Key
developments since May 2000: There are serious allegations of antipersonnel
mine use by Rwandan troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in
June 2000. Rwanda denies the allegations. Mine clearance operations resumed in
Rwanda in June 2000. As a result by January 2001, 2,966 mines and UXO were
removed and 11,337 square meters of land were cleared for resettlement.
Rwanda signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997 and ratified it on 13 June 2000. The treaty entered into force for Rwanda
on 1 December 2000. A presidential order of 24 December 1998 confirms the
incorporation of the ban treaty into domestic law, but implementation
legislation is not yet in
place.[1] Rwanda’s initial
Article 7 transparency report was due on 30 May 2001, but has not yet been
submitted.
Rwanda did not participate in the Second Meeting of States Parties
to the Mine Ban Treaty held in September 2000 nor did it attend the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001.
However, it did send representatives to the Bamako Seminar on Universalization
and Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, held on 15-16 February
2001. Rwanda was absent from the vote on the November 2000 UN General Assembly
resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. Rwanda is not a party to the
Convention on Conventional Weapons and did not attend the Second Annual
Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II held in Geneva in December
2000.
Use
Since 1998, there has been no reported new use of
mines in Rwanda. However, there have been ongoing allegations of mine use in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by various fighting forces, including by
Rwanda and opposition forces it supports. Rwandan officials have repeatedly
denied allegations of mine use in the DRC and said Rwanda is committed to the
1999 Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.
Landmine Monitor Report 2000 cited
allegations that Rwandan forces had used antipersonnel mines during the fighting
around Kisangani in the DRC in June
2000.[2] Since that time, a
United Nations assessment mission and aid workers in Kisangani have confirmed
the presence of large numbers of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). In July
2000, a United Nations official in Kisangani told Landmine Monitor that Rwanda
and Uganda had both used mines in the fighting over
Kisangani.[3] Rebels claimed that
Rwandan and Ugandan troops left more than 4,000 landmines in the
town.[4] In its human rights
report on Rwanda for 2000, the US State Department noted, “There were
unconfirmed reports that Rwandan and Ugandan forces used landmines during the
fighting in Kisangani.”[5]
A United Nations assessment mission in August 2000, tasked with assessing
the damage to the civilian population of the fighting between Rwanda and Uganda
in Kisangani in June 2000, reported that: “Landmines and unexploded
ordnance are still a major impediment to the return of displaced people to their
homes and to the resumption of daily life in the city. Mines were laid in
strategic locations to prevent the advance of troops and to protect retreating
forces.... Reports indicated that some mines were laid after the
ceasefire.”[6]
In June
2000, Uganda had accused Rwanda of mining the Tshopo bridge in
Kisangani.[7] In its report, the
UN states, “Landmines were also laid by retreating forces on the [Tshopo]
bridge and along major routes.... Around 18 mines were placed on the Tshopo
bridge, the major link in the
city.”[8]
Congolese
refugees told Landmine Monitor that Rwandan soldiers planted mines in the roads
leading to Kisangani from Basoko and Bafwasende, and that four mine incidents
had occurred in February and March 2001. Landmine Monitor was not in a position
to verify these claims.[9]
It
should be noted that Rwanda, which signed the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1997,
formally submitted its ratification of the treaty to the United Nations on 13
June 2000 – just two days after the intense fighting in Kisingani ended.
The treaty entered into force for Rwanda on 1 December 2000. Though Rwanda was
not a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty during the June 2000 battle, the use of
mines by a signatory can be judged a breach of its international obligations.
Under Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, “A state
is obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of a
treaty when...it has signed the treaty....” Clearly, use of mines defeats
the object and purpose of the Mine Ban Treaty.
In 2001, the Lusaka
Ceasefire Agreement finally began to take hold, and Congolese government, rebel
and foreign troops began the process of disengagement and redeployment.
However, there are reports and allegations that landmines continued to be used
even into this disengagement phase. Congolese diplomats have alleged that
foreign forces and rebels have laid mines in Orientale Province following the
cessation of hostilities, in order to mark off areas of
occupation.[10]
The UN
Secretary General’s April 2001 report on the DRC stated, “During the
disengagement phase, MONUC [United Nations Organization Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo] received information indicating the presence
of minefields laid by the belligerent forces to protect their front-line
positions....” The report also referred to “both the increased
number of new defensive positions and the danger of
mines....”[11] The UN
report language is not clear about when the mines were laid. Landmine Monitor
has not been able to confirm recent use, and does not know to which
“belligerent forces” the United Nations report refers, be it FAC,
rebels, Uganda, Rwanda, or others.
In May 2001, President Kagame told the
UN that the presence of Rwandan rebels in the DRC “prevent his forces from
withdrawing from the
war....”[12]
Assisting Mine Use
Even if allegations of use of antipersonnel mines
by Rwandan forces involved in the conflict in the DRC proved to be false,
Landmine Monitor is concerned that Rwanda could be at risk of violating the Mine
Ban Treaty by virtue of close military cooperation, including joint combat
operations, with rebel armed forces that may use antipersonnel
mines.[13] 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.”
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
Rwanda is not believed to have ever produced or
exported antipersonnel mines. It has imported
mines,[14] but the size and
composition of its stockpile are unknown. Rwanda’s Article 7 report, due
20 May 2001, should provide the first details of Rwanda’s stockpile and
plans for destruction.
Landmine Problem, Survey and Assessment
Rwanda’s mine problem is the result of the
civil war ending in 1998. The worst hit areas are Kigali (rural), Byumba,
Ruhengeri, Gisenyi and Umutara. Some 90% of the northeast region has been
cleared. The northwestern region (Gisenyi and Ruhengeri) is the most
mine-affected. The National Demining Office (NDO) has opened branches in
Ruhengeri and Gisenyi. The NDO says that the area affected is farming land, and
as such, contends it cannot be fenced or
marked.[15]The war has
also left behind large numbers of unexploded ordnance, especially in eastern and
northern districts where heavy battles took place. This poses a serious threat
to women and children, who collect fuel, wood and water, and look after cattle
and farms.
The NDO has a survey team that moves around the country to
identify mine-affected areas; this helps prioritize NDO activities and set a
target date for the completion of
clearance.[16] Minefields are
identified based on war history (areas of heavy fighting) and on reports from
the communities who have benefited from the mine awareness campaign.
Mine Action Funding
The US government, which has been the only external
source of support for mine action in Rwanda, has supported the NDO with funds as
well as with equipment, logistical support, explosives, and training. The
funding is scheduled to end in June 2001. The US has provided support to NDO to
build local capacity; NDO is capable of training its own deminers, dog handlers
and dogs used in the demining activities. The United States has asked Rwanda to
allocate a certain percentage of its annual budget to mine action related
activities. Rwanda paid the salaries of 152 trained mine action experts employed
by NDO, but has not budgeted for mine action activities in FY
2001.[17]
The US provided a
total of $14.2 million in mine action assistance to Rwanda for fiscal years
1995-2000. That includes $1.8 million in FY 1999 and $291,999 in FY
2000.[18] Negotiations are going
on between Rwanda and the US about new funding, but the US has said that it is
not going to fund the next phase of a mine awareness campaign starting in July
2001.[19]
Mine Clearance and Mine Awareness
The NDO is the sole coordinating body of mine
action activities in the country. The NDO is concentrating its efforts in the
northwest with a view to opening up the area for resettlement, development and
tourism.[20]
Mine clearance
that had been suspended due to lack of explosives since December 1999 resumed in
June 2000. By January 2001, 2,966 mines and UXO had been
cleared.[21] In November 2000,
Rwanda officials reported that 22,154 landmines had been neutralized countrywide
from an estimated total of
50,000.[22] From October 2000 to
January 2001, the total area cleared was 11,337 square
meters.[23]
Since July 2000,
NDO has focused its action in the following minefields: Mpfunda in Gisenyi
(North West), Nyabishambi in Byumba (North), Nkana in Mutara (North East),
Kanombe and Nyamirambo (Kigali Rural urban), and Jali (Kigali Rural). Areas
like Nyabarongo valley have been cleared and handed over to the owners after a
technical survey by
KIST.[24]
By 31 December 2001,
NDO plans to have carried out mine awareness in at least 80 new schools, and to
have cleared at least 60,000 square meters of land (clearing 250 square meters
per day).[25]
According to the
director of the National Demining Office, the positive impact of the mine
awareness campaign has resulted in decreased casualties and an increasing number
of reports from communities on locations of mines and/or
UXO.[26]
Landmine Casualties
Complete details of people killed or injured by
landmines is Rwanda is difficult to obtain. The only information available is
from records of casualties registered in medical centers. The NDO reports 24
landmine casualties in 2000 and four in the first month of 2001. All but two of
the casualties were men; they are the ones who most frequently ventured into the
bush.[27]
Landmine Casualties in 2000 and January 2001
Prefecture
Sex
2000
2001
Byumba
M
6
4
Gisenyi
M
3
0
Kigali Ngali
M
2
0
Kigali Town
F
1
0
M
1
0
Ruhengeri
F
1
0
M
5
0
Total
24
4
Survivor Assistance
The NDO does not offer any medical or
rehabilitation assistance to mine victims because it has no funds for this
activity.[28] However, Handicap
International and Mulindi Japan One Love Project (MJOLP) offer some
assistance.[29]
Handicap
International is setting up rehabilitation units in hospitals, primarily in the
main hospital in Kigali, where people with leg amputations can be fitted with
prostheses. Fourteen units in the country are providing physiotherapy, five of
which are also providing orthopedic appliances. Between January 2000 and March
2001, HI provided assistance to 1,152 people, 225 of which were landmine
victims. Ninety-eight patients were landmine amputees. Not all patients were
new victims in 2000. Twenty-three prostheses were provided and 73 old
prostheses were repaired.[30]
MJOLP is a joint Rwandan/Japanese NGO that supports people with disability
in Rwanda. The MJOLP makes prostheses and orthoses free of charge for people who
are suffering from mines, polio and other diseases. The MJOLP is constructing a
Center for people with disability in Kigali. Between June 2000 and June 2001,
MJOLP provided prostheses to 116 people injured by
landmines.[31]
[1] Order of the President, no.
38/01, 24 December 1998.
[2]Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
115.
[3] Landmine Monitor/Human
Rights Watch telephone interview with UN official in Kisangani, 28 July 2000.
The official said that mines were planted around Bangoka International airport
and on a section of the Kisangani-Buta road known as Km 31, and that a number of
areas had been declared off-limits because of landmines. Another source
indicated mines were laid at Simi Simi and Bunia airport and Ikela. Landmine
Monitor/Human Rights Watch interview with BRZ International Ltd., Johannesburg,
June 2000. BRZ is a South African mine clearance firm which conducted a survey
in DRC in 2000 and described it as “badly
contaminated.”
[4]
“Rebels say more than 4,000 Mines Left in Kisangani,” Agence
France Presse (Kisangani), 21 July 2000, in
FBIS. [5] US Department
of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Rwanda, February
2001.
[6] UN Security Council,
S/2000/1153, “Letter dated 4 December 2000 from the Secretary-General
addressed to the President of the Security Council,” and “Annex:
Report of the inter-agency assessment mission to Kisangani,” 4 December
2000, p. 9.
[7]Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, pp. 90-91; “Tchopo Bridge Mines,” New
Vision, 19 June 2000.
[8]
UN Security Council, S/2000/1153, “Letter dated 4 December 2000 from the
Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council,” and
“Annex: Report of the inter-agency assessment mission to Kisangani,”
4 December 2000, pp. 3 and
9.
[9] Landmine Monitor
researcher for the DRC interviews with Congolese refugees, Kampala, Uganda, 2
April 2001.
[10] Landmine
Monitor researcher for the DRC interviews with DRC diplomats in Kampala, Uganda,
2 April 2001, and in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, 9 April
2001.
[11] “Seventh
report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Organization Mission in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” UN Security Council, S/2001/373, 17
April 2001, p. 9.
[12]
“Rwanda wants DRC rebels neutralized,” SAPA, Kigali, 25 May
2001, (see
http://news24.co.za).
[13] See
the Democratic Republic of Congo report in this edition of Landmine Monitor, and
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, for allegations of rebel use of mines in
the DRC.
[14] See Landmine
Monitor Report 1999, p. 162 for
details.
[15] Interview with
the NDO acting director, Lt. Vincent Haguma, Kigali, 30 January
2001.
[16]
Ibid.
[17] All of the
information in this paragraph comes from an interview with Lt. Vincent Haguma,
NDO, Kigali, 30 January
2001.
[18] US Department of
State, “Demining Program Financing History,” dated 24 October 2000.
[19] Interview with Lt.
Vincent Haguma, 30 January
2001.
[20] National Demining
Office Plan of Action 2001, p.
2.
[21] National Demining
Office, Database
Department.
[22] “Rwanda
Neutralizes more than 22,000 landmines,” PANA, quoting Lt. Vincent
Haguma, 18 November 2000.
[23]
National Demining Office, Database
Department.
[24] NDO Report
July 2000 to January 2001.
[25]
NDO Plan of Action 2001, p.
2.
[26] Interview with Lt.
Vincent Haguma, 30 January
2001.
[27]
Ibid.
[28]
Ibid.
[29] For more detail see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
94-95.
[30] Email from Florence
Thune, Program Officer, Handicap International France, 4 July
2001.
[31] Information received
from Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines in an email on 16 July 2001.
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