Key developments since May 2003: Côte d'Ivoire submitted its
initial Article 7 report three years late on 27 May 2004. It participated in
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings for the first time in June
2004.
Key developments since 1999: Côte d'Ivoire ratified the Mine
Ban Treaty on 30 June 2000, and became a State Party on 1 December 2000. It
submitted its initial Article 7 report three years late on 27 May 2004. It has
not enacted national legal measures to implement the treaty. In August 2001,
Côte d'Ivoire hosted a national seminar on the Mine Ban Treaty and the
ECOWAS moratorium on small arms.
Mine Ban Policy
Côte d'Ivoire signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. It
ratified the treaty on 30 June 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 December 2000.
The Ministry of Defense is responsible for the mine issue; however, a law
creating an interministerial committee has been
drafted.[1] Côte d'Ivoire
has not enacted national legal measures to implement the treaty, reportedly due
to the political instability of the
country.[2]
The country participated fully in the Ottawa Process leading to the Mine Ban
Treaty and has since attended two annual Meetings of States Parties (in 1999 and
2003). It participated for the first time in the treaty’s intersessional
Standing Committee meetings in June 2004. Regionally, Côte d'Ivoire has
been present for seminars on landmines held in Burkina Faso (January 2004), Mali
(February 2001), Ghana (March 2001) and Nigeria (October 2001). In August 2001,
Côte d'Ivoire hosted a national seminar on the Mine Ban Treaty and the
ECOWAS moratorium on small arms. The country has voted in favor of each annual
pro-mine ban resolution by the United Nations General Assembly since 1996.
On 27 May 2004, Côte d'Ivoire submitted its initial Article 7 report,
which was originally due by 30 May
2001.[3] In the report,
Côte d'Ivoire indicates that it is not mine-affected and that it has never
produced or exported antipersonnel mines and it possesses no stockpile of the
weapon, even for training
purposes.[4] On 28 September
1999, France destroyed 120 antipersonnel mines that it had stockpiled on
Côte d'Ivoire
territory.[5]
In June 2004, an official confirmed that mines had never been used by either
the army or the rebel group Patriotic Movement for Côte d'Ivoire,
including during the country’s September 2002
conflict.[6] The rebel group
Patriotic Movement for Côte d'Ivoire accused army forces of having laid
antipersonnel mines, imported from
Angola.[7] Officials from both
Côte d'Ivoire and Angola denied the
charges.[8] Landmine Monitor
found no evidence to support these allegations.
Côte d'Ivoire’s Zambakro regional training center for
peacekeepers provides demining training. In 2003, four Côte d'Ivoire
soldiers participated in a demining training at the regional mine clearance
training center for ECOWAS member states in Ouidah,
Benin.[9]
There have been no reports of landmine casualties. In 2003, a soldier was
injured in an unexploded ordnance incident at the French military firing
range.[10]
[1] Statement of Capt. Patrick M'Bahia,
National Gendarmerie, at the International Colloquium of the National Structures
in Charge of the Mine Issue, organized by CNEMA in Paris, France, on 12-13 March
2004; interview with Capt. Patrick M'Bahia, National Gendarmerie, Geneva, 21
June 2004. [2] Interview with Andre
Gnato Zie, Cabinet Director of the Minister of Defense, Bangkok, 18 September
2003. [3] Although dated 19 April, the
report was submitted to the UN on 27 May 2004. The report covers the period
from 1 May 2003 to 31 March 2004. Landmine Monitor received a Côte
d'Ivoire Article 7 report dated 9 May 2001, covering the period 9 May 2001 to 31
December 2001; however it was never formally submitted to the UN. See Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 207. [4]
Article 7 Report, Forms B, D and E, 27 May 2004; see also all past editions of
Landmine Monitor Report. [5] Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, pp. 50 and
639. [6] Interview with Capt. Patrick
M'Bahia, National Gendarmerie, Geneva, 21 June
2004. [7] “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; “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. [8] Interview with
Théodore Koffi Fana, First Counselor of the Côte d'Ivoire Embassy,
Paris, 21 November 2002; letter from Kessie Raymond Koudou, Ambassador of
Côte d'Ivoire in France to Handicap International, 31 December 2002;
interview with Andre Gnato Zie, Cabinet Director of the Minister of Defense, and
Capt. Patrick M'Bahia, Officer of the National Gendarmerie, Bangkok, 18
September 2003; interview with Capt. Patrick M'Bahia, National Gendarmerie, 21
June 2004. [9] “Benin Mine
Clearance Training Center,” document provided to Landmine Monitor by
Thomas Adoumasse, Deputy Director, Department of International Orgnizations,
Benin Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in February
2004. [10] Interview with Capt.
Patrick M'Bahia, National Gendarmerie, Geneva, 21 June 2004.