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Table of Contents
Country Reports
Sierra Leone, Landmine Monitor Report 2004

Sierra Leone

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.