Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

Policy

The Republic of Iraq acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 15 August 2007, becoming a State Party on 1 February 2008.[1]

Iraq has not indicated if national implementation legislation to enforce the treaty’s prohibitions domestically is being pursued or if existing laws are considered adequate.[2]

Iraq submitted its third Article 7 transparency report covering calendar year 2009.[3] The report contains detailed information from northern Iraq, apparently for the first time.

Iraq attended the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena, Colombia in November–December 2009, where it made statements on victim assistance, mine clearance, and stockpile destruction. Iraq also participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings held in Geneva in June 2010.

Iraq is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Iraq produced antipersonnel mines in the past, including in the period leading up to the 2003 Coalition invasion. All mine production facilities were apparently destroyed in the Coalition bombing campaign.[4] In its initial Article 7 report in 2008, Iraq reported that the Al Qaqa Factory that “produced anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines before the 2003 war…has been completely destroyed during the 2003 war and there is no intention from the side of the Iraqi Government to reconstruct this facility.”[5]

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor is not aware of any mine transfers from Iraq since the 1990s.

Iraq’s treaty deadline for destruction of all stockpiled antipersonnel mines is 1 February 2012. In June 2010, Iraq reported that there are no antipersonnel mine stockpiles in any part of the country except for northern Iraq. It reported a total stockpile of 690 antipersonnel mines in northern Iraq: 580 PMN mines, 60 Valmara-69 mines, and 50 VS-50 mines.[6]

In its May 2009 Article 7 report, Iraq did not include any information on stockpiles or destruction.[7] In its initial Article 7 report submitted in July 2008, Iraq stated that it did not hold stockpiles of antipersonnel mines, but said, “This matter will be further investigated and if required, corrected in the next report.”[8] Landmine Monitor has previously noted that Iraq was believed to stockpile, at some point, mines manufactured by Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Italy, Romania, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, and the United States, in addition to Iraqi-manufactured mines.

Seizure of mines

In May 2010, the Internal Affairs Department reportedly seized a weapons cache containing 106 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in southern Wassit governorate.[9] In this reporting period (since May 2009), far fewer mines were reported seized or found by US forces compared to previous years.[10] In December 2009, US forces reported the seizure of an unspecified numbers of “mines” in a cache of weapons.[11] In February 2010, US forces reported finding a landmine, among other weapons, during a search of an area where two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were found.[12] The Iraqi government has not reported on recovered mines or their destruction in its Article 7 reports. The jurisdiction over and arrangements for antipersonnel mines collected by multinational forces is not clear.

Mines retained for research and training

In its Article 7 report covering 2009, Iraq lists a total of 698 antipersonnel mines retained for training and development purposes. This includes 535 mines held for training in northern Iraq and 25 mines held for training by the “unexploded bombs” school (15 mines) and the “military engineering school” (10 mines).[13] All of these mines are described as containing explosives only and “no detonator.”

The other 138 retained antipersonnel mines are held by the NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG). These mines contain explosives, but the report notes that the mines “are in a neutralised state and cannot be functioned, as one or more of the components/mechanisms have been removed.”[14]

The report also lists 335 antipersonnel mines held by MAG that do not contain explosives, and 60 antipersonnel mines that do not contain explosives transferred to the Muthanna training center under the authorization of the Ministry of Interior.[15]

In its first Article 7 report provided in July 2008, Iraq indicated it would retain 1,234 antipersonnel mines.[16] In its second Article 7 report submitted in 2009, a total of 297 mines were listed as retained, but the change in number was not explained. The change from 297 retained mines reported in 2009 to 698 mines reported in 2010 is also not explained.

Iraq has not reported in detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines, as agreed by States Parties at the First Review Conference in 2004 and again at the Second Review Conference in 2009.

Use

In the ongoing armed conflict, there have been no reports of new mine-laying by Iraqi government military forces. There have never been confirmed reports of use of antipersonnel mines by Coalition forces.[17]

Non-state armed groups

For the second year in a row, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor could not find any confirmed reports of new use of antipersonnel mines by the insurgency. Civilians continued to be killed by mines laid in previous years.

Insurgent forces have continued to use command-detonated IEDs in large numbers, causing numerous casualties. But according to the US military, the number of IED attacks in Iraq has dropped drastically from 23,000 in 2007 to about 3,000 in 2009.[18]  

An IED that is victim-activated—one that explodes on contact by a person—is considered an antipersonnel mine and prohibited under the Mine Ban Treaty. An IED that is command-detonated—where the user decides when to explode it—is not prohibited by the treaty. Command-detonated bombs and IEDs have been frequently referred to in media reports as “landmines.”