Summary: Non-signatory Sudan has expressed interest in joining the convention but has not taken any tangible steps to accede. Sudan has participated as an observer in almost every meeting of the convention, most recently in September 2017, and voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017.

There is no evidence to indicate that Sudan has produced or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported and stockpiles them. Sudan sporadically used cluster bombs in Southern Kordofan province in 2012–2015, but the Monitor is unaware of any reports or allegations of cluster munition use since then. Government and military officials from Sudan have denied the country possesses and uses cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of Sudan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Sudan has expressed its desire to join the convention since 2010 but has not taken any steps towards accession.[1] It did not comment on its position on accession during the convention’s Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2017.

Sudanese officials have indicated that Sudan may only join “if bordering countries follow suit.”[2] In 2016, an official said there is political will for accession to the convention and Sudan is working to accede, but described “the regional security situation” as “unfavorable” for acceding at this time.[3]

Sudan participated in the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention in Dublin in May 2008.[4] At the convention’s Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008, Sudan expressed its intent to sign as soon as possible after completing logistical and other measures.[5]

Sudan has participated as an observer in almost every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2017. It attended the convention’s First Review Conference in 2015 and intersessional meetings in 2011–2015.[6]

In December 2017, Sudan voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[7] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting implementation and universalization of the convention in 2015 and 2016.

Sudan is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Sudan signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 10 April 1981, but never ratified any of the annexed protocols.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

There is no evidence that Sudan produced or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported them and maintains a stockpile.[8]

A 2016 report by a UN Panel of Experts found “clear evidence” of “current possession by the Sudanese Air Force of cluster munitions.”[9] Another UN Panel of Experts report published photographs taken in March 2013 that show several RBK-500 series cluster bombs lying in the open alongsideother aviation bombs at El Fasher airport in North Darfur state, where Sudan’s armed forces maintain a forward operating base.[10]

Jane’s Information Group reports that KMGU dispensers, which deploy submunitions, are also in service with the country’s air force.[11] Sudan also possesses Grad, Egyptian-produced Sakr, and Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[12]

Use

There were no reports or allegations of Sudanese government forces using cluster munitions in 2017 or the first half of 2018.

Sudan has repeatedly denied using cluster munitions, but there is strong evidence that it has used the weapon as recently as 2015, as shown in the following list of cluster munition use in Southern Kordofan province bordering South Sudan in 2012–2015.[13] The province has experienced fighting between Sudanese armed forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army North (SPLM-N) since mid-2011, when South Sudan became an independent state.

Cluster munition incidents in Southern Kordofan, 2012–2015

According to Sudan Consortium, a civil society monitoring project, at least 23 cluster bombs were dropped in Delami, Umdorein, and Alburam (Tobo) counties in 2015.[14]

Video taken after a government air attack on the town of Kauda on 27 May 2015 shows remnants of RBK-500 cluster bombs containing AO-2.5 RT submunitions.[15]

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported evidence that the Sudanese air force used the same type of cluster bombs in attacks on Tongoli village in Delami county on 6 March 2015 and Rajeefi village in Um Durein county in late February 2015.[16]
• Sudanese air force used at least two RBK-500 cluster bombs in Karigiyati in June or July 2014 according to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).[17]
• Nuba Reports alleged that Sudanese government aircraft used two cluster bombs in an attack on the village of Lado on 18 April 2013.[18]
• According to The Independent, government aircraft used an RBK-500 cluster bomb containing unexploded AO-2.5RT submunitions in Ongolo on 15 April 2012.[19]
• Chinese Type-81 dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) were fired during a government of Sudan attack on Troji village on 29 February 2012.[20]

The reported use of cluster munitions in Sudan has been widely condemned by states, the UN, ICRC, and Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).[21] In June 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution “expressing concern at evidence of possible government use of two cluster bombs near Kirigiyati in North Darfur.”[22]

Sudan has repeatedly denied and criticized evidence that its forces have used cluster munitions. That consistent stance is a good example of the growing norm stigmatizing the weapons. At the convention’s First Review Conference in 2015, it described evidence of use as inconclusive “accusations” and “false information that is biased against Sudan.”[23] Sudanese army officials have also denied evidence of use.[24] Geneva-based representatives also denied Sudan government use of cluster munitions.[25]

Use before 2010

Numerous independent sources have documented the presence of cluster munitions remnants that indicate Sudanese government forces sporadically used air-dropped cluster munitions in southern Sudan between 1995 and 2000, including Chilean-made PM-1 submunitions.[26] Landmine Action photographed a Rockeye-type cluster bomb with Chinese language external markings in Yei in October 2006. Additionally, clearance personnel in Sudan have identified a variety of submunitions, including the Spanish-manufactured HESPIN 21, United States-produced M42 DPICM and Mk-118 (Rockeye), and Soviet-manufactured PTAB-1.5.[27]

Other use

Since March 2015, Sudan has participated in a Saudi Arabia-led joint military operation in Yemen against Houthi forces, also known as Ansar Allah, which has used cluster munitions. Sudan has not commented on evidence that the Saudi-led coalition has used cluster munitions in Yemen, while a December 2016 statement by the coalition forces did not deny the use of cluster munitions and argued that “international law does not ban their use.”[28]

Policy

The Republic of the Sudan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 13 October 2003, becoming a State Party on 1 April 2004.[1]

Sudan adopted the Sudan Mine Action Law by Presidential Decree #51 on 31 March 2010.[2] The act is comprised of 29 articles divided into four chapters. Chapter four includes Mine Ban Treaty obligations, including the prohibition on antipersonnel mine use and stockpiling, clearance of contaminated areas, risk education, victim assistance, and transparency reporting. It also includes penalties for violations.[3]

Sudan submitted its twelfth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in April 2015.[4]

Sudan attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2015, where it spoke on victim assistance. Sudan attended the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014, where it provided detailed information about its mine clearance operations.

Sudan is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Sudan signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 10 April 1981, but has not ratified it.

Production and transfer

Sudan has declared that it “never produced” antipersonnel mines.[5] It has repeatedly stated that it has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[6]

Use

There have been no confirmed instances of government forces using antipersonnel mines since Sudan became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 2004, but there were several reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Sudan in 2011, 2012, and 2013 that the Monitor has been unable to confirm.

It is clear from evidence and testimony from various sources that in the southern part of the country antipersonnel mines are available for use, but the Monitor has not seen definitive evidence about what forces may have used antipersonnel mines. There is also a lack of clarity about whether antipersonnel mines or antivehicle mines, or both, have been used. In its Article 7 reports and statements the government of Sudan has provided little to no official information on the mine use allegations, which it has denied responsibility for.

On 22 July 2014, Mustafa Tambur, spokesperson for the Sudan Liberation Movement (Abdel Wahid al-Nur, SLM-AW), told Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese government had planted landmines in the Kutum locality in North Darfur. Heavy rainfall allegedly revealed 23 antipersonnel mines in the Fonu area near Kutum. Tambur also demanded that the international community call on the Sudanese Government to stop using landmines.[7]

On 14 August 2014, the Leaders of the both factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement—Mini Minawi, leader of the SLM-MM[8] and Abdol Wahid, leader of the SLM-AW[9]—met in Geneva to sign Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment to ban antipersonnel landmines. Abdol Wahid told Radio Dabanga that this agreement brought Sudan closer to fighting the deadly landmine contamination in Darfur. Mini Minawi also told the radio station that this commitment was “an importance step” within this humanitarian framework.[10] With the two main factions of the SLM signing Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment, all four main non-state armed groups actively operating in Sudan have pledged to refrain from using antipersonnel landmines.[11]

On 29 August 2013, a delegation of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), comprised of Deputy Chairman Abdelaziz Alhilu and Secretary General Yasir Arman, signed Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment, thereby agreeing to prohibit the use, production, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, to cooperate in humanitarian mine action activities, and to destroy its stockpiles. Upon signing, Alhilu said, “In compliance with our pledge, we will destroy all [antipersonnel] mines in our possession as soon as possible. These mines were captured during military operations.”[12] During Geneva Call’s third meeting of signatories to the Deed of Commitment, spokesperson of the SPLM-N’s delegation, Mubarak Ardol, stated that the SPLM-N will invite all interested parties to witness the public destruction of the landmines the group has acquired during “military operations over the past four year[s].” He also added that the SPLM-N’s delegation proposed adding a fourth protocol to the Deed of Commitment concerning humanitarian assistance in war zones.[13]

Stockpiling and destruction

Sudan reported completion of destruction of its stockpile of 10,566 antipersonnel mines on 31 March 2008, just ahead of its 1 April 2008 treaty-mandated deadline. The reported size and composition of Sudan’s stockpile, as well as the number of mines to be retained for training purposes, have varied.[14] At the Second Review Conference in 2009, Sudan stated that a total of 10,656 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed (possibly a typographical error from the 10,566 mentioned above).[15] However, Sudan declared in April 2012 and again in April 2013 that a total of 13,371 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed in Khartoum in 2007.[16]

In 2009, Sudan reported the discovery of arms caches including antipersonnel mines at various locations of southern Sudan that were subsequently destroyed in Blue Nile state in 2008.[17]

Mines retained for training purposes

In its April 2015 Article 7 report, Sudan stated that it is retaining a total of 1,938 mines, the same amount as reported since 2009.[18] In 2009, Sudan reported a reduction in the number of mines retained for training from 4,997 to 1,938 mines.[19] Each year since 2009, Sudan has reported the transfer of 75 “Type 35” plastic mines from the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to the UN Mine Action Office “for training purposes,” but the total number of mines retained for training has remained unchanged.[20] Sudan has not disclosed the intended purposes or actual uses of its retained mines, as agreed by States Parties at Mine Ban Treaty Review Conferences held in 2004 and 2009.

Notes: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war; UXO = unexploded ordnance.

Contamination

The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in the Republic of Sudan is not fully known. According to the NMAC, at the start of 2018, only two areas were suspected to contain cluster munition contamination in Sudan, one in South Kordofan and the other in West Kordofan state, each with an estimated size of 1km².[4]

Previously, in April 2017, the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) reported the presence of two AO-1Sch submunitions in North Darfur (at Al Mengara village in Al Liet locality). The villagers reported that the bombs were dropped in 2008, had been identified by UNAMID at that time, and that the military had stated that they would dispose of the items.[5] The Sudanese Armed Forces Engineers destroyed the items in February 2018 and no further cluster munitions were reported or identified.[6]

Previously, the most recent estimate of contamination dated back to June 2011, when the UN Mine Action Office (UNMAO), which was overseeing mine action operations at the time, reported nine areas suspected to be contaminated with unexploded submunitions. UNMAO asserted that 81 areas had been released (see table below).[7]

Cluster munition-contaminated areas as of June 2011[8]

In 2017, NMAC, which assumed full national ownership for implementing mine action activities upon UNMAO’s closure in June 2011, reported that of the nine open areas reported by UNMAO in 2011, seven were cleared in 2011–2013.[9] In March 2018, NMAC reported that the size of the seven areas cleared during this period totaled 15,318m² and that 13 PM-1 submunitions were found and destroyed during clearance.[10]

NMAC has not reported any survey or clearance of cluster munition remnants since 2013. It stated that no new cluster munition contamination was recorded in 2016–2017.[11]

In the 1990s, Sudanese government forces are believed to have sporadically air-dropped cluster munitions during its civil war with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). Government forces were reported as having used several types of cluster munitions, including Spanish-manufactured HESPIN 21; US-manufactured M42 and Mk118 (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.[12]

In 2012 and 2015, use of cluster munitions was recorded in five separate attacks on villages in South Kordofan state. Each attack involved air-dropped RBK-500 cluster munitions containing AO-2.5RT submunitions.[13] In 2013–2015, the UN published reports of evidence of previous use of cluster munitions in Darfur, the stockpiling of RBK-500 cluster munitions and AO-2.5RT submunitions by the Sudanese Air Force, and fluctuating stock levels indicative of use for operations or for training.[14] (See Sudan’s Cluster Munition Ban profile for more details.)

Other explosive remnants of war and landmines

Sudan also has a significant problem with antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, and UXO, primarily as a result of the more than 20 years of civil war that led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 and South Sudan’s independence in July 2011 (see the 2017 Sudan Mine Action profile for details).

As of June 2018, eight of Sudan’s 18 states were contaminated with mines/ERW, with Blue Nile and South Kordofan states the most heavily affected.[15] Mines and ERW continued to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, where in parts of South Kordofan, chronic malnutrition surpassed emergency levels, and in Blue Nile state, more than 40% of households were severely nutritionally insecure.[16]

While limited cluster munition contamination has, in the past, been identified in Darfur, there is significant contamination from other ERW, which continue to pose a serious threat to civilians, UNAMID peacekeepers, and to the delivery of humanitarian aid.[17]

As of April 2018, Sudan’s three eastern states had been declared free of mines and ERW, following 12 years of clearance efforts. Clearance in Gadaref state was completed in May 2016 and in Red Sea state in May 2017, while Kassala state was declared clear of mines and ERW on 4 April 2018.[18] In Darfur, two localities in West Darfur have been declared free of ERW: Forobaranga in April 2017 and Kereinik in February 2018.[19]

Since South Sudan’s independence, new conflicts in Abyei and in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states have resulted in increased UXO contamination in Sudan.[20] In 2018, the extent of mine and ERW contamination in areas of Abyei and the border area between Sudan and South Sudan remained unknown due to persistent conflict and ongoing restrictions on access.[21]

Program Management

The Sudanese National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) and NMAC manage Sudan’s mine action program.

In 2015, UNMAS resumed its lead in supporting UN mine action efforts in Sudan and its role in providing assistance and technical support to NMAC following an invitation from the Sudanese government.[22]

In Darfur, under the umbrella of UNAMID, UNMAS works under the name of the Ordnance Disposal Office (ODO) in direct support of UNAMID priorities.[23] In 2017, Dynasafe MineTech Limited (DML), a commercial company, was awarded a new UN contract for the Fiscal Year 2017–2018 to conduct ERW rapid-response clearance and to provide mentoring support to national Multi-Task Teams (MTTs) in Darfur.[24]

Strategic planning

As of March 2018, NMAC reported that it was coordinating with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) to review its national strategic mine action plan, which is set to expire in 2019.[25] The current National Mine Action Plan for 2016–2019 to meet Sudan’s obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty does not specifically address cluster munition remnants.[26]

Standards

In March 2018, NMAC reported that the review of the National Mine Action Standards (NMAS) was in its final stages but had not yet been completed.[27] According to NMAC, draft standards are shared with all partners and mine action operators during their accreditation process. They do not contain a specific chapter on cluster munitions.[28]

Information management

In March 2018, NMAC reported that a process of upgrading the software of its International Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database to a newer version, IMSMA-NG, remained in progress, with assistance from the GICHD. Significant efforts to correct errors in the database were also ongoing.[29] The database does not contain information on the disputed Abyei area.[30]

Operators

National demining operators are JASMAR for Human Security, National Units for Mine Action and Development (NUMAD), and FPDO. In 2017, a total of eight manual clearance teams (MCTs), 11 MTTs, two mechanical teams, and two mine detection dog (MDD) teams were deployed for mine action operations.[31] This was a significant increase compared with 2016, when a total of five MCTs, nine MTTs, four mine action teams, one mechanical team, and two MDD teams were deployed.

Commercial operator DML, contracted to clear ERW in Darfur and to provide support for national MTTs, deployed two seven-strong rapid-response teams and a mentoring capacity of six persons, for a total staff of 29.[32]

In 2017, no international NGO was demining in Sudan. Since 2015, NMAC has made repeated calls for other international NGO operators to undertake mine action in Sudan.[33] Previously, two international demining NGOs with programs in Sudan closed operations owing to government restrictions that impeded their operations.[34] DanChurchAid (DCA) ended its operations in 2012.[35] 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.[36] Following months of negotiations with HAC and donors, MAG ended its operations in Sudan, leaving in early 2013.[37]

Land Release

Cluster munition remnants

NMAC reported that no cluster munition-specific survey or clearance took place in 2017.[38] NMAC does not distinguish between different types of ERW in its reporting on clearance and has not reported any survey or clearance of cluster munition contamination since 2013. As noted above, however, it clarified in 2018 that in 2011–2013, seven areas with a size of just over 15,300m² were cleared with the destruction of 13 PM-1 submunitions.[39]

Other explosive remnants of war

In 2017, a total of just under 2.85km² of battle area was released in Sudan, an increase from close to 1.52km² in 2016. Overall, reported land release fell in 2017, however, to a total of just under 3.9km², compared to just over 6.4km² in 2016.[40] NMAC reported that the increase in battle area clearance (BAC) in 2017 was due to a shift in focus to clearing high-impact ERW contamination in Blue Nile state close to communities where accidents were being reported. This amounted to just over 2km² out of the total 2.85km² of battle area cleared, whereas the focus in 2016 was on clearance of mines from Sudan’s three eastern states.[41]

2018 progress

In June 2018, NMAC stated that it had deployed a team to address the remaining cluster munition hazardous area in West Kordofan state, located in Aghabish village, Lagawa locality.[42]

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 Compliance

Ongoing conflict and a lack of access to significant areas of remaining contamination, along with a lack of recent data or records of cluster munition contamination disaggregated from UXO, make it difficult to estimate when Sudan could complete cluster munition survey and clearance.

Significant progress has, though, been made to address remaining mine and ERW contamination. Notably, in 2018, Kassala state was officially declared free of mines and ERW on 4 April, joining Red Sea state in 2017 and Gadaref state in 2016, to make all three of Sudan’s formerly contaminated eastern states free of contamination. In March 2018, Sudan submitted a request for an extension of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline for a period of four years to 1 April 2023. The 2018 extension request does not contain any mention of remaining cluster munition contamination or plans for survey and clearance of these areas.

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2017, three donors contributed US$1.6 million for mine action operations in the Republic of the Sudan through the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS).[1]

Additionally, in 2017, the government of Sudan reported contributing $2 million to its mine action program.[2]

International contributions: 2017[3]

Note: N/A=not available

Since 2013, Sudan received more than $6 million in international support to mine action activities, with contributions fluctuating from less than $70,000 in 2013 to more than $2 million in 2015.

Summary of contributions: 2013–2017[4]