LM Report 2003

Guyana

Key developments since May 2002: In April 2003, Guyana's National Assembly approved ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Guyana signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. On 14 April 2003, Guyana's National Assembly approved ratification of the treaty. The treaty ratification must be approved by the President, before deposit of the ratification instrument with the United Nations.^[1] Interest in ratification was renewed after a May 2002 seminar on implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was held in Georgetown, hosted by the Canadian High Commission and the Embassy of the Netherlands.^[2]

In August 2002, H.D. Hoyte, Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform wrote to the ICBL, stating, “Please be assured that my Party, National Congress Reform, fully supports the objectives of ICBL to bring about a total ban on the manufacturing and use of landmines worldwide, thus ensuring a mine-free world. We will lend our support to all initiatives to this end.”^[3]

Guyana did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings during the reporting period, but on 22 November 2002, it voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, promoting universalization and implementation of the treaty.

Guyana is not known to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines and is not mine-affected. Landmine Monitor estimates that Guyana has some 20,000 antipersonnel mines stockpiled. According to a Guyana Defense Force official, some, if not all, of the stockpiled antipersonnel mines are PMB-2 mines manufactured by North Korea.^[4]

[1] Emails to Landmine Monitor (MAC) from the High Commission of Canada, Georgetown, 28 and 29 July 2003.
[2] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 562, for more on the seminar.
[3] Letter from H.D. Hoyte, Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform, to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, 5 August 2002.
[4] Interview with Guyana Defence Force official who requested anonymity, Georgetown, June 2002.