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Sudan
Mine Ban Policy
Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
State Party |
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National implementation measures |
Legislation adopted 31 March 2010 |
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Transparency reporting |
April 2012 |
Policy
The Republic of the Sudan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 13 October 2003, becoming a State Party on 1 April 2004.[1]
Sudan adopted the Sudan Mine Action Law by Presidential Decree #51 on 31 March 2010.[2] The Act is comprised of 29 articles divided into four chapters. Chapter four includes Mine Ban Treaty obligations, including the prohibition on antipersonnel mine use and stockpiling, clearance of contaminated areas, risk education, victim assistance, and transparency reporting. It also includes penalties for violations.[3]
Sudan submitted its ninth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in April 2012.[4]
Sudan participated in the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh in November–December 2011 and attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012. At both meetings, Sudan made statements on mine clearance and victim assistance.
Sudan signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 10 April 1981, but has not ratified it.
Production, transfer, and use
Sudan has repeatedly stated that it has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[5]
There have been a number of reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Sudan during 2011 and the first half of 2012, which the Monitor has been unable to confirm. There is a lack of clarity about whether antipersonnel mines or antivehicle mines, or both, have been used. The Monitor has not seen definitive evidence about what forces may have used antipersonnel mines. There have been no confirmed instances of government forces using antipersonnel mines since Sudan became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 2004.
However, it is clear from evidence and testimony from various sources during the reporting period that in the southern part of the country, antipersonnel mines are available for use. There is little to no official information on the situation available from the government, aside from blanket denials of prohibited activity, in either transparency reports or in statements to the public or media.
In 2011, there were reports of new mine-laying in South Kordofan state in the Nuba Mountains near the border with South Sudan as part of clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the northern branch of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army now called SPLM-N.[6] UN reports stated that both the SAF and the SPLM-N were reported to have laid antipersonnel mines in strategic areas of Kadugli town, the capital of South Kordofan state.[7]
On 1 March 2012, a British journalist visited the town of Taroji in South Kordofan that had been taken over by SPLM-N two days earlier on 28 February, where he found and photographed three crates containing a total of at least 100 antipersonnel mines in a structure previously used by Sudan government forces to store ammunition. The mines, with Farsi-language markings, were Iranian-made copies of Israeli Mark 4 antipersonnel mine,[8] a plastic, low-metal-content box mine.[9] Locals warned the journalist from entering the hills surrounding Taroji because, according to the locals, the area had been mined by Sudan government forces.[10]
On 8 March 2012, the ICBL expressed “grave concern” at allegations of antipersonnel mine use by armed forces of the Republic of Sudan in Southern Kordofan in February 2012. The ICBL requested in a letter to the government of Sudan that it clarify whether its forces have used antipersonnel mines in 2011 or 2012.[11]
On 25 May 2012, the National Mine Action Centre responded to the ICBL on behalf of the government of the Republic of Sudan, stating, “The allegations reported to ICBL were provided by rebel groups (SPLA). So it is obvious there is incredibility of the source that has passed the report to ICBL.” According to the response, the reported type of mine used at Taroji is not part of Sudan’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines retained for training purposes. In the response, Sudan committed to “carry out an investigation” and “declare the findings” in its annual Article 7 report (due April 2013).[12] At the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2012, Sudan stated that it does not retain the type of mine referred to in the allegation but publicly committed to investigate the allegation both in the plenary and at a side event.[13]
In May 2012, the ICBL called on Sudan to clarify if it has new contamination resulting from antipersonnel mine use and urged the government to allow international NGOs to continue mine action operations across the country.[14]
In August 2012, SPLM-N fighters at Jebel Kwo military base (located near the village of Tess in Southern Kordofan) showed weapons, including Iranian antipersonnel mines, to two Irish Times reporters that the fighters said they had captured from government forces.[15]
In April 2012, the Justice & Equality Movement (JEM), a non-state armed group in Sudan, signed the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment which includes a pledge not to use, produce, possess or transfer mines, to cooperate in mine action, and to assist compliance monitoring. In signing the Deed of Commitment, JEM Chairman Dr. Gebreil Ibrahim Mohamed indicated that JEM had never used mines and did not possess them.[16] This is the second armed opposition group from Sudan to pledge non-use of antipersonnel mines since the SPLM/A renounced the weapon in 2001. JEM was party to two previous peace agreements in Sudan which prohibited mine use and required cooperation on mine action.[17] In April 2012, the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss NGO, reported that JEM and/or SPLA seized antipersonnel mines after occupying a Sudan Armed Forces base in Heglig.[18] Geneva Call said JEM denied seizing any antipersonnel mines.[19] The South Sudan Mine Action Authority announced that an investigation committee would be sent to the field to investigate these allegations.[20]
Stockpiling and destruction
Sudan reported completion of destruction of its stockpile of 10,566 antipersonnel mines on 31 March 2008, just ahead of its 1 April 2008 treaty-mandated deadline. The reported size and composition of Sudan’s stockpile, as well as the number of mines to be retained for training purposes, have varied.[21] At the Second Review Conference in 2009, Sudan stated that a total of 10,656 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed (possibly a typographical error from 10,566).[22] However, Sudan declared in April 2012 that a total of 13,371 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed in Khartoum in 2007.[23]
In 2009, Sudan reported the discovery of arms caches including antipersonnel mines at various locations of southern Sudan that were subsequently destroyed in Blue Nile state in 2008.[24]
Mines retained for training purposes
In its April 2012 Article 7 report, Sudan stated that it is retaining a total of 1,938 mines, the same amount as reported since 2009.[25] In 2009, Sudan reported a reduction in the number of mines retained for training from 4,997 to 1,938 mines.[26] Each year since 2009, Sudan has reported the transfer of 75 “Type 35” plastic mines from the SAF to the UN Mine Action Office “for training purposes,” but the total number of mines retained for training has remained unchanged.[27] Sudan has not disclosed the intended purposes or actual uses of its retained mines, as agreed by States Parties at Mine Ban Treaty Review Conferences held in 2004 and 2009.
[1] South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011; see the separate entry on South Sudan.
[2] Interview with Adil Abdelhamid Adam, Legal Advisor, National Mine Action Center, Khartoum, 28 March 2011. The Monitor has copies of the law and the decree in Arabic.
[3] Ibid., 31 March 2010. Previously, in April 2009, Sudan reported that draft national implementation legislation had been cleared by the Government of National Unity (GONU) Ministry of Justice and “endorsed by the concerned committee of the National Assembly responsible for the validations of humanitarian laws.” Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 13 April 2009.
[4] Sudan has prepared Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports submitted or dated 1 October 2004, 30 April 2005, 20 May 2006, 30 April 2007, August 2008, 13 April 2009, 28 April 2010, April 2011 and April 2012 (no date provided for the two most recent submissions).
[5] Previous editions of the Monitor have noted no evidence of production of antipersonnel mines by Sudan, but have cited allegations of transfer to militant groups in neighboring countries prior to Sudan becoming a State Party. See, for example, Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 223. Sudan has consistently reported that it “has never produced AP mines.” See, for example, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form E, April 2012.
[6]After years of conflict the government of Sudan and the southern-based rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed a peace agreement on 9 January 2005 that led to a referendum in January 2011 approving self-determination for the South. The Republic of South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 and the SPLA became the regular army of the new Republic of South Sudan while the SPLM became the governing political party. The northern branch of the SPLM became an independent party in Sudan after the South’s secession. See Salma El Wardany, “Sudan Army, Opposition Fighters Clash in Southern Kordofan,” Bloomberg, 24 September 2011.
[7] UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Thirteenth periodic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Sudan: Preliminary report on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Southern Kordofan from 5 to 30 June 2011,” August 2011, para. 25; UNOCHA, “Sudan, South Kordofan – Situation Report No. 12,” covering the period 12–17 July 2011, www.unsudanig.org.
[8] This mine is also referred to as “No. 4” and has been reported by the government of Sudan in its Mine Ban Treaty transparency reports to be present in this part of the country as part of the mine contamination.
[9] The mines were contained in shipping boxes stenciled in Arabic with “Yarmouk Industrial Complex,” a Sudanese Military Industrial Corporation subsidiary. Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, “Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) weapons documented in South Kordofan,” April 2012, http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/pdfs/facts-figures/weapons-tracing-desk/HSBA-Tracing-Desk-SAF-weapons-SK.pdf.
[10] The Monitor has a set of the landmine photographs on file. Interview with Peter Moszynski, London, 11 April 2012. See also: Peter Moszynski, “Intervention is urgently needed to prevent humanitarian catastrophe on Sudan’s border,” British Medical Journal, 19 March 2012.
[11] Letter from Kasia Derlicka, Director, ICBL, to Ali Ahmed Karti, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sudan, 8 March 2012.
[12] Letter from Mohamed Eltaib Ahmed, Chief of Operations, National Mine Action Centre (NMAC) on behalf of the government of the Republic of the Sudan, to the ICBL director, dated 25 May 2012, and provided to the ICBL by Sudan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, 24 May 2012.
[13] Intervention by Sudan on compliance, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on General Status and Operation, Geneva, 24 May 2012. Notes by the ICBL. At a Human Rights Watch (HRW) side event briefing on landmine use allegations, the Sudan delegation stated that Sudan would in fact investigate the allegations. Statement by Steve Goose, HRW, for the ICBL, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on General Status and Operation, Geneva, 25 May 2012, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/05/25/statement-compliance-mine-ban-treaty.
[14] Intervention by the ICBL, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 23 May 2012. Notes by the ICBL.
[15] Paulo Nunes Dos Santos and Mary Fitzgerald, “War in Sudan: the Kerry connection,” The Irish Times, 1 September 2012, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0901/1224323441685.html#.UEFPAcx49Co.twitter.
[16] Geneva Call, “Sudan: the Justice and Equality Movement pledges against antipersonnel mines,” 24 April 2012, http://bit.ly/Q4B0lF.
[17] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 620.
[18] “Weapons identified in Heglig/Panthou and Bentiu,” Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, Small Arms Survey, June 2012, http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/pdfs/facts-figures/weapons-tracing-desk/HSBA-Tracing-Desk-Bentiu.pdf.
[19] Geneva Call said the JEM responded, “JEM forces have not taken a single mine at all from Heglig and they consider them dangerous objects and they have no use for them,” email, Adrian Goodliffe, Programme Officer – Africa, Geneva Call, 24 July 2012.
[20] Email from Jurkuch Barach, SSMAA, to Geneva Call, 21 June 2012.
[21] See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, pp. 675–676. In its February 2006 Article 7 report, Sudan declared a total of 14,485 antipersonnel mines of eight types held in army and SPLA stockpiles, and stated that 5,000 mines of various types would be retained for training purposes by the Engineer Corps of the SAF. In its Article 7 reports submitted in May 2006 and April 2007, Sudan declared a total of 4,485 stockpiled antipersonnel mines of 18 types, all under GONU control, and an additional 10,000 mines of unspecified types to be retained for training purposes, with GONU and the government of South Sudan each retaining 5,000 mines. Sudan destroyed a total of 10,556 mines on 30 April 2007 in northern Sudan and 31 March 2008 in Southern Sudan. In an April 2008 letter, Sudan stated that, of a total stockpile of 15,566 antipersonnel mines, it had destroyed 10,566 and retained 5,000. Sudan stated that the adjusted figure of 15,566 mines (rather than the 14,485 mines previously reported) was the result of additional mines stockpiled by SPLA forces not being previously included in inventories. In its 2009 Article 7 report, Sudan revised its number of mines retained for training purposes, this time reporting a total of 1,938 mines of six types. In a presentation during the May 2009 intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Sudan revised its total number of stockpiled mines, reporting that in spite of its original declaration of 14,485 stockpiled mines, only 12,513 were “accounted for” during physical stock-taking. It is likely that number is supposed to be 12,504 (the 10,566 destroyed mines plus the 1,938 retained mines). Sudan noted, “As no proper records have been maintained, determining the exact number and types of APMs [antipersonnel mines] was a challenge.” In its 2011 Article 7 report, Sudan declared the destruction of 10,656 stockpiled mines (4,488 mines destroyed in Khartoum in April 2007 and 6,078 in Juba, southern Sudan on 31 March 2008). Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, April 2011.
[22] Statement by Dr. Abdelbagi Gailani, State Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Secretary-General of the National Mine Action Authority, Second Review Conference, Mine Ban Treaty, Cartagena, 3 December 2009.
[23] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, April 2012.
[24] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 13 April 2009. At the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in November 2008, Sudan said that it had found “additional abandoned caches” of mines and would destroy them. In March 2008, Sudan indicated that it expects additional stockpiled antipersonnel mines will be identified and destroyed, given the difficulties of doing a comprehensive inventory and collection of all the stockpiled antipersonnel mines belonging to all former combatants in Sudan. See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 634.
[25] The 1,938 mines consist of PMN (176), Type 14 (130), “Desert plastic” (85), Type 35 (1,194), Valmara (46), and PPM mines (307). Article 7 Report, Form D, April 2012.
[26] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, 13 April 2009.
[27] Ibid., in reports submitted 13 April 2009, 28 April 2010, April 2011 and April 2012.
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