Côte d'Ivoire signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3
December 1997, ratified it on 30 June 2000, and became a State Party on 1
December 2000. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for the mine issue.
An official re-stated to Landmine Monitor in November 2002 that Côte
d'Ivoire possesses no stockpile of antipersonnel mines, not even for training
purposes.[1] In October 2002,
the rebel group Patriotic Movement for Côte d'Ivoire accused Army forces
of having laid antipersonnel mines, imported from
Angola.[2] Mines were said to
have been laid in three locations in Côte d'Ivoire: in Bondoukou in the
northeast, in M'Bahiakro in the center and in Daloa in the
center-west.[3] Officials from
both Côte d'Ivoire and Angola denied the
charges.[4] Landmine Monitor is
unaware of any evidence to corroborate the allegation.
As reported last year, Côte d'Ivoire’s initial Article 7 Report,
which was due on 30 May 2001, had been sent to its UN Mission in New York, but
had not been officially submitted. At that time, a copy of the
“nil” report, covering the period 9 May 2001 to 31 December 2001,
was provided to Landmine
Monitor.[5] In January 2003,
officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the necessary steps would be
taken to comply with the Article 7 treaty
obligation.[6] However, the
report has not yet been submitted.
Côte d'Ivoire did not attend the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in
2002 or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February or May
2003.
On 22 November 2002, Côte d'Ivoire voted in favor of UN General
Assembly Resolution 57/74 promoting universalization and implementation of the
Mine Ban Treaty.
On 20 December 2002, the parliament of Côte d'Ivoire voted to authorize
the president to ratify Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional
Weapons.[7]
In 2002, the Côte d'Ivoire section of Club Union Africaine, with the
financial and technical support of the International Committee of the Red Cross
and the Canadian Embassy, conducted education activities on the consequences of
the war in two schools in the Abodo commune of Abidjan. Over 1,000 children
were reached.[8]
[1] Interview with Theodore Koffi Fana,
First Counselor, Embassy of the Côte d'Ivoire, Paris, 21 November 2002.
Côte d'Ivoire is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel
mines. See, Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
207. [2] “Les rebelles
dénoncent la pose de mines antipersonnel apportées d'Angola”
(The rebels accuse antipersonnel mines from Angola have been laid), Agence
France Presse, 21 October 2002. [3]
Ibid.; “El Embajador de Angola en Abidjan desmiente que su pais haya
entregado minas antipersona a Costa de Marfil” (The ambassador of Angola
in Abidjan denies that his country has provided antipersonnel mines to
Côte d'Ivoire), Europa Press, 21 October
2002. [4] Ibid.; interview with
Théodore Koffi Fana, First Counselor of the Côte d'Ivoire Embassy,
Paris, 21 November 2002; letter from HE Kessie Raymond Koudou, Ambassador of
Côte d'Ivoire in France to Handicap International, 31 December
2002. [5] Landmine Monitor Report 2002,
p. 207. [6] Interview with HE Boua
Kamon, Director of Political and Humanitarian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign
Affaires, Abidjan, 13 January 2003; interview with Marcellin Abié Obou,
Sub-Director of Judicial Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abidjan, 15
January 2003. [7] Parliamentary Law No.
0545, 20 December 2002. [8] Email from
Traoré Wodjo, President, Club Union Africaine Cote d'Ivoire, 24 March
2003.