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Lebanon
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, as in previous years |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Attended as an observer the Second Review Conference in November–December 2009; attended the June 2010 intersessional Standing Committee meetings |
Policy
Lebanon has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, but indicated in December 2009 that it intends to do so. Lebanon participated as an observer in the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, where its representative told States Parties that Lebanon “hopes to sign…in the future,” and it “looks forward to joining the Mine Ban Treaty.”[1]
Lebanon’s leadership role in promoting the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions appears to have had a positive impact on its position on the Mine Ban Treaty. Lebanon had long said that it was unable to join the treaty due to the continuing conflict with Israel, and that the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah heightened concerns about the security of its southern border.[2]
In counterpoint to its remarks at the Second Review Conference on 4 December 2009, just two days earlier Lebanon was one of only 18 nations to abstain from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 64/56, which called for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.[3] In explaining its vote, Lebanon said it respected the treaty, but had not acceded due to self-defense concerns emanating from Israel’s “aggression.”[4]
Lebanon attended the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2010, but did not provide an update on its progress toward joining the treaty.
Lebanon is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Production, transfer, use, and stockpiling
In December 2009, Lebanon confirmed that it “has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.”[5] There have been no allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines or antipersonnel mine-like devices in Lebanon since 2006 and 2007.[6]
The Lebanese Armed Forces stockpiles an unknown number of antipersonnel mines. In March 2008, the director of the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) said that the stockpile consists of a small quantity of mines, which he described as being lower than the maximum number permitted by the Mine Ban Treaty for training purposes.[7]
[1] Statement by Gen. Mohamed Femhi, Director, LMAC, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 4 December 2009. More fully, Lebanon said, “Regardless of the fact that Israel refuses to accede to the Ottawa or Oslo Conventions…Lebanon will not follow that same path. Lebanon understands the tragic consequences that cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines have on civilian populations. Lebanon has signed the Oslo treaty and hopes to sign the Ottawa Convention in the future…. Lebanon, here again, confirms his beliefs in the principle of the Ottawa Convention and its noble objectives, and looks forward to joining the Mine Ban Treaty.”
[2] See, for example, Statement by Amb. Michel Haddad, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004. The ambassador cited the “failure of the Government of Israel to submit all the maps showing the deployment of landmines” and the “continued occupation by Israel of parts of Southern Lebanon.”
[3] Lebanon voted in favor of the annual pro-mine ban resolutions in the UN General Assembly in 1996, 1997, and 1998. In December 1999, it became the first and only country to ever vote against the annual resolution. It abstained from voting each year from 2000 to 2004. In October 2005, Lebanon voted in favor of the resolution in the UNGA First Committee, but it was subsequently absent from the final vote. Since 2006, Lebanon has continued to abstain from the vote.
[4] UN Department of Public Information, Sixty-third General Assembly, First Committee, 20th Meeting (PM) GA/DIS/3378, 29 October 2008. The remarks were made following the vote on the resolution in First Committee.
[5] Statement by Gen. Mohamed Femhi, LMAC, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 4 December 2009.
[6] See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, pp. 893–895, for allegations regarding Hezbollah, Fatah al-Islam, and Israel.
[7] Interview with Gen. Mohamed Fehmi, LMAC, Beirut, 3 March 2008. While the text of the Mine Ban Treaty does not specify a maximum number that may be retained for demining training purposes, most States Parties have agreed that the number should be in the hundreds or thousands, or less, and not in the tens of thousands.
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