LM Report 2005

Bhutan

Key developments since May 2004: Bhutan acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 18 August 2005, following approval by the National Assembly in July 2005. Bhutan formally announced its intention to accede in September 2004.

The Kingdom of Bhutan acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 18 August 2005. The treaty will enter into force for Bhutan on 1 February 2006, and the country’s initial Article 7 transparency report will be due by 31 July 2006. Bhutan’s positive position toward the treaty solidified after its first participation in a Mine Ban Treaty-related meeting, the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in September 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand. At that time, its representative told Landmine Monitor there were no problems with accession, it was “only a matter of priorities.”^[1]

Bhutan also participated in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2004. In September 2004, Bhutan’s Foreign Minister informed the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs that the government intended to accede to the treaty in 2005.^[2] Later that month, Bhutan gave the UN Secretary-General a letter of intent to accede.^[3] Bhutan sent a three-person observer delegation to the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November-December 2004 in Nairobi.^[4]

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative attending the June 2005 intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva announced that the treaty had been submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.^[5] The National Assembly approved accession documents in July 2005.^[6]

Bhutan’s accession followed months of encouragement by the ICBL, Austria, Canada, Japan, other States Parties and United Nations agencies.^[7] Bhutan had previously voted in support of every annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty since 1997, including UNGA Resolution 59/84 on 3 December 2004.

Bhutan has stated several times that it does not produce, import, export, stockpile or use antipersonnel mines, and that it is not mine-affected.^[8]

The Royal Bhutan Army receives training from India and it is not known if this training has included mine-laying and mine clearance techniques, or whether Indian forces stockpile mines in Bhutan to support training activities.

In December 2003, there were some reports of use of antipersonnel landmines by armed opposition groups from the northeast Indian state of Assam, including the United Liberation Front of Assam, National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Kamtapur Liberation Organization. These groups have maintained bases in Bhutan for more than a decade. These were the first reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Bhutan since 1999. There have been no such reports since December 2003.^[9] Landmine Monitor has not received any reports of landmine casualties before, during or after the military operations in which the mines were reportedly deployed.

Bhutan has eight known mine survivors from an incident in July 2001, in India’s Assam state, three kilometers from the India-Bhutan border.^[10]

^[1] Interview with Sangye Rinchhen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Bangkok, 19 September 2003. Rinchhen also said that a department within the government in charge of international treaties was created only recently, and that environmental conventions were the priority.

^[2] Letter no. ICTD-4(e)/655 to Benita Ferrero Waldner, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria, from Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan, 10 September 2004. In August 2004, the Permanent Mission of Bhutan in Geneva told the Mine Ban Treaty’s Implementation Support Unit that Bhutan intended to accede in 2005.

^[3] Statement of Bhutan, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 13 June 2005.

^[4] The delegation was led by Tshewang C. Dorji, Head of International Treaties and Conventions Division, Multilateral Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

^[5] Statement by Bhutan, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 13 June 2005.

^[6] Letter to Stephen Goose, Human Rights Watch, Landmine Monitor Ban Policy Coordinator, from Amb. Daw Penjo, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the UN in New York, 17 August 2005.

^[7] In May 2004, Austrian Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, President-designate of the First Review Conference, visited Bhutan. In July 2004, retired Indian Ambassador Satnam Singh visited Bhutan on behalf of the UN Mine Action Service, and met with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, among others. Amb. Satnam Singh, UNMAS consultant, “Mission Report -Bhutan, 11-15 July 2004,” 17 July 2004.

^[8] This was first stated in a Landmine Monitor interview with Sangye Rinchhen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Bangkok, 19 September 2003. Officials reiterated this to Amb. Singh during his July 2004 mission. Also, letter to Stephen Goose, Human Rights Watch, Landmine Monitor Ban Policy Coordinator, from Amb. Daw Penjo, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the UN in New York, 17 August 2005.

^[9] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 934. Landmine Monitor has reported in the past that several Indian rebel groups inside Bhutan allegedly possess landmines and/or improvised explosive devices, and there was one previous report in 1999 of use of mines by Indian rebels inside Bhutan.

^[10] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 934.