LM Report 2001

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CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE)

Key developments since May 2000: Congo-Brazzaville acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 May 2001. A military official told Landmine Monitor that the country has a stockpile of some 700-900,000 antipersonnel mines, and that an inventory of all the stocks is being conducted throughout the country by the army. This is the first time Congo-Brazzaville revealed information about its mine stockpile.

Mine Ban Policy

Congo-Brazzaville acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 May 2001. The provisional legislature during its plenary session of 19 July 2000 had passed a law authorizing the president of Congo-Brazzaville to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty. Rodolphe Adada, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had presented the law to the assembly.^[1] In January 2001, Joseph Niombela Mambula, Secretary General at the Ministry of Defense said, “Our army should now act taking in consideration the international laws. We should train our soldiers and officers to this new approach.”^[2]

Former President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Toure, met on 5 February 2001 with the Congolese president, as the special envoy of the Secretary General of the Francophonie International Organization, to urge accession to the Mine Ban Treaty. The instrument of accession was submitted to the UN on 4 May 2001 and the Mine Ban Treaty will formally enter into force for Congo-Brazzaville on 1 November 2001.

Congo-Brazzaville did not attend the Second Meeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, and did not participate in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. However, Congo-Brazzaville sent a representative to the all-Africa Seminar on the Implementation and Universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, held in Bamako, Mali, on 15-16 February 2001. Congo-Brazzaville was absent from the November 2000 vote on the UN General Assembly resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, but earlier had supported it in the First Committee vote.

Congo-Brazzaville is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

Congo-Brazzaville is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines.^[3] A military official told Landmine Monitor that the country has a stockpile of some 700-900,000 antipersonnel mines, mostly East German-manufactured PPMs, but also POMZ and PMNs. He also said an inventory of all the stocks is being conducted throughout the country by the army.^[4] This is the first time Congo-Brazzaville had revealed information about its mine stockpile.

Use

Congo-Brazzaville has recently come out of a civil war during which both antipersonnel and antitank mines were used.^[5] The government and the opposition parties signed a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities agreement on 16 November 1999 in Pointe Noire and 29 December 1999 in Brazzaville.^[6]

During the conflict, some landmines were reportedly stolen by the various militia groups when the government’s ammunition depot in Brazzaville was attacked in 1997-98.^[7] Since the end of the civil war, the Congolese government is making efforts to collect and destroy weapons from non-state actors. The committee charged with overseeing the ceasefire said in its final report, “The collection of weapons of war had progressed positively.” It also noted that “given the number of disarmed soldiers and the number of arms collected, soldiers could be still harboring weapons.”^[8] Twenty-nine antipersonnel mines were collected.^[9]

There have been no recent allegations of use of antipersonnel mines.^[10]

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

Officials no longer consider emplaced antipersonnel mines to be a major concern in Congo-Brazzaville.^[11] According to an observer, one region is suspected of having minefields, but a survey has not been undertaken. The source said that “it is not deemed to be an extensive problem.”^[12]

Mines that were laid by the army around Brazzaville airport during the civil war have been cleared. The clearance program started in April 2000. According to a military official, the only place in Brazza with mines in the ground had been the airport; some 30 mines were cleared last year by the military.^[13] Funds were provided by the government of Congo-Brazzaville.^[14] Twenty-four Congolese technicians for mine clearance had been trained by France and Russia in 1997.^[15]

Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

On 3 April 2000, 200 children disabled during the civil war met with the committee charged with overseeing the ceasefire in Brazzaville. M. Vital Balla, second Vice President of the committee, expressed great concern regarding the condition of all the disabled.^[16] No data on mine victims is available. One observer reported that there have been some people injured by unexploded ordnance, mainly children.^[17] There are no reports of recent victims of landmines in Congo-Brazzaville.^[18]

There are hospitals and health centers in the country, though they are poorly equipped. The government is rebuilding that infrastructure with the help of donors such as Caritas USA, Elf Congo and other partners.

^[1] Interview with Auguste Goma, Second Counselor, Congo-Brazzaville Embassy, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 13 February 2001.
^[2] Speech during the New Year wishes to the Ministry of Defense, Brazzaville, 6 January 2001.
^[3] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 196.
^[4] Interview with Leonce Nkabi, Chef de Corps du Bataillon de Génie, Ministry of Defense of Congo-Brazzaville, at the African Landmine Seminar, Bamako, Mali, 16 February 2001.
^[5] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 197.
^[6] For details about the probable location of mines, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 197.
^[7] Information from confidential source, sent to Landmine Monitor in Brussels, Belgium, 30 March 2001.
^[8] Final Report of the committee charged with overseeing the ceasefire.
^[9] Ibid.
^[10] See also Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 198.
^[11] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 198
^[12] Confidential source, 30 March 2001.
^[13] Interview with Colonel Léonce Nkabi, Bamako, Mali, 16 February 2001.
^[14] Ibid. For previous clearance actions, please refer to Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 198.
^[15] Interview with Colonel Léonce Nkabi, Bamako, Mali, 16 February 2001.
^[16] Press release, Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 5 February 2001.
^[17] Confidential source, 30 March 2001.
^[18] Interview with Auguste Goma, Second Counselor at the Congo-Brazzaville Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon, 13 February 2001.

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