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Mauritius
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Mauritius has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In early June 2014, Zambia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Port Louis to urge Mauritius to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including in meetings with his counterpart, Arvin Boolell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius.[1]
In September 2012, Mauritius informed States Parties that relevant actors were considering accession and emphasized that the government is “strongly committed” to the “ideals and principles” of the ban convention.[2] In previous years, government officials have stated on several occasions that Mauritius is examining the implications of acceding to the convention and indicated there were no obstacles for Mauritius joining.[3]
Mauritius will likely need to enact specific legislation to implement the provisions of the convention, or will need to amend existing legislation to effect to the convention.[4]
Mauritius participated in one meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a regional conference held in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008.[5] Mauritius participated as an observer in the convention’s 2010 and 2012 Meetings of States Parties, but did not attend the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013.
Mauritius has not participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including those held in April 2014.
Mauritius has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s cluster munition use, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[6]
Mauritius is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Mauritius has stated several times that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[7]
[1] Alick Banda, “Kalaba lobbies Mauritius to accede to Convention on Cluster Munitions,” The Independent Observer (Zambia), 6 June 2014.
[2] Mauritius also stated that with such a symbiotic partnership between governments and civil society underpinning the convention “the goal of universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions is not far.” Statement of Mauritius, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.
[3] In May 2012, Mauritius stated that the National Humanitarian Law Committee of the Prime Minister’s Office was examining the implications of Mauritius acceding to the ban convention. Statement of Mauritius, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012. In April 2012, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office informed the Monitor that Mauritius intended to “do its best” to sign and ratify the convention in the near future. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Raj Guzadhur, Officer, Prime Minister’s Office, 10 April 2012. In 2010, government representatives said that Mauritius was considering becoming a party to the convention and that there were no obstacles for it to join. CMC meeting with the delegation of Mauritius to the Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010; and CMC meeting with the delegation of Mauritius, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 7–9 June 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[4] According to an official, international treaties ratified by Mauritius are not automatically incorporated into the domestic law, so it would likely need to amend existing legislation, such as the Explosives Act, or enact separate implementing legislation to give effect to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Mauritius received the model implementation law circulated at the First Meeting of States Parties and believes it could be adapted for use as implementation legislation should Mauritius join the convention. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Gulshan Ramreka, Assistant Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, 28 March 2011.
[5] Mauritius attended a regional conference held in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008. For more information, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 228–229.
[6] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Mauritius voted in support of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013
[7] Statement of Mauritius, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012; response to Monitor questionnaire by Raj Guzadhur, Prime Minister’s Office, 10 April 2012; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Gulshan Ramreka, Prime Minister’s Office, 28 March 2011.
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