Key developments since May 2003: In February 2004, Sierra Leone
reported that it had completed the destruction of its entire stockpile of 959
antipersonnel mines on 11 February 2003. Sierra Leone submitted its initial
Article 7 transparency report (due 30 March 2002) on 9 February 2004.
Key developments since 1999: Sierra Leone ratified the Mine Ban
Treaty on 25 April 2001 and became a State Party on 1 October 2001. Sierra
Leone destroyed its stockpile of 959 antipersonnel mines in February 2003. It
submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 9 February 2004, nearly
two years late. Sierra Leone has not reported the enactment of any national
implementation measures, as required by Article 9. An UNMAS mission in 2000
concluded that there was only a small landmine problem in Sierra Leone, and that
UXO presented a greater threat.
Mine Ban Policy
Sierra Leone signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 29 July 1998, ratified on 25 April
2001 and the treaty entered into force for the country on 1 October
2001.[1] Sierra Leone did not
participate in the Ottawa Process and joined the pro-ban movement against a
background of political upheaval — three coups d’états
between 1992 and 1997, and the first multiparty elections in almost two decades
in 1996.[2]
Sierra Leone submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 9
February 2004, covering the period from 30 March 2002 to 31 December 2003. The
report had been due on 30 March 2002. The report states, “Appropriate
enabling legislation is under
consideration.”[3] Sierra
Leone has not reported the enactment of any national implementation measures, as
required by Article 9.
Sierra Leone has not been a regular participant in international ban treaty
fora, having only attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in Nicaragua in
2001 and the February 2004 intersessional meetings in Geneva. Sierra Leone has
voted in favor of every pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution since 1966,
including UNGA Resolution 58/53 on 8 December 2003.
Regionally, Sierra Leone has participated in some landmine activities,
including a January 2004 meeting on the implementation of the ban treaty in West
Africa, held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and an Africa-wide meeting in Bamako,
Mali, in 2001 on the universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa.
Sierra Leone 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, it has not made its views known on the issues of joint military
operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of
antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling
devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.
Sierra Leone joined all protocols of the Convention on Conventional Weapons
on 30 September 2004, including Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V
on explosive remnants of war.
Past Use
Antipersonnel mines were used in very limited numbers during the various
civil conflicts.[4] The Sierra
Leone military acknowledged that in the Kailahun area in 1994–1995 it used
a small number of antipersonnel mines in an
operation.[5] In 2002, the
Revolutionary United Front (RUF)confirmed that it had used a limited
number of landmines during the 1991–2001 civil
war.[6] Both the military junta
and ECOMOG forces reportedly used mines following the 1997
coup.[7]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction
Sierra Leone is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel
landmines. At the Bamako Mine Ban Treaty meeting in February 2001, Sierra Leone
acknowledged that it maintained a small stockpile of 900 antipersonnel
mines.[8] A Sierra Leone
official said RUF rebels were also believed to have a stockpile of antivehicle
mines, obtained through Liberia and from Eastern
Europe.[9]
A government delegate at the January 2004 Ouagadougou regional meeting on
landmines reported that all of Sierra Leone’s stockpiled antipersonnel
mines had been destroyed, along with 40 antivehicle
mines.[10] At the February 2004
intersessional meetings, the delegate said, “The Government of Sierra
Leone has completed the destruction of its entire stockpile of 956
anti-personnel mines that were captured from the AFRC/RUF rebel coalition forces
[including] 875 pieces of MAI 75, 72 pieces of PMNs, and 9 pieces of SB 33.
Destruction of the stockpile was by the explosive technique, and was carried out
by an ammunition technician of the International Military Advisory Training Team
(IMATT), attached to the Republic of Sierra Leone Military Forces (RSLMF). The
operation, which was completed on 11 February 2003, took place at the Hastings
range of the Infantry Training Centre (ITC) located in the outskirts of
Freetown, and witnessed by observers of
UNAMSIL.”[11]
Sierra Leone’s Article 7 report gives slightly different figures,
indicating that 959 mines were destroyed, including 878 MAI 75 mines, not
875.[12] Sierra Leone’s
deadline for stockpile destruction was 1 October 2005.
Other mine destruction activities were reported to have taken place by ECOMOG
forces during their intervention in
1998.[13] From 1999 to 2002,
UNAMSIL (the UN mission in Sierra Leone) reportedly received or found and
destroyed 148 antipersonnel mines and one antivehicle
mine.[14]
Mine/UXO Problem and Mine Action
Sierra Leone declares in its Article 7 report that it has no mined areas. It
states, “As of this date, there are no known or suspected areas where
anti-personnel landmines were emplaced during the rebel
conflict.”[15]
In 2002, Landmine Monitor reported that landmines used during the civil war
had for the most part been removed, either by ECOMOG or IMATT. A UN Mine Action
Service (UNMAS) mission in 2000 concluded that there was more of an unexploded
ordnance (UXO) and booby-trap problem in Sierra Leone than an antipersonnel and
antivehicle mine problem.[16]
This view was reiterated by UNAMSIL in
2002,[17] and by the government
delegate at the intersessional meetings in Geneva in February
2004.[18] Areas identified by
UNMAS and UNAMSIL as likely to be mine/UXO-affected included Kono, Kailahun,
Moyamba, Tonkolili and
Koidu.[19] UNMAS reported that
landmines and UXO were not having any impact on peacekeeping operations,
organizations involved in aid distribution, or returning refugees, and described
any socioeconomic impact as “extremely
limited.”[20] As
recommended by UNMAS, a Mine Action Office was established in 2000, and an
Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) was set up.
The treaty-mandated deadline for the destruction of all mines in mined areas
is 1 October 2010.
Sierra Leone noted at the February 2004 intersessional meetings the work of
NGOs, especially SHARE, in undertaking mine/UXO risk education for the public,
stating, “The Government would like to see an expansion of the public
awareness campaigns about the dangers of UXOs and similar devices.... Workshops
involving a wide range of stakeholders and NGOs could be organized to develop
strategies for dealing with the threat, and for addressing the special needs of
those who have been maimed by the
devices.”[21] Similarly,
Sierra Leone’s Article 7 report states, “The scope of these public
awareness programs need to be expanded to other areas, and could include basic
training in the identification of potentially dangerous remnants of war, and the
creation of informal reporting and information-sharing procedures for people in
the rural areas, especially
farmers.”[22]
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
Landmine Monitor has not recorded any new mine or UXO incidents in Sierra
since the end of the civil war. According to medical records at the Military
Hospital at Wilberforce, 45 people were killed and eleven injured by landmines
during the 1992-1997 civil
war.[23] In 1999 and 2000,
there were reports of two people injured in UXO
explosions.[24]
During the armed conflict, about 70 percent of the primary healthcare centers
across the country were destroyed. Except for emergency surgery there was
limited support for the treatment and rehabilitation of mine/UXO survivors.
Handicap International supports community-based rehabilitation and the
production of
prostheses.[25]
[1] For more information on the treaty
ratification process in the country, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 168,
citing interviews with President Kabbah, 6 October 1997, and exiled Foreign
Minister Shirley Gbujuma, 15 September 1997. Save Heritage and Rehabilitate the
Environment (SHARE), a local NGO, was active in monitoring government progress
and pressing for government action regarding the Mine Ban
Treaty. [2] The 1997 coup, following
the election, led to the introduction of the Economic Community of West African
States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces into the country in February 1998.
ECOMOG ejected the military government and its allies. However, in the early
part of 1999, the rebel forces returned to the capital of Freetown and unleashed
untold violence on the population. [3]
Article 7 Report, Form A, 9 February 2004 (for the period 30 March 2002-31
December 2003). [4] UNMAS,
“Sierra Leone Assessment Mission Report,” 7 February 2000, p. 6.
See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 177, for details of this mission. For
details of past landmine use in Sierra Leone, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
pp. 168-170, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
177-178. [5] SHARE interview with
Capt. R.B. Harleston, SO2 J3 (Operations), Freetown, 5 February
2001. [6] Interview with Kenneth
McCauley, former Chief of Protocol for RUF President Foday Sankoh, Freetown, 27
February 2002. [7] See Landmine
Monitor 1999, p. 169, for further details.
[8] Landmine Monitor interview with
Col. A.B. Sessay, Bamako, Mali, 15 February 2001. The types were not known. In
another interview with military personnel that same month, it was reported that
some antipersonnel mines were obtained from Liberia. SHARE interview with Capt.
R.B. Harleston, SO2 J3 (Operations), Freetown, 5 February
2001. [9] Interview with Col. A.B.
Sessay, Bamako, 15 February 2001. [10]
Statement by Sierra Leone delegate, M. Duwai S. Lungay, Senior Assistant
Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,
Ouagadougou, 29 January 2004. [11]
Statement by Sierra Leone, Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva,
12 February 2004. [12] Article 7
Report, Form G, 9 February 2004. [13]
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
178-179. [14] Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 434; Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 179.
[15] Article 7 Report, Form I, 9
February 2004. Form C (Location of mined areas) states
“Nil.” [16] Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 176. [17]
Interview with Maj. Ahsan, EOD Division, UNAMSIL, Freetown, 26 February
2002. [18] Statement by Sierra Leone,
Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 12 February
2004. [19] UNMAS, “Assessment
Mission Report,” 7 February 2000; interview with Maj. Ahsan, UNAMSIL,
Freetown, 26 February 2002. [20]
UNMAS, “Assessment Mission Report,” 7 February 2000, pp.
7-8. [21] Statement by Sierra Leone,
Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 12 February
2004. [22] Article 7 Report, Form I, 9
February 2004. [23] Landmine Monitor
Report 2001, p. 145. [24] Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 180. [25]
UNMAS, “Assessment Mission Report,” 7 February 2000. See also,
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 180; HI, “Landmine Victim Assistance:
World Report 2002,” Lyon, December 2003, pp. 129-132.