Mongolia
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory Mongolia has expressed support for the ban on cluster munitions, but has not taken any steps toward accession. Mongolia voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly resolution on the convention in December 2015 and has participated in several of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, most recently in September 2014. Mongolia is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. In 2014, Mongolia stated that it does not have any stocks of the weapons; the Monitor is seeking formal confirmation of this comment.
Policy
Mongolia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Mongolia has expressed support for the convention, but is not known to have taken any steps toward acceding to it.
On 7 December 2015, Mongolia voted in favor of the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which called on states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[1] Mongolia did not explain the reasons for its support of the non-binding resolution that 140 countries voted for, including many non-signatories.
Mongolia first expressed its views on cluster munitions in September 2013, when it stated that it “attaches a particular importance” to the convention’s prohibition of “one of the most inhumane weapons of today” and supports efforts aimed at its universalization. Mongolia declared “We believe that the only guarantee against the risk of the use and proliferation of these weapons is their total elimination.”[2]
Also in September 2013, Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia praised “the indispensable role of coalitions of states and of NGOs, when the disarmament machinery fails, as exemplified by the successful conclusion of the landmines convention in 1997 and of the cluster munitions convention in 2008.”[3]
Mongolia did not participate in the 2007–2008 Oslo Process that created the convention.
Mongolia first participated in a meeting related to the convention in November 2009, when it attended a regional workshop on cluster munitions in Bali, Indonesia. Mongolia participated as an observer in three of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, in 2010, 2013, and 2014. It was invited to, but did not attend the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015. Mongolia did not participate in the convention’s intersessional meetings held annually in Geneva in 2011–2015.
Mongolia voted in favor of UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria in 2013 and 2014.[4]
Mongolia is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Mongolia is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions.
In September 2014, a representative of Mongolia’s armed forces informed the Monitor that Mongolia possesses no stocks of cluster munitions.[5]
Jane’s Information Group reported in 2004 that the country’s air force had KMGU dispensers that deliver submunitions.[6] Mongolia possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface launchers, but it is not known if these include rockets with submunition payloads.[7]
[1] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[2] Statement of Mongolia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.
[3] Statement by President Elbegdorj Tsakhia of Mongolia, High-Level Meeting of the UNGA on nuclear disarmament, New York, 26 September 2013.
[4] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Mongolia voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013. It did not vote on a similar resolution in December 2015.
[5] Monitor interview with Col. Badarch Khadbaatar, Chief of Military Weaponry, General Staff of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, in San Jose, 2 September 2014. The Monitor has listed Mongolia as a stockpiler since publication of the first Cluster Munition Monitor report in 2010 and will continue to do so until Mongolia provides a written statement that it does not stockpile cluster munitions.
[6] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 842.
[7] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 259.
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
State not party |
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Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Voted in favor of Resolution 67/32 in December 2012, as in previous years |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
None in 2012 or early 2013 |
Policy
Mongolia has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty and did not fulfill its objective, announced in 2004, of joining the treaty in 2008 through a step-by-step approach.[1]
Mongolia did not attend the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012 or the intersessional meetings in May 2013. In June 2011, Mongolia informed States Parties that it “continues to pursue a step-by-step (or phased) policy towards accession to the Convention due to a range of security and economic concerns.”[2] However, it did not mention the interagency action plan to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty that it had announced at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties and at the Second Review Conference.[3] In 2010, Mongolia informed States Parties that it would join the treaty “in the near future.”[4] Earlier, in October 2010, during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) debate, Mongolia stated that “Just a few days ago the Prime Minister re-affirmed Mongolia’s commitment to accede to the Convention.”[5]
Mongolia has repeatedly stated that it has limited resources to implement the treaty, especially with respect to stockpile destruction, and it encouraged “cooperation, assistance and support” from other countries and international organizations.[6] In the past, representatives from Mongolia have expressed concern about whether Mongolia will receive international assistance for both stockpile destruction and clearance of areas contaminated with unexploded ordnance, especially Soviet-era firing ranges.[7]
Mongolia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but not its Amended Protocol II on landmines or Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Use, stockpiling, production, and transfer
Mongolia submitted a voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in August 2007.[8] The report revealed a stockpile of 206,417 antipersonnel mines, inherited from the Soviet Union.[9] At the government’s invitation, in July 2009 technical experts from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) investigated the condition of Mongolia’s mine stocks. At the Second Review Conference, Mongolia reported that it had destroyed 100 antipersonnel mines in the previous year and that it would destroy another 100 in the following year to help identify a destruction technology that is both environmentally safe and cost effective.[10]
In December 2010, Mongolia stated that it had a stockpile of 206,317 antipersonnel mines (100 mines fewer than the number reported in August 2007) and would destroy another 380 mines in 2011 to demonstrate “our step-by-step approach to join the Convention.”[11] However, in June 2011 Mongolia reported that it had 206,417 antipersonnel mines and that 110 had been destroyed to “define an appropriate mine destruction technique friendly to the environment.”[12] A representative of the Ministry of Defense could not provide any information on the method of destruction used, but he did confirm that Mongolia would not necessarily need to retain any live mines for training purposes since it currently uses inert mines in its training programs.[13]
In the past, Mongolia has often stated that it has never used antipersonnel mines on its territory.[14] In December 2010, Mongolia reaffirmed that it will not “transfer, acquire or place landmines.”[15]
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 819; and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 1,011–1,012, for details of Mongolia’s 2004–2008 Program of Action aimed at accession.
[2] Statement of Mongolia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 20 June 2011.
[3] At the Second Review Conference, Mongolia stated that it had “drafted an interagency action plan,” but at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mongolia stated that it was “drafting a collaborative interagency action plan to implement its step-by-step accession” to the convention. See statement of Mongolia, Mine Ban Treaty Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2010; and statement by Col. Lkhagva Gantumur, General Staff, Mongolian Armed Forces, Mine Ban Treaty Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.
[4] Statement of Mongolia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 December 2010.
[5] Statement of Mongolia, 65th Session of the UNGA, First Committee General Debate, New York, 8 October 2010.
[6]At the Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mongolia stated that “cooperation, assistance and support through bilateral channels and international organizations are appreciated for accelerating the process of our accession.” See statement of Mongolia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 December 2010.
[7] See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 1,018.
[8] The report is undated, with the reporting period listed as “2007 to 2008.” Mongolia has stated it submitted the report in August 2007, and it is listed by the UN as received in 2007. Statement by Col. Gantumur, Mongolian Armed Forces, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 25 May 2009. All forms are marked “not applicable” except Form B on types and quantities of stockpiled antipersonnel mines and Form H on technical characteristics of stockpiled mines. In June 2011, Mongolia stated that it has annually updated this report, but only one has been sent to the UN. See statement of Mongolia, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 June 2011.
[9]Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for the period 2007–2008), Form B cites: 40,331 POMZ-2; 83,028 PMN-2; 996 PMN; 48,891 PMD-6; 29,997 OZM-72; 2,000 MON-50; 601 MON-100; and 573 MON-200 antipersonnel mines.
[10] Statement by Col. Gantumur, Mongolian Armed Forces, Mine Ban Treaty Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.
[11] Statement of Mongolia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 December 2010.
[12] Statement of Mongolia, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 June 2011.
[13] ICBL meeting with Col. Narankhuu Turbat, Deputy Chief of Strategic Management and Planning Directorate, Ministry of Defense, Geneva, 21 June 2011.
[14] See for example, Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 1,020.
[15]Statement of Mongolia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 December 2010. See also statement by Col. Gantumur, Mongolian Armed Forces, Second Review Conference, Mine Ban Treaty, Cartagena, 1 December 2009.
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Mines
Mongolia is not believed to be affected by antipersonnel mines. In its only voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report to date, Form C on the location of mined areas was marked as “Not Applicable.”[1]
Explosive remnants of war
Mongolia is said to have an extensive problem with explosive remnants of war, including both unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance.[2] In 2008, for instance, abandoned antivehicle mines were reportedly discovered on several occasions.[3]
Mine Action Program
There is no mine action program in Mongolia and the current extent of any clearance is not known.
[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 2007–2008), Form C.
[2] See, for example, Statement of Mongolia, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 25 May 2009.
[3] See, for example, Kh. Ganaa, “Mongolia Contaminated with Live Mines,” Today’s Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar), 10 November 2008, www.olloo.mn.