The
Republic of Madagascar signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and
ratified on 16 September 1999. It entered into force on 1 March 2000. No
domestic legislation to implement the treaty is known to exist.
Madagascar did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2001 or the
first half of 2002. It cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly
Resolution 56/24M in November 2001, promoting implementation of the treaty.
On 20 June 2001, Madagascar submitted its initial Article 7 transparency
report, covering the period from 31 January 2000 to 31 January 2001. Madagascar
has not submitted its annual Article 7 Report, due by 30 April 2002.
Madagascar is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. In
its Article 7 Report, Madagascar stated that it does not stockpile antipersonnel
mines. According to a senior Madagascar Defence Force officer, Madagascar has a
small amount of mines retained for training or research
purposes.[1] According to
information from the French government, “the mines that are still in
stocks in Antananarivo [the capital of Madagascar] are no longer
usable.”[2]
Madagascar has experienced a crisis since presidential elections were held on
16 December 2001. Landmine Monitor has received allegations and
“rumors” from a number of sources of use of antipersonnel mines by
governmental forces of President Marc Ravalomanana and by opponents of the new
government, forces loyal to the former president Didier
Ratsiraka.[3] However,
knowledgeable governmental and nongovernmental sources say they have no evidence
to support the allegations. There have been no reports of mine casualties
treated in local hospitals.
At the request of the President of France's National Commission for
the Elimination of Anti-Personnel Mines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
France made inquiries into the allegations. The Ministry, drawing on
information provided by its Embassy in Madagascar following a local
investigation in the areas concerned, said that the “rumors appear not to
be justified.” It noted that in 1991 antipersonnel mines were used around
the Ivahola Palace, and concluded that this earlier incident in part explained
rumors that mines had been used again in
2002.[4]
The Embassy of Madagascar in Mauritius also responded to a request from
Landmine Monitor for clarification on the use
allegations.[5] The Embassy
referred to the Article 7 Report which declares that the Armed Forces do not
possess antipersonnel mines, and the “Directive on antipersonnel
mines” issued to the Armed Forces that states that “it is prohibited
to use anti-personnel mines during operations, to participate in planning for
mine use or in any instructions and/or training during which such devices would
be used, to give one's approval for the use of such devices, be it on
Malagasy territory or elsewhere, to transfer, stock or authorize the transit on
Malagasy territory of such
devices.”[6]
[1] Interview with General Brigadier Rene
Bournas, Director of the War Victims and Veterans Office (ONMAC), Madagascar
Defence Force, Bamako, Mali, 16 February
2001. [2] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
France, letter (via email) to Brigitte Stern, President, National Commission for
the Elimination of Anti-Personnel Mines,
2002. [3] On 30 April 2002, a member of
a French/Malagasy organization said antipersonnel mines had been laid around the
residence of the Governor of Fianarantsoa, and appealed to the ICBL for help.
Several humanitarian agencies in Madagascar told Landmine Monitor they had heard
rumors of antipersonnel mine use by government forces around the presidential
palace, and by opposition forces at a roadblock around Brickaville bridge,
approximately 150 kilometers south of
Tamatave. [4] Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of France, letter (via email) to Brigitte Stern, President, National
Commission for the Elimination of Anti-Personnel Mines,
2002. [5] Communication to Landmine
Monitor from the Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar in Mauritius, 23 May
2002. [6] “Directives pour les
Forces Armees relatives aux mines antipersonnel,” document attached to
Article 7 Report, submitted 20 June 2001. Translated from French by Landmine
Monitor.