Key developments
since March 1999: It appears that new mines have been laid by MFDC rebels
in the Casamance Province in 1999 and 2000. Senegal denied use of antipersonnel
mines by its troops in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, as reported in Landmine Monitor
Report 1999. In the Banjul Declaration of 26 December 1999, the Senegalese
government and MFDC committed to no use of antipersonnel landmines in the
future, but the government claims that rebel use continued at least into
February 2000. In August 1999 a National Commission was created to oversee
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. A military mine clearance pilot project
was launched on 1 July 2000. There were some fifty-nine victims of AP mines
registered in 1999, a huge decline from 195 in 1998.
Mine Ban Policy
Senegal signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3
December 1997 and ratified it on 24 September 1998. The government participated
in the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo
in May 1999, where its delegation vigorously denied allegations in the
Landmine Monitor Report
1999[1] that it was likely
that the Senegalese army had used mines during its intervention in Guinea-Bissau
in the conflict that began in June
1998.[2]
There is currently no domestic law for the implementation of the MBT. There
is, however, a clause in the penal code regarding illegal possession of
explosives. This clause preceded the entry into force of the MBT, but is
applicable to possession of antipersonnel
landmines.[3]
In August 1999 a National Commission was created and tasked with oversight of
implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[4] The commission is
chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Exterior, and has
representatives of the executive and legislative branches, as well as ministries
directly or indirectly concerned with the issue of
landmines.[5] The commission is a
permanent body that will meet twice a year and whose mandate is to report on the
country’s progress in complying with the
MBT.[6] One of the
commission’s duties will be to define the terms of a new implementation
law.[7]
Senegal submitted its report to the UN as required under Article 7 of the
treaty on 1 September 1999. The report covers the period 1 March-30 August
1999.[8] Senegal has attended two
of the ten intersessional meetings in Geneva of the Standing Committees of
Experts (SCE), one on stockpile destruction and one on mine clearance
technology.
Senegal acceded to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, and its Amended
Protocol II, on 29 November 1999. It did not attend the First Annual Conference
of States Parties to the amended protocol in Geneva in December 1999. Senegal
is a member of the Conference on Disarmament and has supported action on the
landmine issue there.
A number of NGOs have actively supported the MBT in
Senegal.[9]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
Senegal does not produce antipersonnel
landmines.[10] It has also stated
that it “does not buy, [and] does not sell” AP
mines.[11] While there is no
official transfer of landmines in the country, government officials have charged
that mines have reached MFDC (Mouvement des forces democratiques de la
Casamance) rebels in Casamance Province in Senegal through
Guinea-Bissau.[12]
Senegal claims to have no stockpiles of
landmines.[13] Senegal’s
Article 7 report states that it is retaining no mines for training purposes, as
permitted under the MBT. However, a military official told Landmine Monitor
that some landmines unearthed in Casamance have been deactivated and are used
for training the military. Their number was not be
specified.[14] Some observers
believe that it is likely Senegal has a stockpile, at least for training
purposes.[15]
According to Lieutenant Colonel Fall, Commander of the Légion at the
Ziguinchor Gendarmerie, the MFDC rebels have AP mine
stockpiles.[16] Minister of
Internal Affairs, General Mamadou Niang, also points out that until 1974,
Guinea-Bissau laid landmines on the border of Casamance and some important arms
cache hiding places still exist today; former soldiers from Guinea-Bissau still
know the location of these caches, unearth the landmines and sell them for their
own profit, according to Gen.
Niang.[17]
Use by MFDC Rebels
Landmines were used in the fighting in Casamance
Province throughout the 1990s.[18]
It appears that new mines have been laid by MFDC rebels in the province in 1999
and 2000.[19] According to
government officials, the mined areas are on the Cap Skirring - Ziguinchor -
Kolda road and on the border between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. The landmines
found during mine clearance operations or as a result of landmine incidents are
from Belgium, Spain, France and Russia. Improvised devices have also been
found.[20]
The government states that new use of landmines occurred in several
municipalities up to February
2000.[21] The latest accident was
on 27 February 2000 when a military vehicle struck an antitank mine in Kolda
department resulting in three dead and four wounded. Another military vehicle
was damaged in January 2000 on the road between Elenkine and Oussouye, in the
Oussouye department.
The use of landmines is one of the issues being tackled in the current
negotiations for peace in Casamance. The MFDC would participate in the work of
the National Commission created to oversee the application of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[22] According to Colonel
Ndaw, the two belligerent parties could reach an agreement regarding the issue
of landmines.[23] In the Banjul
Declaration of 26 December 1999, the Senegalese government and MFDC committed to
no use of antipersonnel landmines in the future.
The MFDC rebels have never formally denied their use of
mines.[24] The MFDC use AP mines
“in a conventional manner,” laying them in small amounts around
their positions or in order to protect themselves while withdrawing. Mines are
also used to protect economic assets, such as cannabis fields. Farmers linked
to the MFDC have laid mines to protect their assets from theft and the
army.[25] Livestock bandits, who
steal between 300 and 400 head of cattle each week, may also lay mines in order
to discourage or delay any attempt of pursuit by the army or the
farmers.[26]
Cashew production is also affected by antipersonnel landmines. The army
sometimes forbids the farmers to access their fields for fear that they are
mined. The MFDC is suspected of laying mines in the areas surrounding the
fields or to have spread rumors that they have laid mines in order to steal the
crops. Occasionally mines are laid to settle personal
vendettas,[27] and a mine incident
in Bignona is attributed to a dissident minority of the MFDC trying to upset the
peace talks.[28]
Senegal Army Use
The MFDC claims that the Senegalese military has
mined several sectors in
Casamance.[29] The Senegalese
authorities have always categorically rejected these accusations. All the
officials met by Landmine Monitor were definite: the Senegalese army has no
point in laying mines on its own
territory.[30] A Colonel stated,
“Since the independence, the use of antipersonnel landmines is against the
conception of the Senegalese
army.”[31] General Mamadou
Niang added that the use of landmines is prohibited and enjoys no
exceptions.[32]
One Senegalese NGO has claimed that the Senegalese army used mines in
Casamance in 1997 and 1998, but used precise maps to recover them when
needed.[33] However, civilians
interviewed in Casamance by the Landmine Monitor did not know of the army laying
mines.[34]
Use by Senegalese forces in Guinea-Bissau
During the First Meeting of States Parties in
Maputo in May 1999, the Senegalese delegation vigorously protested Landmine
Monitor’s conclusion that Senegalese troops had likely used antipersonnel
mines during their intervention in Guinea-Bissau in June
1998.[35] Colonel Abdoulaye Aziz
Ndaw told Landmine Monitor that laying landmines would be against the principles
of the Senegalese army. He also noted that the strategic logic goes against the
use of mines in that circumstance, arguing that landmines are never laid during
an attack but rather in case of troops withdrawing, and the Senegalese army was
attacking during the 1998
events.[36]
Landmine Monitor welcomes the unequivocal commitment of Senegal to never use
antipersonnel landmines and anticipates full and effective implementation of and
compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty on Senegal’s part. Landmine Monitor
believes that there was compelling, though not incontrovertible, evidence that
led to its conclusion that Senegal had likely used antipersonnel mines in 1998
in Guinea-Bissau, prior to becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
[37]
Mine Action Funding
The Senegalese government is not currently funding
humanitarian mine action programs. Senegal has limited resources in relation to
the need.[38] Senegal has
received no bilateral funds or in-kind contributions for mine action. The
Military Engineering Department is seeking financial assistance from the
European Union.
The EU is considering support for mine clearance activities, in addition to
the European Fund for Development programs fostering economic development in
Casamance. On 31 January 2000 the EU delegation in Dakar sent a letter to the
Finance Minister in support of granting funds to mine clearance activities, but
as yet it has not received a
reply.[39]
France has supported the KAGAMEN organization, which is assisting mine
victims.[40] ECHO has supported
Handicap International’s (HI) mine awareness program in the country in
1999 with Euro 300,000. French Cooperation also granted FF 2 million for the
activities of HI in Casamance.
Mine Action
HI’s epidemiological survey of mine accidents
in Casamance was publicly released to the press and international community in
Dakar on 18 July 2000.[41]
HI’s programs have been systematically gathering information to help
identify the priorities and the needs for a mine action program in the
area.[42]
There are no guiding strategies or policies regarding mine action. The
Senegalese Army's current mine clearance techniques are outmoded and accidents
occur.[43] According to Colonel
Ndaw, mine clearers usually use pitchforks and a long stick as a prodder. The
Army’s Engineering Department has drawn up a “Project regarding the
Participation of the Military Engineering Department to the Works of Depollution
and Restoration of Road Infrastructures in the Regions of Ziguinchor and Kolda.
(Details of the intervention considered and Assessment of the Needs).”
This project was prepared in March 2000 and is being modified before being sent
to the European Union delegation in
Dakar.[44]
A military mine clearance pilot project was launched on 1 July 2000; 400 men
will clear the road from Ziguinchor to the border with Guinea-Bissau in the
sector of Nyassia. Most of the clearance will be by hand. The bomb disposal
experts have limited protective gear and a few metal
detectors.[45]
Marking of mined areas remains a pressing issue, as the mines are randomly
laid.[46] In the absence of any
organized mine clearance action in the area, HI is currently carrying out an
awareness campaign which includes encouraging residents to report on mined or
suspected site and to indicate where landmines are and mark them by simple means
such as branches laid across the road in a significant manner or attaching a
piece of cloth that can easily be seen to a stick vertically driven into the
ground.[47]
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
There were some fifty-nine victims of AP mines
registered in 1999, a decline from 195 in
1998.[48] Treatment is provided
at the hospital in Ziguinchor. The civilian victims can be sent to Dakar,
depending on the seriousness of the injury. The military victims are
automatically transferred to Dakar where they are taken care of in a special
ward.[49]
After treatment, most of the civilian victims go home. Because of a lack of
national resources, these victims will receive no support for future medical
needs.[50] Military victims are
the only ones whose medical expenses and other support are provided for. This
assistance consists of a small disablement pension paid to the victim or to the
victim's family if he or she
dies.[51] National and
international NGOs provide some support for civilian mine
victims.[52] KAGAMEN has been
supporting mine victims since June 1999.
HI is currently carrying out a medical support program for the mine victims
at the regional hospital in Ziguinchor. The program’s objective is to
improve the physical rehabilitation of the disabled in
Casamance.[53]
The national association of Senegal's physically handicapped is supporting
legal proceedings in defense of the handicapped. The association hopes to get
the government to pass a law to protect the disabled. There has been no
progress on that objective since the change of government in
2000.[54]
[1] Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
pp.74-78. [2] “Statement Made by the
Senegalese Delegation Following Some Allegations Contained in the 1999 Report of
ICBL, First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on A.P. Land
Mines,” Maputo, 5 May 1999, (Non-official translation); see also Press
Release in Le Soleil, a Senegalese governmental daily newspaper, 10 May
1999. [3] Interview with Mr. Abdou Salam
Diallo, Head of the United States Division, Dakar, 3 July, 2000. (Diallo was
Counselor representing Senegal at the
FMSP.) [4] Order no. 05403 of 5 August
1999, on the creation of the national commission in charge of the application,
at the national level, of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and On Their
Destruction signed in Ottawa on December 5, 1997. Order no. 07828 of 27 October
1999, abrogating and replacing order no. 05403 about the creation of the
national commission in charge of the application, at the national level, of the
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer
of Anti-Personnel Mines and On Their Destruction signed in Ottawa on 5 December,
1997. [5] Order no. 07828 of 27 October
1999, Art. 3. These ministries include: Armed Forces, Domestic Affairs,
Justice, Agriculture, Economy, Environment, Health, Family, Social Action and
National Solidarity. [6] Ibid., Art.
5 [7] Interview with Colonel Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndaw, Director of Study Control and of Legislation, Ministry of Armed
Forces, Dakar, February and 3 July
2000. [8] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7
Report, submitted on 1 September 1999. [9]
Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO);
Organisation Nationale des Droits de l'Homme (ONDH); Solidarité Partage;
SOS Paix en Casamance; KAGAMEN and other international NGOs, such as Handicap
International. [10] Article 7 Report, Form
D; interview with Colonel Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February and 3 July 2000;
interview with Abdou Salam Diallo, Dakar, 3 July
2000. [11] Statement Made by the
Senegalese Delegation, Maputo, 5 May
1999. [12] Interview with Abdou Salam
Diallo, Dakar, 3 July 2000; interview with Col. Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar,
February and 3 July 2000. [13] Article 7
Report, Form B; interview with Colonel Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February and
3 July 2000; interview with Abdou Salam Diallo, Dakar, 3 July
2000. [14] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February and 3 July
2000. [15] RADDHO, a human rights NGO
active on ban issues, has written several letters to the government over last
three years seeking information about the existence of AP mine stockpiles in
Senegal, to which there have been no reply. RADDHO doubts that there is no
stockpile of mines, especially for military training. Interview with Alioune
Tine, Executive Secretary of RADDHO, Dakar, 4 July 2000. In discussions in
Maputo in May 1999 about the ICBL’s conclusion that Senegal used mines in
Guinea-Bissau, no member of the Senegalese delegation made the claim that
Senegal did not have AP mines. [16]
Interview with Lt. Colonel Fall, Commander of the Légion at the
Ziguinchor Gendarmerie, March 2000. [17]
Interview with Gen. Mamadou Niang, Minister of Internal Affairs and former
Ambassador in Guinea-Bissau, Dakar, 4 July
2000. [18] For details on past use, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
76-78. [19] Interview with Colonel
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February and 3 July
2000. [20] Interview with Lt. Colonel
Fall, March 2000. [21] Interview with
Colonel Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February
2000. [22] Interview with Colonel
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February
2000. [23]
Ibid. [24] Interview with a former member
of the Senegalese army, July 2000. [25]
Interview with Daniel Sagna, Director of the Fishing School, Godomp, 8 July
2000; interview with a member of the Catholic Mission in Simbandi, district
Sedhiou, 8 July 2000. [26]
Ibid. [27] Interview with the population
in Casamance, 8-9 July 2000. [28]
Interview with Commandant Kamoungué Diatta, North Front, December
1999. [29] Interview with Abbot Augustin
Diamacoune Senghor, Ziguinchor, March
2000. [30] Interview with Mr. Abdou Salam
Diallo, Dakar, 3 July 2000; interview with Col. Ousmane Sarr, Dakar, 4 July
2000. [31] Interview with Colonel
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, February and 3 July
2000. [32] Interview with Gen. Mamadou
Niang, Minister of Internal Affairs and former Ambassador of Senegal in
Guinea-Bissau, Dakar, 4 July 2000. [33]
Interview with Alioune Tine, RADDHO, Dakar, 4 July
2000. [34] Interviews with local
communities in Casamance, 8-9 July
2000. [35] “Statement Made by the
Senegalese Delegation Following Some Allegations Contained in the 1999 Report of
ICBL,” Maputo, 5 May 1999, (Non-official
translation). [36] Interview with Colonel
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, 3 July 2000. The ICBL questioned this logic, since
Guinea-Bissau forces, which Senegal was supporting, were using mines. A former
high-ranking member of the Senegalese military staff told Landmine Monitor in
July 2000 that use of mines could have been part of the war logic. Stressing
that he was speaking hypothetically, he said the Senegalese army could have
found a stockpile of landmines during its operations in Guinea-Bissau and used
those mines to defend its security perimeter around the city of Bissau.
Interview with a former member of the Senegalese army, July
2000. [37] Landmine Monitor notes that
Senegal, while denying use on its part, acknowledged that Guinea-Bissau troops
employed mines in 1998. In that respect, it should be noted that 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 nation
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.” [38] Interview with
Col. Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, 3 July 2000; interview with Col. Ousmane Sarr,
Dakar, July 4, 2000. [39] Interview with
Andrea Nicolaj, Counselor of the EU Delegation in Senegal, Dakar, 5 July
2000. [40] Information gathered during the
Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines in Casamance, RADDHO, Dakar, April
1998. [41] Email from Handicap
International to Landmine Monitor, 1 August
2000. [42] Handicap International,
“Presentation of the Program in Casamance,” July 2000, p.
3. [43] Interview with Abdou Salam Diallo,
Dakar, 3 July 2000. [44] Interview with
Col. Sarr, Dakar, 4 July, 2000. [45]
Ibid. [46] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, 3 July 2000. [47]
Interview with S. Wyseur-Gueye, Ziguinchor, 9 July
2000. [48] Interview with Sophie
Wyseur-Gueye, Ziguinchor, 9 July,
2000. [49] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, 3 July, 2000. [50]
Interview with the Director of the Regional Hospital of Ziguinchor, Ziguinchor,
March 2000. [51] Interview with Col.
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw, Dakar, 3 July
2000. [52]
Ibid. [53] Interview with Sophie
Wyzeur-Gueye, Ziguinchor, 9 July, 2000; interview with Mr. Andrea Nicolaj,
Counselor of the EU Delegation in Dakar, 5 July 2000; interview with Yatma Fall,
President of the Association Nationale des Handicapés Moteurs de
Sénégal, Dakar, 5 July
2000. [54] Interview with Yatma Fall,
Dakar, 5 July 2000.
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