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South Sudan

Last Updated: 25 November 2013

Mine Ban Policy

Mine ban policy overview

Mine Ban Treaty status

State Party

National implementation measures

No measures taken yet

Key developments

Provided initial Article 7 report in December 2012 and an updated report in April 2013

Policy

Less than six months after becoming an independent state on 9 July 2011, the Republic of South Sudan joined the Mine Ban Treaty on 11 November 2011 through the rarely used process of “succession.” According to the UN Office of Legal Affairs, the Mine Ban Treaty took effect for South Sudan on 9 July 2011, the date of state independence and succession.[1]

In December 2012, South Sudan reported that it is aware of its obligations under Article 9 of the Mine Ban Treaty to “take all appropriate legal, administrative and other measures, including the imposition of penal sanctions, to prevent and suppress” any prohibited activity. While no legal measures have been taken yet, South Sudan said it is “committed to doing so in the future and to reporting on these measures.”[2] In April 2013, South Sudan again reported that it is aware of its Article 9 obligation, but has not yet taken any legal measures.[3]

South Sudan submitted its initial Article 7 report for the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 2012, covering the period from 11 July 2011 to 1 September 2012.[4] It provided an updated Article 7 report in April 2013 for the period from September 2012–April 2013.

South Sudan participated in the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012, where it made a general statement and spoke on mine clearance, victim assistance, and stockpile destruction. South Sudan attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings held in Geneva in May 2013, where it spoke on compliance and stockpile destruction.

Production and transfer

In December 2012, South Sudan declared “There are not and never have been anti-personnel mine production facilities in South Sudan.”[5] There is no information available on past transfers.

Stockpiling and destruction

In accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty, South Sudan must destroy any stockpiles of antipersonnel mines as soon as possible and no later than 9 July 2015.

Before independence, the southern-based rebel movement the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) stockpiled and used antipersonnel mines.[6]

In its December 2012 Article 7 report, South Sudan reported that it had destroyed 10,566 stockpiled antipersonnel mines and also reported the discovery of previously unknown stocks of antipersonnel mines in former camps of the Sudan Armed Forces, stating that it had discovered four PMN antipersonnel mines that would be destroyed. The report also listed 30 different types of antipersonnel mines that have been destroyed in the course of mine clearance operations.[7]

In its April 2013 Article 7 report, South Sudan declared that the government destroyed 6,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in March 2008 and no longer had a stockpile. The report did not mention the four newly-discovered mines declared in 2012.[8] The National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) issued a letter confirming that the previously reported statement made by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Eleventh Meeting of the State Parties in 2012, regarding discovery of new stockpiles of antipersonnel mines, was made in error. Contrary to the statement made, the Deputy Minister had actually intended to convey to the international community that new mine fields had been discovered in the states of Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity.[9]

In November 2011, South Sudan stated that it is not retaining any antipersonnel mines for training.[10] This was confirmed in the December 2012 and April 2013 Article 7 reports.[11]

Use

During 2011, there were several incidents in which landmines were apparently laid in South Sudan, including in the states of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile (see below); however the Monitor could not determine who was responsible for the mine-laying and to what extent antipersonnel mines, as opposed to antivehicle mines, were being laid. In 2012, there were no new allegations of landmine use in South Sudan, but further allegations of new mine use were made in the first half of 2013.

The armed forces of the Republic of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N), the armed opposition group operating in the Nuba Mountains, have been engaged in armed conflict since July 2011. There were reports of mine stockpiles being captured by the SPLM-N in February 2012 in the Republic of Sudan’s South Kordofan state, north of the border with South Sudan, which is home to some Nuba communities which supported the South during the civil war.[12] During fighting in Heglig in April 2012, weapons that included antipersonnel mines were reportedly seized by combatants from an occupied Sudan Armed Forces base; these combatants included members of the regular army of the Republic of South Sudan and Justice & Equality Movement (JEM), a non-state armed group (NSAG) in Sudan.[13] Geneva Call said JEM denied seizing any antipersonnel mines and that a representative of the South Sudan Mine Action Authority stated that a committee would be sent to investigate the allegation.[14] In June 2011, Brigadier Jurkuch Barach, chair of the Southern Sudan Mine Action Authority, expressed concern at new civilian deaths from what were, in his opinion, newly-laid antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines.[15] A representative of the UN Mine Action Office (UNMAO) Southern Sudan told media that evidence indicates rebel militia groups were laying mines and said, “We’ve seen an increase in mine incidents and mine accidents over the past six months or so and in many areas we think there are a lot of alleged cases of re-mining. We can’t prove it because we haven’t seen it but anecdotal evidence indicates that these are newly laid, not old mines.”[16]

In 2011, the ICBL expressed concern at “alarming reports” of new landmine use by NSAGs in South Sudan.[17] In May 2012, the ICBL again drew States Parties’ attention to apparent new mine-laying in 2011 in South Sudan, but noted it was not possible to determine who was responsible or whether antipersonnel mines in addition to antivehicle mines had been laid.[18]

The NMAA conducted a fact-finding mission in June–July 2013 to engage with civil authorities in the states of Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, and Western Bahr El Ghazal. The NMAA engaged in discussions with the Governor and the Deputy Governor as well as the Sector and Division Commanders from the SPLA. Both the civil authorities as well as the SPLA denied allegations of being involved in new mine laying activities. However, the SPLA confirmed that new mines had indeed been laid by rebel forces in Unity state and also in Jonglei state in the areas of Khorflus and Khorwai. A formal report is being prepared by the NMAA to include findings from the fact-finding mission.[19]

Jonglei state use allegations

In March 2011, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) regional coordinator for Southern Sudan was quoted in media reports saying that forces loyal to George Athor, a former deputy chief of staff of the SPLA, had used mines in northern Jonglei state.[20] In February 2011, SPLA spokesperson Philip Aguer told media that Athor’s forces were “planting land mines.”[21] According to the SPLA, “two army trucks were blown up by land mines near the town of Fangak in Jonglei state.”[22]

In July 2013, after a visit to Jonglei state, Refugees International issued a report that stated “multiple UN and NGO sources have…reported that members of the SPLA have been laying anti-personnel mines in civilian areas. However the UN Mine Action Service has been unable to conduct an investigation that would confirm this.”[23] Refugees International informed the ICBL that the mine use was in the Pibor in the southeast of Jonglei state in South Sudan.[24] The Small Arms Survey, a Swiss NGO, documented several seizures of mines in Jonglei state and Unity state in 2011.[25]

Unity state use allegations

In Unity state, there were several reports of antivehicle mine use in 2011, claiming multiple casualties including in May,[26] August,[27] September,[28] and October.[29] The Small Arms Survey documented newly-laid Chinese manufactured T-72 antivehicle mines, reportedly laid by the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) around Mayom, Unity state, on 29 October 2011, with the lot number 07-81-6902.[30] In November 2011, a UN Mine Action and Coordination Centre (UNMACC) representative told media that routes leading into and out of the state capital Bentiu were suspected to be mined.[31] In December 2011, a UNMACC representative said that it was increasing efforts to unblock aid and trade routes in Unity state because “the re-mining has shut down most of the state.”[32]

In September 2011, the South Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SSLA/M), an armed opposition group in South Sudan that opposes the government of the Republic of South Sudan, issued a press release denying responsibility for landmine use in Unity state and blaming the SPLA “for planting anti-personnel mines which are now hampering free movements of civilians in Unity State.” The statement claimed that the governor of Unity state, Major-General Taban Deng Gai, had “ordered the SPLA army to plant Anti-personnel mines in major highways of the state to harm civilians and blame the SSLM/A.”[33] In November 2011, SPLA Major-General Mangar Buong accused the government of Sudan of funding the rebel groups to destabilize South Sudan by planting mines.[34]

In January 2012, a former senior SSLA member interviewed by Amnesty International admitted that their forces had laid antivehicle landmines on Unity state roads expected to be used by SPLA forces, but denied that SSLA forces had laid antipersonnel landmines.[35]

Upper Nile state use allegations

In June 2013, a resident in Sudan’s White Nile state told a South Sudan media outlet that “armed rebels” planted landmines in an area from Wadakona, a village in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state to the border with Sudan’s White Nile state. After a farmer died when his tractor hit a mine, the listener said, “People are now avoiding using vehicles for fear of landmines.”[36]

In Upper Nile state, an antipersonnel mine was found in Malakal in April 2011. It is unknown who laid it, but there has been conflict in the area between the SPLA and a Shilluk armed group under Commander John Olony, a rebel SPLA officer.[37]

 

 



[1] See, www.apminebanconvention.org/states-parties-to-the-convention/south-sudan/. 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. Under the “succession” process, a newly independent state may declare that it will abide by a treaty that was applicable to it prior to its independence.

[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, December 2012, Form A. In Sudan, a Mine Action Law adopted by Presidential Decree #51 on 31 March 2010 prohibits antipersonnel mines and includes penalties for violations.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, April 2013, Form A.

[4] The report was originally due by 5 January 2012.

[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, April 2013, Form E. In November 2011, South Sudan informed States Parties that it does not possess facilities for the production of landmines. Statement of South Sudan, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 28 November 2011. Notes by the ICBL.

[6] In 1996, the SPLM/A declared a moratorium on antipersonnel mine use and reasserted its pledge to not use mines in 1999. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 182. The SPLM/A subsequently signed the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment in 2001. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 575. In January 2002, the SPLM/A and the government of Sudan signed the Nuba Mountains cease-fire agreement in which both parties agreed to stop using mines. See Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 534. In 2005, the SPLM/A entered into a Sudanese government of national unity and was bound by the obligations of the Mine Ban Treaty. See Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 652–653.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, December 2012, Forms B and H.

[8] Ibid., April 2013, Forms B and D.

[9] Email from Lance Malin MBE, Programme Manager for South Sudan, UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), 14 October 2013.

[10] Statement of South Sudan, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 28 November 2011. Notes by the ICBL.

[11] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, December 2012, Form D; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, April 2013, Form D.

[12] Mines were a ‘No.4’ type plastic box mine with Farsi writing on the mine bodies, contained in 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.

[13] See, Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, “Weapons identified in Heglig/Panthou and Bentiu,” 5 June 2012.

[14] 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 from Adrian Goodliffe, Programme Officer – Africa, Geneva Call, 24 July 2012; and email from Geneva Call, 5 October 2012.

[15] Statement of South Sudan, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 23 June 2011.

[16] Maggie Flick, “Landmines in Southern Sudan,” Huffington Post, 4 June 2011, citing an interview with Tim Horner, Deputy Director of the UNMAO in Southern Sudan.

[17] Statement of ICBL, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 20 June 2011.

[18] Ibid., 25 May 2012.

[19] UNMAS has been unable to independently verify the allegations due to access restrictions to the alleged sites. Email from Lance Malin MBE, UNMAS, 14 October 2013.

[20] George Athor’s forces launched an armed rebellion against the government of southern Sudan in the aftermath of the April 2010 elections. George Athor subsequently formed a breakaway movement, the South Sudan Democratic Movement/South Sudan Army (SSDM/A). UNMIS, “Near-verbatim Transcript of the Press Conference by Mr. David Gressley, UNMIS Regional Coordinator for Southern Sudan,” Miraya FM Studios, Juba, 29 March 2011.

[21]South Sudan ceasefire broken: Athor attacks Jonglei,” BBC News, 10 February 2011; and Ngor Arol Garang, “Sudan: South Sudan Army Retake Fangak from Athor Forces –SPLA,” Sudan Tribune, 10 February 2011.

[22]South Sudan clashes with Athor in Jonglei: ‘100 dead,’” BBC News, 11 February 2011.

[24] ICBL meeting with Caitlin Briggs, Refugees International, Geneva, 4 June 2013.

[25] In March 2011, the SPLA confiscated more than 250 antivehicle mines from SSDA forces loyal to George Athor in Jonglei state. The Small Arms Survey identified the mines as TM-57 and GLD-215, manufactured in Russia and China. Additional TM-57 antivehicle mines were seized from the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) in April 2011, near Mayom in Unity state. The SPLA also recovered PMN-type antipersonnel mines from the SSLA around Mayom, Unity state, in June 2011. See Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, “Anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in Unity and Jonglei states,” 5 March 2012.

[26] A UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) security briefing noted, “According to UNDSS [UN Department of Safety and Security] reports on 13 May, three commercial vehicles (one fuel and two water tankers) hit landmines along the Bentiu-Tharjat road, close to the Guit junction” in Unity state and “two more people stepped on landmines while trying to rescue the wounded drivers.” UNOCHA, “Sudan Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin,” 6–12 May 2011. The mines were alleged to have been laid by forces loyal to Peter Gadet, a former SPLA general and now head of a new armed group in Unity state, the SSLA. Bonifacio Taban Kuich, “Three seriously injured by land mines explode in Unity State,” Sudan Tribune (Bentiu), 12 May 2011. The SSLA denied the use allegation and stated that it did not have any forces in the area and it has not used antipersonnel mines since armed conflict started in May “because it is the violation of international laws which outlawed their use.” SSLA Press release, “SSLM/A Condemns Unity State Gov’t For Planting Anti-Personnel Mines,” published by South Sudan News Agency (Mayom), 6 September 2011.

[27] Five people were killed and 21 seriously injured in two separate antivehicle mine incidents on 20–21 August 2011. The governor of Unity state condemned the mine use, which it said was carried out by rebels led by James Gai Yoach. The mine use was blamed on rebels led by James Gai Yoach, who have broken away from SSLA following Commander Peter Gadet’s acceptance of a cease-fire agreement with the government of South Sudan. Bonifacio Taba, “Landmine Blast Kills 5 in South Sudan,” Voice of America, 23 August 2011; and Bonifacio Taban Kuich, “Landmines kill 5 and injure 21 in South Sudan’s Unity state,” Sudan Tribune (Bentiu), 23 August 2011.

[28] In September 2011, four civilians were killed when the bus they were traveling in hit an antivehicle mine on a road in Mayom County in Unity state. “Amputees reap bitter fruits of separation in Sudan state,” mysinchew.com, 17 December 2011.

[29] According to Amnesty International, 20 people, including four children, were reportedly killed when the bus in which they were traveling hit an antivehicle landmine between Mayom and Mankien on 9 October 2011. Amnesty International, “South Sudan: Overshadowed Conflict,” 28 June 2012, pp. 22–23.

[30] Small Arms Survey, Sudan Human Security Baseline Assessment, “Anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in Unity and Jonglei states,” 5 March 2012.

[31]Relentless Use of Landmines in South Sudan Sparks Fear,” Voice of America, 21 November 2011.

[32]Amputees reap bitter fruits of separation in Sudan state,” mysinchew.com, 17 December 2011.

[33] SSLA/M press release, “SSLA/M condemns Unity state gov’t for planting anti-personnel mines,” Sudan Tribune (Khartoum), 6 September 2011.

[34]Relentless Use of Landmines in South Sudan Sparks Fear,” Voice of America, 21 November 2011.

[35] According to the former SSLA member, “We had some landmines but we kept many of them back. We sent intelligence guys to lay down anti-tank mines, and then attract SPLA forces to them.” Amnesty International, “South Sudan: Overshadowed Conflict,” 28 June 2012, p. 23.

[36]“Landmines kill and maim civilians on Sudan - South Sudan border’: source,” Radio Tamazuj, 19 June 2013.

[37] UNMAO, “Recent Use of Landmines in South Sudan,” South Sudan Mine Action Office, 2 June 2011, p. 3.