Mauritius
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Summary: State Party Mauritius acceded to the convention on 1 October 2015 and enacted implementing legislation for the convention in June 2016. Mauritius has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2017. It voted in favor of a United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2018. Mauritius provided its initial transparency report for the convention in April 2017, which confirms it has never produced cluster munitions and possesses no stocks, including for research and training.
Policy
The Republic of Mauritius acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 October 2015, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 April 2016.
Mauritius’ implementing legislation for the convention also covers its implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. [1] The Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act 2016 prohibits cluster munitions and includes penal sanctions of up to 15-years’ imprisonment.
Mauritius submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 April 2017. [2] It provided an updated report on 30 April 2019, indicating no changes from its initial report.
Mauritius participated in one meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a regional conference held in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008. [3]
Mauritius did not sign the convention at the Signing Conference in Oslo, Norway in December 2008, but acceded in 2015 after government officials expressed support for the convention. [4]
Mauritius has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2017. [5]
Mauritius voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution in December 2018, which urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.” [6] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.
Mauritius is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Interpretive issues
According to the Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act 2016, “no person shall in any manner assist, encourage or induce any other person to engage in any [of the prohibited acts].” [7] The law contains a lengthy extra-territoriality provision that establishes jurisdiction over, inter alia, people or companies from Mauritius who violate the law beyond the nation’s borders and others who affect people or businesses within Mauritius through violations outside of the country. [8]
Mauritius has not elaborated its views on the prohibition on transit and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions or the prohibition on investing in cluster munition production.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Mauritius has reported that it never produced cluster munitions and possesses no stocks, including for research or training. [9] Mauritius has never used or transferred cluster munitions. [10]
[1] The Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act 2016, Act No. 11 of 2016, entered into force 25 June 2016. It repealed the Anti-Personnel Mines (Prohibition) Act.
[2] The report covers the period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017.
[3] Mauritius attended a regional conference held in Kampala, Uganda in September 2008. For more information, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 228–229.
[4] In May 2012, Mauritius stated that the National Humanitarian Law Committee of the Prime Minister’s Office was examining the implications of Mauritius acceding to the ban convention. Statement of Mauritius, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012. In April 2012, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office informed the Monitor that Mauritius intended to “do its best” to sign and ratify the convention in the near future. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Raj Guzadhur, Officer, Prime Minister’s Office, 10 April 2012. In 2010, government representatives said that Mauritius was considering becoming a party to the convention and that there were no obstacles for it to join. Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) meeting with the delegation of Mauritius to the Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010; and CMC meeting with the delegation of Mauritius, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 7–9 June 2010. Notes by the CMC.
[5] Mauritius attended the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2010, 2012, and 2016 as well as intersessional meetings in 2011–2015 and regional workshops, most recently in Lusaka, Zambia in June 2015.
[6] “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 73/54, 5 December 2018.
[7] The Anti-Personnel Mines and Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Act 2016, Section 4(1)(b).
[8] Ibid., Section 9.
[9] It formally reported that there are “no cluster munitions available in Mauritius.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2017.
[10] Statement of Mauritius, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012; response to Monitor questionnaire by Raj Guzadhur, Prime Minister’s Office, 10 April 2012; response to Monitor questionnaire by Gulshan Ramreka, Prime Minister’s Office, 28 March 2011; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2017.