Policy

The Republic of Burundi signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 25 September 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

Burundi is believed to be preparing national implementation legislation for the convention, but the exact status was not known as of June 2014. Previously, in 2013, a government official said that steps were being taken to expand the country’s existing national implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty to address cluster munitions.[1] In 2012, Burundi reported that the process of developing a legal framework to incorporate the convention’s provisions into national legislation would “soon be initiated.”[2] A group was convened in 2010 to draft the implementing legislation.[3] Burundi has reported that it has the national operational structure in place to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions and related treaties.[4]

Burundi submitted its initial Article 7 report in early 2011, but, as of 27 June 2014, had not provided the annual updated reports due in April 2012, 2013, and 2014.[5]

Burundi participated in the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 where it supported a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions.[6]

Burundi has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Burundi has attended all intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva, including those held in April 2014. Burundi also attended a regional meeting on the convention in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

Burundi has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s cluster munition use, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights” including the use of cluster munitions.[7]

Burundi has expressed its views on certain important issues related to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In 2012, a Ministry of Public Security official said that Burundi considers assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations to be prohibited by the convention and it also considers the transit and foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on or across the territories of States Parties to be prohibited.[8]

Burundi is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) as of 13 July 2012 after ratifying two of its protocols.[9]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Burundi has stated that is has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions, nor has it any intention of acquiring them.[10] In 2011, Burundi declared that it has no stockpile of cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.[11] Burundi confirmed in April 2014 that it has never possessed a stockpile of cluster munitions.[12]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

At the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in November 2011, the Republic of Burundi declared it had completed clearance of all mines, fulfilling its Article 5 obligations, following the clearance of 11 mined areas by Mines Advisory Group (MAG). In December, however, the Minister of Energy and Mines requested assistance in surveying Suspected Hazardous Areas (SHAs) around electrical pylons; consequently, in May 2012, Burundi reported at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings that it still had suspected mined areas to release.[1] In 2013, Burundi repeated that it had located some SHAs near electrical pylons and in May requested assistance from the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) to complete non-technical surveys and clearance of antipersonnel mines.[2]

As an indicator of the assumed remaining contamination, FSD reported finding four antipersonnel mines per electrical pylon from 2005–2008; Direction de l'Action Humanitaire contre les Mines et Engins non explosés (DAHMI), the national mine action center, reported just 80 antipersonnel mines have been found from 2006–2013.[3]

Explosive remnants of war

The precise extent of contamination with explosive remnants of war (ERW) is unknown, although MAG regularly reported encountering ERW in its operations.[4] In October–November 2010, MAG trained four Civil Protection staff in demining to explosive ordnance disposal level 1 certification.[5] In 2006, an assessment by the United States (US) Department of State’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) identified poor ammunition storage and handling conditions in Burundi as serious risks.[6] MAG has worked with Burundi’s military and police to strengthen their Physical Security and Stockpile Management capacity since 2007.[7]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Mine action in Burundi is under the authority of the General Directorate for Civil Protection located within the Ministry of Public Security. On 15 May 2009, DAHMI was officially established under the same ministry, marking the end of active UNDP support. DAHMI is responsible for the coordination of mine action activities.[8]

Land Release

According to DAHMI, no mine clearance was conducted in 2012.[9] As of May 2013, Burundi did not have any clearance capacity although MAG had trained a Civil Protection Demining team in 2008. Dan Church Aid (DCA) and FSD closed their mine clearance programs in 2008.[10]

Survey in 2011–2012

A survey of SHAs around electricity pylons in October 2012, conducted by DAHMI with technical oversight by MAG, identified an unspecified number of SHAs in Bururi, Bujumbura, and Bubanza provinces.[11]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Burundi is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2014.

It appears Burundi prematurely declared it had met its Article 5 obligations when it declared it was mine free in November 2011. Burundi reported in May 2012 that it needed further survey to confirm SHAs around a few electrical pylons, but it still planned to meet its 1 April 2014 deadline.[12] Survey conducted in the SHAs in October 2012 identified further mined areas, but the extent remains unclear. As of May 2013, Burundi was waiting for a response from FSD on assistance.

Action points based on findings

·         Dedicate funding to develop a national database of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) victims and their needs.

·         Improve access to physical rehabilitation for survivors by finding the means to overcome the barrier of fees for service presents.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Burundi is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and ERW who are in need. Burundi has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

In 2013, the Monitor identified no new casualties from mines/ERW in Burundi. While this is in line with annual casualty figures that have been declining since a peak in 2005, it is likely that casualties may have occurred but were not recorded, since the Humanitarian Department for Mine/Unexploded Ordnance Action (Direction de l’Action Humanitaire contre les Mines et Engins non explosés, DAHMI) did not collect any casualty data after 2009.[1] The last confirmed mine/ERW casualties occurred in 2009.

In June 2010, Burundi estimated that the total number of casualties was 6,000.[2] However, no further details were available. The DAHMI recognized that there was a need to conduct a survey to evaluate the exact number of mine/ERW victims in Burundi and identify their needs. A project proposal to fund a victim identification and needs assessment survey was drafted in 2013 in collaboration with the NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) to be submitted to potential international donors, but as of March 2014 no sources of funding had been identified.[3] By the end of 2013, there were 2,630 casualties officially identified in DAHMI’s database.[4]

Victim Assistance

As of 2010, there were estimated to be 5,000 survivors in Burundi.[5]

Victim assistance in 2013

In 2013, implementation of the National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2011–2014 remained largely on hold due to lack of funding.[6] While the Interministerial and Inter-sectorial Coordinating Committee for Victim Assistance met several times throughout the year, provision of victim assistance services continued to be undertaken for the most part by international and national organizations.[7] Victim assistance stakeholders did not note any major changes in the availability or accessibility of services for survivors in 2013, although at least one organization noted an increased awareness of gender issues.[8]

Assessing victim assistance needs

The National Victim Assistance Action Plan, adopted in 2011, includes a target to conduct a qualitative survey on persons with disabilities and their needs by the end of the first half of 2012. This deadline was not met due to lack of funding to conduct this survey. In 2013, the DAHMI made efforts, in collaboration with AOAV, to identify international donors to fund this activity.[9]

Victim assistance coordination[10]

Burundi’s National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2011–2014 aims to improve victim assistance across seven thematic areas: immediate and continued healthcare; physical rehabilitation; psychosocial and peer support; inclusive education; social and economic inclusion, including community-based rehabilitation; inclusive development; and data collection, legislation and policies, and coordination.[11]

The Interministerial and Inter-sectorial Coordinating Committee for Victim Assistance was founded in 2011 to monitor and report on the implementation of the Action Plan, to define public policies in order to improve the delivery of services; to link relevant ministries, agencies, service providers, and donors; as well as to support the government in responding to its commitments under national law for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities. In 2013, the committee held monthly meetings;[12] however, due to a lack of funding, it was unable to implement the Action Plan.[13] In 2013 meetings were facilitated by DAHMI and primarily focused on advocacy and awareness-raising towards the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[14]

As of 1 August 2014, Burundi had not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2013. Burundi gave updates on victim assistance during the session on Mine Clearance at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in April 2014.[15]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Representatives of the Union of Persons with Disabilities of Burundi (Union des Personnes Handicapées du Burundi, UPHB) and of the Center for Training and Development of Ex-Combatants (CEDAC), an organization with survivors included within its membership, participated in meetings of the Coordinating Committee for Victim Assistance in 2013.[16] Some survivors were involved in the implementation of economic inclusion, psychosocial support, and peer support projects through NGO service providers.[17]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities: 2013[18]

Access to appropriate physical rehabilitation services remained difficult in 2013 for most of those in need. The greatest obstacles for accessing services remained the lack of facilities and professionals and the cost of treatment, since users had to pay for the services.[19] The general difficulty for victims to receive information on available services also impeded their ability to access them.[20] HI continued to provide physical rehabilitation to persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, in four provinces, while also building local capacities and skills in the rehabilitation centers of those areas.[21]

The ICRC continued its collaboration with the ISK in Bujumbura, which targeted services for people in the areas of Burundi that were the most severely contaminated by weapons. In 2013, technical, financial, and training support from the ICRC enabled the ISK physical rehabilitation center to improve the quality of its physical rehabilitation services and become the country’s referral center for fitting disabled people, including demobilized weapon bearers, with prostheses and orthoses. By the end of May 2013, the center assumed full responsibility for procuring the materials required for its prosthetic/orthotic and physiotherapy services; it also initiated coordination efforts with other physical rehabilitation centers in the country, with a view to integrating physical rehabilitation services into the national health system.[22] Indeed, in 2013, disabled people from a wider geographical area were able to access rehabilitation services of the ISK because they were provided free lodging and meals at the center. As a result, the number of outpatient consultations, mostly children needing corrective devices, increased significantly.[23]

The government of Burundi continued to support a center for physical therapy in Gitega and a center for social and professional reinsertion in Ngozi, to assist individuals with physical disabilities.[24]

HI continued its economic inclusion programme in 2013 in five provinces. Since the project was launched in 2011, it has worked with 2,000 former combatants with disabilities including mine/ERW survivors through the end of 2013.[25] The project was specifically designed for former combatants with disabilities and supported access to medical care, including physical rehabilitation services, psychosocial support, and social and economic inclusion services.[26]

In 2013, CEDAC and AOAV launched a new project to provide psychosocial support to women with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims. This was done through the training of 30 peer educators who, in turn, provided peer support to other women with disabilities. The project also empowered these women to conduct advocacy for the respect of women living with disabilities in Burundi.[27] CEDAC also continued implementing an economic inclusion project and providing psychosocial support for survivors through another peer support initiative throughout 2013. The economic inclusion project focused primarily on women with disabilities from mine/ERW incidents.[28] The constitution prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. Nevertheless, the government did not promote or protect the rights of persons with disabilities with regard to employment, education, or access to healthcare. The government did not enact legislation or otherwise mandate access to buildings, information, or government services for persons with disabilities.[29]

While gender issues were increasingly taken into account by stakeholders in 2013, the adaptation of services for children remained a key challenge that had yet to be addressed in order to better respond to their needs.[30]

Burundi signed the CRPD on 26 April 2007 and efforts towards its ratification were strengthened throughout 2013.[31] The parliament of the Republic of Burundi formally adopted the CRPD on 6 March 2014.[32]

At the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in 2011, the Republic of Burundi declared that it had completed its Article 5 obligations. However, it subsequently reported at the 2013 intersessional Standing Committee meetings that it still had suspected mined areas to release and surveying was ongoing.[1]

In 2012, Switzerland contributed CHF70,000 (US$74,651) to Mines Advisory Group towards mine clearance in Burundi.[2]

Burundi did not report any contributions to its mine action program in 2012.

Summary of international contributions: 2008–2012[3]