LM Report 2003

Comoros

Key developments since May 2002: Comoros acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 19 September 2002 and became a State Party on 1 March 2003.

The Union of Comoros acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 19 September 2002, after a new government was formed in May 2002. The treaty entered into force for Comoros on 1 March 2003. Its initial Article 7 Report is due on 28 August 2003.

Comoros attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 and participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. In November 2002, Comoros voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 calling for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

In responses to a Landmine Monitor questionnaire in March 2003, Comoros stated that it does not have any stockpile of antipersonnel mines, and that mines are not used for military training. It also reported that no national of the Union of Comoros is known to be a victim of landmines.^[1] Comoros has previously told Landmine Monitor that it has not produced, imported, exported, stockpiled, or used antipersonnel mines and it is not mine-affected.^[2] It repeated this at the Standing Committee meeting in May 2003, adding that it wants to support mine action.^[3]

[1] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Cooperation and the Francophonie, 29 March 2003.
[2] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 640.
[3] Oral Remarks to Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 16 May 2003. (Landmine Monitor/HRW notes)