Key developments
since March 1999:Rwanda ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 13
June 2000. There have been allegations of Rwandan use of mines in the fighting
in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the June 2000 battle for
Kisangani. Rwanda denies any use. From 1995 to February 2000, 16,983 mines and
UXO were cleared in Rwanda, and about 5,000 hectares of land. Three prefectures
that were the most affected are now 90% cleared. In April 2000, the National
Demining Office reported that clearance operations had been postponed since
December 1999 due to lack of explosives. The U.S. military completed its
demining training program in February 2000. In 1999 and 2000, there have been
twelve mine casualties.
Mine Ban Policy
Rwanda signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997 and ratified it on 13 June 2000. There is not believed to be any domestic
implementation legislation in place in Rwanda. Rwanda’s Article 7
transparency measures report will be due by 22 July 2001.
Rwanda was absent during the vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B
supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999. It was also absent from the
vote on a similar resolution in 1998 but voted in support of pro-ban resolutions
in 1996 and 1997.
Rwanda participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May
1999 in a delegation led by Col. Emmanuel Bem Habyarimana of the Ministry of
Defense. In a statement to the plenary, Col. Habyarimana stated that
“mines continue to destroy the lives of innocent people. This is the
reason that my country is prepared to fight with much vigor against the
existence of arms.”[1] He
described the National Demining Office (NDO) created in Rwanda, and said that
“there over 800,000 mines throughout Rwanda, in the country side,
pastures, forests, valleys. The [NDO] has destroyed 270,000
mines.”[2] However, a
recent report from the National Demining Office stated that there were about
50,000 mines in the country, and 16,983 mines had been
destroyed.[3]
Rwanda has not participated in any of the ban treaty intersessional Standing
Committee of Experts meetings. Rwanda is not a party to the Convention on
Conventional Weapons, and is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Production, Transfer and Stockpiling
Rwanda is not believed to have ever produced or
exported antipersonnel mines. The UN records thirty-nine types of mines being
found in Rwanda from Belgium, China, former Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Italy,
Pakistan, former Soviet Union, and the U.S. Italian and former Soviet mines are
the most common.[4] Rwanda has
imported antipersonnel mines. Details on the size and composition of
Rwanda’s current stockpile of AP mines are not available.
Use
For the past two years, Rwandan military forces
have been supporting the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD, Rassemblement
Congolais pour la Democratie) opposition forces in their fight against the
government of Laurent Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC).[5] There have been
allegations of use of mines by Rwandan forces in the DRC, particularly in June
2000 when Rwanda and Uganda, former allies in supporting Kabila, engaged in
conflict.
In early June 2000, a fierce battle between Rwandan and Ugandan armies for
control of the northern DRC city of Kisangani left more than 500 people dead,
most of them civilians.[6]
Observers have reported use of mines in that battle. (See Landmine Monitor
report on DRC). A UN official told Landmine Monitor that Uganda and Rwanda had
both used mines in the fighting over
Kisangani.[7]
Ugandan Army spokesman Phinehas Katirima accused the Rwandan army of planting
landmines to blow up the Tchopo bridge in Kisangani, “The fact that the
wire connected to the battery that was to be used to detonate the mines ended up
in the Rwandan army defences is a clear indication of the Rwandan motives....
Our positions were north of the bridge and the wires connecting the landmines to
the batteries are south of the bridge where the Rwandans were. It is a shame to
attempt to blow up a
bridge.”[8] From this
description, it is not clear if the devices were in fact landmines, or whether
they were antipersonnel or antivehicle mines, or whether they were
victim-activated or command-detonated mines. Antivehicle and command-detonated
mines are permissible under the Mine Ban Treaty.
The UN Observer Mission in Congo (MONUC) stopped civilians from using the
bridge and sent for demining experts from
Kinshasa.[9] Two days later, the
bridge was reopened after it was reported cleared in “a successful
demining operation carried out by RCD” according to a humanitarian
source.[10] Four days later a
rebel RCD spokesman, Kin-Kiey Mulumba, told media, “Our main troops are
going to leave the center of the city.... We shall leave behind the de-mining
teams and some force at the two
airports.”[11] This raises
the question of what the demining teams are staying to remove.
Outside of Kisangani, in August 1999 local people in the Bukavu area from
Ngando village told Landmine Monitor that they believed Rwandan soldiers planted
a mine on a path frequently used by Interahamwe
militiamen.[12] A cow detonated
the landmine.
Landmine Monitor Report 1999 noted that Namibia and Zimbabwe had
accused both Rwanda and Uganda of use of mines in the DRC. At that time Rwanda
and Uganda were allies in the
conflict.[13]
Rwandan military officials have repeatedly denied allegations that Rwanda
used AP mines during the operation in the DRC. One official told Landmine
Monitor that Rwandan troops do not lay mines in the DRC and that Rwanda is
committed to the 8 April 2000 Lusaka
Agreement.[14] Article 2 of the
Lusaka Agreement states that the parties involved in the DRC war shall not place
any additional minefields, barriers, or protective obstacles. It also states
that “provision of all data on minefields by all parties (to include
detailed maps of the minefields) is one of the conditions required to enable
staff planning for
disengagement.”[15]
Prior to the Lusaka Agreement, a September 1999 cease-fire agreement for the
DRC was signed by a Joint Military Commission (JMC), including Rwanda, which
formally prohibits the use of AP mines. The agreement says in part, “Each
party to the agreement shall give instructions to its forces [and to forces] it
supports or which are on the territory under its control to prohibit all kind of
reinforcement of troops, the supply of arms, ammunitions and other war materials
as well as the laying of
mines.”[16] The agreement
further states that, “Each party to the agreement shall communicate to the
JMC or if not possible, by confidential mail delivered by hand to the OAU
Secretariat, in a period of time not exceeding 10 days from 12 October 1999,
maps of the minefields which its force have deployed as well as forms, along
with documented and scaled maps, on the positions occupied by their forces or by
any other force or armed group on the Congolese territory under its
control.”[17]
It appears likely the rebel RCD forces supported by Rwanda have used
antipersonnel mines. The ICBL has expressed concern that a Mine Ban Treaty State
Party may be violating the treaty by virtue of participating in a joint military
operation with another armed force that uses antipersonnel mines in that
operation. Under Article 1 of the Mine Ban Treaty, a State Party may not
“under any circumstance...assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone
to engage in any activity that is prohibited to a State Party under this
Convention.”
Rwanda should make clear the nature of its support for other armed forces
that may be using antipersonnel mines, and make clear its views with regard to
the legality under the Mine Ban Treaty of its joint military operations with
those forces. Rwanda should state categorically that it will not participate in
joint operations with any force that uses antipersonnel mines.
Rebel Use
Rebels and former soldiers who fled to the DRC (Zaire) in 1994 used landmines
in Rwanda during the 1994 war and
since.[18] Isolated incidents in
the northwestern region in the Rwerere, Rubavo, and Nyamyumba communes were
reported in 1996 and 1997, but Landmine Monitor is not aware of reports in 1999
and 2000.
Landmine Problem
Prior to 1990, there was no landmine problem in
Rwanda. The current problem is the result of conflict over the past decade
between the majority Hutu ethnic group and the minority Tutsi. The most
mine-affected areas are in the northeast (Umutara and Kigali), in the city of
Kigali and in the northwest (Ruhengeri and Gisenyi). A recent report from the
National Demining Office (NDO) stated that there were about 50,000 mines in the
country.[19]
The NDO keeps a database and a country map on mined areas and updates this
database every month, including the casualty incidences.The number of
mines and UXO are recorded and the figure made known to the public through the
awareness campaign.
Mine Action Funding
U.S. demining assistance to Rwanda began in 1994
with extensive military support to establish the NDO, mine awareness training, a
computer-based data collection and records management system, and a
train-the-trainer program.[20]
The U.S. has provided about $14 million to the Rwandan demining effort since
1994, mostly in the form of equipment, training, and supplies. The U.S.
military completed its demining training program in February 2000. The planned
allocation of U.S. funds in Fiscal Year 2000 is $253,000, down from $750,000 in
FY 1999.[21]
In the past UNHCR and UNICEF funded a portion of the mine awareness program,
but there was no funding from these bodies in 1999 or 2000. A one-year funded
UNICEF program was handed over to the NDO. The NDO has started lobbying UN
agencies to get them involved in mine action
activities.[22]
Coordination and Planning
Humanitarian mine action is carried out by the
National Demining Organization, established in 1995. The NDO works under the
Ministry of Defense and is supported by the government. While it draws policies
from the government, it operates as an independent program and sets its own
priorities. The NDO is the coordinating body of mine action nationwide, and is
the only recognized body dealing with mine clearance and training. It works in
close collaboration with the local administration, the Ministry of Defense and
some NGOs. NDO is responsible for the implementation of plans decided by the
government in consultation with local administration.
Mine Clearance
Between September 1995 and February 2000, 16,983
mines and UXO were cleared in
Rwanda.[23] It is estimated that
5,000 hectares of mainly arable land have been
cleared.[24]The government
provides human resources to the NDO with allowances and salaries to 110 soldiers
deployed in humanitarian mine action operations. Manual detectors and dogs are
used in the demining operations.
Since December 1999, mine clearance has been limited because the NDO supply
of explosives for demining ran out. In April 2000, the NDO reported that
because of the lack of explosives, clearance operations have been postponed
since December last year. Since then, the NDO was devoting its efforts
“to carry out survey, mine awareness, marking areas and collecting reports
from population.”[25]
Nevertheless, the NDO reported that 482 mines and UXO were cleared in January
2000 and 199 mines and UXO were cleared in February
2000.[26]
Most mine clearance has taken place in Mutara, Byumba and Kigali prefectures.
Several trading centers such as Muvumba have been demined for re-occupation by
the local population.Power lines have been cleared. Large resettlement
areas are being cleared. For example, areas are being cleared for the
resettlement of 1,500 people in Kibungo and 600,000 people in Ruhengeri. The
main roads from Gatuna to Kigali, from Gitarama to Kibuye, from Kigali to
Gisenyi, and secondary roads have all been cleared. Several tea plantations in
northeast have been cleared. Three prefectures that were the most
affected--Kigali town, Kigali rural and Umutara--are now 90% cleared. People
are farming and grazing their cattle without fear. Many new villages have been
built.
Mine clearance in the northwestern part of the country has been delayed by
insecurity in the region and also by limited financial resources. Planning has
been underway to resume mine clearance operations in the northwest region of the
country, specifically in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri prefectures. Demining here is
seen as urgent because more than 600,000 people have to be resettled in
Ruhengeri, and because this region has always been the breadbasket of the rest
of the country.[27]
Since 1995, the U.S. military has assisted in training 115 Rwandan deminers.
The U.S. military completed its demining training program in February 2000. The
training program carried out by the U.S. included surveying, mapping and
marking, demining procedures, dog handlers, and mine awareness. One of the
bigger problems faced by deminers is that of they lack appropriate means to
clear vegetation (bushes) and the government has asked the U.S. to provide
vegetation cutters. Two deminers were injured in the course of their work. One
stepped on a TS-50 antipersonnel mine in 1996 in Tumba and the other stepped on
a TS-50 antipersonnel mine in 1997 in Jali.
Mine Awareness
Mine awareness is carried out through the
development and distribution of messages through radio programs, posters,
T-shirts, and brochures. Once the product has been developed, it is often
pre-tested, mainly with pupils and adults in market places, by way of a
questionnaire and face-to-face interviews to ascertain the veracity of the
messages. About sixty people have been trained as mine awareness educators. NDO
has signed a contract with ORINFOR (Rwanda’s Information Office) worth
$103,000 for mine awareness campaign advertisement per
year.[28] At the community level
locals are encouraged to report to NDO when they see “strange
objects.”
The strategy is to combine demining operations with community mine awareness
education campaigns to facilitate the detection of mines and sensitize
communities about the dangers of these devices. The main targets of the mine
awareness education programs are women and children because most domestic chores
in Rwanda, such as collecting of fuel wood, fetching water and farming, are
still in the domain of women and children.
Mine causalities have decreased by 80% in areas where mine awareness teams
have been effective.[29] The
significant reduction is the result of an aggressive awareness program that was
conducted with the cooperation of the affected community and mine clearance
programs.
Landmine Victims
In 1999 and 2000, there have been twelve mine
casualties, eleven men and one woman.For the period 1990 to 1998, the
NDO has recorded 550 mine
fatalities.[30] For the same
period, the Central Hospital in Kigali registered 1,759 victims who have
received amputations and 692 who have received prosthetic
devices.[31] Based on analysis of
casualty data, it is estimated that there are 2.345 mine victims per 10,000
people in Rwanda.
Survivor Assistance
Victim assistance is not a priority of the NDO but
is carried out by NGOs including Mulindi Japan One Love Project and Handicap
International.
Mulindi Japan One Love project is comprised of five Rwandans and four
Japanese. Its objective is to help disabled people by providing prostheses and
promoting their socio-economic integration. The Project began in 1996. It was
initially funded by $194,958 and was later sponsored with a government of Rwanda
donation of $36,206 while another local NGO provided $2,785. In addition to
this financial assistance, a partnership with a Japanese Group was established
and raw materials provided for the manufacture of orthopedic equipment. Disabled
people are involved in the sale and distribution of the produced equipment. The
Ministry of Social Affairs identifies disabled people and sends them to get the
appliances free of charge. The Demobilization Service also identifies and sends
disabled and demobilized soldiers to the project. The National Security Fund
organizes support for those injured in the course of their work but must pay for
this service. Private individuals are required to pay a certain fee. The fund
for genocide survivors has its own budget and takes care of the genocide
survivors.
Prosthesis Services Provided by One Love
Project[32]
Institutions
Prosthesis
Orthesis
Served Waiting list
Served Waiting list
Ministry of Social Affairs
Demobilized soldiers
Funds for genocide survivors
Private
26 26
41 34
16 -
3 -
14 14
- -
19 1
2 -
[33] About 90 percent of the
prosthesis provided by Handicap International go to landmine victims.
Prosthesis Services Provided by Handicap International Since
1994[34]
[1] Statement by Colonel Bem Habyalimana at
the First Meeting of States Parties, Maputo, May 1999. Unofficial translation by
Landmine Monitor editing team. [2]
Ibid. [3] Rwanda National Demining Office,
Progress Report, 2 April 2000. [4] For the
full list, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p.
162. [5] See country report on Democratic
Republic of Congo. [6] “Congolese
Rebels Agree to Pullout From Battered City,” Associated Press (Igali,
Rwanda), 26 June 2000. [7] Telephone
interview with UN official Kisangani, 28 July
2000. [8] Emmy Allio, “Congo
Kinshasa Tchopo Bridge Mined,” New Vision (Daily Kampala newspaper), 19
June 2000. [9]
Ibid. [10] “DRC: Kisangani’s
main bridge reopens,” IRIN-CEA Update 951 for the Great Lakes, 22 June
2000. [11] “Congolese Rebels Agree
to Pullout From Battered City,” Associated Press, (Igali, Rwanda), 25 June
2000. [12] Interview with Bali Munenwa,
Chibanda/Kaziba, 27 December 1999. [13]
Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
pp.194-195. [14] Interview with Col.
Karenzi Karake, Kigali, 12 April
2000. [15] Plan for the Disengagement and
Redeployment of Forces in Democratic Republic of Congo, (Lusaka Agreement),
signed on 8 April 2000. [16] Agreement for
a Ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joint Military Commission
Decisions of the Sessions, part 2.6, September
1999. [17]
Ibid. [18] See, Landmine Monitor Report
1999, p. 163; see also, Human Rights Watch, “Rwanda,” Human Rights
Watch World Report 1997, p. 46. [19]
Rwanda National Demining Office, Progress Report, 2 April
2000. [20] U.S. Department of State,
“Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, FY 2001
– Bureau of African Affairs,” March 15, 2000; U.S. Department of
State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” April 1999, p.
14. [21] Ibid., U.S. Department of State,
“FY 00 NADR Project Status,” p.
3. [22] Interview with Susan Page,
Political Officer, U.S. Embassy, Kigali, 27 April
2000. [23] Rwanda National Demining
Office, Progress Report, 2 April
2000. [24]
Ibid. [25]
Ibid. [26]
Ibid. [27]
Ibid. [28]
Ibid. [29]
Ibid. [30]
Ibid. [31] The data from the Kigali
Central Hospital includes amputations and prosthetic fittings for all causes,
Service de Readaption Recueillies Aupres de Mukakabera M.
Claire. [32] One Love Project, 1999 Annual
Report. [33] Interview with Deo Butera,
Director, Handicap International, Kigali, February
2000. [34] Handicap International, 1999
Annual Report.
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