Swaziland
Mine Ban Policy
The Kingdom of Swaziland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 22 December 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 June 1999. It has never used, produced, exported, or imported antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. It has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Swaziland submitted its second Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 11 May 2006, covering 31 January 2000 to 31 March 2005, but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Swaziland had a suspected hazardous area, the result of conflict spilling over from neighboring Mozambique, but technical survey did not find any antipersonnel mines. In November 2007, Swaziland announced it had fulfilled compliance with Article 5 almost two years before its 1 June 2009 treaty-mandated deadline.
Swaziland did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Swaziland is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka in September 2013 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014 |
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Key developments |
Submitted annual updated Article 7 report on 23 January 2014 |
Policy
The Kingdom of Swaziland acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 13 September 2011. The convention entered into force for Swaziland on 1 March 2012.
Swaziland provided its initial Article 7 transparency measures report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 9 April 2013, and provided an annual updated Article 7 report on 23 January 2014.[1]
It is not clear if specific national legislation will be undertaken to enforce the provisions of the convention domestically. Under national implementation measures in both Article 7 reports, Swaziland stated that a memorandum to approve “commencement of domestication” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions was submitted to the cabinet (executive body) for approval in May 2011.[2]
Swaziland participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It joined in the consensus adoption of the convention text in Dublin in May 2008, but could not sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008 due to incorrect paperwork.[3] Swaziland’s accession during the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon came after it had made several positive statements in 2009 and 2010 in support of the ban convention.
Swaziland has continued to engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Swaziland attended a regional workshop in Lomé, Togo in May 2013, the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, and intersessional meetings in April 2014.
At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Swaziland called for universalization of the treaty to attain the goal of a cluster munitions-free zone on the African continent.[4]
Swaziland is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Swaziland has stated several times that it has never produced, stockpiled, used, or transferred cluster munitions.[5] In its initial Article 7 report, Swaziland declared that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions and is not retaining any cluster munitions or explosive submunitions for research or training purposes.[6]
[1] The initial report covers calendar year 2012, while the report provided in January 2014 says it is for calendar year 2014, but this appears to be an error, since it should cover a previous period such as calendar year 2013.
[2] It is not clear if the memo refers to approval of Swaziland’s accession to the convention or to national measures to enforce the provisions of the convention domestically. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 29 April 2013.
[3] For details on Swaziland’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2011, see CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2011), p. 315.
[4] Statement of Swaziland, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.
[5] Statement of Swaziland, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012; and statement of Swaziland, Lomé Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 22 May 2013.
[6] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms A to J (inclusive), 29 April 2013.