Malta signed the Mine
Ban Treaty (MBT) on 4 December 1997. It has not yet ratified the treaty, though
may do so by September 2000. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that
Malta would ratify as soon as the legislation had passed through the Cabinet and
Parliament.[1] Malta
participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999,
where its ambassador to Mozambique, Miguel de Brangança, asserted that
"the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is ready to be associated with any
international action directed at obtaining legal and practical measures that can
resolve the problem of landmines and that this work must constitute the first
aim of this Conference."[2]
Since then Malta has taken part in three intersessional meetings of the MBT: the
Standing Committee of Experts on Mine Clearance, Victim Assistance, and General
Status and Operation of the Convention.
Malta voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolutions
supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and co-sponsored and
voted for the December 1999 pro-ban resolution. It does not possess, produce,
transfer, or use antipersonnel landmines and is not mine-affected. As of
September 1999, it had donated $1,952 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund
for Assistance in Mine
Clearance.[3] It is a party to
the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but has not ratified the Amended
Protocol II; it was an observer at the First Conference of States Parties to
Amended Protocol in December 1999.
[1] Interview with Tony Borg, Department of
Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Valletta, 2 June
1999. [2] Statement of the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta by Ambassador Miguel de Brangança, Ambassador of
Malta to Mozambique, First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty,
Maputo, Mozambique, May 1999. [3]
“Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action: Total Contributions
By Donor, October 1994 to September 1999,” Table, UN Mine Action
Service.