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Cote d'Ivoire
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 June 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 December 2000. Côte d’Ivoire has not enacted national legal measures to implement the treaty.[1]
As of 28 October 2011, Côte d’Ivoire had not submitted its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, which was due 30 April 2011.[2]
Côte d’Ivoire attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011, but did not make any statements.
Côte d’Ivoire has reported that it has never used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines and has no stockpile, even for training purposes.[3]
Côte d’Ivoire experienced six months of post-election armed conflict between forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo and then-president-elect Alassane Ouattara.[4] Media articles reported allegations of mine use by both Gbagbo’s and Ouattara’s forces. Each side accused the other of use of antipersonnel mines,[5] but the Monitor has found no evidence of any use of antipersonnel mines during the conflict. In an interview with the Monitor, an officer from Côte d’Ivoire’s gendarmerie stated that the allegations of mine use were false, and that what media reports described as landmines were actually plastic packaging caps from containers for P17 rockets.[6]
Côte d’Ivoire is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2010), Form A. In its Article 7 reports submitted in 2005 and 2006, Côte d’Ivoire stated, “Legislation for domestication of Land Mine Ban Treaty to follow.” An official stated in March 2006 that a draft bill was being reviewed by the office of the Prime Minister and was expected to be submitted to the National Assembly. In its Article 7 report submitted in 2007, Côte d’Ivoire stated that the status of national implementation legislation had remained unchanged since 2006. See Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 9 August 2006 to 30 April 2007), Form A.
[2] Côte d’Ivoire has submitted seven previous reports: in 2010 (undated covers the period from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2010); July 2009 (for the period from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009); 2008 (for the period 1 May 2007 to 30 April 2008); 2007 (an undated cover page, for the period 9 August 2006 to 30 April 2007, indicating that all areas of reporting were unchanged); 25 April 2006; 27 April 2005; and 27 May 2004. Its initial report was three years late.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Forms B, D, and E, 27 May 2004; and interview with Capt. Patrick-Alexandre M’Bahia, National Gendarmerie, Abidjan, 22 March 2006.
[4] For more details see Human Rights Watch, “Côte d’Ivoire: Crimes Against Humanity by Gbagbo Forces: As Crisis Deepens, Grave Abuses Committed by Both Sides,” Press release, 15 March 2011, Abidjan, www.hrw.org.
[5] Mine use accusations were found in a pro-Gbagbo’s website: Ivoire Blog, “Les rebelles installent des mines anti-personnelles au Golf” (“The rebels install anti-personnel mines in Golf [The Hotel du Golf]”), 23 January 2011, wwwboehibenoit.ivoire-blog.com; and other accusations in an anti-Gbagbo newspaper: “Crime de guerre: Gbagbo positionne des mines anti personnelles” (“War Crime: Gbagbo positions anti-personnel mines”) Le Mandat, 28 January 2011, news.abidjan.net.
[6] Interview with Capt. Patrick-Alexandre M’Bahi, Gendarmerie, Geneva, 21 June 2011.
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