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Libya
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 |
Abstained on Resolution 64/56 in December 2009 and all previous pro-ban resolutions since 1998 |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Did not participate in the Second Review Conference in November–December 2009 |
Policy
The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
In October 2009, in explaining its decision to abstain on the annual pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution, Libya said that the treaty did not address the mine problem in an objective fashion, did not take into account the concerns of a large number of UN member states, and prohibited the use of mines by the most impoverished countries, which were subject to occupation and aggression. It urged a review of the treaty and a reconsideration of its text, calling for a ban on the laying of mines in the territories of third countries, but allowing poor countries to use mines to defend their borders. It called for countries to withdraw from the treaty if such changes were not made.[1]
Libya also called for revision of the treaty in November 2008, and said that a key reason it has not joined is because the treaty does not require states that have planted mines in the past to pay for the clearance and compensate for damages.[2]
Libya has also stated that it would require too much money and human resources to fulfill the treaty’s clearance obligations. More generally, it has said that it has the legal right to defend itself and to protect the security of its vast borders, sometimes declaring that mines are important obstacles to infiltration and illegal immigration.[3]
Libya has stated that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and that it no longer has a stockpile.[4] Libya imported mines from the former Soviet Union, including POMZ-2 and POMZ-2M antipersonnel fragmentation mines, as well as from the former Yugoslavia, including PMA-3 blast mines.[5] Libya is not known to have used antipersonnel mines since its war with Chad from 1980–1987.
Libya is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
[1] UN Department of Public Information, Sixty-fourth General Assembly, First Committee, 21st Meeting, GA/DIS/3401, 29 October 2009. This document has detailed summaries of the remarks of countries on a number of draft resolutions. Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor requested a formal copy of the remarks from Libya, but not received a response.
[2] Statement of Libya, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2008. Other statements to this effect include: Statement of Libya, Eighth Meeting of States Parties, Dead Sea, 18 November 2007; Statement of Libya, Addressing the Human Costs of Anti-personnel Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War, Seminar for States of the Maghreb, Tunis, Tunisia, 9–10 September 2007; Libya’s explanation of vote on A/C.1/62/L.39 (UNGA 62/41); and, “Gathafi asking France to pay compensation for colonial crimes in Algeria,” Alkhabar (daily newspaper), Algiers, 9 December 2007.
[3] See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 917. In October 2007, Libya’s President Muammar al Gaddafi strongly criticized the treaty saying it is “a faulty and flawed instrument. It must be reviewed. Otherwise, the states that hastened to adhere to it must withdraw from it.” He noted that while mine clearance, victim assistance, and the rehabilitation of affected environments are positive elements of the treaty, the prohibition of production and use of mines, as well as the requirement to destroy stockpiles, are not acceptable. He asserted that mines “are the means of the self-defense of the weak countries.” Speech by President Muammar al Gaddafi, “The 1997 Ottawa convention must be reviewed,” 17 October 2007, www.algathafi.org.
[4] Interview with Col. Ali Alahrash, Ministry of Defense, in Geneva, 16 March 2004.
[5] Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, Third Edition 1998–99 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group), p. 603. Chad reported that in August 2003 it discovered 207 PMA-3 blast mines in a container abandoned by the Libyan Army. Chad Article 7 Report, Form G, 27 May 2004; and email from Michel Destemberg, Senior Technical Advisor, UNDP, 5 July 2004.
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