Singapore has not signed
the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Nor has it signed the Convention on Conventional
Weapons and its Landmines Protocol. Senior government officials have stated that
they are still studying both conventions carefully: “...in line with our
standard practice, we will consider signing them only when we are sure that we
can fulfill all their provisions after taking into account our own defense and
strategic needs.”[1]
Singapore did not attend the preparatory meetings of the Ottawa Process, did
not endorse the pro-ban treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and came only
as an observer to the treaty negotiations in Oslo in September 1997 and the
treaty signing conference in Ottawa in December.
However, Singapore voted in favor of the December 1996 United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 51/45S urging states to vigorously pursue an international
agreement banning antipersonnel landmines, and the 1997 UNGA Resolution 52/38A
supporting the December treaty signing. Singapore has acknowledged that
“the irresponsible and indiscriminate use of antipersonnel landmines pose
not only grave dangers to civilian populations, it also poses a serious threat
to the safety and lives of UN personnel participating in humanitarian,
peacekeeping and development
programmes.”[2]
In May 1996, Singapore stated that “it is not practical to have a
blanket ban on all types of APLs as many countries still see the need for APLs
for legitimate self-defense purposes. In our view, the fundamental cause of the
humanitarian problems are APLs with no self-destruct or self-neutralizing
mechanisms.... Singapore is committed to working with members of the
international community to find a durable solution to this
problem.”[3]
Singapore also voted for UNGA Resolution A/C.1/53/L.33 on 4 November 1998,
which welcomed the addition of new states to the Mine Ban Treaty, urged its
full realization and invited state parties to the First Meeting of State Parties
in Mozambique. At the time, the Singapore representative stated,
“However, we believe that the legitimate security concerns and the right
to self-defense of any state cannot be
disregarded.”[4]
Production
In February 1999, a Singapore Ministry of Foreign
Affairs official stated, “Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS) is the
only company in Singapore that produces landmines, and these are for use of our
defence forces
only.”[5]
Chartered Industries is controlled by the state-owned Sheng-Li holding
company (Sheng-Li mean “victory” in Chinese). One authoritative
source notes that while the Ministry of Finance is the legal owner of the
Singapore Defense Industries and oversees its finances, Sheng-Li’s
operations are largely supervised by the Ministry of Defense, which to a very
large extent sets the main policy guidelines for the operations of the different
defense companies.[6]
Chartered Industries is reported to have produced the following antipersonnel
mines:
Valsella Valmara 69 bounding fragmentation mine
Valsella VS-50 (also designated SPM-1 by Singapore) scatterable blast mine
All three mines are copies of Italian mines. The VS-50 and TS-50 are largely
non-detectable, plastic
mines.[8]
Vito Alfieri Fontana, a former owner of the Tecnovar Company denies that
Tecnovar ever gave production licenses to
Singapore.[9] A memo from
Gaetano Paola Agnini, a former marketing manager of Valsella, stated that
beginning in 1982 Chartered Industries of Singapore imported fully assembled
mines from Valsella and then re-exported them to different countries. Later
Valsella “shipped large quantities of CKD components to be assembled and
loaded with explosive charge by the Singapore-based company--primarily for the
supply of mines to the Iraqi
Forces.”[10] From 1982 to
1986 Valsella exports to Singapore totalled US$18.6 million (see Italy report).
No Valsella exports to Singapore were recorded after 1986.
Although there have been rumors that Valsella moved some mine production
equipment and operations to Singapore after the ban in Italy took effect, there
is no evidence to substantiate this. Gaetano Paola Agnini, the former Valsella
marketing manager, has denied it, stating that no Valsella “plant
machinery and equipment” was transferred to
Singapore.[11] The Singapore
government states that private companies from other countries have not set up
factories to produce landmines in
Singapore.[12]
According to the Foreign Ministry, Singapore has not transferred landmine
production technology to another country and is not producing or conducting
research and development on any munitions that might function like an
antipersonnel mine and pose dangers to civilians (such as antitank mines with
antihandling devices and certain submunitions/cluster
bombs).[13]
Transfer
On 8 May 1996 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
issued a Press Statement declaring a two year moratorium on the export of
“antipersonnel mines which have no self-destruct or self-neutralising
mechanisms.”[14] On 5
February 1998 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the “Singapore
Government has now decided, with immediate effect, to extend the moratorium to
the export of all types of antipersonnel mines.” This moratorium will be
in force indefinitely.[15]
Government officials have stated categorically that no landmines have been
exported from Singapore since May
1996.[16]
A partly declassified United States Army Intelligence study confirms that
Italian-designed Singapore produced-mines were found in Iraqi arsenals after the
Gulf War.[17] Aside from Iraq,
it is not known to which countries Singapore exported antipersonnel mines in the
past. Chartered Industries has records of all landmines exported from Singapore
but these are kept
confidential.[18]
Singapore imported 3,843 M-18A1 Claymore mines and ten M-14 blast mines from
the United States from
1970-1981.[19] It is not known
if Singapore has imported antipersonnel mines from other countries.
Stockpiling
Given its opposition to the ban treaty, its
statements about the need for mines for legitimate self-defense, and the very
fact that it has an export moratorium in place, it seems certain that Singapore
has a stockpile of antipersonnel mines. No details, however, are available. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, “For security reasons, we cannot discuss
the numbers, types and locations of Singapore’s APLs, or if there was such
a stockpile in the first
place.”[20]
Use
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares that no
landmines have been laid in
Singapore.[21] There is no
evidence to the contrary.
Landmine Problem
While landmines pose no danger to civilians,
Singapore does still have sporadic cases of unexploded WWII ordnance found on
beaches and at various sites under development. Army Engineers are employed to
destroy any UXOs found.[22]
Mine Action
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said, “We
share the humanitarian concerns of the international community and would support
their efforts to resolve the problem of uncleared
mines.”[23] To date, the
government has not made any direct financial contribution to mine action
programs. A Foreign Affairs spokesperson stated, “We are actively studying
ways in which we can effectively contribute towards international efforts on
mine clearance and victim assistance. These include proposals to set up a
demining training centre in the Asian region and a Third Country Training
Programme for
Demining.”[24]
Transparency
Official sources have been reluctant to provide
information on the production, storage, export and use of landmines. A Landmine
Monitor researcher traveled to Singapore from 6-12 February 1999 and met with
officials of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs[25] and the Ministry of
Defense[26] as well as a Member
of Parliament, a retired Army Officer an academic and diplomats from five
countries.
[1] Singapore Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Letter from Permanent Secretary to John V. Head (Landmine
Monitor researcher), MFA/IOD/00039/1999l, 11 February 1999.
[2] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Press Statement, 8 May 1996.
[3] Permanent Mission of
Singapore to the United Nations, Press Statement, “Singapore Declares A
Moratorium on the Export of Antipersonnel Landmines,” 7 May 1996.
[4] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs letter, 11 February 1999.
[6] Bilveer Singh,
Singapore’s Defence Industries (Canberra: Strategic and Defence
Studies Centre, ANU, 1990 ), p. 13.
[7] The annual
Jane’s Military Vehicles volumes have details on these mines. The
Jane’s publications have no record of landmine production in
Singapore prior to 1983 or after 1991. See in particular, Jane’s
Military Vehicles and Ground Support Equipment 1983, p.185; 1984, pp. 182,
188; 1985, pp. 195, 203; 1986, pp. 201-203, 211; 1987, pp. 218, 219, 226;
Jane’s Military Vehicles and Logistics 1988, p. 226; 1989, p. 230;
1990, p. 231.
[8] Technical characteristics
of these mines can be found in the various Jane’s Military Vehicles
volumes, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense, Mine Facts database,
available on CD-ROM.
[9] Personal email from Vito
Alfieri Fontana to John V. Head, 22 February 1999.
[10] Letter from Gaetano
Paola Agnini dated 19 February 1999, provided by Nicoletta Dentico, Italian
Campaign to Ban Landmines, to John V. Head.
[14] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Press Statement, 8 May 1996.
[15] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Press Statement, 5 February 1998.
[16] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs letter, 11 February 1999.
[17] United States Army
Intelligence Agency and United States Army Foreign Science and Technology
Center, “Operation Desert Shield Special Report:Iraqi Combat Engineer
Capabilities,” 1990.
[18] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs letter, 11 February 1999.
[19] U.S. Army, Armament,
Munitions, and Chemical Command (USAMCCOM), Letter to Human Rights Watch, 25
August 1993, and attached statistical tables, provided under the Freedom of
Information Act. (no page number).
[20] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs letter, 11 February 1999.