Guyana
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary
State Party Guyana acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 31 October 2014. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021. Guyana participated in a meeting of the convention for the first time in September 2021.
Guyana submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in January 2020, which formally confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions and possesses no stocks, including for research and training purposes. Guyana has never used or transferred cluster munitions.
Policy
The Republic of Guyana acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 31 October 2014 and became a State Party on 1 April 2015.
Guyana regards specific implementing legislation for the convention as unnecessary because the “penal sanctions, have already been provided for in the Criminal Law (Offenses) Act of Guyana.”[1] Guyana has reported other relevant existing laws relating to explosives, customs, firearms, disability rights, and social security.[2]
Guyana submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 16 January 2020.[3] It provided an updated annual report in March 2021.[4]
Guyana did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention.
Government officials expressed interest in the Convention on Cluster Munitions on several occasions before Guyana acceded in October 2014.[5]
Guyana participated in a meeting of the convention for the first time in September 2021, when it attended the second part of the Second Review Conference, held in Geneva. Previously, Guyana attended a regional workshop on the convention held in St. George’s, Grenada in March 2020.
In December 2021, Guyana voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution which promoted full implementation of the convention.[6] Guyana has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Guyana has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]
Guyana has not elaborated its views on several important issues relating to its interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibitions on transit; on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions; on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions; and on investments in cluster munition production.
Guyana is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
In its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention, Guyana formally confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions and possesses no stocks, including for research and training purposes.[8] Guyana has never used or transferred cluster munitions.
[1] According to Section 155 of the Criminal Law (Offenses) Act, “Everyone who makes or knowingly has in his possession any explosive substance, or any dangerous, or noxious thing, or any machine, engine, instrument or other thing, with intent thereby, or by means thereof, to commit, or for the purpose of enabling any other to commit, an indictable offense whatsoever, shall be guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for ten years.” Guyana Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 16 January 2020. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.
[2] Guyana reported that the Criminal Law (Offenses) Act (Sections 114, 155, and 156) the Explosives Act (Cap 16:06 and 83:01), the Firearms Act, the Disability Rights Act, and the National Insurance and Social Security Act provide sufficient measures to guide and enforce its implementation of the convention. See, Guyana Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 16 January 2020; and Guyana Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, 31 March 2021.
[3] The report was originally due by 27 September 2015.
[4] The 2021 report is a “nil” report, indicating no changes from the previous one. Guyana Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, 31 March 2021. As of July 2022, Guyana has not provided the updated annual report due by 30 April 2022.
[5] Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) meeting with Bibi Ally, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Guyana to the UN, New York, 19 October 2010.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 75/193, 16 December 2016.
[8] Guyana Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B, C, D, and E, 16 January 2020.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Guyana signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 5 August 2003, becoming a State Party on 1 February 2004. Guyana has not enacted new legislation specifically to implement the Mine Ban Treaty.
Guyana has not attended any recent meetings of the treaty. Guyana submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2010 covering the period from 2007 to 2009, but has never submitted an updated report.
Guyana is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Stockpiling, production, use, and retention
Guyana has never used or produced antipersonnel mines. Although the Monitor received information that Guyana had a stockpile, Guyana reported in 2006 that it did not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines. It is possible that a stockpile was destroyed in an ammunition storage area explosion in 2000.