Djibouti
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Djibouti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 18 May 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. The president signed national implementation legislation on 11 March 2006.[1] The law also created a national commission responsible for application of the law.
As of October 2011, Djibouti had not submitted its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report. The last year that Djibouti submitted an Article 7 report was 2005.
Djibouti did not attend the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2011.
Djibouti is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but is not party to the CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Djibouti has never submitted an Article 13 report for Amended Protocol II.
Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention
Djibouti has reported that it has not produced antipersonnel mines. It is not known to have ever exported mines.[2]
On 2 March 2003, one day after its treaty-mandated deadline, Djibouti destroyed the last of its stockpile of 1,118 antipersonnel mines.[3] In 2005, Djibouti reported that it retained 2,996 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, the same number it first declared in January 2003.[4] It has not provided an update since that time and has never reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines—a step agreed by States Parties at the Mine Ban Treaty’s First Review Conference in November–December 2004.
Use
Both the government and the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy used landmines around military positions and on access roads during the 1991–1994 civil war.[5]
[1] “Loi n°141/AN/06/5ème L portant mise en oeuvre de la Convention d’Ottawa sur l’interdiction de l’emploi, du stockage, de la production et du transfert des mines anti-personnel et sur leur destruction” (“Implementation of the Ottawa Convention),” Journal Officiel de la République de Djibouti, www.presidence.dj.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form E, 16 January 2003.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, Tableau Explicatif, 6 February 2004; and Article 7 Report, Form G, 16 January 2003.
[4] Mines retained include: 650 M12; 307 M412; 621 PPM2; 665 T72; 521 MB; 16 DV; 30 M961; 10 AV; 128 PPMISR; 12 MLE421; 18 M59; and 18 of unknown type and origin. Article 7 Reports, Form D, 25 January 2005; and Form D, 16 January 2003.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 33–34.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Djibouti signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 July 2010.
The status of ratification is not known. In February 2014, a government representative attended a workshop in Geneva on universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Africa and committed to follow-up with capital. When Djibouti last attended a Meeting of States Parties in September 2012, it stated that the ratification was underway but provided no details on the process or timeframe for completion.[1]
Djibouti participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention. It did not attend the Oslo signing conference in December 2008, but signed at the UN in New York in July 2010 after making several positive statements in support of the convention.[2]
Despite not ratifying, Djibouti has continued to participate in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It attended the convention’s Meeting of States Parties held in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but was not present for the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. After participating the first intersessional meetings of the convention held in Geneva in June 2011, Djibouti has not attended subsequent intersessional meetings such as those held in April 2014.
Djibouti also participated in a regional meeting in Lomé, Togo in May 2013 where it endorsed the Lomé Strategy on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions which commits governments that have not yet done so to ratify at the earliest opportunity.
Djibouti has voted in favor of 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.[3]
Djibouti is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Djibouti has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[4]
[1] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012.
[2] For more information on Djibouti’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through mid-2010, see ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 143–144.
[3] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Djibouti voted in favor of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013.
[4] Statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions Third Meeting of States Parties, Oslo, 13 September 2012. Interview with Amb. Mohamed Siad Douale, Permanent Mission of Djibouti to the UN in Geneva, 13 April 2010; and statement of Djibouti, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by the CMC.
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Mines
With the completion of mine clearance by France in May 2008 around its ammunition storage area (ASA) at La Doudah, there were no known mined areas remaining in Djibouti. At a regional seminar for French-speaking countries in October 2008, Djibouti reported that it was “mine free since the completion of demining at La Doudah.”[1] In June 2008, however, a border conflict between Djibouti and Eritrea at Ras Doumeira had raised fears of the possibility of new contamination.[2] Moreover, in November 2009 Djibouti reported that it had a residual problem of antipersonnel mines.[3]
Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war
Djibouti is thought to have a small residual problem with explosive remnants of war (ERW), primarily unexploded ordnance (UXO). There is not known to be a problem with cluster munition remnants.
Mine Action Program
There is no ongoing mine action program in Djibouti, although a national mine action center continues to function.[4]
Land Release
Formal mine clearance operations by Djibouti on suspected hazardous areas apart from the French ASA at La Doudah ended in 2003 and only sporadic clearance of UXO has occurred since then under the auspices of a national mine action center.[5]
Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Djibouti was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2009. Although it has not formally declared fulfillment of this obligation, Djibouti is not included on the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation Support Unit’s (ISU) list of States Parties with remaining Article 5 obligations and Djibouti has not requested an extension to its deadline.[6] Djibouti has not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report since 2005. In March 2012, the director of the ICBL wrote to Djibouti’s Minister for Foreign Affairs to inquire about residual contamination. As of 1 August 2012, no reply had been received.
[1] Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), “Annexe 2: Synthèse d’informations—Djibouti” (“Annex 2: Information Overview—Djibouti”), Seminar of African Francophone Actors of Mine and ERW Action, Benin, 20–22 October 2008, www.gichd.org.
[2] See, for example, International Crisis Group, “CrisisWatch, No. 59,” p. 2, 1 July 2008, www.crisisgroup.org; and Barry Malone, “Djibouti president accuses Eritrea over border fight,” Reuters (Addis Ababa), 14 June 2008, www.alertnet.org.
[3] “Djibouti: Synthèse d’informations de l’action contre les mines et les restes explosifs de guerre (dont sous-munitions)” (“Djibouti: Overview of information on mine action and ERW (including submunitions)”), 30 September 2009, Second African Francophone Seminar on Mine and ERW Action, Dakar, Senegal, 2–4 November 2009.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] ISU, GICHD, “Clearing Mined Areas: 40 States Parties in the Process of Implementing Article 5, List of countries,” www.apminebanconvention.org.
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
In 2013, there was one media report of 11 military casualties caused by an incident when their vehicle was damaged by a suspected mine. It was not clear if the mine was detonated remotely.[1] In 2012, a young boy was injured by an antipersonnel landmine.[2]
The total number of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in the Republic of Djibouti is not known. The Monitor identified 85 mine casualties from 1999 to 2012, with 23 people killed and 55 injured; it is not known if the other seven casualties survived.[3]
[1] These casualties have not been included in the global total for 2013. “Un camion militaire de l'armée djboutienne a sauté sur une mine (…) bilan 11 blessés” (“A vehicle from the Djibouti army hit a mine (…) 11 injured”), Alwihdainf, 19 August 2013, accessed 30 December 2013.
[2] “Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens: Djibouti (Djibouti), Lac Assal Land Mine Causes Injury,” United States Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, 3 February 2012, accessed 12 June 2013.
[3] See ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2008: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: October 2008).