Burundi signed the Mine
Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has not yet ratified, due largely to a
domestic atmosphere of political instability which included suspension of the
National Assembly from August 1996 to August 1998. According to Burundi’s
Ambassador to Belgium, Jonathas Niyungeko, recent improvements in the political
situation may now allow the authorities to ratify, implement and create a
specific framework to deal with the landmine
issue.[1]
Burundi officials state that Burundi has not used, produced, exported, or
stockpiled antipersonnel mines, though no unilateral prohibitions are in place.
Burundi endorsed the Brussels Declaration but apart from attending the Bonn
preparatory meeting, Burundi did not participate in meetings of the Ottawa
Process. It voted in favor of the 1996 and 1998 UN General Assembly resolutions
on landmines but was absent from the 1997 vote. Burundi also agreed to the Plan
of Action from the May 1997 OAU Conference on Landmines and the June 1997 OAU
resolution on landmines.[2]
According to Niyungeko domestic legislation forbids the transfer through Burundi
of weapons including
landmines.[3]
There is considerable awareness among the population regarding landmine
issues, including among opposition representatives. On 21 February 1996, the
opposition Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie
(CNDD) gathered in Bukavu (former Zaire), expressed its high concern about the
AP mine use in the Bubanza
region.[4]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
There is no evidence that Burundi has ever produced
or exported antipersonnel mines. Officials claim that the mines in Burundi have
been brought in by rebels or foreign armies. One official has said, “It
is highly possible that among the Rwandan antipersonnel mines introduced in
Burundi, some have been sent to other countries. It seems that some of the
antipersonnel mines are sent to the Democratic Republic of
Congo.”[5]
According to the government, Burundi has never stockpiled antipersonnel
mines.[6] At the same time,
however, officials acknowledge that they sometimes keep mines captured from
rebels, and the Ministry of Defense has said that limited stocks are kept for
training purposes.[7] This raises
questions as to whether Burundi may have an operational stockpile of AP mines.
At the end of 1996, thousands of Burundian rebels crossed Lake Tanganyika and
the Tanzanian and Zairian borders to conduct raids in Burundi. What were
described as captured rebel munitions stocks were presented to Human Rights
Watch by the Burundian army, including six Egyptian AP mines, four antitank
mines, Chinese hand grenades of different makes, grenade launchers, electrical
detonators, explosives, TNT, and more than fifty anti-tank
rockets.[8] Officially, the only
landmines stockpiles in Burundi are held by rebels, but an official said that
whenever these are discovered they are destroyed “or the Army keeps
them.”[9]
Use
The Ministry of Defense states that no mines have
ever been laid by the army,[10]
but rebels have used them regularly. Before 1996, there was believed to be no
landmine problem in Burundi.[11]
But according to the Minister of Defense, Col. Alfred Nkurunziza, the first mine
accidents reported in Burundi occurred in
1993.[12] Members of the former
Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) allegedly carried with them 40,000
antipersonnel mines and 2,000 antitank mines when they fled the advance of the
Rwandan Patriotic Front in April-May
1994.[13]
Cibitoke was the first province to be affected by mine use, but the problem
subsequently spread to Bubanza, Bujumbura Rural, Bururi and Makamba. This last
province is though to be the worst affected, due to its proximity to rebel
groups operating out of
Tanzania.[14] Since 1993, 172 AT
mines and 144 AP mines have been reported found in Burundi, either by accident
or through army detection
operations.[15] While AP mines
reportedly continue to be found regularly, no AT mines have been found or
reported since May 1998.[16]
Between November 1996 and July 1998, roughly fifty AT mine and ten AP mine
incidents were reported to the United Nations “Security Cell,” in
Burundi, including more than 12 in the capital
Bujumbura.[17] Until early 1997,
most incidents occurred on access roads to the capital but since then, most
incidents have occurred in the provinces, especially Bujumbura Rural and
Bubanza.[18] Unconfirmed
information indicates widespread mine use along the border with Tanzania,
especially towards the
south-east.[19] According to
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-Belgium, AP mine use has become
quite frequent to protect isolated military posts from rebel attacks at night
and rebels also use AP mines to protect retreat
routes.[20]
Political-ethnic conflict continues in Burundi in the aftermath of Pierre
Buyoya’s coup of 1996 and Burundi’s involvement in the wider
Hutu-Tutsi conflict in the Great Lakes region. Several outbursts of violence
has been recorded since December 1998, including landmine incidents. Although
Burundi has managed to avoid being completely drawn into the wider crisis
centered upon the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the local struggle between
Buyoya’s government (locally viewed as pro-Tutsi) and Hutu extremists in
the various militia on and outside the country’s border, reflects the
lines drawn in Rwanda and DRC since 1994. Burundian Hutu rebels are thought to
have developed close links with DRC head of state Laurent Kabila’s Forces
armées congolaises (FAC). Conversely, anonymous local sources state that
Burundian armed forces have been fighting alongside Rassemblement congolaise
pour la démocratie (RCD) forces opposing Kabila’s
government.[21]
Landmine Problem
According to a recent assessment by the UN Mine
Action Service, "the scope of the landmine problem does not appear to justify
the establishing of a specific civilian clearance authority at this stage. Nor
does it justify the implementation of specific victim assistance
projects."[22] Still, Burundi is
significantly affected by landmines. But use of mines does not seem to be
geographically widespread. No in-depth country-level survey or assessment of
the situation has been made to date. However, areas that were and still are
conflict-free are believed to be mine-free
zones.[23] There is no precise
number of people affected. Burundi’s landmines are of Egyptian, Italian,
South African, Russian and Chinese origin, with an increasing number of plastic
AP mines.[24]
There is no specialist government department and no funding for mine
clearance, victim assistance, mine awareness or
training.[25] The landmine issue
is a low priority compared with other questions and there seems to be little
political will to finance activities on mine clearance, victim assistance, mine
awareness and training.
Mine Awareness and Clearance
The United Nations in Burundi continues to conduct,
co-ordinate and monitor a mine awareness-training program for all UN staff in
the country. According to the Ministry of Defence, mine awareness training is
also being conducted for both the military and civilian populations in
mine-affected areas.[26] Mine
awareness materials have been distributed in Bujumbura, although no mines
detected in the last year in the
capital.[27] There are currently
no coordinated mine clearance and training activities in Burundi. No evaluations
exist of how much mine localization and clearance would cost.
Landmine Casualties
While there is a paucity of data on landmine
casualties, some sources give an indication of the problem. From 1 October 1996
to 10 April 1997 the UN Security Cell in reported twenty-three
“confirmed” mine incidents and ten “unconfirmed”
incidents.[28] MSF-Belgium
recorded 112 mine incidents between 1996 and 1998, 61 percent of which occurred
in 1997.[29] During this period,
there were 364 mine victims (48% wounded, 52 % dead) and forty percent were
civilian.[30] Three-quarters of
logged incidents were due to AT
mines.[31] These figures, while
helpful, probably do not fully reflect the scale of the problem in the border
areas with Tanzania.
Landmine Survivor Assistance
Burundi’s health care system has deterioated
since 1993, largely due to the imposition of sanctions and while exemptions were
granted for health products in April 1998, availability of basic medicines and
health supplies has not returned to pre-sanction
levels.[32] There are two main
civilians hospitals in the capitol where mine victims can be treated and
onemilitary hospital.[33] Through
a bilateral agreement, the Government of South Africa also treats victims with
important trama who cannot be treated in Burundi and has also provided
prostheses, a total of 167 as of August
1998.[34]
Handicap International (HI) has set up a coordination center in Bujumbura and
currently operates in the provinces of Gitega, Kirundo, Muyinga and
Bujumbura.[35] In Gitega, Kanynya,
Muyinga and Bujumbura, HI provides support for mine victims and the wider
population through technical training and material assistance. A HI
income-generating project program has been set up. About 15 HI micro-projects
have been implemented. HI is mainly working in partnership with the Minister of
Social Action, and hopes to strengthen its national co-ordination this year, to
gain official government recognition.
During 1998, MSF-Belgium provides surgical services in Ngozi, Ruyigi and
Karusi Provinces, and in Bujumbura Municipality. In addition, MSF has set up
emergency sections in Bujumbura Province and in Bururi. MSF also provides drugs,
medical devices and materials, and expert staff support.
[1]In August 1998 moderate
opposition parties joined a coalition government. LM Researcher interview with
His Excellency, Jonathan Niyungeko. Ambassador of Burundi in Belgium, Brussels,
12 February 1999.
[2]CM/Dec. 363 (LXVI)
“Rapport du Secrétaire Général sur la question des
Mines anti-personnel et les efforts fais au niveau international pour parvenir
à une interdiction totale” Doc. CM/2009 (LXVI), OAU Summit, Harare,
June 1997.
[3]Interview, Jonathas
Niyungeko, 12 February 1999.
[11]See U.S. Department of
State, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines,
(Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1993), p. 63; and U.S. Department of
State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, (Washington D.C.: U.S.
Department of State, 1994), p. 15.
[12]Pierre Hublet,
“Mission Report in Burundi from the 23rd January to the 1st
February 1999”, Handicap International Belgique, 1998, p. 3-4.
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