Policy

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009.

The Senate adopted the ratification legislation on 28 November 2013 and, as of June 2014, the final step remaining in the ratification process was promulgation of the ratification law by the president.[1] The DRC has provided regular updates on the status of its ratification since the process was initiated in early 2011.[2]

In April 2014, the DRC informed states that it has amended its domestic implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty to include provisions on cluster munitions.[3] The amended legislation is not reported in 2014 under national implementation measures.[4]

The DRC submitted voluntary Article 7 reports for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011, 2012, and June 2014.[5]

The DRC actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and strongly supported a comprehensive ban as well as the inclusion of provisions on international cooperation and assistance. Due to inadequate signing authority, the DRC was not able to sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in March 2009.[6]

The DRC has continued to engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2008. It has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. The DRC has attended every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva, including in April 2014. The DRC attended a workshop on universalization of the convention for African diplomatic missions in Geneva in February 2014.

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

The DRC has expressed its views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2012, the government’s national mine action coordinator said that the DRC agreed with the views of the CMC that the provisions of the convention forbid transit in, foreign stockpiling of, and investment in the production of cluster munitions, and also forbid the assistance with the use of cluster munitions in joint military operations with states not party.[8]

The DRC is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The DRC has reported that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions and does not stockpile them.[9]

It is not known which party to the various conflicts in the DRC used cluster munitions or when they were used. In April 2014, the DRC stated that cluster munitions were used in armed conflict by foreign armies, both invited and not invited.[10] Cluster munition contamination includes BLU-755, BLU-63, BLU-55, ShAOB, and PM1-type submunitions.[11]

In May 2013, the DRC confirmed that an abandoned stockpile containing 1,593 ShAOB submunitions was found in Goma and destroyed in 2011. According to the initial Article 7 report, the armed forces gave the submunitions to mine action NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for destruction on 9 November 2011.[12]

Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: Average[1]

Mines

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), a result of years of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and rebel groups. In 2011, the DRC claimed that contamination from mines and ERW existed across the territory,[2] although ERW was more extensive than the mine threat.[3]

In August 2013, the Congolese Mine Action Centre (Centre Congolais de Lutte Antimines, CCLAM) reported that the national database contained records on 1,540 open hazards in all 11 provinces, including 76 mined areas covering approximately 3.6km².[4] Previously, in March 2013, the DRC launched a national survey, funded by Japan, to address large discrepancies in its data and to determine the full extent of contamination from mines and cluster munition remnants.[5] The survey helped to produce an updated database and determine the resources needed to meet its Article 5 Mine Ban Treaty clearance obligation. The DRC used the survey’s results as the basis for its second Article 5 deadline extension request, which it submitted in April 2014.

By April 2014, following database clean-up and a new national survey, it was reported that 130 mined areas remained in eight provinces (Equateur, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental, Maniema, North Kivu, Katanga, Province Orientale, and South Kivu) covering an estimated 1.8km², more than half of which is located in Equateur and Katanga provinces.[6] The Aru and Dungu territories in Province Orientale were not surveyed due to insecurity.[7]

Mined areas as of April 2014[8]

As of April 2014, 2,516 victims of mines/ERW had been reported in DRC (1,063 dead, 1,447 injured, and six unknown).[9] Of this total, 856 were caused by mines, and half of all recorded mine incidents occurred in South Kivu (256 victims, 30%) and Equateur (173 victims, 20%) provinces.[10]

Cluster munitions remnants

Following the national survey conducted throughout 2013, the DRC identified five areas contaminated by cluster munitions remnants (type BLU-755) covering a total of 17,590m² (0.018km²) in Equateur and Katanga provinces.

Cluster munition contaminated areas as of April 2014[11]

Other explosive remnants of war

A succession of conflicts have left the DRC with unexploded ordnance (UXO), as well as significant quantities of abandoned explosive ordnance, which the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) considers much greater than landmine contamination. As of August 2013, UNMACC had recorded 1,464 ERW-affected areas.[12] Since 2002, over 250,000 ERW have been destroyed, of which some 27,518 UXO was cleared by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) between January–June 2014.[13] The Development Initiative (TDI) reported that most of the UXO they had found were mortar rounds or grenades, and occasionally locally-produced aircraft bombs.[14]

Mine Action Program

On 9 July 2011, national mine action legislation was signed into law by the DRC president. UNMACC, established in 2002 by UNMAS, coordinates mine action operations in the DRC through offices in the capital, Kinshasa, and Goma, Kalemie, Kananga, Kisangani, and Mbandaka.[15] It maintains de facto responsibility for planning, managing, and monitoring all mine action activities on behalf of the government.[16] UNMACC is part of the UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) peacekeeping mission. UN Security Council Resolution 1925 mandated UNMACC to strengthen national mine action capacities and support reconstruction through road and infrastructure clearance.[17]

In March 2013, UN Security Council Resolution 2098 called for transfer of demining activities to the UN Country Team and the Congolese authorities.[18] With the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2147 in March 2014, demining activities are no longer included in MONUSCO’s mandate, meaning that as of July 2014, MONUSCO will no longer fund humanitarian demining in the DRC.[19] The Congolese Mine Action Centre (CCLAM) was established in 2012 with support from UNMACC.[20]

Five international operators are accredited for mine action in the DRC: DanChurchAid (DCA), Handicap International (HI), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Mine Tech International (MTI), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).[21] As of April 2014, these operators were based in five offices across the country:

·         HI and Mechem were located in the Northern regional office in Kisangani, covering both Province Orientale and Maniema province;

·         DCA, MAG, Mechem, and MTI were located in the Eastern regional office in Goma, covering both North and South Kivu provinces;

·         MAG and NPA were located in the central regional office in Kananga, covering Kasaï Oriental and Kasaï Occidental provinces;

·         Mechem and MAG were located in the Western regional office in Mbandaka, covering the provinces of Bandundu, Bas Congo, Equateur, and Kinshasa;

·         Mechem and MAG were located in the Southern regional office in Kalemie, covering the province of Katanga.[22]

MAG and NPA are training teams in the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) and the National Police (PNC) to conduct demining, battle area clearance (BAC), and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD).[23] Mechem is operating under UN auspices.[24]

No national organizations in DRC were accredited to conduct clearance activities. National organizations are responsible for carrying out non-technical survey and risk education.[25]

Strategic planning

DRC’s national mine action strategic plan for 2012–2016 sets the goal of clearance by the end of 2016 of all areas contaminated with antipersonnel mines or unexploded submunitions, as well as for transition of the mine action program from UN to full national ownership.[26]

Land Release

In 2013, 82 mines were found during clearance of 0.1km² of contaminated area in the DRC.[27]

Mine clearance in 2013[28]

Since 2009, demining organizations have cleared a total of about 2km² of mined areas. Between 2002 and 2011, the DRC reported that 7.5km² were demined.[29]

Mine clearance in 2009–2013 (m²)[30]

Released land is used for agriculture and settlement development, in addition to opening up access to markets, water, and firewood. In addition, MONUSCO uses released land for their field bases and airport terminals.[31]

Cluster munitions clearance

In its voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2013, the DRC reported the destruction of 21 cluster munitions during 2013 in Lubutu, Kalemi, and Goma during clearance and BAC operations.[32]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 26-month extension request granted by States Parties in 2012), the DRC is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2015.

In March 2011, the DRC submitted a request to extend its initial Article 5 deadline of November 2012 by four years.[33] The request largely blamed poor survey by demining operators for the failure to meet its deadline, although poor management and insufficient national ownership of the program were also major factors. In June 2011, however, at the Standing Committee meetings the DRC informed States Parties it was seeking only an interim two-year extension and that it would present a definitive extension request in 2014.[34] It subsequently requested a 26-month extension that States Parties approved at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties in December 2012.

While clearance operations continued during the extension period, the main activity was the national survey which aimed to provide the DRC with the information needed to submit another extension request in 2014.[35]

On 7 April 2014, the DRC submitted a second request to extend its Article 5 deadline, this time by six years, starting in January 2015. The extension indicates that at least 30% of the total mined areas can be released through technical survey, indicating that some 1.3km² would need to be cleared.[36] The extension request estimates that on average 0.21km² will be cleared each year.[37]

The extension request includes annual projections of progress to be made during the extension period, though without providing a detailed work plan with a monthly breakdown of activities for each operator in each area in order to achieve these.[38] It also foresees expenditure of US$20 million, of which some $19.4 million will go to demining the 130 mined areas, while the remainder will be spent on survey and clearance in Aru and Dungu.[39]

Support for Mine Action

In 2013, eight donors contributed a total of US$8.76 million to mine action in the DRC, which represents a decline of about 30% from 2012.[40] About 96% ($8.5 million) of international contributions were allocated to clearance operations.

The DRC also received almost $6.85 million through UN-assessed peacekeeping funds used for support to mine action, a decrease of $1 million from 2012.[41] In 2013, the combined total of all contributions towards DRC’s mine action program was just over $15.6 million.

The DRC has never reported any national contributions to its mine action program. However, in its second Article 5 deadline extension request submitted in April 2014, the DRC announced its willingness to contribute to FC579,831,000 (about US$600,000) a year starting in January 2015.[42]

Recommendations

·         If its extension request is granted by States Parties, the DRC should immediately start developing a detailed work plan setting out activities to be carried out in 2015–2020.

·         As soon as the security situation allows, the DRC should conduct survey in Aru and Dungu territories.

Summary action points

·         Improve the availability of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial services significantly; increase resources to establish these services.

·         Identify sustainable resources for assistance as a key priority; since most funding ended, many NGOs that provide victim assistance depend on irregular international funding channeled through the mine action sector.

·         Ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); legislation was passed nationally in July 2013.

Victim assistance commitments

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. DRC has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has obligations to cluster munition victims as a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

The UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) in DRC reported 12 mine/ERW and submunition casualties in DRC for 2013.[1] In addition, the Monitor identified an additional incident where nine children were victims of a mine which exploded when they threw a rock at it, causing the death of one and injuring the others.[2] As in previous years, children constituted the majority of casualties, with more than 90% of casualties being minors. All casualties were reported as being civilians, including one woman. This represented an increase from the 13 casualties recorded by UNMACC for 2012.[3]

It has been reported that available casualty data significantly underrepresents the true number of people killed and injured due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible due to a lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[4]

UNMACC reported 2,516 mine/ERW casualties between 1964 and the end of 2013, with 1,063 people killed, 1,447 injured, and six cases in which it was unknown if the casualties survived.[5] Of all casualties, 1,627 were male and about a quarter (601) were female.[6] Children represented 43% (1,083) of the total casualties. Casualties were identified in all of DRC’s 11 provinces, although more than half of all casualties occurred in just three provinces: South Kivu (23%), Equateur (21%), and North Kivu (18%). In 2013, most casualties (18) took place in the province of North Kivu. Landmines caused 67% of casualties for which the explosive-device type was known.[7]

Cluster munition casualties

Cluster munition remnants caused 207 casualties in DRC through the end of 2013 (which accounts for 16% of all casualties for which the explosive-device type was known).[8]

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2013, UNMACC had recorded 1,447 mine/ERW survivors in DRC.[9]

Victim assistance since 1999

Since 1999, most people with disabilities in DRC have remained unable to access services. Due to conflict, poverty, and mass displacement, the many needs of persons with disabilities were not met. Access to services ranged from limited to non-existent and was further hampered by long distances, inaccessible terrain, and cost. Most services have been provided by NGOs. Conflict increased demands on services at the same time that some NGOs also faced funding difficulties.

Through to the end of 2013, the physical rehabilitation sector was under-resourced and the few functioning centers remained dependent on international support. Social workers within the healthcare system had received some basic training. Opportunities for psychological assistance were limited to ad hoc NGO projects.

Victim assistance in 2013

An upsurge of violence and conflict in DRC, especially in the provinces of North and South Kivu,[10] as well as reduced international funding provided through UNMACC[11] led to a decrease in services and geographical coverage in 2013.[12] However, new projects were implemented, in particular in the field of economic inclusion, physical rehabilitation, and psychological support through peers. Increased advocacy on the CRPD led to its ratification in July 2013.[13] Psychological support and care remained among the biggest challenges in mine/ERW victim assistance in DRC in 2013.[14]

As in previous years, the size of the country, combined with the lack of transportation and infrastructure, armed violence, and the financial cost of obtaining assistance all made it difficult for survivors to access the limited number of services, which were available only in major cities.[15]

Assessing victim assistance needs

No new victim assistance needs assessments were conducted in 2013.[16] Victim assistance stakeholders largely worked from the results of the 2011 victim identification and needs assessment campaigns conducted as part of the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Assistance for Mine/ERW Victims and other Persons with Disabilities: November 2010–October 2011 (Plan Stratégique National d’Assistance aux Victimes des Mines/REG et autres Personnes en Situation de Handicap: Novembre 2010–Octobre 2011, PSNAVH).[17] Close to 500 mine/ERW survivors were identified among 1,000 persons with disabilities surveyed, identifying needs in healthcare, physical rehabilitation, and economic inclusion.[18] Also, in March–May 2010 national and international NGOs—including the Congolese Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions (CCBL) and the National Association of Landmine Survivors and Advocacy for Victims (Association Nationale de Survivants de Mines et de Défense des Interêts des Victimes, ANASDIV)—carried out a national needs assessments of mine/ERW survivors in cooperation with UNMACC.[19]

In 2013, however, UNMACC and NGOs tried to update these findings on an ad hoc basis during the course of conducting their normal activities.[20]

Victim assistance coordination in 2013[21]

In 2013, the Working Group on Victim Assistance (Groupe de Travail sur l’Assistance aux Victimes), which had been created in 2011 and was chaired by the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs,[22] was dissolved.[23] The role of coordination and planning was assumed by the sub-cluster on Disabilities, which falls under the Health Cluster (led by the World Health Organization, WHO).[24] Meetings were organized monthly but they did not address victim assistance specifically.[25] The sub-cluster is chaired by the NGO Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and the National Community Rehabilitation Programme (Programme National de Réhabilitation à Base Communautaire, PNRBC). It gathers the Ministry of Social Affairs, represented by the Directorate for Coordination of rehabilitation activities for persons with disabilities (Direction de Coordination des Activités de Réadaptation des Persones Handicapées, DICOREPHA) and international organizations such as UNMACC, the ICRC, and Handicap International (HI).[26] NGOs and survivor organizations are also invited to participate.[27] Throughout 2013, the sub-cluster on disabilities coordinated advocacy efforts toward the adoption of the CRPD.

In October 2013, following advocacy from the CCBL, terms of references were drafted for a “monthly meeting on victim assistance and mine risk education” (“réunions mensuelles d’assistance aux victimes et d’éducation aux risques de mines”) which should replace the meetings of the Working Group on Victim Assistance.[28] As of December 2013, no meetings under these new terms of references had been organized.[29]

The National Strategic Mine Action Plan for the period 2012–2016 includes a chapter on victim assistance that draws on the PSNAVH.[30] Five strategic objectives have been set on victim assistance: (1) improved information and data management on survivors and their needs; (2) strengthened physical rehabilitation nationally; (3) development of psychological support in accordance with victims’ needs; (4) ensuring access to socio-economic and professional rehabilitation; and (5) strengthening coordination mechanisms on victim rehabilitation.[31]

Funding remained a key challenge throughout 2013 to ensure the implementation of the victim assistance section of the National Mine Action Plan.[32] In 2013, UNMACC had to reduce the number of projects implemented by national victim assistance NGOs that it funded to concentrate particularly on the eastern part of DRC when international contributions came to an end. Because many such NGOs depended almost entirely on funds raised by UNMACC, there was a significant decrease in the number of service providers.[33]

DRC provided updates on progress and challenges for victim assistance at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2013.[34] As of 1 June 2014, DRC had not submitted its Article 7 reports for the years 2012 and 2013. Victim assistance was reported only briefly, with no detail or data, in Form H of DRC’s voluntary Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2011.[35]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2013, mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations, as well as disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs), were included in efforts towards the implementation of Mine Action Plan 2012–2016, and in meetings of the sub-cluster on Disabilities.[36] In 2013, survivors were included in economic inclusion services, as well as in advocacy activities and peer support programs through NGOs.[37] One survivor was working as a technician in the Kelembe Lembe rehabilitation center in Kinshasa.[38]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2013[39]

Emergency and continuing medical care had limited support through government medical structures and there was a lack of accessible healthcare across DRC.[40]

The long distances to services, high financial costs of attaining them, and increased insecurity remained the greatest obstacles to accessing physical rehabilitation in 2013.[41] The PSNAVH estimated that just 20% of the population in need of physical rehabilitation services was able to access them.[42] In the entire country, there were only six rehabilitation centers operating effectively. Even these lacked sufficient materials to produce enough prosthetics to meet existing needs. Trained orthopedic technicians were needed, especially in mine-affected areas.[43] In 2013, the ICRC continued to work in conjunction with three rehabilitation centers.[44] However, at the end of 2013, it withdrew its support to the rehabilitation center in Kinshasa as the sustainability of activities could not be guaranteed.[45]

As in previous years, the ICRC did not provide direct support to centers in the country, except for some donations of equipment and tools, but instead covered the treatment costs of people directly affected by the conflict. After identifying and assessing patients, the ICRC referred them to centers with which it had cooperation agreements.[46] The number of prostheses produced with ICRC support in 2013 stabilized compared to 2012 but still constituted a decrease compared to previous years.[47] In 2013, mine/ERW survivors only received 10% of all prosthetic devices produced with the assistance of the ICRC[48] which is a decrease compared to 16% in 2012.[49]

The CNOPHAVM, a coalition of national NGOs which includes the CCBL, the ANASDIV, the Congolese Association of the liberation and development of disabled mothers (l’Association Congolaise pour la Libération et le Développement de la Maman Handicapée, ACOLDEMHA), the Congolese medico-social expert center for persons with disabilities (Centre Congolais d’Expertise Médico-Social pour Personnes Vivant avec Handicap, CCEMS-PVH), and Parousia, developed psychological and peer support programs in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, Kinshasa, and South Congo.[50] In 2013, the ICRC also provided psychological support to people suffering from conflict-related trauma in the provinces of North and South Kivu and Province Orientale.[51] In 2011, the PSNAVH had highlighted that little or no psychological support or social inclusion initiatives were available to survivors.[52] Psychological support remained an area where the largest needs and gaps existed in 2013.[53]

In 2013, national NGOs continued to implement projects offering economic inclusion services to mine/ERW survivors.[54] UNMACC funded a number of NGO projects to provide small grants to survivors for income-generating activities. Through these projects, 153 beneficiaries were trained in small-scale business management and in specific agricultural techniques where appropriate. Animals, seeds for crops, and other equipment, including for hairdressing, were also provided.[55]

The 2006 constitution prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, stipulates that all citizens regardless of their abilities have access to public services (including education), and provides that persons with disabilities are afforded specific protections by the government. However, the legislation was not effectively enforced and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. Legislation did not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities.[56] A legislative proposal for a new law on protecting persons with disabilities and promoting their rights was drafted in 2012 with the involvement of NGOs. By December 2013, the draft was pending adoption by the parliament.[57]

In 2013, a series of advocacy activities and events were conducted in collaboration with UNMACC, ICRC, HI, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and several national NGOs including DPOs to raise awareness on the ratification of the CRPD and the adoption of the new disability law.[58] These activities resulted in the national ratification of the CRPD on 7 July 2013 and published on in the national gazette on 1 August 2013.[59]

As of 6 June 2014, the DRC’s ratification had not yet been registered with the UN.

In 2012, nine donors contributed US$13.2 million towards mine action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which represents a decline of $5.56 million from 2011.[1]

The Netherlands (€2.5 million/$3.2 million) and Japan (¥343.1 million/$4.3 million) provided 57% of the funding.

The United States (US) provided $267,000 for victim assistance to the Christian Blind Mission, a 100-year old NGO that targets people around the world affected by disability through local partnerships.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) peacekeeping mission supports mine action through its assessed budget. In 2012, the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC)—a part of MONUSCO—received $7.8 million from MONUSCO. UN Security Council Resolution 1925 mandates UNMACC to strengthen national mine action capacities and support reconstruction through road and infrastructure clearance.[2] Since 2008, approximately 30% of the national mine action budget has come from the assessed budget for MONUSCO.

The DRC has never reported any contributions to its mine action program.

International contributions: 2012[3]

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[4]