedly set up by the US army which occupied the territory during the war but, according to recently gathered information, the ammunition also could have belonged to the Dutch.” The media report added that according to Defense Minister Ronald Assen, during World War II Dutch troops had several arms depots in the area where the cache was discovered.[8]
To implement the Mine Ban Treaty, the Ministry of Defense established the Inter-Departmental Commission of Antipersonnel Mines in March 2003. The Commission was said to be responsible for “creating short-term conditions for implementation of the Convention; making recommendations for a total ban of antipersonnel mines in accordance with objectives of the Convention and preparing national documents such as national legislation and national reports as stipulated in Article 7.”[9] There was no mine action center established in Suriname.
According to Suriname, because the country was not technically or financially in the position to clear the mines remaining from previous operations, it requested assistance from the OAS. On 30 November 2004, Suriname signed an agreement with the OAS to clear the remaining 13 mines.[10] Under OAS coordination, a team of 14 military personnel belonging to the Honduran army’s Joint Task Team ALFA (Equipo de Tarea Conjunta, ETC-ALFA), a Brazilian international supervisor from the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB), and a demining unit of eight Surinamese soldiers conducted mine clearance in Stolkertsijver during a 45-day period, beginning in February 2005.[11]
Canada provided the necessary financial support, the United States and Suriname provided in-kind support, Honduras and Brazil provided personnel and the OAS provided overall coordination and humanitarian demining equipment. The project also received support from the Surinamese Red Cross, which donated an ambulance for the operations, and the Academic Hospital of Suriname, which provided medical facilities.[12] Suriname did not provide information to the Landmine Monitor on the cost of the project or the nature of the in-kind support.
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Suriname was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control by 1 November 2012. At the Standing Committee meetings in June 2005, the OAS made a statement concerning the clearance operation in Suriname: it was “pleased to report that on April 4 2005, at the conclusion of training, clearance operations and quality control activities, the demined area was turned over to the Inter-Departmental Commission of Antipersonnel Mines of the Republic of Suriname. It is our view that the mine clearance was conducted using appropriate technologies and methodologies and in accordance with accepted International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) such that the results conform to the requirements of Article 5 of the Convention.”[13]
The OAS recommended to the government of Suriname, “that they use a declaration format similar to those employed by Costa Rica and Honduras (and under consideration by Guatemala) to communicate compliance with the Convention. That format would declare that all known or suspected mine areas and minefields had been cleared; that the National Plan/Program had been successfully concluded; that a residual national capacity was in place to respond to any unforeseen circumstances related to mine clearance.”[14] In November 2005, in a document sent to the Implementation Support Unit of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, Suriname claimed that it had fulfilled its obligations under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. It stated that, “Suriname has, with the exception of article 9, implemented all the obligations of the Convention, applicable to Suriname. With regard to article 9, Suriname has already drafted her national legislation. Therefore, Suriname has reached the objective of the Convention before the required deadlines.”[15]
According to Suriname’s Article 7 report of 28 April 2006, “during the preparation activities for the mine clearance, the national army of Suriname found three mines which were destroyed by detonation. The remaining anti-personnel mines were found and destroyed by the army of Honduras and the national army of Suriname.”[16]
Clearance operations in Stolkertsijver started in early February 2005, and the Honduran team left Suriname on 18 March 2005 after clearing a further six mines.[17] The Surinamese demining unit continued operations to find the remaining mines, under the supervision of the Brazilian international supervisor who stayed to quality control the area cleared in compliance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). The Inter-Departmental Commission and the army informed residents living near the mined area about the clearance work.[18] On 4 April 2005, demining operations concluded with the OAS officially handing over the cleared land to the Inter-Departmental Commission.[19] The OAS stated at the Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 that together with the IADB and regional partners it was ready to provide follow-up actions if necessary,[20] for instance, if new mines or UXO are found.[21]
According to a media report in 2005, an official of the Ministry of Defense declared that once the mine clearance operations were concluded, attention would be given to the removal of the ammunition depot discovered south of Paramaribo.[22] As of June 2006, there was no information available on any clearance of ammunition at the depot.
[1] Domestic legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty, including proposed penal sanctions and fines, was drafted in 2003, but remained under consideration as of May 2005. Article 7 Report, Form A, 20 May 2005.
[2] The 28 April 2006 report had not been posted on the UN website as of 1 July 2006. Suriname has prepared reports dated 20 May 2005 (for calendar year 2004), 31 January 2004 and 1 September 2003; the 2004 report has not been posted on the UN website. According to disarmament.un.org/Mineban.nsf only the 1 September 2003 report is online.
[3] Article 7 Report, Forms E and H, 1 September 2003.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form D, 20 May 2005; interview with Inter-Departmental Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paramaribo, 3 March 2004. The antipersonnel mines retained are: 99 PMA3, 43 M969 and eight “Lot #803.”
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 770; Article 7 Report, Form C, dated 28 April 2006.
[6] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Implementation of Article 5 by the Republic of Suriname,” November 2005.
[7] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 770.
[8] Ivan Cairo, “Suriname almost landmine-free,” Caribbean Net News (Suriname), 18 March 2006.
[9] Presentation by Nalinie Sewpersadsingh, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Americas Regional Seminar, 14-15 August 2003, www.maic.edu, accessed 21 June 2006.
[10] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Implementation of Article 5 by the Republic of Suriname,” November 2005; Article 7 Report, Form F, dated 28 April 2006.
[11] “Honduras envía tropa a Surinam (Honduras sends troops to Suriname),” La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, 1 February 2005.
[12] Statement by the OAS on Suriname, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 13 June 2005.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Implementation of Article 5 by the Republic of Suriname,” November 2005.
[16] Article 7 Report, Form G, dated 28 April 2006.
[17] Ivan Cairo, “Suriname almost landmine-free,” Caribbean Net News, Suriname, 18 March 2006.
[18] Article 7 Report, Form I, dated 28 April 2006.
[19] Juan Carlos Ruan, OAS, “Suriname Demining Mission,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 9.2, February 2006.
[20] Statement by the OAS on Suriname, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 13 June 2005.
[21] Interview with William McDonough, Coordinator, Mine Action Program, OAS, Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[22] Ivan Cairo, “Suriname almost landmine-free,” Caribbean Net News, Suriname, 18 March 2006.