LM Report 2001

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	Select a country ... -STATES PARTIES- Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Cape Verde Chad Congo (Brazzaville) Côte D'ivoire Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Gabon Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Niger Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone South Africa Swaziland Tanzania Togo Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe -SIGNATORIES- Angola Burundi Cameroon Ethiopia Gambia São Tomé e Principe Sudan -NON SIGNATORIES- Central African Republic Comoros Dem. Rep. of Congo Eritrea Nigeria Somalia -OTHER- Somaliland

COMOROS

The Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. However, in November 2000 Comoros voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/33V, which calls for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Comoros did not participate in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, and did not attend any intersessional Standing Committee meetings. It also did not participate in the Bamako Seminar of Universalization and Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, held in Mali in February 2001. Comoros is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Comoros has experienced 19 coups or attempted coups since independence in 1975, the latest having been staged on 30 April 1999. In accordance with a unity agreement between political leaders, a transitional administration is in place until a new constitution is adopted and a new government takes over. Yet, despite the history of military coups and intense activities of separatist groups there is no evidence that antipersonnel mines have ever been used in the conflicts.^[1] Comoros is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. A Foreign Affairs spokesperson told Landmine Monitor that Comoros did not possess any landmines.^[2]

During a recent debate in the Mauritius National Assembly on the adoption of the Anti-Personnel Mines (Prohibition) Bill, the Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs made a strong appeal to make the Indian Ocean a mine-free zone.^[3] During the debate, a member of the National Assembly referred to the need to encourage Comoros to support a ban on landmines.^[4]

^[1] Interview with a diplomatic source requesting anonymity, Moroni, 13 April 2001.
^[2] Telephone conversation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, 11 April 2001. A government spokesman had told Landmine Monitor in 1999 that the Comoros did not possess any type of mines.
^[3] Speech of A.K. Gayan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation, at the National Assembly, Mauritius, 27 March 2001.
^[4] Speech of M. Dowarkasing, Member of the National Assembly, Mauritius, 27 March 2001.

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