The Republic of Palau has not joined the 1997 Mine
Ban Treaty. On 7 July 2003, the Minister of State, Temmy L. Schmull, thanked
the ICBL for its “untiring effort to universalize the membership of this
very important treaty” and said that “impending accession to the
Mine Ban Treaty is still under consideration...as there are implications to our
nationals serving in the US Armed Forces. Accordingly, the leadership will
continue to consider this important
issue.”[1]
Schmull confirmed that on 4 May 2000, a resolution to accede to the Mine Ban
Treaty was introduced by then-Senator Sandra S. Pierantozzi and passed by the
Senate of Palau’s National Congress (Olbiil Era Kelulau, OEK), but the
House of Delegates did not consider the resolution. He said that should
government leadership “decide to pursue the matter, we will have to
reintroduce a new proposed resolution for formal re-consideration by the
6th OEK.”
Palau was absent from the vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 in
November 2002, as it has been for similar pro-ban resolutions in previous years.
Palau is not believed to have ever produced, transferred, stockpiled, or used
antipersonnel mines. Schmull said that Palau, “historically, has had its
share of similar danger to civilians posed by ordnance abandoned during World
War II, and therefore, we share similar views as that of the International
Campaign to Ban Land
Mines.”[2]