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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Guinea-Bissau, Landmine Monitor Report 2004

Guinea-Bissau

Key developments since May 2003: The two mine clearance NGOs report demining 442,292 square meters of land in 2003, destroying 102 antipersonnel mines and 2,123 UXO. Guinea-Bissau reported that a total of 11,000 people received mine risk education between April 2003 and April 2004, a significant decrease from the 30,000 people the previous year. The National Mine Action Coordination Center is developing a strategic plan for mine action covering the period from 2004 to 2009. No stockpile destruction has been reported since September 2002, but Guinea-Bissau has said it could destroy its remaining 3,997 mines before the Nairobi Summit with assistance.

Key developments since 1999: Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1999, ratified on 22 May 2001, and it entered into force on 1 November 2001. From June 2000 to July 2004, some 720,000 square meters of land were cleared of 2,527 antipersonnel mines, 60 antivehicle mines and 28,000 UXO. Mine risk education has been provided to some 24,000 people outside the capital and 55,000 in Bissau. The National Mine Action Coordination Center (CAAMI) was established in March 2001, and the National Commission for Humanitarian Demining in September 2001. A National Mine Action Plan 2001/2004 (PAAMI) was developed. The Education Program to Prevent Accidents involving Mines (PEPAM) was established in November 2000 to provide mine risk education and victim assistance. The NGO HUMAID began mine clearance in June 2000 and a second NGO, LUTCAM, began demining in February 2003. Guinea-Bissau destroyed 4,711 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in February 1998, and another 1,000 in September 2002, leaving nearly 4,000 to be destroyed before November 2005. A countrywide survey on mine/UXO casualties was launched in 2002, and has identified 665 mine/UXO survivors as of July 2004.

Mine Ban Policy

Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 22 May 2001, and it entered into force on 1 November 2001. In May 2003, the government stated that no implementing legislation had been enacted because under the constitution, the treaty automatically becomes national law, making landmine-related crimes subject to existing penal sanctions.[1]

Guinea-Bissau’s delay in ratifying was a consequence of the conflict that erupted in the country in 1998. Guinea-Bissau was largely absent from the Ottawa Process, and after signing the Mine Ban Treaty, Guinea-Bissau participated only in a few treaty meetings until 2001. Since that time, it has participated in every annual Meeting of States Parties and most intersessional Standing Committee meetings, including in February and June 2004. At the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in Bangkok in September 2003, Guinea-Bissau reaffirmed its commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty noting the “determination of the government to accomplish...all the clauses of the convention.”[2]

Guinea-Bissau has voted in favor of the annual pro-mine ban UN General Assembly resolutions since 1996, except when absent from the votes in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Regionally, Guinea-Bissau has participated in some landmine meetings, including in Burkina Faso (January 2004) and Mali (February 2001).

Guinea-Bissau submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 13 May 2004, covering the period 30 April 2003 to 30 April 2004. This was the country’s third such report.[3]

Guinea-Bissau has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2, and 3. Thus, Guinea-Bissau has not made its views known on issues related to joint military operations with non-States Parties, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.

Guinea-Bissau is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction

Guinea-Bissau reports that has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[4]

Since September 2002, Guinea-Bissau has had a stockpile of 3,997 antipersonnel mines.[5] Guinea-Bissau has stated a number of times in 2004 that, subject to financial and technical assistance, it intended to destroy its remaining stockpile prior to the 2004 Nairobi Review Conference, a year in advance of its November 2005 stockpile destruction deadline.[6] In January 2004, Guinea-Bissau urged all ECOWAS states, and more generally all African states, to destroy stockpiled mines before the Nairobi Review Conference.[7]

The country’s first stockpile destruction took place in February 1998, before signing the treaty, when 4,711 antipersonnel mines were destroyed at a location in Bissau (Prabis).[8] Another 1,000 antipersonnel mines were publicly destroyed on 12 September 2002 at Tabanca de Cabuca in Gabú region.[9] The Army carried out the destruction by open detonation. No further destruction has been reported.

In its May 2004 Article 7 report, and at other times, the government has stated that it intends to retain a small quantity of antipersonnel mines, “not yet defined,” for training purposes.[10] However, at the June 2004 meeting of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, the representative from Guinea-Bissau said that the country would not keep any antipersonnel mines.[11]

Landmine Use

The first instances of mine use in Guinea-Bissau date back to the decade-long struggle for independence against the Portuguese in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Portuguese mined strategic positions and bridges to prevent PAIGC, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, from destroying them.[12]

Most recently, landmines were used during an eight-month conflict that broke out in June 1998 in the capital of Bissau between the national Army, reinforced by Senegalese troops, and the opposition rebel Junta. The combatants used mines principally in five locations: around the Bissau airport, along the demarcation line within Bissau, along the border with Senegal, around the psychiatric hospital in Bissau, and along main routes in the south of the country.[13] Most mines were of Portuguese, French and Soviet origin. UN and ECOMOG sources indicated both sides used antipersonnel mines, and an informed military source who was present on the ground contended that the vast majority of mines were planted by the government and Senegalese forces in their defense of the city against the advancing Junta forces. Both Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, who were signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty at the time, repeatedly denied using antipersonnel mines during the conflict.[14]

Landmine Problem and Survey

Starting in February 2003, two national community survey teams from the local NGO LUTCAM identified seventeen suspected zones in Bissau, where one-third of the country’s population lives.[15] Mine-affected neighborhoods in Bissau include Antulo-Bono, Bairro das Pescas, Bôr, Brá, Enterramento, and Plack. LUTCAM continued its impact survey in 2004 and according to the government, the survey will, “cover the suspected areas at Bissau by mid-2005, and then, in the immediate outskirts of the capital. The region will be prioritized for the second half of 2005.”[16] The two LUTCAM national community survey teams, initially trained in Mozambique between September and November 2002, received a refresher course in September 2003.[17]

The National Mine Action Coordination Center, CAAMI, has identified at least 12 other locations outside Bissau as still mined: Bigene, Bissasseme de Cima, Boe, Buruntuma, Contuboel, Cutar, Dungal, Galomaro, Mansaba, Pitche, São Domingos, and Sonaco.[18] According to HUMAID, a local mine clearance NGO, there are at least thirteen affected locations outside Bissau “mainly around the perimeters of former Portuguese military locations in the interior.”[19]

The extent of the mine problem along the northern border with Senegal remains unknown and the region is still affected by the ongoing conflict in Casamance.[20] In 2003, CAAMI’s Mine Risk Education (MRE) assistant told Landmine Monitor that security was insufficient for deminers to work north of the Cacheu River.[21]

The government has reported that in the south of the country, “the situation is worsened by antivehicle mines and UXOs left behind during the liberation war.”[22] Unexploded ordnance poses a particular problem in Brá, where an Army arsenal blew up during the 1998 conflict. A 2002 report by Handicap International (HI) found various types of munitions “strewn over a radius of 5 kilometers around the epicenter.”[23] During a January 2003 visit, Landmine Monitor found that the site remained unfenced and was still insufficiently marked, while local inhabitants have been recovering scrap metal from the UXO.[24] The government has said, “Numerous UXO are stockpiled in the island of Bubaque (Bolama region),” which is Guinea-Bissau’s major tourist resort.[25]

The government reports that while some minefield marking was carried out in 2000, it was not to international standards and remains inadequate.[26] In some instances, the local population has removed minefield markings for other uses. A significant proportion of the population is sustained through cashew harvesting and during an April 2004 visit to Plaque II in Bissau, Landmine Monitor saw children harvesting cashews in unmarked minefields.[27]

Guinea-Bissau reported that 32 different types of mines (24 types of antipersonnel mines and eight types of antivehicle 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.[28]

Mine Action Coordination

The National Mine Action Coordination Center (CAAMI, Centro Nacional de Coordenação da Acção Anti-Minas) was established in March 2001 to coordinate mine action in the country.[29] On 10 September 2001, Decree 4/2001 formally created the National Commission for Humanitarian Demining (CNDH), which works as the steering committee appointed by the government.[30]

There are two domestic mine action NGOs in operation in Guinea-Bissau: HUMAID (Humanitarian Aid), active since January 2000, and LUTCAM (LUTCAM -Lutamos Todos Contra As Minas), which began operations in February 2003.

A new strategic plan for mine action for 2004 to 2009 is being developed by CAAMI.[31] This follows the National Mine Action Plan 2001/2004 (PAAMI, Programa Nacional Humanitário da Acção Anti-Minas na Guiné Bissau).[32] Guinea-Bissau also reports the development of a mine action database, using the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), expected to be operational in October 2004.[33]

Mine Clearance

The goal of the 2001/2004 National Mine Action Plan was to eliminate the impact of landmines and UXO in Bissau within a two- to three-year period, pending sufficient funding for the project, and to eliminate the impact for the rest of the country within two to three years after completing operations in Bissau.[34]

According to CAAMI, between June 2000 and the end of July 2004, approximately 720,000 square meters of land was cleared in Guinea-Bissau, and 2,587 landmines and 28,000 UXO were destroyed.[35] According to CAAMI, between May 2003 and April 2004, 168,290 square meters of land was cleared of 60 mines and 133 UXO.[36] The two mine clearance NGOs report demining 442,292 square meters of land in 2003, destroying 102 antipersonnel mines and 2,123 UXO.

HUMAID was the only mine action operator in Guinea-Bissau between June 2000 and early 2003. In 2003, it cleared 124,654 square meters of land and destroyed 58 antipersonnel mines and 137 UXO. Between June 2000 and 2003, HUMAID cleared a total of 411,908 square meters and destroyed 2,480 antipersonnel mines, 50 antivehicle mines, and 13,435 UXO.[37] HUMAID briefly halted its field operations in early 2004 to be accredited as a national NGO. When it resumed on 31 March 2004, it had deployed 49 deminers with 11 metal detectors to a site measuring 57,544 square meters at the “Plaque I” site in Bissau, with a projected completion date of February 2005. On 29 April 2004, it reported 645.31 square meters had been cleared of 266 UXO.[38]

LUTCAM started demining on 3 February 2003 in Bissau at Plaque I in an area totaling 128,161 square meters. LUTCAM has deployed 34 deminers with nine metal detectors. In 2003, it cleared 158,816 square meters of land and destroyed 22 antipersonnel mines and 993 UXO.[39] Since 10 March 2004, 27 LUTCAM deminers have been working at Enterramento, north of Bissau, where clearance is expected to finish by December 2005. LUTCAM is also working at Mandina. In the first three months of 2004, LUTCAM reported clearing 27,677 square meters of land, destroying an antipersonnel mine, an antivehicle mine and 23 UXO.[40]

The UNOPS Technical Advisor for CAAMI was expected to finalize Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for demining operations by the end of the first half of 2004.[41] This would appear particularly pertinent, given Guinea-Bissau’s 2004 Article 7 report which states, “Although some minefields were cleared once by the first NGO [HUMAID] working in Bissau between 2001 and 2003, it has been subject to many repeated mine findings during the reporting period and is still considered unsafe by the National Mine Action Coordination Authority. The area must be cleared again by humanitarian mine clearance teams using methods according with IMAS."[42]

Guinea-Bissau also reports issues with UXO clearance. Its reports that neither clearance organization has the capacity for UXO clearance and states that “specialized training” is required “to assist CAAMI in its efforts to implement battle-area clearance tasks as part of a comprehensive response to remaining contamination.”[43]

Mine Risk Education

CAAMI coordinates mine risk education (MRE) activities at the national and regional level and provides MRE training to teachers and other facilitators. It is responsible for implementation of the Education Program to Prevent Accidents involving Mines (Programa de Educação para a Prevenção de Acidentes com Minas, PEPAM), established in November 2000 to provide MRE and victim assistance. Canada, UNICEF and the World Food Program funded PEPAM between 2001 and 2004. CAAMI participates together with nine MRE NGOs and UNICEF in the Mine Awareness Committee (Célula de Coordenação de Operações Anti-Minas, COAM), established in April 1999, which meets every two weeks to plan, coordinate, and evaluate MRE activities in Guinea-Bissau.[44]

In July 2004, CAAMI reported to Landmine Monitor that it has trained 111 activists/educators since March 2001, including 90 trainers in Bissau. The trainers work with 310 community MRE facilitators from around the country, including 160 in Bissau. Another 80 teachers received MRE training, 40 in Bissau and 40 in other areas.[45] The primary school curriculum now includes mine risk education. Since 2002, approximately 2,600 students have participated in MRE activities and 2,000 MRE notebooks have been distributed annually by PEPAM.[46]

Guinea-Bissau reported that a total of 11,000 people received mine risk education between April 2003 and April 2004, including 4,000 inhabitants of Bissau.[47] This represents a significant decrease from the 30,000 people reported to have received MRE between April 2002 and April 2003, including 20,000 inhabitants of Bissau.[48] Radio stations in mine-affected areas broadcast MRE messages; in August 2004, CAAMI reported that since the beginning of 2002, an estimated 55,000 people in Bissau and 24,000 people in other regions have heard these messages.[49]

Mine Action Funding

In January 2004, the head of the transitional government issued a $2.4 million appeal for eleven mine action projects.[50] His goal is reportedly for Guinea-Bissau to become the first mine-free country in Africa.[51]

Mine action funding information for Guinea-Bissau is conflicting and incomplete, as in the past. According to information provided to Landmine Monitor by donors, in 2003 four donors provided an estimated $1.21 million for mine action in the country:[52]

  • The European Commission provided $679,000 (€600,000) to Handicap International for mine risk education;
  • France contributed $120,000 (€106,000) to Handicap International for MRE;
  • Sweden provided $185,500 (SEK1,500,000) to HUMAID for demining;
  • The United States contributed $225,000

In addition, the Diana, Princess of Wales Fund provided $32,568 (€28,796) to Handicap International.

In 2002, Landmine Monitor reported a donation of $500,000 from the Netherlands.[53] In 2001, approximately $1.48 million was provided for mine action in Guinea-Bissau by donors including Finland ($60,000), France ($192,440), the Netherlands ($500,000), and the United States ($489,000), Germany ($138,660 to HUMAID), and Sweden ($100,000 to HUMAID).[54] In 2000, HUMAID received a total of $216,307: Austria ($9,533), Germany ($76,304), the UK ($31,325), and the United States ($99,145).[55]

In June 2004, the director of CAAMI told Landmine Monitor that expected donors in 2004 included the UK ($230,000) for demining in Brá, and Canada ($171,530) for WHO to support hospitals and other organizations working on survivor assistance.[56] In April 2004, HUMAID received $640,477 (€521,709) from Germany through the Catholic NGO Caritas.[57]

Landmine Casualties

In 2003, CAAMI recorded 12 new mine/UXO casualties, including three children killed and nine adults injured.[58] This represents a significant decrease from the 33 new landmine/UXO casualties reported in 2002, including 25 people killed and eight injured. At least five casualties in 2002 were caused by landmines.[59] The number of new mine/UXO casualties rose again in 2004 with CAAMI recording 29 mine/UXO casualties through July, including five people killed and 24 injured. Since January 2004, 25 percent of incidents were UXO-related.[60]

The countrywide survey on mine/UXO casualties, launched in 2002, recorded 665 mine/UXO in Guinea-Bissau 1963 and July 2004. According to the survey, almost 35 percent of mine/UXO survivors are children, and 20 percent are women. The most mine/UXO survivors (32 percent) are found in the northern region; 24 percent are in the capital and surrounding areas, 21 percent are in the eastern region; while 23 percent are found in the southern part of the country.[61] The survey revealed higher numbers of mine/UXO survivors than previously available, as CAAMI had recorded only 290 mine/UXO casualties (77 killed and 213 injured) between June 1998 and April 2002.[62] As of July 2004, the CAAMI database contained information on 624 mine/UXO survivors.[63]

Survivor Assistance

Some of the key problems identified in the provision of adequate assistance to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities include: the cost of treatment; healthcare facilities lack resources to provide adequate care; limited availability of physical rehabilitation and prosthetic services, and psychosocial support; limited opportunities for employment; a lack of awareness on the rights and needs of persons with disabilities; and the need for a comprehensive national plan of action.[64]

In August 2002, CAAMI organized its first meeting to elaborate a national plan of action to support mine survivors. A multi-sector body, coordinated by the Ministry of Health, has been created with representatives from CAAMI, national and international NGOs, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, the Red Cross, and survivor representatives; twelve actors are involved.[65]

Capacities for the care and rehabilitation of mine/UXO casualties are severely limited since the 1998/1999 conflict seriously affected the healthcare system in Guinea-Bissau. There is only one national hospital, the Simão Mendes Hospital in Bissau, and four regional hospitals, in Canchungo, Bafatá, Gabu and Catio. In 2002, there was reportedly one qualified trauma surgeon, two general surgeons, and a rehabilitation specialist; all based at the Simão Mendes Hospital, and eight physiotherapists, 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 Guinea-Bissau. Generally landmine casualties are treated at the Simão Mendes Hospital 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 healthcare facilities in Bissau, Bafatá, Gabú, Catio, Tombali, Biombo, Mansoa, Buba and Quinará have ambulances. The Simão Mendes Hospital has charged patients the cost of medications since March 2002, and regional hospitals since July 2002. There is no specialized treatment for mine casualties.[66]

The specialized Center for Surgery and Rehabilitation in Bissau ceased functioning before the 1998-1999 conflict.[67]

Mine survivors requiring physical rehabilitation and prostheses are referred to the NGO ANDES (National Association for Health Development)’s Casa Amiga dos Deficientes Center (CAD, Friendly House for the Disabled), the only prosthetic facility in Guinea-Bissau.[68] The ANDES center provides physiotherapy, orthopedic devices, and psychosocial support. Only nine percent of the 665 mine survivors identified in the survey have benefited from facilities at the center.[69] In 2003, the center assisted 169 people, including 30 mine survivors and 26 survivors of other war-related injuries, and provided 1,363 physiotherapy treatments.[70] In 2002, 25 mine survivors and 20 UXO survivors were assisted, and 16 in 2001. The ANDES prosthetic/orthotic program has two prosthetic technicians, 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 situation; however, less than ten percent of patients have repaid ANDES. ANDES was supported by Handicap International with funding from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, and France until December 2003. In 2004, ANDES lacked funding to operate, with staff not receiving salaries until at least April 2004.[71]

Handicap International (HI) has worked in Guinea-Bissau since 2001. In 2003 several new projects were developed including support for local associations of persons with disabilities, and two socio-economic reintegration projects. Following a two-month feasibility study in 2002 on the economic integration of persons with disability in the area of peeling/processing cashew nuts, 60 people were trained in relevant techniques to facilitate access to employment in this sector. Six others were trained in welding for the production of wheelchairs and tricycles.[72] In 2002, HI also completed a study on the reintegration of disabled soldiers for the Program of Demobilization, Reinsertion, and Reintegration (PDRRI), which identified 1,687 disabled soldiers. In 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 reimburses part of the costs to ANDES for these services.[73]

CAAMI was planning a vocational training and socio-economic reintegration program in tailoring, handcrafts, and blacksmithing for 32 mine survivors in 2003. However, a shortage of funds delayed the commencement of the program.[74] CAAMI has two programs planned for eight mine survivors expected to start in July 2004; four survivors will receive training in sewing and four in handcrafts. One generator and four sewing machines are available.[75] The UNDP also offered six computers to train mine survivors.[76]

The new National Mine Action Strategy includes, as one of its strategic priorities, “....raise pro-active participation in poverty reduction projects, as well as the victim assistance and socio-economic reintegration.”[77]

Guinea-Bissau has submitted the voluntary Form J with its Article 7 Report since 2002 to report on victim assistance activities.[78]

Disability Policy and Practice

There are no laws or decrees to assist civilians with disabilities in Guinea-Bissau.[79] The government assists disabled military veterans with pensions but these are reportedly insufficient to meet health, housing and food needs.[80] Medical and pharmaceutical care in a special clinic is available to ex-soldiers of the liberation war against Portugal; however, for other persons with disabilities, including the military serving in the 1998/1999 war, there is no such entitlement.[81] CAAMI acknowledges the challenge of including mine survivors in the category of “war victims” in article 5 of the constitution to facilitate access to rights for compensation.[82]


[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 13 May 2004. The report cites articles 85.1, para. h, and 68, para. 3, of the Constitution, as making the treaty national law, and then article 206 of the Penal Code, which allows sentencing of all misdemeanors. Penal Code Article 206, Number 1, prohibits the use of explosives. See also, CAAMI Document, “Action de la Guinee-Bissau concernant la mise en oeuvre de la Convention de Ottawa pour l'elimination des mines antipersonnel,” January 2004.
[2] Statement by Nhassé Na Mã, Guinea-Bissau, to the Fifth Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty, Bangkok, Thailand, 16 September 2003.
[3] The initial report, due 30 April 2002, was submitted on 19 June 2002 (for the period 22 November 2001-30 April 2002); the second report on 13 May 2003 (for the period 30 April 2002-30 April 2003).
[4] Article 7 Report, Form H, 13 May 2003. However, Form H of the 2002 Article 7 Report notes that one type of antivehicle mine, the “Justado Vieira,” was produced in the country. According to the Director of CAAMI, these were mines handmade by national hero Justado Vieira, but only four have been found. Interview with Cesar Lopes de Carvalho, Director, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[5] These include 2,951 PMD-6, 1,037 POMZ-2, 6 PMN, 2 M969, and 1 M409 mines. Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2003.
[6] “Meeting Report,” Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 24 June 2004; interview with Cesar Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, 28 April 2004; Statement by Guinea-Bissau during the Workshop on the Implementation of the Ottawa Treaty in West Africa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 28-29 January 2004.
[7] Statement made by Guinea-Bissau, Ouagadougou Workshop, 28-29 January 2004.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form B, 13 May 2003. A total of 2,630 antipersonnel mines (790 M966B type I, 660 M969 MAPS and 1,180 PMD-6) and 871 antivehicle mines (all TMD-44) were destroyed on 7 February 1998. A total of 2,081 antipersonnel mines (1,320 M966B type I, 415 M969 MAPS, and 346 PMD-6) and 218 antivehicle mines (218 C3-A) were destroyed on 11 February 1998.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form B, 13 May 2003. Mines destroyed included 793 PMD6, 7 PMN and 200 POMZ 2.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form D, 13 May 2004. See also, CAAMI, “Action de la Guinee-Bissau,” January 2004, p. 5. In May 2002, a CAAMI official had stated that “a maximum of 50 mines” would be retained for instruction purposes, of which “the majority would be inert” and “about five live mines” would be retained. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 286.
[11] Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 24 June 2004.
[12] John Cann. (ed.), “Memories of Portugal's African Wars, 1961-1974,” Proceedings of a Conference, King's College, London, 10 June 1997; Contributions to War Studies, no.1, (Quantico: Marine Corps University Foundation, 1998), p. 140.
[13] Major Herve Petetin, “Mine Situation in Guinea-Bissau,” UNMAS, December 1998, p. 1.
[14] Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 154-156; Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 168-169; Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 79.
[15] Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2003; Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
[16] Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
[17] Article 7 Report, Forms C & J, 13 May 2004.
[18] Report by CAAMI, 2002.
[19] Email from John Blacken, Administrator, HUMAID, 3 November 2002.
[20] Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2003; Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
[21] Interview with Irene Laval, PEPAM/MRE Assistant, CAAMI, 15 January 2003.
[22] Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2003; Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
[23] Handicap International, “Technical Mission Report, Handicap International in Guinea-Bissau,” Lyon, April 2002; email and telephone interview with Manuel Gonzal, Technical Coordination Mission, HI, Lyon, 14-19 June 2002.
[24] Landmine Monitor field visit to the Brá site, accompanied by John Blacken, HUMAID, and Irene Laval, CAAMI, 15 and 16 January 2003.
[25] “PAAMI - 2001/2004,” April 2001. PAAMI is the Programa Nacional Humanitário da Acção Anti-Minas na Guiné Bissau, the national mine action plan 2001-2004.
[26] Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
[27] Landmine Monitor site visit (Plaque II, where HUMAID is demining), 29 April 2004.
[28] Article 7 Report, Form H, 19 June 2002. The five most frequently found antipersonnel mines are PMD-6, PMN and POMZ-2 (Soviet Union); M969 (Portugal); and PRB M409 (Belgium). The five most frequently encountered antivehicle mines are TM-46, TMD-44, and TMD-B (Soviet Union); Expal C3A and M453 (Portugal).
[29] Article 7 Report, Form A, 13 May 2003; Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[30] Article 7 Report, Form A, 13 May 2003.
[31] Interview with Gerard Chagniot, Technical Advisor, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2004.
[32] “PAAMI, “2001/2004,” April 2001.
[33] Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[34] Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[35] “Guinea-Bissau National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme: Fact Sheet,” July 2004, sent in email from Cesar Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, 9 August 2004.
[36] CAAMI, “Action de la Guinee-Bissau,” January 2004, p. 11; UNDP, "Guinea-Bissau seeks help to be first in Africa to eliminate landmines," Newsfront, 14 January 2004.
[37] CAAMI Document, "Quadro Gerald a Produtividade", 30 April 2004.
[38] Landmine Monitor Fieldtrip, "Board of operation," Bissau, 29 April 2004.
[39] CAAMI Document, "Quadro Gerald a Produtividade", 30 April 2004.
[40] CAAMI Document, "Quadro Gerald a Produtividade," 30 April 2004.
[41] Interview with Gerard Chagniot, CAAMI, 30 April 2004.
[42] Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[43] Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[44] CAAMI, "Action de la Guinée-Bissau concernant la mise en oeuvre de la Convention d’Ottawa pour l'élimination des mines antipersonnel," January 2004, p. 11.
[45] CAAMI, “Mine Action Fact Sheet,” July 2004.
[46] Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2003; Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2004; interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 30 April 2004.
[47] Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2004.
[48] Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2003.
[49] CAAMI, “Mine Action Fact Sheet,” July 2004.
[50] UNDP, “Guinea-Bissau Seeks Help to Be First in Africa to Eliminate Landmines,” Press Release, 15 January 2004.
[51] Ibid.
[52] See individual donor country reports in this Landmine Monitor Report 2004.
[53] CAAMI reported contributions for 2002 totaling $891,155: the United Kingdom donated $245,138, and the Netherlands donated $646,017. 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.
[54] Mine Action Investments database, “Multi-year Recipient Report: Guinea-Bissau;” individual country reports for Germany and Sweden in Landmine Monitor Report 2002.
[55] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 80.
[56] Interview with Cesar Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, Geneva, 28 June 2004.
[57] “Doação de Caritas alemães para apoiar desminagem,” NôPintcha: Semanário de Informação Geral, 27 April 2004, p. 1.
[58] Telephone interview with Irene Laval, Survivor Assistance Advisor, CAAMI, 30 September 2004.
[59] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 283.
[60] CAAMI, “Mine Action Fact Sheet,” July 2004.
[61] Presentation by Guinea-Bissau, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-economic Reintegration, Geneva, 23 June 2004.
[62] 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, Bissau, 15 January 2003.
[63] Telephone interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 30 September 2004.
[64] Presentation by Guinea-Bissau, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 23 June 2004.
[65] Article 7 Report, Form J, 19 June 2002; interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, Guinea-Bissau, 30 April 2004; interview with Gérard Chagniot, UNDP, 17 January 2003.
[66] Eric Debert, “Information on the disability sector,” HI, Bissau, August 2002; interview with João Fernandes Mendes, Director, ANDES, Bissau, 14 January 2003; interviews with Eric Debert, Program Director, HI, Bissau, 13 and 16 January 2003.
[67] Presentation by Guinea-Bissau, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 23 June 2004.
[68] 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.
[69] CAAMI, “Mine Action Fact Sheet,” July 2004.
[70] Associação Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Sanitário (ANDES), “Rapport General D’Activites C.A.D. 2002 – 2003,” p. 10; (ANDES), “Ficha estatística secção Fisioterapia,” January to December 2003.
[71] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 28 April 2004; for more details see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp. 284-285; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 291.
[72] HI, “Program Summary: Guinea Bissau 2004,” 21 November 2003; interviews with Eric Debert, HI, 13 and 16 January 2003.
[73] Interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003; interviews with Eric Debert, HI, 13 January 2003 and 20 June 2002 and email, 29 January 2003.
[74] Interviews with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 14 January 2003 and 14 May 2003.
[75] Interview with Irene Laval, CAAMI, 30 April 2004.
[76] Article 7 Report, Form J, 19 June 2002.
[77] Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[78] Article 7 Report, Form J, 19 June 2002, Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2003, and Article 7 Report, Form J, 13 May 2004.
[79] Interview with César Lopes de Carvalho, CAAMI, Bissau, 14 January 2003.
[80] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea Bissau 2003,” Washington DC, 25 February 2004.
[81] Interview with Eric Debert, HI, 13 January 2003; interview with João Fernandes Mendes, ANDES, 14 January 2003.
[82] Presentation by Guinea-Bissau, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 23 June 2004.