Key
developments since May 2000: Guinea-Bissau ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on
22 May 2001. The nongovernmental organization HUMAID began demining operations
in January 2000, and through February 2001 had cleared some 44,392 square meters
of land, removing 1,284 antipersonnel mines, 45 antitank mines, and 264 UXO,
mostly in Bissau city. In mid-2000 the UNDP began support aimed at creation of
an integrated mine action program in Guinea-Bissau. A national mine action
coordination body, the National Center for Coordination of Anti-mines Actions
(CAAMI), was established in late 2000, and a draft National Humanitarian Mine
Action Program (PAAMI) was prepared in early 2001.
Guinea-Bissau ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 22
May 2001, the 116th country to ratify. The treaty will enter into
force for Guinea-Bissau on 1 November 2001. It had signed the Mine Ban Treaty
in Ottawa on 3 December 1997. Guinea-Bissau did not attend the Second Meeting
of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, nor did it attend
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001.
It did, however, attend the Bamako Seminar on Universalization and
Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa in Mali on 15-16 February 2001.
Guinea-Bissau was absent from the vote on the November 2000 UN General Assembly
resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not a party to the Convention
on Conventional Weapons.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction
Guinea-Bissau is not known to have produced or
exported AP mines. It appears to have obtained most of its mines after
independence from Portugal, Belgium and France although some Russian and Spanish
made mines have also been
found.[1]
On 7 February 1998,
the government destroyed between 2,000 and 3,000 mines from its
stockpiles,[2] but since then
there has been no more government activity on stockpile destruction. Government
officials have said that all stocks would be
destroyed.[3] The current size
and composition of the stockpile is not known.
Landmine Problem
With the outbreak of conflict in 1998/1999,
landmines became a real problem in the capital
Guinea-Bissau.[4] HUMAID (a local
NGO managed by a former US Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau, John Blacken) estimated
some 5,000 mines were laid in thirteen locations during the war of liberation
and 4,000 in the 1998/1999
conflicts.[5] The UN Mine Action
Service (UNMAS) estimates that between 2,000 and 3,000 landmines were laid
during the 1998/1999 conflicts.[6]
More recently, a UN document stated, “There could still be in excess of
20,000 mines in the areas of Bissau recognized as having been on or near the
front lines.... The former front line, north and northwest of Bissau, and an
area located south of the airport, is still heavily
mined.”[7]
Combatants
used mines principally in five locations: around the Bissau airport, along the
demarcation line within Bissau, along the border with Senegal, around the
psychiatric hospital in Bissau, and along main routes in the south of the
country.[8]
The government
requested the UN Development Program’s assistance to establish a mine and
UXO clearance program and a chief technical advisor arrived in Bissau in
September 2000.[9]
The
following areas have been identified and marked as contaminated with the
exception of the minefield along Antula River: Alto Bandim coastline (1.5
kilometers); three hundred meters area east of the road to Bor; four hundred
meters area near the site of the project “Action for Development;”
area near the Bra prison; outer perimeter of part of the Penha Bairro
(Diplomatic area); Guinea-Telecom antenna site; Jolo Papel sector; Bairros of
Plaque, Contum, and Madina; six hundred meters bordering on the “Estrada
de Volta” of Bissau; and an area on banks of the Antula River leading from
Bissau towards Cumere.[10]
In
2001, the United Nations said that the landmines situation “presents a
serious obstacle to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Bissau. The
inhabitants live with the constant fear of mines planted in economically
important areas. Mine- and UXO-suspected areas are often part of the land where
people are growing market crops such as rice in small flooded valleys, cashew
nuts and subsistence fisheries in coastal mangroves bathed by salt water. The
most vulnerable groups are women and
children.”[11]
Mine Action Funding
In 2000, a mine clearance program estimated at US$4
million was approved and given a priority. HUMAID received a total of
US$216,307 from four
donors.[12]
Donor funding for HUMAID in 2000
Donor
Date
Amount & Currency Used
US $ Equivalent
Purpose of Funding
UK
20 May 2000
US$31,325
US$31,325
Training, equipment and operating costs
Germany
July 2000
Equipment C
Approx. US$9,000
Anti-fragmentation suits
Germany
6 October 2000
FCFA 49,804,740
67,304
Operating Costs including salaries
US
28 October 2000
US$99,145
US$99,145
Equipment
Austria
9 October 2000
FCFA 7,150,462
US$9,533
Total
US$216,307
Source: HUMAID. At exchange rate FCFA740 = US$1.00.
The US made its
first contribution to mine action in Guinea-Bissau in fiscal year 2000,
providing $164,145. In addition to the $99,145 the State Department provided to
HUMAID for equipment, the Defense Department provided $65,000 for
training.[13]
Mine Action Coordination
Following missions by UN Mine Action Service
(UNMAS) in 1998 and UN Development Program (UNDP) in May 1999, the government of
Guinea-Bissau requested the United Nations to provide assistance with the
establishment of a mine action program. UNDP support for the project began in
mid-2000. UNDP aims to help the government elaborate mine action policy and
identify mine clearance priorities, as well as to coordinate, manage and oversee
all mine related activities.[14]
A national mine action coordination body, the National Center for
Coordination of Anti-mines Actions (CAAMI), was established in late 2000, and a
draft National Humanitarian Mine Action Program (PAAMI) was prepared in early
2001. Plans call for the launch of a comprehensive technical survey, including
minefield marking, in the first half of
2001.[15]
Mine Clearance
HUMAID is the sole mine clearance NGO in the
country. In early 2000, HUMAID identified seventy-three former military
deminers ready to join the organization, but due to lack of funding at the time,
could only hire eight. As the organization had neither enough deminers nor
equipment, it concentrated its operations on the removal of unexploded ordnance
(UXO) from Bissau city, and also surveying and marking the perimeters of
minefields with warning signs.[16]
During January and February 2000 HUMAID’s deminers cleared 165 UXOs.
In
March 2000 HUMAID shifted its priority from UXO clearance to marking mined areas
for two reasons: ECOMOG soldiers had identified about half of existing
minefields with ropes and colored ribbons which the local population liked to
remove for their own purposes; and the upcoming cashew harvest season in April.
The Guinea-Bissau Defense Ministry provided HUMAID with 1,018 metal mine warning
signs, 500 cloth signs, and five rolls of marking ropes, which it used to mark
all thirteen minefields by the end of April. In the Bra Bairro HUMAID
had removed 149 mines during June with support from the British
Government.
In October 2000, after receiving funds from the German
government, HUMAID resumed full demining operations, clearing 231 antipersonnel
mines and 26 UXO from 23,247 square meters of land. During the period 1
November to 31 December, it cleared 91 antipersonnel mines and eleven UXO,
completing demining in the populated Bra Bairro, including the area
around the primary school located in the area. Work then started at the
Guinea-Telecom center and antenna site. The mined area in and around the
Guinea-Telecom site extends in an arc about 500 meters in length and 50 meter in
width.[17]
During January
2001 HUMAID removed 140 antipersonnel mines and twelve UXO and cleared 10,774
square meters of land in the Guinea-Telecom area. This area, before being mined
was used not only by Guinea-Telecom as an antenna site, but also by the local
population for growing food crops. The area is now available for full use.
On 10 November 2000, it destroyed 298 antipersonnel mines (242 PRB M409),
seven antitank mines, and eleven
UXO.[18] On 26 January 2001 with
witnesses from the government, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Special
Representative in Bissau of the United Nations Secretary General, and prominent
local citizens, HUMAID destroyed by explosion 191 antipersonnel mines, twenty
antitank mines, and thirty-eight UXOs.This was done to inform the
population that progress is being made in clearing the metropolitan area of
Bissau of dangerous explosives. HUMAID’s normal practice is to destroy
mines at the end of each workday.
Demining continued in Bra Bairro near the
Guinea-Telecom center and Interramento throughout February 2001, with another
333 antipersonnel mines, 18 antitank mines and 11 UXO cleared, and a total of
10,371 square meters of land. With a few exceptions, the mines through the area
were planted in a single zig-zag line and were M 411s of Portuguese
manufacture.[19]
In sum, from
January 2000 through February 2001, HUMAID cleared some 44,392 square meters of
land, removing 1,284 antipersonnel mines, 45 antitank mines, and 264 UXO.
Mine Awareness
UNICEF established a Mine Awareness Committee
(COAM) that has met biweekly since April 1999, to plan and coordinate all mine
awareness activities and to provide a forum for decision-making. There are three
main focus areas: information, training and logistics. Several organizations and
NGOs attend these meetings. The awareness program is funded by the government
of Canada and includes the production of marking ropes, marking triangles,
T-shirts, labels, billboards, comic books and mine awareness posters. Free radio
time is available.[20]
On 10
May 2000, HUMAID launched a series of radio announcements inviting people to
report possible areas with mines or other UXOs. The announcement was broadcast
twice a day for five days. The turnout was impressive, providing HUMAID with
enough reports of UXO to keep its team fully occupied through May 2000. HUMAID
sappers briefed local residents and community leaders about the location of
minefields emphasizing the dangers posed by mines and UXO.
The UN states,
“An active and efficient mine awareness education programme has been
established, with local NGOs operating under the coordination of
CAAMI.[21]
Landmine Casualties/Survivor Assistance/Disability Policy and Practice
There continue to be mine casualties. HUMAID
reported that there have been five mine incidents since June
2000.[22]
The system of health
care and rehabilitation of landmine victims was seriously affected by the
1998/1999 conflicts. Most landmine victims are treated at either the Simoes
Mendes Hospital or the Military Hospital at the airport. Once discharged the
survivors become the responsibility of their families. There are two prosthetics
facilities in Bissau; one is governmental and the other is run by Andes, with
the support of Handicap International.
There is no law or decree available
to assist disabled people in Guinea-Bissau.
[1] The types of mines
reportedly found in the Bissau area are TM 46, C-3-A, P-4-B and PMN. Some POMZ
mines were once confiscated toward the eastern border, but have not been used in
Bissau. Also Belgian-made PRB 409 and Portuguese-made M 411 have been found.
Most of the mines have only “A/P Mine” stamped on the bottom side; a
few have yellow lettering such as the following: “MINA A/P DE SOPRO
M/969 - LOTE 1 - 2 / 72.” Landmine Monitor was shown footage filmed in
November 2000 of antipersonnel stockpiles in Bissau that included crates with
labels in Portuguese indicating that they were shipped via Casablanca,
Morocco.
[2]Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p.167; Le Soleil, 9 February
1998.
[3] Interview with Cesar
Luis Gomes Lopes, Bamako Seminar, Bamako, Mali, 15-16 February
2001.
[4] See, Landmine
Monitor Report 1999, pp.154-5, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
168-169. Landmine Monitor reported use of mines by all fighting forces in that
conflict, including by Guinea-Bisseau and Senegal, although all deny use. As
recently as during the February 2001 conference in Bamako, the Bissau and
Senegalese delegations disputed in public who was responsible for mine
contamination in Guinea-Bissau, each blaming the other. Additionally, in an
interview at the Bamako conference, Guinea-Bissau representative Cesar Luis
Gomes Lopes said the main problem was that Senegal was not handing over maps of
minefields in Bissau city that they had helped
lay.
[5] UNDP, Mine Action
Update, 1 March 2001.
[6] Major
Herve Petetin, UNMAS “Mine Situation in Guinea-Bissau,” December
1998, p. 1.
[7] “UN
Portfolio of Mine-related Projects: Guinea-Bissau,” April 2001, p.
136.
[8] Major Herve Petetin,
UNMAS “Mine Situation in Guinea-Bissau,” December 1998, p.
1.
[9] UNDP, Mine Action
Update, 1 March 2001.
[10]
HUMAID Demining and UXO Removal Activity Report, 1 January – 31 December
2000.
[11] “UN Portfolio
of Mine-related Projects: Guinea-Bissau,” April 2001, p.
135.
[12] HUMAID Demining and
UXO Removal Activity Report, 1 January – 31 December
2000.
[13] US Department of
State, “Demining Program Financing History,” dated 24 October 2000;
US Department of State, “To walk the earth in safety-The United States
Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” Bureau of Political-Military
Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, 2nd Edition, July
2000.
[14] “UN Portfolio
of Mine-related Projects: Guinea-Bissau,” April 2001, p.
135.
[15] Ibid, p.
137.
[16] HUMAID Demining and
UXO Removal Activity Report, 1 January – 31 December
2000.
[17] This area has a high
concentration of mines. During the first eight days of work in January 2001,
HUMAID’s deminers removed 94 AP
mines.
[18] Until November 2000
the government had not given approval for HUMAID to destroy the mines it had
removed. Accordingly, the mines had been stored in a sandbag bunker.
Thirty-eight of the 298 were destroyed by a fire HUMAID used to clear heavy
foliage from the Guinea-Telecom antenna
site.
[19] HUMAID Demining and
UXO Removal Activity Report, 1 January – 31 December
2000.
[20] Guinea-Bissau
Technical Mission Report, 5 July
1999.
[21] “UN Portfolio
of Mine-related Projects: Guinea-Bissau,” April 2001, p.
137.
[22] Figure provided by
Hospital staff.
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