Summary

Non-signatory Brunei has shown interest in the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but has not taken any steps to join it. Brunei voted in favor of the annual United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.

Brunei provided a voluntary Article 7 transparency report for the convention in May 2020, which states that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and does not possess any stockpiles.

Policy

Negara Brunei Darussalam has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Brunei has never made a public statement elaborating its position on joining the convention.[1] However, in May 2020, it provided the UN with a voluntary Article 7 transparency report for the convention.[2] Under national implementation measures for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the report lists Brunei’s draft implementing legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.

Brunei participated in several meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention in Dublin on 30 May 2008. However, it did not attend the convention’s signing conference in Oslo in December 2008.[3]

Brunei participated as an observer in the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010, which remains its only participation to date in a meeting of the convention. Military officials from Brunei attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional meeting on cluster munitions, convened virtually by the Philippines in July 2020.[4]

In December 2021, Brunei voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution, which urged states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[5] Brunei has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Brunei 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

According to Brunei’s voluntary Article 7 transparency report provided in May 2020, it has never produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[6] Previously, in 2010, a defense representative said that Brunei does not possess any stockpiles of cluster munitions.[7]

Policy

Brunei Darussalam signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 24 April 2006, becoming a State Party on 1 October 2006. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically has been drafted but not yet enacted.[1]

Brunei last attended a meeting of the treaty in November–December 2011 when it attended the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in Phnom Penh. Brunei has not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report since April 2007. On 22 June 2010, Brunei submitted a letter to the UN in lieu of an Article 7 report that stated it does “not have any Anti-Personnel Mines that are banned under the Convention, and therefore we do not have any information for the Article 7 Annual Report.”[2]

On 5 December 2018, Brunei voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 71/63 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

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

Use, production, transfer, and stockpile

Brunei has never used, produced, imported, exported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.