Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The State of Libya has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Government officials did not make any statements in 2013 or the first half of 2014 on Libya joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] Previously, in October 2011, two Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials informed the ICBL that there was support for joining the Mine Ban Treaty, but the matter must wait until the new government is established and for the legislative body to consider accession.[2] Libya’s signature of the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty on 9 July 2013 indicates that the government is ready to join international treaties.

On 5 December 2013, Libya voted for UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 67/32 supporting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. This was the first time that Libya had voted in support of a pro-Mine Ban Treaty resolution, after consistently abstaining from the annual resolution since 1998. The change came after outreach by the ICBL, including Human Rights Watch (HRW).[3]

Prior to being removed from office in 2011, the government of Muammar Gaddafi showed interest in the Mine Ban Treaty but made no effort to join it; Libyan officials often criticized the treaty and called for it to be revised.[4] On 28 April 2011, the National Transitional Council (NTC), then the opposition authority in Libya, issued a statement formally pledging that “no forces under the command and control of the [NTC] will use antipersonnel or anti-vehicle landmines.” The statement also said that “any future Libyan government should relinquish landmines and join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.”[5]

Despite not joining the Mine Ban Treaty, Libya has participated as an observer in many of the treaty’s Meeting of States Parties as well as the first and third Review Conferences.[6] Libya did not make any statements at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2013 or the Third Review Conference in June 2014. It has also regularly attended intersessional Standing Committee meetings of the treaty in Geneva, but was not present at those held in April 2014.

Libya is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, trade, and stockpiling

Prior to 2011, Libya consistently stated that it had never produced or exported antipersonnel mines and that it no longer stockpiled the weapon.[7] Yet abundant evidence has emerged showing how, under Gaddafi’s leadership, Libya accumulated a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and used tens of thousands of mines during the 2011 conflict.

As the Gaddafi government progressively lost control of the country in 2011, massive weapon depots containing landmines and other munitions were abandoned by government forces and left unsecured.[8] Local and international mine action organizations have worked with Libyan authorities and the UN since mid-2011 to collect and destroy abandoned ordnance, but it is unclear how many landmines were removed by anti-government rebels, civilians, and others.

In April 2014, reports emerged showing the use in Syria of a notable Chinese-made Type 84 scatterable antivehicle mine that was first reported used in 2011 in Libya, but it was not possible to ascertain if the mines used in Syria were from the same stocks used in Libya.[9]

The post-Gaddafi government in Libya began to destroy the landmine stocks in early 2012, but no information is available on the numbers or types of landmines destroyed and it is not clear if systematic stockpile destruction efforts are being undertaken as of October 2014.[10]

Use

There has been no evidence of antipersonnel mine use by government forces since the 2011 conflict.

In September 2014, however, reports emerged alleging new use of antipersonnel mines at Tripoli International Airport, which saw fighting in July-August between the Zintan alliance of militia groups and forces of the Libya Dawn Alliance.[11] A HRW investigation found that antipersonnel mines were likely laid in 2014 and not earlier, but could not determine the party responsible for the use.[12] On October 29, HRW spoke by telephone with the commander of the Misrata Revolutionaries engineering unit within the Libya Dawn Alliance which has been responsible for clearing landmines and other unexploded ordnance in Tripoli since August. The commander said that on August 24, the day of the airport takeover, his unit had discovered a mined area of the airport.[13] He said a pickup truck mounted with anti-aircraft weapons entered the “old airport area” and detonated a mine, killing one fighter from the Misrata Umm al-Maarek brigade, Mohamed Abubaker Ali, and wounding several others.

Previous use

HRW confirmed the use of five types of mines in six separate locations by pro-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 conflict, first in the east of the country, then in the Nafusa mountain range in the northwest, and finally around Tripoli and coastal towns in the west. This includes its low-metal content antipersonnel mines that are particularly challenging for detection and clearance efforts, such as the Brazilian T-AB-1 mine.[14] Three types of mines were also found abandoned at three other locations.

Mine types identified in Libya during the 2011 conflict

Prior to 2011, Libya last used antipersonnel mines during its 1980–1987 war with Chad. Libya is contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance from World War II, as well as from wars with Egypt (1977) and Chad (1980–1987). Minefields are said to exist in desert, port, and urban areas; however, no nationwide survey has ever been conducted. Some facilities are protected by minefields, such as an ammunition storage area outside of Ajdabiya that HRW confirmed is partially surrounded by a minefield marked solely by a deteriorating fence.