Key
developments since May 2001: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for the
Republic of Congo on 1 November 2001. The Republic of Congo has reported a
stockpile of 5,092 landmines, 400 of which it will retain for training
purposes.
MINE BAN POLICY
The Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) acceded
to the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 May 2001, and the treaty entered into force on 1
November 2001. A specific law to implement the Mine Ban Treaty is being
considered, but the National Penal Code already forbids import and export of all
military material.[1]
The Republic of Congo attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in
September 2001 in Managua, Nicaragua and the intersessional Standing Committee
meetings in Geneva in January and May 2002.
Its first Article 7 transparency report, due by 4 May 2002, has been drafted,
but not yet submitted to the United
Nations.[2]
The Republic of Congo voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M
promoting the Mine Ban Treaty, but was absent from the final vote in the General
Assembly on 29 November 2001.[3]
The Republic of Congo is not a party to the Convention on Conventional
Weapons (CCW), and is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament. It did not
attend the third annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II or the
Second CCW Review Conference, both of which were held in Geneva in December
2001.
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, USE, AND STOCKPILING
The Republic of Congo is not known to produce or
export antipersonnel mines.[4]
The Republic of Congo has declared that the few mines used during the 1997 civil
war have been removed and destroyed by the demining service of the
Army.[5]
An inventory of antipersonnel mine stockpiles conducted between February and
April 2002 revealed 5,092 antipersonnel mines: 1,083 PPM-2 mines; 517 Mle 58
plastic mines; 2,892 POMZ-2 mines; and 600 PMD
mines.[6]
The Republic of Congo plans to destroy its stockpiles at the beginning of
2003, using “the electric method.” Destruction will take place at a
military base 23 kilometers north of
Brazzaville.[7] The Republic of
Congo will retain 400 antipersonnel mines for training
purposes.[8]
There are also landmines not under the direct control of the government, in
the hands of individuals or groups. Under the weapons collection program of the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Organisation of
Migration, 29 antipersonnel mines were collected in
2001.[9]
LANDMINE PROBLEM AND MINE ACTION
The Republic of Congo states that it does not have
a landmine problem but is concerned that some areas in the southwest, on the
border with Angola, where rebels of the “Front de Libération de
L’enclave du Cabinda” (FLEC) have been very active, might be mined.
Animals have reportedly stepped on landmines in that
region.[10] Some people living
on the border with Angola have given up their agricultural activities because of
the fear of mines.[11] Future
exploratory missions should determine the extent of the
problem.[12]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES AND SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
In 2001, no casualties caused by antipersonnel
mines were reported.[13]
However, the Republic of Congo does occasionally report casualties caused by
unexploded ordnance. For example, in 2001, a man and boy were killed and a
woman was injured when a UXO exploded in a blacksmith’s workshop after
mistakenly being thrown into a furnace. In 2000, 11 children were killed while
playing with a German-made shell in a school
playground.[14]
Since June 2000, the UNDP has provided assistance to victims of the civil
war, and their communities, to promote socio-economic reintegration and the
return to a normal life through activities aimed at increasing access to basic
social services and the means of
subsistence.[15] The
International Rescue Committee is working with the Ministry of Health to
rehabilitate 21 health structures and train national staff in the southern
districts of Dolisie and
Lekoumou.[16] A local NGO,
Rassemblement National des Blessés et Victimes de Guerres Civiles
(National Union of Wounded and Victims of Civil War), conducts a program to
assist with the reintegration of war victims.
[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, undated and
not yet submitted to the UN Secretary-General. Landmine Monitor was given a copy
at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2002.
[2]
Ibid. [3] The absence was due to other
diplomatic obligations. Interview with Léonce Nkabi, Head of the First
Battalion of Engineers, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 30 January
2002. [4] Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p. 68. [5] Statement by Léonce
Nkabi, Head of the First Battalion of Engineers, Ministry of National Defense,
at the Third Meeting of State Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, 18 September 2001.
See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 69, for details on
clearance. [6] Article 7 Report, Form B,
undated. Landmine Monitor reported last year that a Congolese military official
cited a figure of 700-900,000 mines in stock. Since that time, officials have
stated that estimate was not correct, and that Landmine Monitor
misunderstood. [7] Article 7 Report,
Form F, undated. [8] Ibid., Form
D. [9] UNDP, “Results of the
Program for reintegration of ex-militias and collection of light weapons in the
Republic of Congo,” Brazzaville, October 2001, p.
3. [10] Interview with Léonce
Nkabi, Ministry of National Defense, Managua, Nicaragua, 20 September
2001. [11] Article 7 Report, Form I,
undated. [12] Ibid., Form
C. [13] Interview with Léonce
Nkabi, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 30 January
2002. [14] “Abandoned bomb kills
two in Brazzaville,” Pan African News Agency (PANA), 29 October
2001. [15] See:
http://mirror.undp.org/Congo/Documents. [16]
See: www.theirc.org.
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