LM Report 2002

QATAR

Key developments since May 2001: In 2002, Qatar’s Foreign Minister confirmed to the ICBL that Qatari Armed Forces do not use antipersonnel mines, and have no stockpile of mines except for training. Qatar has not said if U.S. mines stored in Qatar must be removed before its 1 April 2003 deadline for stockpile destruction. Qatar has not yet submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report, due by 27 September 1999.

Qatar signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 13 October 1998 and the treaty entered into force on 1 April 1999. It is not known if Qatar has enacted any national implementation measures, as required by Article 9. Qatar has not yet submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report, due by 27 September 1999. Qatar did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings during 2001 or 2002.^[1] It voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M promoting the Mine Ban Treaty. Qatar is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Qatar is not believed to have ever used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines. In response to a letter from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Qatari Foreign Minister stated in July 2002, “As for the legality of the joint operations with the non-signatories relating to stock-pile, use of antipersonnel mines or transporting or transiting them, we assure you that the Qatari Armed Forces never practice any of these acts.”^[2]

The Foreign Minister also stated, “We assure you that the State of Qatar does not own any stock-pile of mines nor does it have mined areas, and it uses sound mines which are harmless to people and the environment in training its armed forces.”^[3] In a letter written in 2002 to the co-chairs of the Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Qatar said it did not possess a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.^[4] In September 2000, Qatari military officers told Landmine Monitor that Qatar possesses a small stockpile of antipersonnel mines for training purposes. They did not disclose the size or composition of the stockpile.^[5] The deadline for Qatar to destroy any mines it may have in stock (except those retained under Article 3 for training purposes) is 1 April 2003.

The United States stores 216 artillery-delivered ADAM projectiles containing 7,776 antipersonnel mines at Camp As-Saliyah in Qatar, as part of U.S. Army Pre-Positioned Stocks Five (APS-5). Another 142 US Air Force Gator air-delivered mixed munitions containing 3,126 antipersonnel mines are believed to be stored at Al-Udeid.^[6]

Qatar has not clearly indicated if any of these US mines fall under Qatar’s jurisdiction or control; if they do, they must be destroyed or removed before the 1 April 2003 deadline. The Qatari Foreign Minister’s statement quoted above seems to indicate that Qatari Armed Forces would not be involved in the stockpiling or transporting of US mines. It is not known if that applies to Qatari citizens working at the military camps.

Qatar is not mine-affected. In the past, it donated to the Slovenian International Trust Fund, but no donations or in-kind contributions to international mine action programs were recorded in 2001 or in the first quarter of 2002.

[1] Qatar registered but did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001, possibly because of the travel problems surrounding this meeting.
[2] Letter from Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, to Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator, ICBL, Washington, DC, provided by the Embassy of Qatar, Washington, DC, with cover letter dated 3 July 2002.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, “Update on Implementation of Article 4,” 30 May 2002, endnote 36; available at:
http://www.gichd.ch/pdf/mbc/SC_may02/speeches_sd/Co_Chairs_Article_4_update.pdf.
[5] Interview with Colonel Hassan Al Mohandi, Geneva, Switzerland, 13 September 2000.
[6] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 901-902.

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