Summary

Non-signatory Singapore acknowledges the humanitarian rationale of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but has not taken any steps to join, as it regards a ban on cluster munitions to be counterproductive. Singapore has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2019. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.

Singapore has stated that it sees military utility in cluster munitions, but has never used them. In 2015, Singapore Technologies Engineering announced that it no longer produces cluster munitions. Singapore has not exported cluster munitions since a 2008 moratorium. Singapore possesses cluster munitions but has not shared information on the types or 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 due to its longstanding reservations. In November 2021, Singapore again called “a blanket ban on all types” of cluster munitions “counterproductive,” and said that the “security concerns of states cannot be disregarded.”[1] Singapore has also objected to the way the convention was negotiated outside UN auspices.[2]

Singapore did not participate in any of the preparatory meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but attended the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 as an observer.[3] It did not participate in the convention’s Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.

Singapore has participated as an observer at meetings of the convention, most recently in 2019, but has never made a statement at these meetings.[4] Singapore was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.

In December 2021, Singapore voted in favor of a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[5] 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 or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, and transfer

Singapore is not known to have used cluster munitions, but has produced cluster munitions and may have imported them.

Singapore announced an indefinite moratorium on the export of cluster munitions in November 2008.[6] It is not known whether any cluster munitions were exported before then.[7]

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.”[8]

In the past, Singapore Technologies Engineering manufactured 155mm dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) artillery projectiles, each containing 64 submunitions equipped with self-destruct features.[9] It also produced a 120mm mortar projectile that contains 25 DPICM submunitions.[10]

In 2018, a Singapore government representative confirmed to the Monitor that the company no longer produces cluster munitions.[11] The government of Singapore has not yet committed to never produce cluster munitions in the future.

Stockpiling

Singapore stockpiles cluster munitions, but has not shared information on the types or quantities possessed. In addition to cluster munitions produced by Singapore Technologies Engineering, the stockpile may also contain 350 CBU-71 air-delivered cluster bombs received from the United States (US) between 1970 and 1995.[12]

In 2016, a government representative told the Monitor that Singapore did not intend to acquire more cluster munitions to replenish existing stocks as older cluster munitions expire.[13] In 2018, a representative of Singapore told the Monitor that no stocks were destroyed during the previous year.[14]

Policy

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

In November 2019, Singapore stated at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that, “Singapore supports all initiatives against the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel landmines. At the same time, as a small State, Singapore firmly believes that the legitimate security concerns and the right to self-defence of any State cannot be disregarded. A blanket ban on all types of…anti-personnel landmines may therefore by counter-productive.” Singapore reiterated that it “supports international efforts to resolve the humanitarian concerns about anti-personnel landmines. We will continue 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 requested a written reply in parliament regarding the government’s stand on the Mine Ban Treaty.[5]

On 12 December 2019, Singapore voted in favor of annual UNGA Resolution 74/61, which calls for the full implementation and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has done in previous years.[6]

Singapore has regularly attended Mine Ban Treaty meetings, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018.[7] However, Singapore did not send observers to the convention’s Fourth Review Conference in Oslo, Norway, in November 2019.

Singapore is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), 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 company’s chief executive officer 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]