Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

Policy

The Republic of Niger signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 23 March 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 September 1999. National implementation legislation (Law 2004-044) entered into force on 15 September 2004.[1]

As of 1 September 2011, Niger had not submitted its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report due 30 April 2010.[2]

Niger attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November–December 2010 in Geneva, but did not make any statements. It did not attend the June 2011 intersessional Standing Committee meetings.

Niger is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but not CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and use

Niger has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. In April 2003, Niger reported that it had destroyed its entire stock of 48 antipersonnel mines.[3] It did not retain any antipersonnel mines for training or research purposes.[4]

From 2007 to 2009 an armed insurgency took place in the north of the country with the Touareg non-state armed group (NSAG), the Niger Justice Movement (Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice, MNJ). In late 2009 the MNJ suffered a major split, with many of its leaders forming a new armed group, the Nigerian Patriotic Front (Front Patriotique Nigérien, FPN), which negotiated an end to conflict with the government. Niger stated on several occasions that the insurgents had not used antipersonnel mines.[5] MNJ representatives also denied any use of antipersonnel mines.[6] A media report in October 2009 stated that the FPN, a splinter faction of the MNJ, handed over some antivehicle mines during official ceremonies to reaffirm their commitment to the peace process.[7]

Niger did collect and destroy antipersonnel mines belonging to other armed groups in 2008 and 2009.[8] In March 2010, a representative of the national mine action authority in Niger told the Monitor that there were no new recoveries or surrenders of antipersonnel mines by NSAGs in 2009. He also confirmed that all antipersonnel and antivehicle mines previously seized or discovered had been destroyed.[9]

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Niger signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008. Niger ratified on 2 June 2009 and was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

In November 2010, a government official informed the CMC that Niger would begin to prepare a national implementation law after elections scheduled to be held in early 2011.[1]

Niger’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report was due by 28 January 2011, but as of July 2011 the UN had not received the report.

Niger participated in the Oslo Process that produced the convention and supported a comprehensive treaty without exception.[2] Niger has continued to engage in the work of the convention. It participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010, but did not make a statement. Niger did not attend intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in June 2011.

Niger has not yet made known its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.

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

Niger has confirmed that it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[3]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Niger is contaminated with antivehicle mines, especially in the north in Agadez region, where the army has been fighting a non-state armed group, the Niger Justice Movement (Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice, MNJ) and some splinter factions. The extent of contamination has not yet been determined.[1] An incident in February 2009 that cost the lives of six Gambians occurred on the border between Niger and Libya.[2]

Whether Niger is also contaminated by antipersonnel mines remains unclear. In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2008, Niger reported no areas in which antipersonnel mines were known or suspected to be emplaced. It further stated that antipersonnel mines had never been used in Niger.[3] In its previous Article 7 report, covering April 2005 to March 2006, Niger declared eight suspected areas: the plateaus of Djado, Karama, Manguéni, and Tchigai; the Afafi and Air mountain ranges; the Talak plain; and the Emi Fezzan region.[4]

In November 2007, a UNDP rapid assessment of the situation concluded that most of the numerous incidents in 2007 had occurred as a result of antivehicle mines in the Agadez region on the main and secondary roads east of the Air mountain range, and that there was no evidence of use of antipersonnel mines in the current situation.[5] However, analysis by the Monitor of the casualty data included in the report indicated that a number of the incidents—some of which did not inflict any injuries—did not seem consistent with the explosion of an antivehicle mine.

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

The nature and extent of any explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in Niger is not known. There is no evidence of any contamination from cluster munition remnants. The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force for Niger on 1 August 2010.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Mine action in Niger falls under the remit of the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons (Commission Nationale Pour la Collecte et le Contrôle des Armes Illicites, CNCCAI), which is primarily responsible for dealing with small arms and light weapons. The commission reports directly to the president and one of its functions is to monitor Law 2004–044 on the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.[6] A working group on mine action was established in 2008.

The Anti-Mine Action Plan 2009–2013 was presented at a workshop organized on the International Day of Mine Action in 2009. Under the plan, Niger is seeking to develop the CNCCAI’s capacity to coordinate mine action, set up a mine action database, conduct demining, “implement and coordinate a risk education program,” and promote international humanitarian law relating to mines and ERW, among other things. Specific demining objectives include the following:

·         procure demining equipment;

·         conduct training in mine clearance;

·         begin identifying, marking, and, where possible, clearing suspected areas while the conflict is ongoing; and

·         complete clearance operations once the conflict is over.[7]

Niger has reported that demining of major routes began on 3 July 2010, although details were not provided.[8]

Land Release

In March 2011, Niger stated that a total of 120km of routes had been demined and marked with the financial support of UNDP, with the destruction of one antivehicle mine and five ERW.[9] In 2009, only spot clearance of explosive ordnance took place in Niger, in the Agadez region,[10] as in previous years. The extent of clearance and the items destroyed has not been reported.

Survey in 2010

The detail of any formal survey activities in 2010 has not been reported.

Mine clearance in 2009

Clearance using national clearance capacity began in July 2010.[11] Previously it had been hoped that training in humanitarian demining would be conducted by an international demining NGO in 2010.[12]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Niger was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 September 2009. Niger did not request an extension to the deadline on the basis that it is not contaminated with antipersonnel mines.

Demining by non-state armed groups

It is not known if the MNJ has conducted any demining. The MNJ and two splinter groups laid down their arms in 2009 following a mediation process led by Libya, though a formal peace accord has not yet been signed. The MNJ’s political leadership attended the Second Meeting of Signatories to Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment held in June in Geneva 2009, where it reiterated the movement’s policy of not using antipersonnel mines and its readiness to sign the Deed of Commitment.[13]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

An RE project was launched in Agadez in 2010 with the support of HI.[14] Limited RE activities took place in 2009 under the auspices of the CNCCAI.[15] UNICEF has provided limited support for the creation of RE materials.[16]

Casualties

Casualty Overview

In 2010, the Monitor identified 12 new mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Niger, a significant decrease from the 56 casualties in 2009 and the 155 in 2008.[1] All 12 casualties were civilians, a shift from the casualty profile in 2007–2009, when the majority were security forces.[2] Casualties included two men, two women, two boys, two girls, two children of unknown gender, and two unidentified persons. Antivehicle mines caused 10 casualties (three killed; seven injured), and a shell injured two girls. As in previous years, all casualties occurred in the Agadez region of northern Niger.

In 2010, the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons (Commission Nationale pour la Collecte et le Contrôle des Armes Illicites, CNCCAI) reported that the cumulative number of mine/ERW casualties in Niger was 319 (66 killed; 253 injured). However, this figure includes only those casualties identified from 2007 to 2009, the period during which the majority of casualties in Niger occurred.[3] Between 1999 and the end of 2010, the Monitor identified a total of 343 mine/ERW casualties (75 killed; 268 injured). This includes 12 casualties identified prior to 2007 and 12 in 2010.[4]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Niger is at least 268.[5]

CNCCAI is the government focal point for victim assistance but, due to lack of funds, its role has been largely limited to advocacy within the government on behalf of survivors. The Ministry of Population and Social Reforms serves as the government focal point on disability issues. Niger lacks a specific victim assistance plan, but victim assistance is mentioned in the Anti-Mine Action Plan 2009–2013.[6]

Victim assistance services are severely limited, particularly in the Agadez region, where most survivors are. Handicap International (HI) launched a victim assistance program in 2010 and the ICRC continued to support national capacity for physical rehabilitation.

Niger ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on 24 June 2008.

In 2010, Switzerland was Niger’s sole international mine action donor, contributing US$124,617 towards clearance activities.[1] International contributions were not reported in 2009.

Niger did not report any contributions to its mine action program in 2010.

In 2010, Niger was one of the 16 African states which received support from France in the form of the training of students at the Centre for Humanitarian Demining Training-West Africa (Centre de formation au déminage humanitaire- Afrique de l'Ouest) in Benin.[2]