Benin
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Benin signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 25 September 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Benin has never used, produced, imported, or stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically has not yet been enacted. Benin submitted its seventh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 24 June 2008, but has not submitted subsequent annual reports.
Benin is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but not its Amended Protocol II on landmines or Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Benin attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
In 2002, Benin opened a regional demining training center for Economic Community of Western African States members.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
|
Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
Signatory |
|
Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014 |
|
Key developments |
Ratification process ongoing |
Policy
The Republic of Benin signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.
In February 2014, a representative from Benin’s permanent mission in Geneva informed a workshop on universalization of the convention in Africa that Benin’s ratification process is ongoing and committed to follow-up on the matter with a parliamentary delegation arriving from the capital in March.[1]
In September 2013, Benin informed States Parties that its ratification was nearing completion.[2] A government representative informed the CMC that the issue of ratification would be discussed by the government and, once approved, would be sent to parliament for adoption. The official could not however provide any indication about a timeline for the completion of the process.[3]
Previously, in May 2013 Benin stated that measures had been taken to initiate ratification of the convention.[4] Since 2010, Benin has been making similar statements on ratification to the Monitor and at meetings of the convention.[5]
In 2012, an official stated that once the ratification is completed, the provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions may be enforced through an amendment to existing national implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty.[6]
Benin participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was a strong advocate for a comprehensive ban.[7] It continued to actively participate in the work of the convention in 2013 and the first half of 2014. Benin attended the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013, the intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014, and a workshop on universalization of the convention in Africa that was hosted by the New Zealand permanent mission to Geneva in February 2014.
At the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Benin again emphasized its commitment to the convention, noting that it had not waited to implement its provisions until it became a State Party, and highlighted the work of its mine clearance training center, the West African Humanitarian Mine Action Training Center (Centre de Perfectionnement aux Actions Post-conflictuelles de Déminage et de Dépollution, CPADD).[8]
Benin has not made a national statement to express concern at Syria’s use of cluster munitions, but it has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning Syria’s cluster munition use, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013 which expressed “outrage” at “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[9]
Benin is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Benin has stated several times that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions, is not a transit country, and has no intention to acquire cluster munitions.[10]
[1] Statement of Benin, Meeting of African Diplomatic Missions in Geneva on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Geneva, 24 February 2014. Summary and notes by UNDP and the CMC.
[2] Statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013. Unofficial translation by the Monitor.
[3] CMC meeting with Gilbert Lasitode, Director, West African Humanitarian Mine Action Training Center (Centre de Perfectionnement aux Actions Post-conflictuelles de Déminage et de Dépollution, CPADD) and Simplice Gnanguesy, Director of Operations and Peacekeeping, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.
[4] Statement of Benin, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 22 May 2013.
[5] At the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention, Benin stated that the process to ratify the convention was well advanced in parliament. Statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). In April 2012, a government official said that the Department of Legal Affairs had submitted a draft ratification law to parliament. CMC meeting with Evelyne Agonhessou, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Geneva, 19 April 2012. A month later in May 2012, a government official informed the Accra regional conference on cluster munitions that draft legislation authorizing ratification of the convention had been developed and was being reviewed by relevant government departments. Statement of Benin, Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Accra, 28 May 2012.
[6] CMC meeting with Evelyne Agonhessou, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Geneva, 19 April 2012.
[7] For details on cluster munition policy and practice up to early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 42–43.
[8] Statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013; statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012; and statement of Benin, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 22 May 2013. Notes by AOAV. The CPADD is a mine action training center for African states. In April 2013, Benin informed the Monitor that the CPADD was facing financial difficulties that could hinder its work. CMC meeting with Marie-Claire Ouorou Guiwa Agbenga, Permanent Mission of Benin to the UN in Geneva, Geneva, 17 April 2013.
[9] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Benin voted in support of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013. It also endorsed the Lomé Strategy in 2013, which expresses grave concern over “the recent and on-going use of cluster munitions” and calls for the immediate end to the use of these weapons. “Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013.
[10] Statement of Benin, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 22 May 2013. Notes by AOAV; and statement of Benin, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 12 September 2012.
Support for Mine Action
France has been a major donor to the West African Humanitarian Mine Action Training Center (Centre de perfectionnement aux actions post-conflictuelles de déminage et de dépollution) based in Ouidah in the Republic of Benin since it opened in 2003. In 2011, France contributed €642,953 (US$895,698) to support training[1] and in 2012, France contributed another €754,785 ($970,578).[2] France also provides trainers to the center.
Summary of international contributions: 2011–2012
|
Year |
National currency (€) |
Amount ($) |
|
2012 |
754,785 |
970,578 |
|
2011 |
642,953 |
895,698 |
|
Total |
1,397,738 |
1,866,276 |
[1] France, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2012.
[2] Ibid., 30 April 2013. Average exchange rate for 2011: €1=US$1.3931; average exchange rate for 2012: €1=US$1.2859. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.