Brazil
Mine Ban Policy
The Federative Republic of Brazil signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999. Brazil is a former antipersonnel mine producer, importer, and exporter. Since 2012, Brazil has stated that it has not produced or exported landmines since signing the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] Brazil has never used antipersonnel mines. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically was enacted in 2001. In 2013, Brazil submitted its 14th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.
Brazil completed destruction of its stockpile of approximately 27,852 antipersonnel mines in March 2003, ahead of its 1 October 2003 treaty-mandated destruction deadline. Brazil initially retained 17,000 mines for training purposes, but this was reduced to 10,051 by the end of 2009.[2] The number was further reduced in 2012, when 1,063 mines were destroyed for training purposes.[3] According to the 2013 report, another 1,326 mines were destroyed by December 2012, bringing the total number to 6,587: 1,400 T-AB-1 held by the Brazilian Navy and 5,187 held by the Brazilian Army (5,151 NM-409 mines and 36 DFC-19 mines).[4] Brazil has stated its intention to keep mines for training up to 2019.[5]
Brazil attended the Mine Ban Treaty Twelfth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2012. Brazil did not attend intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2013 but participated in the intersessional meetings in May 2012 and June 2011.
Brazil is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It has provided national annual reports as required by the amended protocol, most recently on 3 April 2013 (for calendar year 2012). Brazil joined CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 30 November 2010 and has delivered the annual reports required by the protocol since 2011, most recently on 5 March 2013 (for 2012).
In 2011, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the use of Brazilian-produced T-AB-1 plastic antipersonnel mines in Libya by Qaddafi government forces in six separate locations.[6] In December 2011, Brazil condemned the landmine use and said it intended to make a financial contribution to Libya’s mine action program and provide technical cooperation.[7] Brazilian officials said that an internal investigation had been opened into the origins and transfer of the T-AB-1 mines to Libya, but the results were not known as of September 2013.[8]
[1] Brazil has also reported: “In early 1998, the Brazilian Armed Forces received its last shipment of landmines, which had been bought in 1996 and produced by the manufacturer in 1997.” See Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2012 (for calendar year 2011), Form E; Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Amended Protocol II Report 2013 (for calendar year 2012), Form C, 3 April 2013. Before 2012, it stated, “Brazil has not produced or exported landmines since 1989.” See Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2011 (for calendar year 2010), Form E; CCW Amended Protocol II Report 2010 (for calendar year 2009), Form C, 22 July 2010.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2010 (for calendar year 2009), Form D.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2012 (for calendar year 2011), Form G.
[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2013 (for calendar year 2012), Forms D and G.
[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2011 (for calendar year 2010), Forms D and G.
[6] HRW, “Landmines in Libya: Technical Briefing Note,” 19 July 2011.
[7] Statement of Brazil, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 2 December 2011. Notes by the ICBL.
[8] There is no export record of the shipments because arms export records are not held for longer than 10 years. HRW meeting with Brazilian delegation to intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 27 June 2011. In June 2011, the ICBL asked that Brazil publicly condemn the use of antipersonnel mines in Libya and provide detailed information on the transfer of T-AB-1 antipersonnel mines to Libya, including the date of manufacture and transfer, as well as the number of mines exported. ICBL letter to Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, 13 June 2011.