Suriname
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: Non-signatory Suriname acknowledges the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions, but has not taken any steps to accede to the convention. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting universalization of the convention in December 2017. Suriname last participated in a meeting of the convention in 2013. It states that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Suriname has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Suriname acknowledges the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions. It has not taken any steps to accede to the convention with the exception of a 2013 report to its executive governing body that recommended approving Suriname’s accession to the convention.[1] Since 2009, Suriname has expressed interest in joining the convention.[2]
Suriname attended one meeting of the Oslo Process that created the convention, in Vienna in December 2007, but did not participate in the Dublin negotiations or the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008. Suriname attended a regional conference on cluster munitions in Santiago, Chile in September 2009.
Suriname had participated as an observer in several meetings of the convention, but not since 2013.[3]
Suriname voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution in December 2017 that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting the convention in 2015 and 2016.
Suriname is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Suriname stated in 2013 that it has not produced, used, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[5]
[1] In April 2013, Suriname said its executive board of ministers had received a package on the convention with an explanatory memorandum recommending approval. Statement of Suriname, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.
[2] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), “Update on the Fourth Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, Chile, 14–15 September 2009,” 14 September 2009. In 2012, it said that officials from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs often meet to discuss joining the convention. Statement of Suriname, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012.
[3] Suriname participated as an observer in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2011 and 2012, as well as intersessional meetings in 2013.
[4] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 72/54, 4 December 2017.
[5] Statement of Suriname, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Suriname signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 23 May 2002, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2002. Suriname imported but never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. An estimated 1,000 mines were planted during a 1986–1992 internal conflict. It has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Suriname submitted its sixth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 30 April 2008 but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Suriname destroyed its stockpile of 146 antipersonnel mines on 25 February 2004, and retained 150 antipersonnel mines for training purposes. Suriname noted in its Article 7 report for 2007 that it did not have any antipersonnel mines retained.
Suriname did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Suriname is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Mine clearance was completed on 4 April 2005, well in advance of Suriname’s 1 November 2012 mine clearance deadline. Suriname is affected by explosive remnants of war, primarily abandoned explosive ordnance.