Article 5 deadline: 1 April 2019
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Non-signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Recommendations for action

• Sudan should re-establish conditions that allow international mine action organizations to operate and conduct land release in Sudan.
• The Information Management System of Mine Action (IMSMA) database reporting format should disaggregate cluster munition remnants from other unexploded ordinance (UXO). Continued efforts should be made to ensure reporting and recording of mine action data according to International Mine Action Standards land release terminology.
• Sudan should regularly update States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty on access to, and progress in clearing, Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
• The Sudanese National Mine Action Centre (NMAC) should communicate with the mine action community and report regularly with transparent, up-to-date information on all clearance. 

Contamination

Mine and explosive remnant of war contamination (see below for cluster munition contamination)

The Republic of Sudan had 108 areas containing antipersonnel mines covering a total of just over 21km² at the end of 2014. According to NMAC, 2.9km² is confirmed to contain antipersonnel mines while 18km² is suspected to contain antipersonnel mines.[1] 

Sudan’s mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination results from decades-long conflict since its independence in 1956. Twenty years of civil war, during which mines and other explosive weapons were used heavily by all parties to the conflicts, resulted in widespread contamination that has since claimed thousands of victims.[2] In January 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, ending the civil war and ultimately leading to the independence of the south in July 2011. However, since South Sudan’s independence, conflicts have again broken out in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states and in the Abyei region, which have caused an unknown amount of new contamination from UXO. According to UNDP, the IMSMA database does not contain any data on the extent of contamination in Abyei due to the conflict and restricted access to the area.[3] There are also several reports of use of antipersonnel mines in 2011, 2012, and 2013 that the Monitor has been unable to confirm (see the Mine Ban Policy country profile for more details).

Sudan’s total estimated remaining mine and ERW contamination affects 10 of its 18 states: Blue Nile; Central, East, North, South, and West Darfur; Gadaref; Kassala; Red Sea; and South Kordofan.[4] Of these, five contain antipersonnel mines: South Kordofan, Kassala, Blue Nile, Red Sea, and Gadaref, as set out in the table below. Contamination is largely concentrated in South Kordofan (18km²), followed by Kassala (2km²), and Blue Nile (1km²) states, while Red Sea and Gadaref states each have 10,000m² or less antipersonnel mine contamination remaining. No mine contamination has been reported in Darfur, where the main threat is from UXO.[5] 

Contamination by province as of end 2014[6]

Note: SHAs = suspected hazardous areas.

Mine and ERW contamination continues to pose a daily threat to the lives of civilian populations in Sudan and also has a significant detrimental impact on the socio-economic development of local communities. In the Abyei area, the UN has on repeated occasions expressed concern over the residual threat of mines and ERW and the impact of contamination in obstructing the safe return of displaced persons and preventing safe migration.[7] The presence of mines and ERW also hinders provision of humanitarian assistance and access to the conflict-affected states.[8]

Cluster munition contamination

The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in Sudan is not known. 

The most recent estimate of the extent of cluster munition contamination in Sudan dates back to June 2011, when the UN Mine Action Office (UNMAO) reported nine remaining areas suspected to be contaminated with unexploded submunitions and stated that 81 areas had been released (see table below).[9] In May 2015, UNDP, which took over lead responsibility within the UN system for mine action coordination in Sudan in 2014, had no new reports of cluster munition contamination and no clearance of cluster munition remnants was reported during the year.[10]

Cluster munition-contaminated areas in Sudan as of June 2011[11]

NMAC,[12] which assumed full national ownership for implementing mine action activities upon UNMAO’s departure in June 2011, has not provided updated information on the reported nine open areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants since it was established. NMAC does not distinguish between clearance of different types of ERW in its reporting and so has been unable to confirm how much land was cleared of cluster munition remnants from 2011 to 2015, or how many submunitions were destroyed. 

From 1995 to 2000, Sudanese government forces are believed to have sporadically air-dropped cluster munitions in its civil war with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). Government forces were reported to have used several types of cluster submunitions, including Spanish-manufactured HESPIN 21, US-manufactured M42 and Mk-118 (Rockeye) and a Brazilian copy, Chinese Type-81 dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), Chilean-made PM-1, and Soviet-manufactured PTAB-1.5 and AO-1SCh submunitions.[13] 

There has been evidence of use of cluster munitions by the Sudanese Armed Forces in 2012 and 2015 in Southern Kordofan. The Sudanese government has denied the use of cluster munitions (see Cluster Munition Ban Policy section for more details).

Program Management 

The Sudan National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and NMAC manage Sudan’s mine action program. In 2005, UN Security Council Resolution 1590 and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement established the legal framework for UNMAO to manage quality assurance of all mine action activities in Sudan in the frame of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).[14] The same year, the NMAC initiated a partnership with UNMAO, the NMAA was set up, and a National Mine Action Policy Framework was developed, revised, and then approved by August 2006.[15]

Following UNMIS and UNMAO’s closure in July 2011 upon the independence of South Sudan, NMAC assumed full ownership of national mine action with responsibility for coordinating all mine clearance, including accreditation and certification of mine clearance agencies. The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which had opened an emergency program in Sudan in 2002, continued to provide assistance to mine action in Sudan through technical support to NMAC to the end of 2013. As of January 2014, UNMAS ceded its lead in UN mine action efforts in Sudan to UNDP, which assumed its role in September 2014 and provided capacity-building support to NMAC for a three-month period until December 2014. However, after restructuring in light of adopting a new strategic plan for 2014–2017, UNDP decided to transition out of support for mine action. As such, UNDP, along with the government of Sudan, requested UNMAS to retake the lead role in support of mine action in Sudan in December 2014.[16] In March 2015, UNMAS sent an assessment mission to Sudan and resumed its role in support of NMAC to build institutional capacity and implement mine action activities.[17]

In 2011, in response to the outbreak of heavy conflict in Abyei, the UN Security Council authorized a UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to monitor the activities of the Sudan armed forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the area, but it did not have a mandate for peacekeepers to conduct mine clearance.[18] In November 2012, UN Security Council Resolution 2075 expanded UNMAS’s role to include identification and clearance of mines in the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone around Abyei.[19] UNMAS also facilitates access by assessing and clearing priority areas and routes.[20]

The UN Security Council renewed the mandate of UNISFA again in February 2015 (until 15 July 2015) and included an obligation for the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to continue to facilitate UNMAS’ deployment to ensure the freedom of movement of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism and the identification and clearance of mines in the Abyei area and the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone.[21] 

In Darfur, under the umbrella of UNAMID, UNMAS, under the name of the Ordnance Disposal Office (ODO), works in direct support of UNAMID priorities.[22] In 2012, UNAMID contracted The Development Initiative (TDI), a commercial company, to assess, survey, mark, identify, and clear contamination in all five Darfur states.[23] TDI’s activities depend on the availability of security forces and permission from the government of Sudan and the UN Special Representative for Political Affairs.[24] TDI has reported it will transition to a mentoring role in supporting local national demining teams to increase their operational capacity and production by embedding one international staff in the teams.[25] Mine action in Darfur is funded through assessed peacekeeping funds for UNAMID.[26]

Strategic planning

Sudan has a multi-year National Mine Action Plan for 2013–2019. According to the NMAC, the plan was designed in light of the overall security situation in Sudan and the capacity for mine action and types of assets available. The plan includes details of operations for addressing contamination in all affected states by year, with a focus on the eastern states of Kassala, Red Sea, and Gadaref, and parts of Blue Nile. When security permits, work will start according to the plan in Southern Kordofan and the remaining parts of Blue Nile state.[27]

In June 2015, a representative from NMAC stated that Sudan was committed to meeting its National Mine Action Plan deadline of 2019, but reported that it faced big challenges due to lack of funding and ongoing conflict in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.[28]

Operators 

National demining operators are the National Demining Units, JASMAR for Human Security, and Friends of Peace and Development Organization (FPDO). In 2014, the National Demining Units comprised four mine clearance teams, one MTT, three mine detection dog (MDD) teams, and one mechanical team. FPDO and JASMAR had one mine clearance team each and conducted land release and mine risk education.

In 2014, no international NGOs conducted mine clearance or survey in Sudan. One international NGO, Association for Aid and Relief Japan (AAR Japan), carried out mine risk education, along with a national NGO, SIBRO Organization for Development. The only international operator to carry out clearance activities in 2014 was TDI, which carried out explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tasks in Darfur in support of UNAMID. It deployed five multitask teams (MTTs).[29] In 2015, NMAC called for other international NGO operators to undertake mine action in Sudan.[30]

Previously, two international mine clearance NGOs had programs in Sudan but were forced to close down their operations owing to government restrictions that impeded their operations.[31] DanChurchAid (DCA) ended its operations in 2012.[32] In June 2012, the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) ordered Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and six other NGOs that provided humanitarian aid to leave Gadaref, Kassala, and Red Sea states in eastern Sudan.[33] Following months of negotiations with HAC and donors, MAG ended its operations in Sudan, leaving in early 2013.[34]

National mine action standards

In May 2015, NMAC stated that a review of National Technical Standards and Guidelines was ongoing and that a new version would be published on its website after their approval.[35]

Quality management

TDI confirmed that a QA system was in place in Sudan but reported that very few external QA activities were carried out in 2014.[36] 

Information management 

NMAC reported that database clean-up began in January 2013 as part of preparations to transfer to an upgraded version of IMSMA. It expected the process to have no effect on area reported as cleared in the database but would affect the amount of cancelled areas recorded, which it said “will be incorporated into the database and in turn will minimize the difference reflected between areas cleared and the size of total hazards closed.” The clean-up process could not be completed in 2014, and as of May 2015 was still ongoing with field verification yet to be undertaken.[37] Sudan’s IMSMA database does not contain information on the disputed Abyei area.[38]

UNDP reported in February 2015 that the new version of IMSMA was not able to be imported into Sudan because of its geographic information system (GIS) function and United States (US) import sanction restrictions.[39]

Land Release (Mines and ERW)

In 2014, a total of just over 4.2km² of land was released in Sudan through mine action-related activities, including 3.7km² of area containing antipersonnel mines. The amount of mined land released by clearance and technical survey in 2014 was 2.8km², while a further 0.9km² was cancelled by non-technical survey, nearly all in Kassala state. In addition, 1,563km of roads, all in the Darfur region, were assessed.[40]

This was in comparison to 2013, when Sudan released some 11.3km² of mine and ERW-contaminated areas, almost all in Kassala state, most of which was released through survey (9.6km²). A total of 2,660km of roads were assessed in 2013, all in Darfur.[41] UNDP stated that the overall decrease in land release in Sudan in 2014 from 2013 was due to reduced funding.[42] 

LIS was conducted in 2007–2009 covering Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala, Red Sea, and South Kordofan states. Since then, “ad hoc” reports of additional mine/ERW-contaminated areas have been registered as dangerous areas in the database, causing the LIS baseline of 221 hazards to expand significantly, including in areas not originally surveyed.[43]

As of December 2014, a total of 93.6km² of dangerous areas had been released, or 74% of the 125km² of the total contamination identified since 2002, and 37,151km of roads verified and cleared. A total of 10,002 antipersonnel mines, 3,134 antivehicle mines, and 57,600 items of UXO were destroyed in the process.[44]

Survey in 2014 (mines and ERW)

According to NMAC, a total of 1.2km² of mined area was released through survey in 2014, all in Kassala state. Of this, nearly 0.9km² (898,524m²) was released through non-technical survey, along with a further 0.3km² (285,212m²) by technical survey.[45] In contrast, as noted above, close to 9.6km² was released by survey in 2013, including 7.8km² by non-technical survey and 1.8km² through technical survey.[46]

Clearance in 2014 (mines and ERW)

According to NMAC, nearly 2.5km² of mined area was released through clearance in 2014 (see table below), the majority of which occurred in Kassala state (2.4km²), along with a further 0.08km² in Red Sea state.[47] This compared to 2013 when a total of 0.8km² of mined area was cleared.[48]

Mine clearance and survey in 2014[49]

Note: NTS = non-technical survey; TS = technical survey.

Of the 2.5km² cleared in 2014, 2.3km² was released by manual mine clearance, 0.06km² by mechanical clearance, and 0.1km² by MDDs.[50] A total of 171 antipersonnel mines, 95 antivehicle mines, and 2,976 items of UXO were destroyed.[51] 

In 2014, NMAC reported a total of 0.57km² of battle area clearance (BAC): 0.27km² of subsurface clearance and almost 0.3km² of surface clearance. This was a decrease from 2013, when NMAC reported BAC of 0.95km².[52] 

While NMAC’s records do not disaggregate land release figures between different operators, TDI reported that 2014 was a “good year” for its operations with a significant increase in the amount of UXO it located and destroyed. It said this rise in productivity was due to greater independence of TDI teams from UNAMID escorts and a switch to escorts from the Sudanese armed forces and local police, which allowed teams more freedom of movement and a greater ability to reach SHAs.[53] 

From June 2011 through the first half of 2015, ongoing conflict prevented mine action activities from being carried out in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. In Darfur, heavily affected by UXO, EOD tasks could only be carried out in certain accessible areas due to the impact of ongoing instability.[54] Land release operations were only possible in Kassala and the eastern states, where the security situation remained stable. However, as NMAC reported in 2015, and in accordance with its national mine action strategic plan, as soon as the security situation improved mine clearance was scheduled to restart in the conflict affected areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.[55] Positively, in June 2015, FPDO was deployed to conduct land release in South Kordofan, while JASMAR and the NDU also commenced land release in Blue Nile state, with Swiss funding.[56]

Land Release (Cluster Munition Remnants)

No data was available on any cluster munition clearance in 2014. NMAC does not distinguish between clearance of different types of ERW in its reporting and is unable to confirm how much land was cleared of cluster munition remnants since it was established in 2011 nor how many submunitions were destroyed. 

According to UNDP, no cluster munition clearance occurred in 2014 and no cluster munition contamination was recorded in the IMSMA database.[57]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance 

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted by States Parties in 2013), Sudan is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2019. It is not on track to meet this extended deadline.

Despite hopeful prospects in June 2011 for completion of Sudan’s Article 5 clearance obligations by its original deadline of 1 April 2014,[58] a combination of factors has been asserted for the failure to do so: funding shortfalls, ongoing instability, lack of access in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, (formerly) prioritization of clearance in areas now within South Sudan, discovery of new hazardous areas, and departure of international NGOs. In 2013, Sudan requested and was granted a five-year extension to its Article 5 deadline.[59] The Table below summarizes progress in clearance in 2010–2014.

Mine clearance in 2010–2014 (km²)[60]

Under its extension request plan, Sudan plans to clear all contaminated areas in the states of Darfur, Gedaref, Kassala, and Red Sea by 2016, when clearance is due to begin in Blue Nile and Kordofan states.[61] In addition, Sudan is scheduled to continue general mine action assessment (GMAA) in areas requiring survey or resurvey. Sudan indicated that the GMAA would be completed in Blue Nile and South Kordofan within six months of survey beginning (dependent on an improved security situation).[62] 

Sudan has also indicated that it expected to fill the gap created by the departure of international mine action operators through maintaining and increasing the capacity of the National Demining Units (NDUs) through further training; engagement of FPDO and JAMSAR in survey and clearance operations: and more QA visits to the field.[63] In 2013, NMAC accredited FPDO and JAMSAR to conduct land release.[64] 

According to its extension request plan, in 2014–2015, Sudan expected to address 46 SHAs and 15 confirmed mined areas, cancelling a total of 3km² through non-technical survey and releasing a further 5km² through technical survey and clearance. At the end of 2014, NMAC reported that only three SHAs had been addressed and 13 confirmed mined areas closed, and a total of 1.2km² released through survey and 2.5km² through mine clearance during the year.[65] 

Sudan’s ability to meet its Article 5 extension request milestones remains heavily dependent upon improvement in the security situation of the heavily affected states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where access remains restricted and UXO contamination continues to increase.[66] In 2015, Sudan also cited the frequent movement of internally displaced persons, continued finding of additional hazards, the high metallic content in mined areas, and the rainy season as additional hindrances to meeting its extension request targets.[67] Other significant factors that continue to impede Sudan’s progress include a lack of funding and the lack of clearance capacity, formerly provided by international mine clearance operators. 

Similarly, in Abyei and the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone, UNMAS reported significant challenges, including commitment from the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to implement UN Security Council resolutions on Abyei; ongoing conflict and increased contamination; regional insecurity and curtailed freedom of movement; and the rainy season from June to the end of September, during which demining operations are not possible.[68] 

Due to the challenges it faced to implement mine action activities planned under its extension request for 2014, the NMAC recommended revisions to its extension request plan and the amount of suspected or confirmed mined areas to be released in 2015–2019. In its latest Article 7 transparency report submitted in 2015, NMAC revised downwards the planned number of mined areas to be released in 2015–2016 from 38 to 12; from 29 to 15 in 2016–2017; from 19 to 17 in 2017–2018; and from 14 to 3 in 2018–2019.[69] 

NMAC did not report destruction of any antipersonnel mines in the first half of 2015.[70] In March 2015, UNMAS reported that NMAC planned to release the remaining 6.3km² of mined area in the affected eastern states and declare them cleared in 2015.[71] In June 2015, NMAC reported that from January to the end of June, an additional 66 hazardous areas were registered and 62 hazardous areas cleared, bringing the total of active hazardous areas remaining to be addressed to 227. A total of 338,144m² of land was released, 344km of roads assessed, and a total of 20 antivehicle mines and 2,039 items of UXO destroyed.[72]

In June 2015, a representative from NMAC stated that Sudan was committed to meeting its National Mine Action Plan clearance deadline of 2019 but re-emphasized that it faced large challenges due to lack of funding and ongoing conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.[73]

UNMAS reported that as of early 2015, nearly all mine clearance activities were suspended due to lack of funding.[74]

Relation to Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4

Sudan is not party to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Under its Mine Ban Treaty clearance deadline extension request, Sudan has reported plans to clear all contaminated areas in the states of Darfur, Gedaref, Kassala, and Red Sea by 2016, when clearance was scheduled to begin in Blue Nile and Kordofan states.[75] It indicated that GMAA could be completed in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan within six months of the survey beginning (dependent on improved security).[76] 

The ongoing conflict and reports of new contamination to an unknown degree, along with a lack of any recent data or records of cluster munition remnants contamination disaggregated from UXO, make it extremely difficult to estimate when Sudan could complete survey and clearance of cluster munition contamination.