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.