Ten-Year Review: Signatory Indonesia has pledged to ratify the convention, but it has not taken any steps to do so, aside from holding stakeholder consultations. Indonesia has participated in meetings of the convention, but not since September 2016. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting universalization of the convention in December 2019.

Indonesia states that it has never used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but it has acquired them in the past and possesses a stockpile.

Policy

The Republic of Indonesia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.

Indonesia has not taken any steps to ratify the convention, aside from holding stakeholder consultations.[1] Indonesia has not introduced the ratification request to its national parliament for consideration and approval. Nonetheless, several government officials have stated their desire for Indonesia to ratify the convention.[2]

Indonesia participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was one of the strongest supporters of a comprehensive ban on the weapon.[3] Indonesia hosted a regional conference on the convention in Bali in November 2009.

Indonesia has participated in meetings of the convention, but not since September 2016.[4] However, it has attended regional workshops on the convention, such as one hosted by Lao PDR in Vientiane in April 2019.[5]

In December 2019, Indonesia voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urged 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.

Indonesia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Indonesia has stated that it has never used, produced, or exported cluster munitions.[7]

Stockpiling

Indonesia possesses cluster munitions, but it has not shared information on the types and quantities stockpiled.[8]

Jane’s Information Group reported in 2004 that Indonesia possesses United States (US)-made Rockeye cluster bombs.[9]

In June 2020, Indonesia received a shipment of 36 Brazilian-made ASTROS II Mk. 6 multi-barrel rocket launchers, capable of firing SS-60 and SS-80 300mm surface-to-surface rockets or SS-150 450mm rockets.[10] The SS-60 and SS-80 rockets can be equipped to deliver either a unitary high explosive warhead or multiple submunitions.[11] The payload version for the ASTROS II acquired by Indonesia is not known, and Indonesian officials have never responded to requests from the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) to clarify this question.[12]

Policy

The Republic of Indonesia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 20 February 2007, becoming a State Party on 1 August 2007. Indonesia states that its Emergency Law No. 12/1951 on Fire Arms and Explosives provides for the imposition of penal sanctions as required by the treaty.[1] Previously a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said that the ministry has raised the possibility of new implementation legislation specifically for the Mine Ban Treaty in interagency meetings.[2] In March 2011, a Foreign Ministry official said this was still under review and asked for guidelines.[3]

Indonesia regularly attends meetings of the treaty, including the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, and the intersessional meetings of the treaty in May 2019, where it provided a statement on universalization.[4] Indonesia previously served on the Committees on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies (2010–2011), and Resources, Cooperation, and Assistance (2014).

A Foreign Ministry official previously stated to the Monitor that Indonesia believes that, “any mines, even anti-vehicle ones, which are fitted with sensitive fuzes or anti-handling devices which can be triggered by the presence or proximity of human activity qualify as antipersonnel mines according to Article 2, [and] should be banned.”[5]

Indonesia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It is also not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Indonesia has stated that it has not produced or used antipersonnel mines.[6] Indonesia destroyed the last of its 11,603 stockpiled antipersonnel mines on 13 November 2008.[7]

Indonesia initially stated that it would retain 4,978 mines for training purposes.[8] However, after reviewing its need to retain that number of mines,[9] Indonesia destroyed 2,524 mines on 15 December 2009. In February 2011, an Indonesian military official informed the Monitor that Indonesia had plans to conduct verification of its data on mines retained to determine which of the mines should be destroyed.[10] At the end of 2010, Indonesia reported retaining 2,454 mines, including 1,500 PMA-1 mines, seven PMRS mines, and 947 K-440 directional fragmentation mines.[11]

Mines retained for training purposes are under the control of the Director General of Defense Strength in the Ministry of Defense. Indonesia has not provided specific details, but has said the mines will be used as “instruction/teaching materials” to enhance the identification, detection, and destruction of mines in general, and “particularly for the purpose of preparing Indonesia’s participation for UN peacekeeping operations.”[12]

In June 2010, a Foreign Ministry official said that the training program had not yet begun, and that the government “is still in the process of reviewing its need to retain live mines.”[13]

In March 2011 a Ministry of Defense official informed the Monitor that it needs to retain live mines because dummy mines would not be taken seriously by new recruits. He stated that mines are used in yearly training of new recruits, including demonstration of the mines’ destructive force. He reiterated previous statements that mines retained would be needed for possible future training of Indonesian peacekeepers.[14] Also in March 2011, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated that Indonesia would retain live mines for training, and noted that Indonesia participates in military missions outside the UN under the Organization of Islamic Conference framework and bilaterally under arrangements in Southeast Asia, such as Mindanao. Indonesia stated that it has plans to send observers to Cambodia and Thailand.[15]

Indonesia has not reported that it has consumed any of the mines it has retained for training in the past four years.[16] A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official explained that mines had not been used in military trainings due to a need to bring in specialists.[17]