LM Report 2003

São Tomé e Príncipe

Key developments since May 2002: São Tomé e Príncipe ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 31 March 2003 and will become a State Party on 1 September 2003.

São Tomé e Príncipe signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 30 April 1998 and submitted its instrument of ratification to the United Nations on 31 March 2003. The treaty will enter into force for the country on 1 September 2003.

Previously, the President passed Decree 2/99 approving ratification on 20 January 1999, the Parliament approved ratification on 31 July 1999, and Decree 2/99 was published in the Diário da República (Official Journal) on 31 December 1999.^[1]

São Tomé did not attend the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002, or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February or May 2003. On 22 November 2002, it voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, promoting universalization and implementation of the treaty.

It is believed that São Tomé has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines and, according to the São Toméan Armed Forces, there are no stockpiles of antipersonnel mines in the country.^[2] The country is not mine-affected.

[1] Telephone interview with Luís Viegas, Director, International Policy and Economy Affairs Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 March 2003. The delay has been blamed on “internal problems,” particularly related to the parliament. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 573.
[2] Telephone interview with Luis Maria, Office of the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of São Tomé, 26 March 1999.