Suriname’s Ambassador to the United Nations,
His Excellency Sushas Ch. Mungra, signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997.
Suriname has yet to ratify. In a statement to the signing ceremony, Ambassador
Mungra said, “The Government of the Republic of Suriname is proud to
participate and to be among the first signatories at this historic event....
The Ottawa Convention is a landmark step in the history of disarmament.... The
signing of this Convention...by some 120 countries promotes this convention to
become the International Code of Conduct on this issue and also reflects the
future direction of International Humanitarian
Law.”[1]
Suriname did not attend the treaty preparatory meetings or participate in the
treaty negotiations in Oslo in September 1997. However, it did endorse the
pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, voted for the pro-ban UN General
Assembly resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and supported the pro-ban
Organization of American States resolutions. Suriname is not a party to the
Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor a member of the Conference on
Disarmament. Suriname is not believed to have ever produced or exported
antipersonnel mines.
During the 1986-1992 internal conflict in Suriname, an estimated 1,000 mines
were laid. At the cessation of conflict in August 1992, the Government of
Suriname requested assistance from the OAS to help clear the emplanted mines.
Under the OAS-sponsored program, “Operation Pur Baka,” land in
Suriname was surveyed and cleared and Suriname has since been declared clear of
mines.[2]
The supplier of the mines used in the conflict is not known. It is also not
known if Suriname currently maintains a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.
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