LM Report 2001

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SÃO TOMÉ E PRÍNCIPE

São Tomé e Príncipe signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 30 April 1998. According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, the Parliament approved ratification in early 1999, but the President has not yet signed it because of other pressing business.^[1] An official delegation from the Francophonie, headed by an ex-president of Mali, visited São Tomé in January 2001 and lobbied the President on ratification. The President told the delegation that São Tomé had already “signed and ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 January 1999.”^[2] Attempts by the Landmine Monitor to confirm this have been unsuccessful and no ratification papers have been received by the UN in New York.

São Tomé did not attend the Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2000. It has not participated in any of the meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees. 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. São Tomé was absent from the vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2000.

It is believed that São Tomé has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and according to the office of the Chief of Staff of the São Toméan Armed Forces, there are no stockpiles of AP mines in the country.^[3] The Protocol Service of São Tomé e Príncipe’s Embassy confirmed that São Tomé e Príncipe is not mine-affected.^[4] It should be noted that the liberation struggle never involved armed fighting and this insular state has never been at war since its independence.

^[1] Telephone interview with Dr. Ana Paula Alvim, Department of Multilateral Issues in the Office of International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, São Tomé, 3 July 2000.
^[2] “Rapport de Mission du General Amadou Toumani Toure, Ancien Chef D’Etat Du Mali, Envoye Special Du Secretaire General De L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Du 12 Au 20 Janvier 2001 Au Congo (Brazzaville), Au Burundi Et En Republique Democratique Du Congo, Puis A Sao Tome & Príncipe,” presented at Bamako Seminar on Universalization and Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, 15-16 February 2001.
^[3] Telephone interview with Luis Maria, Office of the Chief of Staff, São Toméan Armed Forces, São Tomé, 26 March 1999.
^[4] Meeting with a Protocol Service Official to deliver a Landmine Monitor Report Questionnaire, Lisbon, 17 January 2001.

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