LM Report 2000

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has not yet acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty despite some indications of support. The Director of the Multilateral, Legal and Treaties Branch in the Department of Foreign Affairs told Landmine Monitor that, “Papua New Guinea supports the aim of this treaty, thus, the Department of Foreign Affairs is already in the process of formalising documents for Papua New Guinea accession to the signing and ratification of this treaty.”^[1]

After listening to a presentation by ICBL Ambassador Tun Channereth and Sok Eng of the Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines at a regional meeting of parliamentarians, Papua New Guinea’s Chief Justice, Sir Richard Amet, said that he would advocate in support of the ban on AP mines in his country, and that he would write to the Minister of Justice and the Prime Minister to get their support.^[2]

Papua New Guinea sent a representative to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in May 1999. It voted for UNGA Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had on similar resolutions in the past. It is believed that Papua New Guinea does not use, produce, transfer or stockpile AP mines. A small number of command-detonated Claymore mines purchased from Australia twenty-one years ago are believed to be used for training only.

Papua New Guinea is not known to have contributed to humanitarian mine action programs. It has a slight problem with UXO dating from World War II. While it is possible that the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) may have manufactured and used improvised explosive devices during the armed insurgency of the past decade, the island of Bougainville is not believed to be mine or UXO-affected.

[1] Letter from Joseph K Assaigo, Director Multilateral, Legal and Treaties Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs, Papua New Guinea, to Neil Mander, Convenor, New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines, 2 June 2000.
[2] UNICEF, Report on the Pacific visit of Tun Channareth, International Campaign to Ban Landmines Ambassador, March 22-31, 2000, p. 6.