LM Report 2004

Guinea

Key developments since May 2003: Guinea destroyed its stockpile of 3,174 antipersonnel mines between September and November 2003, long after its treaty-mandated deadline of 1 April 2003. Guinea did not submit its initial Article 7 transparency report, due on 28 September 1999, until 24 June 2004. Prior to that report, Guinea had not officially informed States Parties if it had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines or if it was complying with its obligation to destroy them. Guinea has not undertaken any national implementation measures, as required by Article 9, but reported in June 2004 that legislation is before the National Assembly.

Key developments since 1999: Guinea became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 April 1999. Guinea failed to meet its stockpile destruction deadline of 1 April 2003, destroying its 3,174 antipersonnel mines from September-November 2003. Guinea submitted its initial Article 7 report nearly five years late.

Mine Ban Policy

Guinea signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. It ratified the treaty on 8 October 1998, and became a State Party on 1 April 1999. Guinea has not undertaken any national implementation measures, as required by Article 9, but reported that such legislation is before the National Assembly.^[1]

Guinea participated fully in the Ottawa Process leading up to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has attended three annual Meetings of States Parties (1999, 2000, and 2002), and several intersessional Standing Committee meetings, most recently in June 2004. It has attended regional landmine seminars held in Burkina Faso (January 2004) and in Mali (February 2001). Guinea has voted in favor of each annual pro-ban resolution by the United Nations General Assembly since 1996.

On 24 June 2004, Guinea submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report, nearly five years late. Originally due by 28 September 1999, the report covers the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2003.

Guinea is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines.

There have been no reported instances of mine use in Guinea, including by various rebel groups that operated on the country’s border with Liberia and Sierra Leone between September 2000 and February 2001.^[2]

Stockpiling and Destruction

Guinea’s treaty-mandated deadline for stockpile destruction was 1 April 2003. Prior to its June 2004 Article 7 report, Guinea had not officially informed the United Nations or States Parties if it had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines or if it was complying with its obligation to destroy them.^[3]

According to the Article 7 report, a total of 3,174 “Soviet type” antipersonnel mines were destroyed at Sonfonia between 16 September and 11 November 2003.^[4] The mines had apparently belonged to the former liberation movement for Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which had fought for independence from Portugal until 1975.^[5] The mines were part of an arsenal of light weapons and ammunition, including seven antivehicle mines, that was destroyed with the support of the United States and in the presence of local media.^[6]

Guinea’s Article 7 report indicates, and officials have confirmed, that these were the only mines stockpiled by Guinea, and none are kept for training purposes.^[7]

When asked why the mines were not destroyed prior to the treaty deadline, a Guinean official said that there were technical reasons.^[8]

Guinea’s Article 7 report indicates that the country is not mine-affected. However, there is known contamination from unexploded ordnance in some border areas, especially in the towns of Guékédou and Pamelap, both heavily shelled by the Guinean Army to dislodge Revolutionary United Front rebels from Sierra Leone in past fighting.^[9] No landmine casualties have ever been recorded.

In March-April 2003, two Guinean soldiers participated in a demining training at the regional mine clearance training center for ECOWAS member states in Ouidah, Benin.^[10]

[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 24 June 2004.
[2] There were unconfirmed reports of mine use by Guinean troops involved in a conflict in neighboring Guinea-Bissau in 1998. See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 36.
[3] Guinea had reported on the destruction at the workshop on Implementation of the Ottawa Treaty in West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 28-29 January 2004.
[4] Article 7 Report, Forms F and G, 24 June 2004; Statement by Gossim Konaté, Head of the Arms, Munition and Explosives Control Unit, Ministry of Security, to Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 21 June 2004.
[5] Interview with Lt. Col. Armand Favre, Commander of the Armaments and Munitions Division, Ministry of Defense, Conakry, 4 February 2004. In a June 2004 interview, Gossim Konaté told Landmine Monitor that these were very old stocks that the Guinean Army had used to train rebels in neighboring countries at the time of independence. Interview with Gossim Konaté, Ministry of Security, Geneva, 22 June 2004.
[6] Statement by Nhur Kamara, Head of the Judicial Division, National Directorate of Judicial and Consular Affaires, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Lt. Col. Armand Favre, Ministry of Defense, to the Workshop on Implementation of the Ottawa Treaty in West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 28-29 January 2004; US Embassy in Guinea, Press Release signed by Lt. Col. Mark L. Ellington, Military Attaché, US Embassy, 12 November 2003, provided to Landmine Monitor by Lt. Col. Armand Favre, during an interview in Conakry, 4 February 2004; “Communiqué de presse de l'ambassade des Etats Unis: Destruction d'armes et de munitions,” L’Observateur, 22 December 2003; “Sécurité en Guinée: les américains détruisent des armes et munitions,” Le Diplomate, 23 December 2003.
[7] Article 7 Report, 24 June 2004; Interview with Gossim Konaté, Ministry of Security, 22 June 2004.
[8] Interview with Gossim Konaté, Ministry of Security, 22 June 2004.
[9] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 77-78.
[10] “Benin Mine Clearance Training Center,” document provided to Landmine Monitor by Thomas Adoumasse, Deputy Director, Department of International Organizations, Benin Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in February 2004.