Summary: Non-signatory Singapore acknowledges the convention’s humanitarian rationale, but has not taken any steps to join it. Singapore has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2018. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2018.

Singapore’s only manufacturer of cluster munitions, Singapore Technologies Engineering, announced in 2015 that it no longer produces the weapons and Singapore has not exported them since an export moratorium was imposed in 2008. Singapore is not known to have used cluster munitions. It possesses a stockpile of cluster munitions, but has not provided information on the types and quantities stockpiled.

Policy

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

Singapore acknowledges the convention’s humanitarian rationale, but has not taken any steps to join it. Singapore often comments that “a blanket ban on all types of…cluster munitions may…be counterproductive.” [1] In a 2017 letter to Cluster Munition Monitor, Singapore said that it “shares the humanitarian concerns” of the convention, but “believes that legitimate security concerns and the right to self-defense of any State cannot be disregarded,” and thus banning cluster munitions is “counterproductive.” [2] Singapore has long sought to balance “humanitarian concerns…against the legitimate right of States to use such munitions judiciously for self-defence…” [3] It has also objected to the way the convention was “negotiated outside of the United Nations framework.” [4]

Singapore did not participate in any of the preparatory meetings of the Oslo Process but attended the Dublin negotiations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008 as an observer. [5]

Singapore has participated as an observer in the convention’s meetings, most recently the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in 2018. [6] It has not made any statements during the convention meetings.

In December 2018, Singapore voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.” [7] Singapore has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Singapore is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Singapore is not known to have used cluster munitions, but it produced them and possesses a stockpile.

Singapore announced an indefinite moratorium on the export of cluster munitions in November 2008. [8] It is not known if any exports occurred before then. [9]

In 2015, Singapore Technologies Engineering announced that it no longer produces cluster munitions, stating: “As a responsible military technology manufacturer we do not design, produce and sell anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions and any related key components.” [10] In September 2018, a Singapore government representative confirmed to the Monitor that the company no longer produces cluster munitions. [11]

Singapore Technologies Engineering manufactured 155mm dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) artillery projectiles, each containing 64 submunitions equipped with self-destruct features. [12] It also produced a 120mm mortar projectile that contains 25 DPICM submunitions. [13]

The government of Singapore has not yet committed to never produce cluster munitions in future. [14]

Stockpiling

In 2016, a representative of Singapore informed the Monitor that it does not intend to acquire any new cluster munitions to replace its stocks as they expire. [15] In September 2018, a representative of Singapore told the Monitor that no stocks were destroyed during the previous year. [16]

In addition to the cluster munitions produced by Singapore Technologies Engineering, Singapore’s stockpile may also contain 350 CBU-71 air-delivered cluster bombs received from the United States (US) between 1970 and 1995. [17]

Singapore has not disclosed information on the types or quantities of its stockpiled cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of Singapore has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.

In May 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote the Monitor that “Singapore believes that humanitarian concerns pertaining to antipersonnel mines…should be balanced against the legitimate right of States to use such munitions judiciously for self defence…We will continue to support international efforts to resolve the humanitarian concerns over antipersonnel landmines…and to work with members of the international community towards a durable and truly global solution.”[1]

In 2010, the ICBL asked political parties in Singapore to share their views on the Mine Ban Treaty. The Singapore Democratic Party said that it supports a complete ban on the manufacture and use of mines and expressed its concern over Singapore’s role in mine production. It urged the Singapore government to join the treaty.[2] The Singapore Workers’ Party said that while it shares the humanitarian concerns surrounding the use of mines, and had asked the Minister of Defense about joining the treaty,[3] it would not be issuing any public statement due to other priorities.[4] In 2009, the Workers’ Party required a written reply in parliament regarding the government’s stand on the Mine Ban Treaty.[5]

On 5 December 2018, Singapore voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 73/61 on the implementation and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, as in previous years.[6]

Singapore has regularly attended Mine Ban Treaty meetings, the Third Review Conference in 2014, and more recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018.[7]

Singapore is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor is it party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Use, stockpiling, production, and transfer

A Singaporean official previously stated that the army only uses antipersonnel mines for training, but that it must retain the option to use mines for self-defense.[8] The Ministry of Defense has not replied to requests for further information about Singapore’s training program.

In March 2009, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official restated that Singapore will not disclose any information regarding its stockpile of antipersonnel mines for defense and security reasons. The official stated that Singapore maintains stringent controls on its stockpile management system and that all mines are destroyed after their expiration date.[9]

Singapore has long acknowledged that it produces antipersonnel mines, but officials have declined to reveal if production lines are currently running. Singapore Technologies Engineering (STE), through its subsidiary Singapore Technologies Kinetics, is the government-linked company that has produced antipersonnel mines.[10] In May 2010, when asked if it has halted production, STE told the Monitor that, “ST Engineering does not produce landmines and cluster munitions for export, nor are we a sub-contractor to anyone who does.”[11] This was reaffirmed in November 2015, when the CEO declared STE “is now no longer in the business of designing, producing and selling of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions or any related key components.”[12]

Singapore declared an indefinite moratorium on the export of all antipersonnel mines in February 1998. In May 2011, an official confirmed that the moratorium remains in place.[13]