Burkina Faso
Mine Ban Policy
Burkina Faso signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 16 September 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Burkina Faso has never used, produced, imported, exported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. Burkina Faso was the 40th country to ratify the treaty, triggering its entry into force six months later. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically was enacted in 2001. Burkina Faso submitted its ninth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 31 March 2008, but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Burkina Faso is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but not CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Burkina Faso attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
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Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party |
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Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 and regional conference in Accra, Ghana in May 2012 |
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Key developments |
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Policy
Burkina Faso signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 16 February 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
In January 2011, Burkina Faso reported that national measures were in preparation to implement the convention, but requested assistance to prepare draft legislation.[1]
Burkina Faso submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report on 26 January 2011.[2] As of 25 June 2012, Burkina Faso had not yet submitted its annual updated Article 7 report, due by 30 April 2012.
Burkina Faso participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[3] It has continued to actively engage in the work of the convention. Burkina Faso attended the Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, where it made a statement on the need for universalization and implementation of the convention.[4]
Burkina Faso attended the Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2012. It did not make any statements, but endorsed the Accra Universalization Action Plan issued by the conference.
Burkina Faso did not participate in intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in June 2011 or April 2012.
Interpretive issues
Burkina Faso has expressed its position on one of several important issues for the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Burkina Faso considers that the transit of cluster munitions by states not party through the territory of States Parties is prohibited.[5] Burkina Faso has yet to make known its views on other issues, such as the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations with states not party, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling, and the prohibition on investment in cluster munition production.
Burkina Faso is party to Mine Ban Treaty.
Convention on Conventional Weapons
Burkina Faso is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and participated in CCW work on cluster munitions in 2011. During the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in Geneva in November 2011, Burkina Faso joined a group of states opposed to the adoption of a draft protocol on cluster munitions. On the final day of the conference, Burkina Faso was one of 50 countries that issued a joint statement declaring that there was no consensus on the draft protocol and that the draft protocol did not address fundamental humanitarian concerns.[6] The Review Conference ended without reaching agreement on the draft protocol, thus concluding the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Burkina Faso has stated that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[7] Burkina Faso has reported that it has no cluster munitions, including for training.[8]
[1] Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms A and H, 26 January 2011.
[2] The report covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2011.
[3] For details on Burkina Faso’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 48–49.
[4] Statement of Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, Lebanon, 14 September 2011.
[5] Letter No. 2009-001228/MAE-CR/SG/DGAJC from Minata Samate, Acting Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, 24 March 2009.
[6] Joint Statement read by Costa Rica, on behalf of Afghanistan, Angola, Austria, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Iceland, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. CCW Fourth Review Conference, Geneva, 25 November 2011. List confirmed in email from Bantan Nugroho, Head of the CCW Implementation Support Unit, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, 1 June 2012.
[7] Statement by Amb. Monique Ilboudo, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008.
[8] Burkina Faso, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B and C, 26 January 2011.