Key developments since May 2002: Suriname
ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 May 2002, and the treaty entered into force
on 1 November 2002. In March 2003, the Minister of Defense established an
inter-ministerial Commission on Antipersonnel Mines.
Mine Ban Policy
Suriname signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December
1997, ratified on 23 May 2002, and the treaty entered into force for the country
on 1 November 2002.[1] The
ratification came two weeks after a seminar was held in the capital of
Paramaribo on the Mine Ban
Treaty.[2]
On 11 March 2003, the Minister of Defense established an inter-ministerial
Commission on Antipersonnel Mines, which is responsible for preparing the
country’s implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[3] The initiation of
national legislation to implement the treaty will likely be a responsibility of
the commission, while the Ministry of Justice and Police will be responsible for
actual legislative reform and drafting.
One of the commission’s tasks is the preparation of Suriname’s
initial Article 7 report.[4]
The report, due by 30 April 2003, had not been submitted as of July 2003.
Suriname did not attend the Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 or
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. A
government official told Landmine Monitor that financial constraints hinder the
country’s participation in international
events.[5] Suriname was absent
during the vote on pro-mine ban UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 on 22
November 2002.
Suriname is not believed to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel
mines. The Ministry of Defense has acknowledged that it maintains a stockpile of
296 antipersonnel mines imported from Libya (189 Portuguese-manufactured M-969
mines, 99 Yugoslav-manufactured PMA mines, and eight “Lot No. 8003”
manufactured by an unknown
country).[6]
Landmine Problem and Casualties
The Army has removed almost all of the estimated
1,000 antipersonnel mines it laid during the country’s internal conflict
from 1986 to 1992. Rebel forces used homemade mines during the conflict, but
reportedly removed all of them.
According to the Minister of Defense, some thirteen antipersonnel mines
emplaced by the Army on 26 February 1987 in an area estimated at 40 square
meters remain in place at Stolkertsijver, about fifty kilometers east of
Paramaribo, because dense vegetation has made clearance too
difficult.[7] Five warning
signs placed around the area in early 1991, after mine clearance activities that
started mid-1988 ceased, are still
intact.[8] The Ministry of
Defense arranged for local veterans to monitor the area and alert the Ministry
to any unusual activity or
trespassing.[9] The Ministry of
Defense is preparing to erect barbed wire and new
signs.[10]
At least two landmine casualties, both government soldiers, have been
recorded in Suriname.[11] On 16
October 1989, a government soldier lost his right leg below the knee to an
antipersonnel mine planted by the National Army near the city of Albina in the
Marowijne district.[12] The
Ministry of Defense provided the soldier with an artificial limb, rehabilitation
and psychological treatment, and a bicycle, and he has remained in his
job.[13] A second soldier
received minor injuries from a booby-trap planted by rebel
forces.[14]
[1] Landmine Monitor has a copy of the
instrument of ratification, which was signed by President Runaldo R. Venetiaan
on 29 April 2002 and formally deposited three weeks
later. [2] The seminar was organized by
the International Committee of the Red Cross, Canada, and the Netherlands, in
cooperation with the government of Suriname. Suriname’s Minister of
Defense, Ronald Assen, opened the
seminar. [3] The commission comprises
the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice and Police, and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, each represented by two policy-level staff members. Letter No.
MD02-1678 from the Minister of Defense, Ronald R. Assen, to the Minister of
Justice and Police, Siegfried Gilds, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mary
Levens, 17 September 2002; letter No. 8135 from the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Mary Levens, to the Minister of Defense, 8 November 2002.
[4] Invitation letter DD/249-03 from
the Director of Defense, R. Julen, to the six nominated representatives of the
Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice and Police, and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 18 February 2003. [5]
Interview with Major Jozef Laurens, Engineering Division of the National Army,
Ministry of Defense, Paramaribo, 20 November
2002. [6] Inventory list of
antipersonnel mines provided by R.S. Franker, Head of Ammunition Management,
dated 7 June 2002, received 20 November 2002; letter from Major Jozef Laurens,
Ministry of Defense, 21 March 2003; interviews with Major Jozef Laurens,
Paramaribo, 16 July 2002 and 20 November 2002.
[7] Statement by the Minister of
Defense, Landmines Seminar, Paramaribo, 9 May 2002; Statement by the Minister of
Defense, Commission Antipersonnel Mines event, Paramaribo, 11 March
2003. [8] Interview with Major Jozef
Laurens, Ministry of Defense, Paramaribo, 19 March 2003; field trip with Major
Laurens to Stolkertsijver, Marowijne district, 4 March
2003. [9] Field trip with Major Laurens,
Ministry of Defense, to Stolkertsijver, Marowijne district, 4 March 2003. This
was confirmed again by Major Jozef Laurens, Paramaribo, 19 March
2003. [10] Interview with Major Jozef
Laurens, Ministry of Defense, Paramaribo, 20 November
2002. [11]
Ibid. [12] Interview with Corporal
Milton Mashart, Engineering Division of the National Army, Paramaribo, 17
December 2002, in the office and in presence of Maj.
Laurens. [13]
Ibid. [14] Interview with Maj. Laurens
and Corporal Milton Mashart, Ministry of Defense, Paramaribo, 20 November
2002.