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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Niger, Landmine Monitor Report 2004

Niger

Key developments since May 2003: In February 2004, Niger presented a draft mine action plan for 2004-2006.

Key developments since 1999: Niger ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 March 1999, and became a State Party on 1 September 1999. Niger has not enacted national legal implementation measures. Niger submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report in September 2002, more than two and one-half years late. In April 2003, Niger reported that it had destroyed a stock of 48 antipersonnel mines; it previously indicated it had no stockpile.

Mine Ban Policy

Niger signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 23 March 1999, and became a State Party on 1 September 1999. In February 2004, a military official stated that domestic implementation legislation is in the process of adoption. However, the government has been saying this since mid-2001.[1] The government’s National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illegal Weapons is responsible of the landmine issue.[2]

Niger participated sporadically in the Ottawa Process leading to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has attended two annual Meetings of States Parties (in 1999 and 2003), as well as a few intersessional Standing Committee meetings, including in February and June 2004. Regionally, Niger has attended seminars on landmines held in Burkina Faso (January 2004), Nigeria (October 2001), and Mali (February 2001). Niger voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/53 supporting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty on 8 December 2003; it had been absent from similar votes since 1998.

Niger submitted its initial Article 7 report on 12 September 2002; it had been due by 27 February 2000. It provided the required annual updates in April 2003 and April 2004.[3]

Niger is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its original Protocol II on landmines.

Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling and Destruction

Niger has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. All parties to an armed conflict between the government and Touareg and Tubu rebel groups from 1990 to 1995 allegedly used mines.

In April 2003, Niger reported that it had destroyed 48 antipersonnel mines, as well as 65 antipersonnel detonators, 34 antivehicle mines, and five antivehicle detonators since May 2001.[4] In August 2001, Niger had reported that it had no stockpile of antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.[5] Niger’s treaty-mandated deadline for destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines was 1 September 2003.

Niger’s April 2003 Article 7 report indicated that it no longer has a stockpile of antipersonnel mines. It identified a stockpile of 1,006 antivehicle mines of Belgian, Polish, and Russian origin and 146 French “éclairant” mines [flare mines], and declared its intention to retain 949 of these antivehicle mines and the 146 French mines; it stated that 57 Belgian and Russian antivehicle mines had been transferred for the purpose of destruction.[6] No information has yet been made available on what happened with those mines. Niger's April 2004 Article 7 report is a “nil” report, providing no new information.

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

Niger's landmine problem is predominantly located in the Aïr Mountains in the north and central regions of the country, and in the Ténéré desert the north. It dates back to World War II and more recently to the internal armed conflict of the 1990s. Suspected mined areas include the Djado Plateau (specifically the road between Chirfa and Dao-Timi), the Talak Plains (in the districts of Boukoki-Arlit and Teguidan in Taqait), the Mangueni Plateau (Achelouma), and Massif de l’Aïr (Abardok).[7] These regions are sparsely inhabited.[8] Other suspected mined areas are located at Plateau du Karama, Plateau du Tchigaï, Massif d’Afafi and in the region of Emi Fezzan.[9] The government reports that the mine problem affects tourism, transportation, and the local economy.[10]

While a 1998 peace agreement with the Front Democratiqué Revolutionnairé (FDR) included mine clearance provisions, the government has not undertaken any demining due to a lack of resources and expertise. Since 2001, the government has sought international mine action assistance for survey and marking of the affected areas and clearance.[11]

In February 2004, Niger presented a draft mine action plan for 2004-2006 during an intersessional Standing Committee meeting on mine clearance. The plan includes marking and mapping of the affected areas; mine risk education; demining training; and the acquisition of new mine clearance equipment to replace the existing tools that are reportedly in very poor shape.[12]

Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

On 3 January 2003, three Italian tourists were killed and their local guide injured when their vehicle hit an antivehicle mine in Orida, on the Djado plateau in the north of Niger.[13] There is no comprehensive official data available on landmine casualties in the country. However, casualties reportedly occur mostly when people take shortcuts and the majority of casualties are military personnel.[14]

The total number of mine casualties is not known. Niger reported at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in February 2003 that from the 1980 to 1998, several people were killed and injured in mine incidents.[15] In 1999, at least three people were killed and five injured in reported mine incidents.[16]

The healthcare infrastructure in Niger is reportedly in poor condition due to a lack of resources. Programs for physical rehabilitation are available but are often inaccessible to the poor and people living in remote areas.[17]


[1] Presentation by Niger, Standing Committee meeting on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 10 February 2004. No update on national legislation is in Niger’s April 2004 Article 7 report. In 2003, Landmine Monitor reported that a government official had indicated that legislation would be adopted by the Fifth Meeting of States Parties; see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 376. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 384, referencing a draft Article 7 Report, dated 9 August 2001.
[2] Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 384.
[3] See Article 7 reports submitted: 12 September 2002 (for the period April 2001-July 2002); 4 April 2003 (for the period May 2001 to 31 March 2003), and 30 April 2004 (for the period from 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2004). Landmine Monitor received a copy of an Article 7 Report dated 9 August 2001 (covering the period from September 1999 to April 2001), which apparently was never deposited at the UN.
[4] Article 7 Report, Form G, 4 April 2003.
[5] Fax to Landmine Monitor from Mamadou Koudij, Secretary to the President of the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons, 27 June 2001. Attached was a copy of the unsubmitted Article 7 report dated 9 August 2001, which in Form B declared no stockpiled antipersonnel mines.
[6] Article 7 Report, Forms B and D, 4 April 2003
[7] Article 7 Report, Form C, 4 April 2003. The report was handwritten and the spelling difficult to read in places.
[8] Statement by Niger, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 5 February 2003; Article 7 Report, Form C, 12 September 2002.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form C, 4 April 2003. The report was handwritten and difficult to read in places.
[10] Presentation by Niger, Standing Committee meeting on Mine Clearance, 10 February 2004.
[11] Ibid. See also draft Article 7 Report, 9 August 2001.
[12] Ibid.
[13] “Three Italian tourists killed when jeep hits mine in northwestern Niger,” Agence France-Presse, 4 January 2003; Statement by Niger, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 5 February 2003.
[14] Presentation by Niger, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 10 February 2004.
[15] Statement by Niger, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, 5 February 2003. For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 377; see also Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 74.
[16] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 88.
[17] For details see HI, “Landmine Victim Assistance: World Report 2002,” Lyon, December 2002, p. 393.