Timor-Leste
Mine Ban Policy
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 7 May 2003 and became a State Party on 1 November 2003. It has never used, produced, exported, or imported antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. The New Penal Code of East Timor Law No. 19/2009, Article 127, enacted on 8 April 2009, provides for criminal sanctions as required under Article 9 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] On 22 June 2004, Timor-Leste submitted its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, due 28 April 2004, but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Timor-Leste did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Timor-Leste is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Timor-Leste has residual unexploded ordnance contamination.
[1] Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, “Table of Article 9 National Implementation Measures as reported by State Parties under Article 7,” 23 November 2009, p. 46.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Resource constraints appear to have hindered Timor-Leste’s accession to the ban convention. In April 2012, government representatives informed the CMC that Timor-Leste supports the convention but has not been able to join yet due to limited human resources, other treaty commitments, and the consolidation of state-building efforts.[1] In 2010 and 2011, government representatives also cited these same reasons for Timor-Leste’s lack of accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2]
Timor-Leste participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention text in Dublin on 30 May 2008, but did not sign the convention at the Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.
Timor-Leste attended a regional conference on cluster munitions in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009. It participated as an observer in the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 and Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut in September 2011, but did not make any statements. Timor-Leste has not participated in any of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva.
Timor-Leste voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013 which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[3]
Timor-Leste is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Timor-Leste is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
[1] Email from Kavita Desai, Advisor, Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the UN in New York, 27 April 2012.
[2] Email from Tiago A. Sarmento, Legal Advisor, Ministry of Defense and Security, 10 April 2011; and email from Charles Scheiner, Researcher, La’o Hamutuk (Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis), 20 April 2010.
[3] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013.
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
In 2013, no new casualties were reported in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. In 2011, three casualties were identified: two civilian men were killed and one critically injured while handling unexploded ordnance they had uncovered.[1] Prior to this, explosive remnants of war (ERW) incidents were recorded in 2000 and 2003. Between 1999 and 2013, the Monitor identified 12 ERW casualties (five killed and seven injured) in Timor-Leste.[2]
[1] “Timor-Leste and UN step up efforts to dispose of unexploded ordnance,” UN News Centre, 18 October 2011..
[2] See ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2003: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 2003), accessed 1 May 2013; and ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2000: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 2000), accessed 1 May 2013.