Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Mali signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 2 June 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. National implementation measures were adopted in 2000, which include penal sanctions and fines.[1]

Mali has not submitted an updated Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, due annually on 30 April, since 2005.[2]

Mali attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010.

Mali has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. In 1998, prior to becoming a State Party, Mali destroyed its stockpile of 7,127 antipersonnel mines, together with 5,131 antivehicle mines.[3] Mali reported in 2003 that it retained 600 antipersonnel and 300 antivehicle mines for training purposes.[4] It has not since reported on the number of retained mines or on the use of mines retained.

Mali stated in 2001 that it had never used antipersonnel mines and that there had been no reports of use by government forces or rebels during the Touareg rebellion.[5] 

However, media reports published in June and October 2011 claim that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) laid an unspecified type of mine in the Wagadou forest in Mali. According to a media report, AQIM posted information confirming the mine laying to a regional news agency on 4 October 2011.[6]  The Monitor has not been able to confirm use of antipersonnel mines in this instance, and as of 1 November 2011, the ICBL had not received any answer to its requests for confirmation of the type of mines used and steps taken to address possible contamination.

Mali is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Mali signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 30 June 2010. The convention entered into force for Mali on 1 December 2010.

In June 2011, Mali said that it has started the process of integrating the convention into national law.[1] The National Assembly unanimously approved ratification of the convention by decree on 6 May 2010.[2]

Mali’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report was due by 30 May 2011. As of early August 2011, Mali had yet to submit its report.

Mali participated actively in the Oslo Process that created the convention and advocated for a total ban on cluster munitions without exception and with immediate effect.[3] Mali continued to show strong interest in the convention in 2010 and the first half of 2011. It participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010, where it called on all countries that had not yet done so to join the convention “because unity makes us stronger” and urged the establishment of an international fund to assist affected countries with clearance and victim assistance obligations.[4] It also made statements on transparency reporting and on the proposed program of work for 2011.

Mali also attended the convention’s first intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011, where it gave an update on national implementation measures and confirmed that it has no victims of cluster munitions.

On 18 April 2011, a parliamentary representative from Mali attended a briefing on the convention held during the 124^th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Panama City, Panama.

Mali has not made known its views on certain important issues regarding the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibition on foreign stockpiling or transit of cluster munitions, the prohibition on investment in cluster munition production, or the retention of cluster munitions for research or training purposes. On the issue of the prohibition on assistance with acts prohibited under the convention during joint military operations with states not party (interoperability), during the negotiations Mali argued against the inclusion of provisions on interoperability, cautioning that they must not undermine the very purpose of the convention.[5]

The West African Journalists for Security and Development Network campaigns in support of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Mali.[6]

Mali is a party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, but has not actively engaged in recent CCW deliberations on cluster munitions.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In November 2010, a government representative said, “We have no cluster munitions in Mali.”[7] Mali is not known to have used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[8]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Mali has a problem with antivehicle mines in the north of the country.[1] The precise extent of the threat is not known, although in September 2009 Mali reported 80 mined areas in the regions of Tombouctou and Kidal, particularly along the roads between Tinza and Abubaza.[2] Mali repeated this information in September 2010, suggesting limited progress in demining.[3] In 2008, Mali had suggested, implausibly, that the extent of contamination was approximately 2,000km².[4]

As of August 2011, there were unconfirmed reports suggesting possible use of antipersonnel mines by Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in an area towards the border between Mali and Mauritania.[5] Other reports suggested that AQIM were laying antivehicle mines only.[6] On 28 June 2011, three civilians were said to have been killed in a mine explosion in western Mali where Mauritanian and Malian troops were conducting joint operations against AQIM.[7] Mali has not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report since 2005, in which it declared that there were no mined areas on its territory.[8]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

It is not known to what extent Mali is contaminated with explosive remnants of war (ERW). It has not reported publicly on its destruction of ERW during demining operations, although its initial report in accordance with Article 10 of Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons was due on 22 April 2010. There is no evidence of any cluster munition remnants in Mali.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The National Commission for the Total Ban of Antipersonnel Mines (Commission Nationale pour l’Interdiction Totale des Mines Antipersonnel, CNITMA), which was created in June 2002, is nominally the national mine action authority in Mali.[9]

Mali has previously noted a number of obstacles to clearance, including the lack of experience of its demining personnel; difficult climatic conditions in the affected areas (heat and movement of sand); the lack of mine maps; and the insufficiency of resources (personnel and equipment).[10] There were no projects for Mali included in the UN’s 2010 or 2011 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects.[11]

Land Release

Demining in Mali is carried out by the army’s two engineering teams using manual clearance methods and their own standing operating procedures. It has not reported in detail on clearance in 2009 or 2010, although it declared the clearance of five antivehicle mines during 2009.[12]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Mali was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2009. Mali has never declared a problem with antipersonnel mines and did not request an extension to its Article 5 deadline.

Other Risk Reduction Measures

Mali has reported a major mine awareness effort in the north of the country.[13]