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Sri Lanka
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
Not a State Party |
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Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Voted in favor of Resolution 65/48 in December 2010, as in previous years |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Attended as an observer the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in November–December 2010; did not attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2011 |
Policy
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In the past, the government has stated that Sri Lanka’s accession was dependent on progress in the peace process, and an agreement to ban landmines by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[1] The civil war in Sri Lanka ended on 20 May 2009.
Sri Lanka has not made any formal statements regarding the Mine Ban Treaty since 2009 when it said that it “fully subscribes to the humanitarian objectives of the treaty.”[2]
More recently however, during discussions with ICBL campaigners, officials note that the decision to accede has been made at the “policy level,” but new “constraints” involving Sri Lanka’s ability to clear contaminated land appear to be hindering its accession progress.[3] A Geneva based diplomat noted in November 2010 that Sri Lanka does not want to be in a situation where it would need to file an extension request.[4]
In September 2010, the Ministry of Economic Development published a plan that would, “advocate for a ban of landmines and cluster munitions” by “disseminating public information on the risks of explosive devices.”[5]
Sri Lanka sent an observer to the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, but did not make any statements. Sri Lanka did not participate in the June 2011 intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva.
Sri Lanka voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 65/48 on 8 December 2010 calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has for every annual pro-ban General Assembly resolution since 1996.
Sri Lanka is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Sri Lanka is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but has never submitted an annual Article 13 transparency report. It has not joined Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Since the end of armed conflict in May 2009, the Monitor has not received any reports of new use of antipersonnel mines by any entity.
There is no evidence that the government of Sri Lanka ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It has a stockpile, but its current size and composition are not known.
In April 2009, Brigadier Lasantha Wickramasuriya of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) acknowledged that the army had used antipersonnel mines in the past, but stressed that such use was only in the past. He said the army had used non-detectable Belgian, Chinese, and Italian mines, as well as bounding and fragmentation mines of Pakistani, Portuguese, and United States (US) manufacture.[6] The Monitor had previously reported that Sri Lanka acquired antipersonnel mines from China, Italy (or Singapore), Pakistan, Portugal, and perhaps Belgium, the US, and others.[7]
Subsequently in October 2009, Army Commander Lieutenant General Jayasuriya said that, “the use of mines by the Sri Lankan military is strictly limited and restricted to defensive purposes only…to demarcate and defend military installations....” He said mines are “marked accordingly and relevant records systematically maintained….”[8]
Prior to the end of armed conflict, in particular in 2008 and 2009, the LTTE laid large numbers of mines throughout the north. In October 2009, the SLA’s commander stated, “With the end of conflict in Sri Lanka, large quantities of mines laid by the LTTE in the former LTTE dominated areas have been recovered and are continuing to be recovered by the Army during the past five months.”[9] Throughout 2010 and into 2011, the SLA was reported to continue finding numerous caches of LTTE antipersonnel mines, including a cache containing 18,000–20,000 antipersonnel mines.[10]
Prior to its demise, the LTTE was considered an expert in making explosive weapons. It was known to produce several types of antipersonnel mines: Jony 95 (a small wooden box mine), Rangan 99 or Jony 99 (a copy of the P4 MK1 Pakistani mine), SN 96 (a Claymore-type mine), fragmentation antipersonnel mines from mortars, and variants of some of these antipersonnel mines, including some with antihandling features (including Rangan 99 antipersonnel mines with a motion sensor),[11] as well as Amman 2000, MK1, and MK2 antivehicle mines.[12]
[1] Statement of Sri Lanka, Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 18 September 2006; Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1,116; and Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 878.
[2] Also in 2009, the Sri Lankan Army Commander stated, “In the current post-conflict phase in Sri Lanka, it is timely that we focus our attention on the international legal instruments that limit or ban certain weapons based on humanitarian grounds,” referring to the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). He said that after a review of its position the government decided to submit an updated voluntary Article 7 report. Keynote address by Lt.-Gen. J. Jayasuriya, International Law and Explosive Remnants of War Seminar, Colombo, 27 October 2009. The text of the keynote address was reproduced in: “Flow of arms to terrorists must stop,” Daily News, 28 October 2009, www.dailynews.lk. Sri Lanka submitted a voluntary Article 7 transparency report in 2005. It has several times pledged to update its voluntary Article 7 report, including information on its stockpile.
[3] Interview with Amb. Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona, and Dilup Nanyakkara, Advisor, Sri Lanka Mission to the UN, New York, 19 October 2010.
[4] Interview with Saroja Sirisena, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva, 30 November 2010.
[5] Ministry of Economic Development, “National Strategy for Mine Action in Sri Lanka 2010,” September 2010, p. 25.
[6] Presentation on Humanitarian Demining by Brig. Lasantha Wickramasuriya, SLA, Bangkok Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free South-East Asia, 2 April 2009. Notes by the Monitor. The presentation included a section titled “Types of Mines Used by the Sri Lankan Army,” followed by photographs and titles: P4 MK1 (Pakistan antipersonnel mine); M72 (China antipersonnel mine); VS-50 (Italy antipersonnel mine); M16A1 (US bounding antipersonnel mine, however the photograph shows what appears to be a P7 MK 1 Pakistan or PRB M966 Portugal bounding mine); PRB 415 (photograph shows what appears to be a NR 409 Belgian antipersonnel mine); PRB 413 (photograph shows what appears to be a Portugal M421 antipersonnel mine); M15 and ND MK 1 antivehicle mines; and M18A1 Claymore mines.
[7] In its voluntary Article 7 report submitted in 2005, Sri Lanka noted the presence of these antipersonnel mines in minefields: P4 MK1, P4 MK2, P4 MK3, P5 MK1, Type 69 (Pakistan); PRB 413 (Portugal/Pakistan); PRB 409, M696 (Portugal); Type 66, Type 72 (China); and VS-50 (Italy/Singapore). Voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Forms C and H, 13 June 2005. The Monitor previously identified the following antipersonnel mines as having been used by government troops in the past: P4 and P3 MK (manufactured by Pakistan); Type 72, Type 72A, and Type 69 (China); VS-50 (Italy or Singapore); NR409/PRB (Belgium); M409 and M696 (Portugal); and M18A1 Claymore (US). See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1,118; and Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 881.
[8] “Flow of arms to terrorists must stop,” Daily News, 28 October 2009, www.dailynews.lk.
[9] Ibid.
[10] See “Supun Dias “Large ammo haul recovered,” Daily Mirror, 6 August 2010; Ministry of Defense, “Search operations recover a haul of weapon,” 13 August 2010, www.defence.lk; “Sri Lankan troops continue to recover mines and explosives from former battlefields,” Colombopage.com, 21 November 2010, www.colombopage.com; Supun Dias, “Stock of Anti Tank Mines found,” Daily Mirror, 9 December 2010, print.dailymirror.lk; Supun Dias, “83 anti-personnel mines found in search operation,” Daily Mirror, 29 January 2011, print.dailymirror.lk; Supun Dias, “41 anti-personnel mines recovered,” Daily Mirror, 24 February 2011, print.dailymirror.lk; and Supun Dias, “Weapons cache found,” Daily Mirror, 24 June 2011, print.dailymirror.lk. Previously, between July 2009 and May 2010, the Monitor recorded media stories reporting the recovery of more than 36,000 antipersonnel mines, as well as a large number of antivehicle mines, Claymore mines, and IEDs.
[11] Presentation by Maj. Mangala Balasuriya, SLA, Risk Education Workshop, Negombo, 10 March 2009. Notes by the Monitor.
[12] Presentation by Brig. Lasantha Wickramasuriya, SLA, Bangkok Workshop on Achieving a Mine-Free South-East Asia, 2 April 2009. Sri Lanka previously provided technical details of the Jony 95 and Jony 99 mines, which it identified as “produced and used” by the LTTE. Voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form H, 13 June 2005. See also, Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,017.
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