LM Report 2003

Gabon

Key developments since May 2002: Gabon submitted its initial Article 7 report in September 2002, stating that its stockpile of 1,082 antipersonnel mines was destroyed at the time of entry into force.

Gabon signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 8 September 2000, and became a State Party on 1 March 2001. Gabon’s initial Article 7 Report, submitted 25 September 2002, does not contain any information on national implementation measures.^[1] In June 2003, a government official could not confirm if any legislative steps have been taken to implement the treaty.^[2] Gabon did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2002 or the first half of 2003, but it voted in favor of the UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 on 22 November 2002, promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Gabon states that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and its stockpile of 1,082 antipersonnel mines was destroyed when the treaty entered into force for the country.^[3] Gabon reports that the mines were destroyed at a remote Republican Guard firing range, but did not provide a destruction date.^[4] Gabon is not mine-affected and there have been no reports of Gabonese nationals killed abroad in mine-related incidents.

[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 25 September 2002 (for the period 10 March 1999-10 March 2003).
[2] Interview with Russel Mezeme Mba, Judicial Counselor, Gabon Mission to the United Nations, New York, 2 June 2003.
[3] The destroyed antipersonnel mines included 700 Chinese mines and 382 Iranian mines. Article 7 Report, Forms B, E and G, 25 September 2002; Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 75.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form F, 25 September 2002.