Maldives
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory the Maldives said in October 2017 that it is considering acceding to the convention. The Maldives voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017. The Maldives is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Maldives has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In October 2017, a representative of the Maldives told the Monitor that the Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the convention, which is the first step in the process of accession. The official cautioned that the process of acceding would not be completed swiftly as it requires legislative approval.[1]
The Maldives did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Maldives participated as an observer in the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010. This remains the only time it attended a meeting of the convention.
InDecember 2017, the Maldives voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[2] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting implementation and universalization of the convention in 2015 and 2016.[3]
The Maldives has voted in favor of UNGA and Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[4]
The Maldives is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
The Maldives is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
[1] Cluster Munition Monitor interview with Laila Shareef, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the UN, New York, 13 October 2017.
[2] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,”UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017.
[3] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016; and“Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015.
[4] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 72/191, 19 December 2017; “Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 30 September 2016,” HRC Resolution 33/23, 6 October 2016. The Maldives voted in favor of similar UNGA resolutions in 2013–2016 and similar HRC resolutions in 2014 and 2015.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Maldives signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 October 1998 and ratified it on 7 September 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2001. Maldives has never used, produced, imported, exported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. Maldives has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Maldives submitted its second Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 6 April 2006 but has not submitted subsequent reports.
Maldives did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Maldives is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines but not Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.