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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Guinea-Bissau, Landmine Monitor Report 2003

Guinea-Bissau

Key developments since May 2002: In September 2002, Guinea-Bissau destroyed 1,000 of its 4,997 stockpiled mines. The remainder are scheduled to be destroyed in 2003. In June 2003, CAAMI reported that 390,000 square meters of land had been cleared since 2000, including 2,400 antipersonnel mines. LUTCAM, the second domestic mine clearance NGO in Guinea-Bissau, started field operations in February 2003. Since mid-2001, 112 mine risk education activists and 260 community liaison agents have been trained, and have reached some 30,000 people.

Mine Ban Policy

Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1999, ratified it on 22 May 2001, and it entered into force on 1 November 2001. Guinea-Bissau submitted its annual Article 7 update on 30 April 2003, for the period 30 April 2002 to 30 April 2003.[1] It has not enacted national implementation legislation, or reported other implementation measures in accordance with Article 9.[2] In January 2003, the Director of the National Mine Action Center (CAAMI, Centro Nacional de Coordenação da Acção Anti-Minas) told Landmine Monitor that because of the transitional government, legislative steps could not be taken, but that he would raise the issue once a new Parliament was elected.[3]

Guinea-Bissau attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2002 and intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. At the February 2003 Standing Committee meetings, the Director of CAAMI reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty stating, “Guinea-Bissau is certain of its policy on compliance with the Convention. We do not have any intentions to transfer mines or open our territory to the transit of mines from any country, or to help another country break its commitments to the Convention.”[4]

Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 in November 2002, promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction

Guinea-Bissau reports that it has never produced antipersonnel mines and no mine production facilities exist.[5] Guinea-Bissau is not known to have ever exported antipersonnel mines.

According to its initial Article 7 report, Guinea-Bissau destroyed a total of 5,800 mines (4,711 antipersonnel mines and 1,089 antitank mines) in February 1998, prior to ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty.[6]

Stockpiled landmines were inventoried between 25 and 27 March 2002.[7] As of March 2002, Guinea-Bissau’s stockpiles totaled 4,997 antipersonnel mines, located in 17 army sites throughout the country. Most are located at the headquarters of the Gabú Batallion in the Eastern Military Zone.[8]

On 14 September 2002, 1,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed at an event in Cabuca, 45 kilometers from Gabú, which was attended by a committee made up of government and UN representatives, military attachés, former soldiers and journalists.[9] Guinea-Bissau’s remaining stockpile of 3,997 antipersonnel mines is scheduled to be destroyed in 2003.[10] The treaty-mandated deadline for destruction of the entire stockpile is 1 November 2005.

In May 2002, the Director of CAAMI told Landmine Monitor that Guinea-Bissau would retain “a maximum of 50 mines” for instruction purposes, with five of those being live mines.[11] However, both the June 2002 and April 2003 Article 7 reports state that no mines will be retained for training purposes.[12]

Landmine Problem and Survey

As has been previously reported in Landmine Monitor, the landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem in Guinea-Bissau was primarily the result of the military conflict of the late 1990s; a significant number of mines are also attributed to foreign troops involved in the conflict.[13] According to a 1998 report by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), mines were used principally in five locations in Guinea-Bissau: around the Bissau airport, along the demarcation line within Bissau, around the psychiatric hospital in Bissau, along the northern border with Senegal, and along main routes in the south of the country. The report estimated that at that time there were 20,000 mines and additional UXO dispersed along the former front lines in Bissau, which was in a densely populated area of the capital where approximately 30 percent of the country’s population lives.[14]

CAAMI identifies at least 12 other locations outside Bissau as still mined: São Domingos, Bigene, Dungal, Mansaba, Contuboel, Sonaco, Pitche, Buruntuma, Bissasseme de Cima, Galomaro, Boe, and Cutar.[15] HUMAID, a local mine clearance NGO, reported that there are at least thirteen affected locations outside Bissau “mainly around the perimeters of former Portuguese military locations in the interior.”[16] While some minefield marking was carried out in 2000, it was not done to international mine action standards and is inadequate.

In order to more effectively measure the current extent of the mine and UXO problem in Bissau and the rest of the country, a general survey of the affected areas was planned for 2003, to be carried out by two national community survey teams (ENPC) from the local NGO LUTCAM, under a UN Development Program (UNDP)/UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) agreement.[17] In February 2003, the two ENPC teams began to carry out a level one and two survey in one of the most affected areas in the north of Bissau. Seventeen suspected minefield and UXO sites have been so far identified in the capital Bissau. After completing the suspected areas in Bissau, the survey will continue in the immediate outskirts of the capital. In 2004, priorities for clearance of mined areas in other regions of the country will be set.[18]

Regarding the mine problem along the border with Senegal, which has no markings except a few posts, CAAMI said, “We don’t really know what kind of problem we’ll encounter there, but according to unofficial sources, we have the indication that we’ll find a great quantity of mines.”[19] CAAMI’s Mine Risk Education (MRE) Assistant said, “The security is insufficient for the deminers to work there [North of the Cacheu River].”[20]

Guinea-Bissau is also contaminated with unexploded ordnance, particularly at an Army arsenal in Brá that blew up during the last war. On 10 April 2002, a demining technical coordination team from Handicap International (HI) visited this site and reported various types of munitions “strewn over a radius of 5 kilometers around the epicenter.”[21] A January 2003 field visit by Landmine Monitor revealed that the military zone is still insufficiently marked and remains unfenced. Local inhabitants wander through the area to recover metal from the munitions.[22]

The National Mine Action Plan 2001/2004 (PAAMI, Programa Nacional Humanitário da Acção Anti-Minas na Guiné Bissau) also states there is a “serious problem with UXO, particularly air-dropped bombs in Buba, Falacunda and Tite [Southern Guinea-Bissau – Quinará region], some dating back to the colonial wars and others from the last conflict, which have not been cleared yet.” It also notes “in Biombo region...bomb deposits and UXO scattered in Quinhamel and Ilondé.”[23] The latter is a cashew growing region, and UXO have a significant impact on the harvesting of cashew nuts.”[24] According to the PAAMI document, “Numerous UXO are stockpiled in the island of Bubaque (Bolama region),” which is Guinea-Bissau’s major tourist resort.[25]

Guinea-Bissau reported that 32 different types of mines (24 types of antipersonnel mines and eight types of antitank mines) from seven countries (former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, former Soviet Union, Belgium, Portugal, the United States and Guinea-Bissau) had been found or reported in the country.[26] The report also included a list of the five most frequently found antipersonnel mines: PMD-6, PMN and POMZ-2 (Soviet Union); M969 (Portugal); and PRB M409 (Belgium). It also listed the five most frequently encountered antitank mines: TM-46, TMD-44, and TMD-B (Soviet Union); Expal C3A and M453 (Portugal).[27]

Mine Action Funding

CAAMI reports contributions for 2002 totaling $891,155: the United Kingdom donated $245,138, and the Netherlands donated $646,017 (for the period November 2001 to September 2002). [28]

However, the Netherlands itself reports providing $500,000 for 2002. The United Kingdom reports a contribution of about $172,000 in its fiscal year 2000/2001, but nothing in 2001/2002 or 2002/2003.[29]

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has requested an additional $455,000 to strengthen the national mine action program capacity for 2003, and $123,000 had been pledged, as of 1 May 2003.[30]

Mine Action Coordination

The National Mine Action Center (CAAMI, Centro Nacional de Coordenação da Acção Anti-Minas) was established in March 2001, and a draft National Humanitarian Mine Action Program (PAAMI) was prepared in early 2001. On 10 September 2001, Decree 55/001 formally created the National Commission for Humanitarian Demining (CNDH), which works as the steering committee appointed by the government. UNDP and other UN agencies are full members of CNDH. UNDP support for the first year and a half of the national program was devoted to strengthening CAAMI’s management capabilities through senior mine action management courses at Cranfield University; the Operations Manager later attended the middle management course in Mozambique.[31]

UNDP has supported PAAMI in a number of ways: in the development of a level one impact survey in Bissau and other areas of the country which began in February 2003; in further developing a national mine action NGO (LUTCAM); in providing training in humanitarian mine action standards; in capacity building in mine risk education and victim assistance; and in implementing an integrated quality control monitoring and post clearance assessment program.[32] Another priority for UNDP in Guinea-Bissau has been to develop a national mine action database using the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).[33] However, due to the need to translate the new IMSMA into Portuguese, its implementation in Guinea-Bissau was delayed. CAAMI now expects to implement the system in 2003.[34]

There are two domestic mine action NGOs operating in Guinea-Bissau: HUMAID, operating since 2000, and a newly-formed organization, LUTCAM, which began operations in mid-2002. After some initial difficulties with coordination, CAAMI reported that the situation has improved; HUMAID has adopted the same demining site structure as LUTCAM and the two NGOs are cooperating.[35]

Mine Clearance

The goal of the National Mine Action Plan is to eliminate the impact of landmines and UXO in Bissau by the end of 2004 and in the southern and eastern regions of the country by the beginning of 2005.[36] During the third meeting of the CNDH in December 2002, CAAMI’s Director stated that the criteria for setting clearance priorities would depend on the results of the survey, and be based upon the socio-economic impact of mines in the different areas.[37] Current mine clearance priorities are defined in conjunction with the city council and the government and are related to economic priorities.[38]

In assessing mine action in the country, Manuel Gonzal, HI’s Demining Technical Coordinator, has stated that Guinea-Bissau could serve as an example to Africa of what can be done to eliminate the threat of landmines, including being the first African country to be declared mine-free.[39] Gerard Chagniot, a UNDP technical adviser, said that Guinea-Bissau’s speedy mine elimination process could mean that the African nation rids itself of landmines by 2005.[40] Guinea-Bissau’s Secretary of State Nhassé Na Mã agreed with this assessment, adding that Guinea-Bissau hopes to make its demining specialists available to other countries once the border with Senegal is cleared.[41]

During 2002, HUMAID’s personnel numbered sixty-four. Fifty-five were in the field and nine were support personnel.[42] HUMAID did not receive new funding during 2002, but worked with the remainder of a grant provided during 2001 by the US. Its expenses in 2002 totaled approximately $373,000. During the year, most funds went to operating costs; it also purchased one vehicle to serve as an ambulance and to transport personnel, as well as some new detectors and protective equipment.[43] In 2002, it concentrated its clearance efforts in Bissau.[44]

Trying to determine exact clearance data from 2000 to 2002 and for 2002 alone is difficult. In June 2003 CAAMI reported that a total of 2,400 antipersonnel mines, 15,800 UXO, 56 antitank mines and more than 800 small-caliber munitions have been cleared and destroyed from an area of 390,000 square meters in five neighborhoods of Bissau since the start of HUMAID’s clearance operations in early 2000.[45] UNDP reported in May 2003 that between November 2000 and February 2003, HUMAID had cleared 333,240 square meters of land, removing and destroying 2,511 landmines and 15,870 UXO from the north of Bissau and immediate surroundings.[46] According to the annual Article 7 report, in the reporting period of 30 April 2002 to 30 April 2003, 2,455 antipersonnel mines were cleared and destroyed.[47] Last year, HUMAID reported the clearance of 136,477 square meters of land in the period between 1 June 2001 and 31 May 2002. However, HUMAID now reports that the totals from January 2000 to the end of 2002 were 85,750 square meters of land cleared, including 2,419 antipersonnel mines, 65 antitank mines, and 5,742 UXO.[48]

LUTCAM launched field operations on 1 February 2003, and was contracted by UNOPS for survey and clearance projects.[49] As of 1 May 2003, working in the Plaque 1 neighborhood together with HUMAID, LUTCAM had cleared 45,750 square meters of land, removing and destroying 9 landmines, 12 UXO and 875 small ammunition.

Once clearance in Plaque I neighborhood is completed, CAAMI has defined the next priorities within Bissau as the Bolanha de Cuntum Madina and Antula-Bono, where both mine clearance NGOs will work. These zones were chosen due to socio-economic impact affecting the bolanhas (rice fields), and for the latter, also the extraction of salt. After that, the next planned priority is located outside Bissau, in Falacunda. According to CAAMI, both HUMAID and LUTCAM employ former combatants who have knowledge of where landmines are located; whereas in the east and north of the country it will be much more difficult, and a survey will have to be done first.[50]

CAAMI has yet to establish a quality control group in order to declare cleared minefields as officially mine-free.[51] Landmine Monitor noticed several signs indicating: “Zone cleared by HUMAID; Quality control remains to be done.” However, the population is already using many of those fields for crops, or to build houses.[52] CAAMI is to take two persons from each NGO, who would remain under CAAMI’s authority, to carry out quality control.[53]

In 2001-2002, the Accelerated Demining Program provided complete training for 78 surveyors, deminers, a team leader, paramedics (including fifteen women), and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) for LUTCAM, as well as refresher courses for 52 deminers and team leaders of HUMAID.[54] Under CAAMI’s coordination, ADP will continue to support LUTCAM in 2003, providing additional on-site training in Guinea-Bissau, as well as refresher training for HUMAID.[55]

In addition to clearance, minefield marking is also a priority in Guinea-Bissau. As previously noted, while some marking was carried out in 2000, it did not meet international standards. Between 1 June 2001 and 31 May 2002, marking activities were limited to replacing signs that had been stolen or otherwise removed from minefields.[56]

In June 2002, an HI Technical Coordination Mission noted that local populations did not respect the marking of the mined zones, and continued to work in the suspected areas planting rice crops and collecting salt. The disrespect for the marking was due in part to the fact that minefield clearance operations warning signs were not always removed after the end of demining work at a site. The marking was also partial (25 percent - meaning that only one side of the field was marked and the other three were not) or insufficient. UXO were strewn on the edges of the roads without any specific marking of the area. Rockets were used as boundary-markers for the fields.[57]

In January 2003, the only place being marked was in Plaque I neighborhood.[58] During a January 2003 field trip, Landmine Monitor observed that marking seemed to be insufficient or inappropriate. For instance, the path leading to the demining site did not have advanced warning signs and other sides of the minefield, except for along the roadside, were not marked. People coming from the fields were not warned about the demining site. On the other hand, a few kilometers from the clearance site, old warning signs emplaced by UNICEF in front of a rice field currently being cultivated seem to indicate danger even though the closest minefield is at least three to four kilometers from the warning signs. Old signs wrongly emplaced undermine people’s confidence in the marking of minefields.[59] UNDP’s Counselor to CAAMI recognized that some of these old signs needed to be removed.[60]

There are discussions underway between the principals for joint demining operations on the border with Senegal, in the event of an agreement between Senegal, the MFDC rebels, and Guinea-Bissau.[61]

Mine Risk Education

UNICEF and other actors formed the Mine Awareness Committee (COAM) that has met regularly since April 1999 to plan and coordinate mine risk education (MRE).[62] The Education Program to Prevent Accidents involving Mines (PEPAM) in Guinea-Bissau was launched in November 2000.[63] CAAMI coordinates MRE activities at the national and regional level and provides MRE training to primary school teachers. The government of Canada, UNICEF and World Food Program have provided financial support to PEPAM, with UNDP assisting with capacity building for local NGOs.[64] CAAMI, with the support of UNICEF and other agencies, also prepared Mine Awareness Education Guidelines.[65]

Since mid-2001, CAAMI, with support from the above agencies, has trained 112 MRE activists among nine national NGOs for critical emergency mine/UXO risk education in the high-risk areas of Bissau capital and elsewhere.[66] Ninety MRE activists were trained in Bissau and 22 activists were trained for other regions of the country. According to the annual Article 7 report, these MRE activists “can rely on youth and/or women’s associations, religious chiefs, traditional chiefs and elders to take part in MRE meetings and spread the message further.”[67] The activists have trained 140 community liaison agents in Bissau and a further 120 in the regions; in turn these agents provided education and awareness to 10,000 people in the regions and 20,000 in Bissau.[68] CAAMI also produced forms to report mine incidents which are used by MRE activists.[69]

In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, 81 school teachers (40 in Bissau, and 41 in the regions) have received MRE training. Some MRE is already part of some public school programs, and should be formally integrated to the school curriculum for the school years 2002-2003/2003-2004.[70] According to the April 2003 Article 7 report, in the last two years, 2,600 primary school students have been informed and educated on MRE (1,400 in Bissau, and 1,200 in the other regions).[71]

The government reports that MRE materials produced include schoolbooks, mine risk banners, leaflets and comic books that were sent to affected or suspected regions.[72] However, HI’s 2002 report stated that the production of MRE materials was “still not a reality.”[73] The NGO ANDES reported a serious lack of PEPAM/MRE materials and noted that most bicycles (for activists) are ruined, and posters, books, comic books are insufficient.[74]

Most of the national NGOs working on MRE carry out activities in mine-affected outskirts of Bissau.[75] AAFI works in the South, Quinará, on agriculture, fisheries, education and sanitation.[76] ACESA works in Bambadinca and Bissau.[77] The mine-affected outskirts of Bissau in which MRE activists were working as of January 2003 included Enterramento, Brá, Bissaque, Bôr, Bairro Militar, Cuntum Madina, Plaque I and II, and Bolanha de Bandim.[78] In 2002, HI also supported a mine risk education PEPAM theater in Buba (Southern region).[79] HUMAID personnel also brief residents near the minefields about the dangers posed by mines and UXO, and in radio and TV interviews, explain the dangers and urge people not to enter the areas marked with warning signs.[80]

With the support of Rädda Barnen, ANDES organized MRE vacation camps for 396 children of the most mine-affected neighborhoods of Bissau, with activities such as singing, drawing, sports and MRE theater. In 2002, the camps were established in the Bôr and Antula neighborhoods. ANDES also prepares MRE programs that are broadcast by various radio stations in mine-affected areas.[81]

Landmine Casualties

The mine/UXO casualty rate for the period 2001-2002 is reportedly around two to three per month.[82] However, according to CAAMI’s Technical Advisor, the rate increases to about four to five casualties a month during the cashew-harvesting season.[83] In 2002, 33 new landmine/UXO casualties were reported, of which 25 people were killed and eight injured. At least five casualties were caused by landmines. In 2001, there were at least eight new mine/UXO casualties.[84]

Reported casualties in 2002 included a twelve-year-old girl injured in January by a grenade blast while lighting a fire in the Enterramento area. In February, another UXO explosion in Enterramento seriously injured two children who were burning household garbage. In March, a soldier was injured by a grenade in São Domingos, near the Senegalese border,[85] and in a separate incident, another man was killed in a UXO explosion. In April, a man lost his leg after stepping on a landmine in the Bôr area, and in another incident a Waters and Electricity of Guinea-Bissau employee stepped on a mine and lost a leg below the knee.[86] On 31 May residents of Santo Antonio neighborhood were evacuated after one person was killed in a landmine explosion.[87] HUMAID reports that in July a woman in the Manuel-Agua area struck a landmine while clearing garbage on cultivated land, following torrential rains, and lost an eye after a piece of debris hit her in the forehead.[88] CAAMI reports that in April, a young man was killed while trying to deactivate a grenade, in May, a woman lost an eye and one leg after a mine explosion while cultivating vegetables, and in July, 15 people were killed in several UXO explosions in a village near Lof in the Biombo region, in the sector of Ilondé.[89] ANDES reports that in the northern region near São Domingos, seven children were killed when a UXO they were handling exploded.[90]

Casualties continue to be reported in 2003. From January to the end of April 2003, four incidents were recorded, in which two people were killed and four injured. All the injured were 18-years or under and one, a seventeen-year-old girl, required an above-knee amputation.[91] On 19 May 2003, a UXO explosion in Cambeque, in the Cacini sector of Tombali region, killed two people and injured three others.[92]

During the period June 1998 to April 2002, CAAMI recorded 290 mine/UXO casualties, of which 77 people were killed and 213 injured, including 74 children.[93] The UNDP reports 228 mine casualties for the period from the 1998/1999 conflict to April 2003, including 95 people killed and 133 injured. Children account for 58 of the total casualties, men 103, and women 67.[94]

The countrywide survey on mine/UXO casualties that was launched in December 2001 should be completed by mid-2003.[95]

Survivor Assistance

Capacities for the care and rehabilitation of mine/UXO casualties are severely limited in Guinea-Bissau as the health care system was seriously affected by the 1998/1999 conflict. Guinea-Bissau is divided into ten medical regions but there is only one national hospital, the Simão Mendes Hospital in Bissau, and four regional hospitals, in Canchungo, Bafatá, Gabu and Catio. There is one qualified trauma surgeon, from Cuba, in the country, two general surgeons, and a rehabilitation specialist; all are based at the Simão Mendes Hospital. There are eight physiotherapists in the country, five at the Simão Mendes Hospital, two working with ANDES, and one at the Military Hospital; most were trained in Cuba as there is no physiotherapy training available in the country.[96]

Generally landmine casualties are treated at either the Simão Mendes Hospital in Bissau or the Military Hospital at the airport. Emergency and first aid is almost non-existent in the country. Casualties arrive at the hospitals through their own means or are sometimes brought by ambulance, however, only the health care facilities in Bissau, Bafatá, Gabú, Catio, Tombali, Biombo, Mansoa, Buba and Quinará have ambulances.[97]

Since March 2002, the Simão Mendes Hospital has charged patients the cost of most medications, as the State only covers the cost of the infrastructure and the salaries of the medical staff. The family must pay most of the hospital expenses, including food. Regional hospitals were expected to adopt the same system from July 2002. There is no special treatment for mine casualties.[98]

Mine survivors requiring rehabilitation and prostheses are referred to the NGO ANDES’s Casa Amiga dos Deficientes Center (CAD, Friendly House for the Disabled), the only prosthetic facility in Guinea-Bissau.[99] The ANDES center provides physiotherapy, orthopedic devices, and psycho-social support. In 2002, the prosthetic/orthotic facilities assisted 139 people, and produced 28 prostheses, 26 orthoses, two orthopedic shoes, and 66 walking aids, and repaired 18 orthopedic devices. The physiotherapy facility assisted 192 people, of which 118 were under the age of 16.[100] The people assisted with prosthetics and physiotherapy includes 25 mine survivors and 20 UXO survivors. The ANDES prosthetic/orthotic program has two prosthetic technicians (one is still receiving training), a cobbler for orthopedic shoes, and a coordinator. Amputees are required to pay a portion of the costs of their prosthesis according to their economic condition; however, less than ten percent of patients have repaid ANDES.[101] ANDES is supported by HI with funding from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and France.[102] The German Embassy purchased an electric generator for the center.[103]

Handicap International completed a study on the reintegration of disabled soldiers for the Program of Demobilization, Reinsertion, and Reintegration (PDRRI), which identified 1,687 disabled soldiers.[104] On 19 September 2002, the Secretary of State for Ex-Combatants and ANDES signed an agreement to provide medical and orthopedic assistance and physical rehabilitation to a total of 399 disabled ex-combatants, some are mine survivors. The Secretary of State will reimburse part of the costs to ANDES for these services. In 2002, ANDES assisted 28 former combatants within the PDRRI framework.[105] In late 2002, under the PDRRI program, HI facilitated training by a French doctor for rehabilitation doctors to assist in the evaluation of the level of disability, which determines pension entitlements.[106]

There is no national capacity in Guinea-Bissau to produce wheelchairs, which must be imported from abroad.[107]

HI conducted a two-month feasibility study to develop a proposal for the economic reintegration of persons with disability in the area of peeling/processing cashew nuts.[108] CAAMI is planning a vocational training and socio-economic reintegration program in tailoring, handcrafts, and blacksmithing for 32 mine survivors. Materials have been purchased but a lack of some materials and a shortage of funds has delayed the commencement of the program.[109] The UNDP also offered six computers to train mine survivors.[110]

Guinea-Bissau reports that the implementation of a victim assistance program is still in an “embryonic phase.”[111] A multisectorial body, coordinated by the Ministry of Health, is to be created with representatives from CAAMI, national and international NGOs, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, the Red Cross, and survivors and their families.[112] On 7 August 2002, CAAMI organized its first meeting to elaborate a national plan of action to support mine survivors.[113]

Disability Policy and Practice

There are no laws or decrees to assist civilians with disabilities in Guinea-Bissau.[114] Ex-soldiers in the liberation war against Portugal are entitled to medical and pharmaceutical care in a special clinic and pharmacy. For others not injured as a direct result of the liberation war, including the military serving in the last war, there is no such entitlement. However, in January 2003 these entitlements were reportedly either not being paid or were insufficient to provide the basic needs of survivors.[115]


[1] Guinea-Bissau submitted its initial Article 7 Report, due by 30 April 2002, on 19 June 2002, covering the period 22 November 2001 to 30 April 2002. This initial report included voluntary Form J on victim assistance, but the update did not.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2003.
[3] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[4] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Geneva, 7 February 2003.
[5] Article 7 Report, Form E, 30 April 2003. The 2002 Article 7 report mentions that one type of antitank mine was produced in the country, the “Justado Vieira.” Article 7 Report, Form H, 19 June 2002. In an interview on 14 January 2003, the Director of CAAMI told Landmine Monitor that these were mines hand-made by national hero Justado Vieira, but only four have been found.
[6] See Article 7 Report, Form B, “Conclusões,” 19 June 2002, for details on the destruction, including types of mines destroyed.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2003; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 286.
[8] Article 7 Reports, Form B, 19 June 2002 and 30 April 2003. These included 3,744 PMD-6; 1,237 POMZ-2; 13 PMN; 2 M969; and 1 M409 mines. Of this total, 4,929 mines were active, while 68 were inert (24 inert POMZ-2s and 44 inert PMD-6s).
[9] João Pereira da Silva, “1000 landmines backdated to colonial war destroyed in remote area,” 14 September 2002, RTP (radio), Lisbon; “Un millier de mines détruites en Guiné Bissau,” Agence France Press, 13 September 2002; Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2003. The mines destroyed included 793 PMD-6s, 200 POMZ-2s, and 7 PMNs.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2003. These include 2,951 PMD-6, 1,037 POMZ-2, 6 PMN, 2 M969, and 1 M409 mines.
[11] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 286.
[12] Article 7 Report, Form D, 30 April 2003.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form C, 30 April 2003. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.287. Landmine Monitor reported use of mines by all fighting forces in that conflict, including by Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, although both denied use.
[14] Major Hervé Petetin, “Mine Situation in Guinea-Bissau,” UNMAS, December 1998, p. 1; Article 7 Report, Form C, 30 April 2003.
[15] Report by CAAMI, 2002.
[16] E-mail from John Blacken, Administrator, HUMAID, 3 November 2002.
[17] Article 7 Report, Form C, 30 April 2003.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[20] Interview with Irene Laval, PEPAM/MRE Assistant, CAAMI, 15 January 2003.
[21] Handicap International (HI), “Technical Mission Report, Handicap International in Guinea-Bissau,” Lyon, April 2002; e-mail and telephone communications with Manuel Gonzal, Technical Coordination Mission, HI, Lyon, 14-19 June 2002.
[22] Landmine Monitor field visit to the Brá site, accompanied by John Blacken, HUMAID, and Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 and 16 January 2003.
[23] “PAAMI – Programa Nacional Humanitário da Acção Anti-Minas na Guiné Bissau –2001/2004,” April 2001.
[24] Interview with José Augusto Lopes, Administrator and MRE Trainer, ANDES, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[25] “PAAMI - 2001/2004,” April 2001.
[26] Article 7 Report, Form H, 19 June 2002.
[27] Ibid.
[28] CNDH, “Conselho Nacional de Desminagem Humanitária (CNDH), 13 de Dezembro de 2002,” Bissau, 13 December 2002. The total amount of $891,155 is also reported by the UNDP, however the funding periods differ: $145,138 from the UK for the period July 2000 to July 2001; and $100,000 for the period November 2002 to March 2003; for the Netherlands, $646,017 for the period July 2001 to March 2003. UNDP, “Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme,” undated, but distributed at Standing Committee meetings, May 2003.
[29] See the individual country reports for Netherlands and UK in this Landmine Monitor Report 2003.
[30] UNDP, “Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[31] Ibid.
[32] Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2003.
[33] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 288.
[34] Interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, CAAMI, Bissau, 17 January 2003.
[35] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[36] UNDP, “Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[37] CAAMI, “Acta da 3ª Reunião do CNDH” (Minutes of CNDH meeting) No. 03/02, Bissau, 13 December 2002.
[38] Telephone interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, 5 December 2002.
[39] “Country could serve as landmine removal model,” Lusa (Portuguese news agency), 13 September 2002.
[40] Ibid; email from Gerard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Adviser, 16 September 2002.
[41] “Destruição de 7 milhões de minas em Angola levará muito tempo,” Lusa, 23 September 2002.
[42] Email from John Blacken, HUMAID, 4 February 2003.
[43] Ibid.
[44] More specific details on clearance activities are available upon request.
[45] “Destruyen 2.400 minas antipersona, 15.800 cargas explosivas y 65 minas antitanques in Guinea-Bissau,” EP/Agence France Presse (Bissau), 4 June 2003; “Destruction de mines anti-personnels et d'engins explosifs à Bissau,” Agence France Presse (Bissau), 4 June 2003.
[46] UNDP, “UN Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[47] Article 7 Report, Form G, 30 April 2003.
[48] Email from John Blacken, HUMAID, 4 February 2003.
[49] UNDP, “UN Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[50] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[51] Ibid.
[52] Observations made during Landmine Monitor field research, 14 to 17 January 2003.
[53] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[54] UNDP, “UN Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[55] Ibid.
[56] Email from John Blacken, HUMAID, 19 June 2002.
[57] Email from and telephone interview with Manuel Gonzal, HI, 14-19 June 2002; “Technical Mission Report,” April 2002.
[58] Interview with Irene Laval, PEPAM CAAMI Assistant, Bissau, 15 January 2003.
[59] Landmine Monitor field visit, along the road leading to the airport and Estrada de Volta, outskirts of Bissau, 15 and 16 January 2003.
[60] Interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, 17 January 2003.
[61] Interview with Cesar Lopes de Carvalho and Irene Laval, CAAMI, Geneva, 14 May 2003.
[62] COAM is the Portuguese acronym for Célula de Coordenação de Operações Anti-Minas.
[63] According to Guinea-Bissau’s annual Article 7 report of April 2003, PEPAM was officially launched in mid-2001. Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003. PEPAM is the Portuguese acronym for Programa de Educação para a Prevenção de Acidentes com Minas.
[64] Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003.
[65] Ibid; UNDP, “Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[66] Ibid. The following national NGOs are listed by UNICEF as implementing partners: ANDES, ANAPRODEM, ASA, AJD, ACESA, LUTCAM, UNDEMO, AAFI, WHANA BISSIF, and HUMAID.
[67] Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003.
[68] Ibid.
[69] Interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 January 2003; interview with José Augusto Lopes, ANDES, 14 January 2003; interviews with several MRE activists in CAAMI Center, MRE Meeting, 16 January 2003.
[70] Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003; UNDP, “Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[71] Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003.
[72] Article 7 Report, Form I, 19 June 2002.
[73] HI, “Rapport d’activités du programme Handicap International en Guinée Bissau,” Bissau, January to August 2002.
[74] Interview with José Augusto Lopes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[75] The Landmine Monitor researcher has gathered more detailed information on MRE, which is available from Landmine Monitor upon request.
[76] Interview with Mr. Serifo, AAFI MRE activist, Bissau, 15 January 2003.
[77] Interview with Onório Augusto Lopes, ACESA MRE activist, 15 January 2003.
[78] Interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 January 2003.
[79] HI, “Rapport d’activités,” Bissau, 2002.
[80] Email from John Blacken, HUMAID, 19 June 2002.
[81] Interview with José Augusto Lopes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[82] Article 7 Report, Form I, 30 April 2003.
[83] Interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, 17 January 2003.
[84] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 290-291.
[85] HI, “Rapport d’activités,” Bissau, 2002.
[86] Telephone interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, 17 June 2002.
[87] “Residents around Bissau evacuated for landmine clearance,” RTP International (Portuguese International Television), 31 May 2002.
[88] HUMAID Activity Report, 1-31 July 2002; Email from John Blacken, HUMAID, 5 November 2002.
[89] Interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 January 2003.
[90] Interview with José Augusto Lopes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[91] Article 7 Report, Form I, 12 May 2003; interview with Cesar Lopes de Carvalho and Irene Laval, CAAMI, Geneva, 14 May 2003.
[92] “2 killed and 3 injured in mortar ammunition explosion,” (2 Morts et 3 blésses dans l’explosion d’un obus de mortier (radio nationale), Agence France Presse, Bissau, 19 May 2003.
[93] CAAMI, “Accidents by region from June 98 to April 2002,” (Acidentes de Minas por Regiões de Junho 98 até Abril 2002), undated, provided to Landmine Monitor by Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 January 2003.
[94] UNDP, “UN Support to the Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme.”
[95] Ibid.
[96] Eric Debert, “Information on the disability sector,” (Information sur le Secteur du Handicap en Guinée Bissau), HI Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, August 2002; interview with João Fernandes Mendes, Director, ANDES, CAD Center, Bissau, 14 January 2003; interviews with Eric Debert, Program Director, Handicap International (HI), Bissau, 13 and 16 January 2003.
[97] Ibid.
[98] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, Director, ANDES, CAD Center, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[99] Guinea-Bissau’s initial Article 7 report Form J, and previous Landmine Monitor Reports indicated that there was also a government prosthetic center. However, that center was destroyed in the last war, and is currently inoperative. ANDES has been offered the facility but is unable to afford the costs of reconstruction. Interview with Eric Debert, HI, 16 January 2003; interview with João Fernandes Mendes, Director, ANDES, CAD Center, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[100] Chart provided by HI/ANDES to Landmine Monitor, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[101] Interviews with João Fernandes Mendes, Director, and Djibril Ba, Rehabilitation Coordinator, ANDES, CAD Center, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[102] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003; interview with Eric Debert, HI, 13 January 2003; see also the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, available at www.theworkcontinues.org. Prosthetics and rehabilitation services account for the majority of ANDES’s budget.
[103] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[104] Interview with Eric Debert, HI, 16 January 2003; HI, “Annual report on Guinea-Bissau,” 22 March 2002.
[105] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[106] Interview with Eric Debert, HI, 13 January 2003; email communication, 29 January 2003.
[107] Interviews with Eric Debert, HI, 13 and 16 January 2003
[108] Ibid.
[109] Interviews with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 14 January 2003 and 14 May 2003.
[110] Article 7 Report, Form J, 19 June 2002.
[111] Ibid.
[112] Ibid; interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP Technical Advisor, 17 January 2003.
[113] HI, “Rapport d’activités,” Bissau, 2002.
[114] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[115] Interview with Eric Debert, HI, 13 January 2003; interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.