LM Report 2002

SÃO TOMÉ E PRÍNCIPE

São Tomé e Príncipe signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 30 April 1998. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine Monitor in July 2000 that the Parliament approved ratification in early 1999, but the President had not yet signed it.^[1]

In August 2001, a representative from São Tomé’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “[T]he Democratic Republic of São Tomé holds dear any enterprise seeking to totally eliminate this plague.... However, due to internal problems, São Tomé e Príncipe does not stand amongst the countries which have ratified the Treaty in question, despite its permanent desire to do so.”^[2]

In February 2002, a representative from São Tomé’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated, “Notwithstanding its profound conviction regarding the need for a total elimination of antipersonnel mines, for several reasons the Democratic Republic of São Tomé, was not able to conclude the internal procedures towards the ratification of the Treaty of Ottawa, a fact that we deeply regret.... [T]he National Parliament is currently dissolved and ... a Permanent Commission is functioning which competencies do not allow the ratification of conventions. The new Parliament will be elected in the next legislative elections fixed for 3 March [2002]. To conclude, we thank the manifested availability of support so that São Tomé e Príncipe ratifies as soon as possible the Convention, demonstrating our unequivocal will to see the Earth rid of this atrocious weapon.”^[3]

São Tomé did not attend the Third Meeting of the States Parties in September 2001 or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002. Although São Tomé cosponsored UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, it was absent from the vote on the resolution on 29 November 2001.

It is believed that São Tomé has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and according to the office of the Chief of Staff of the São Toméan Armed Forces, there are no stockpiles of antipersonnel mines in the country.^[4] The Protocol Service of São Tomé e Príncipe’s Embassy confirmed that São Tomé e Príncipe is not mine-affected.^[5] It should be noted that the liberation struggle never involved armed fighting and this insular state has not been at war since its independence.

[1] Telephone interview with Dr. Ana Paula Alvim, Department of Multilateral Issues in the Office of International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, São Tomé, 3 July 2000. The President reportedly told a visiting delegation in 2001 that São Tomé had already “signed and ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 January 1999.” See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 220.
[2] Letter from Director Luís Viegas, International Policy and Economy Affairs Directorate, to Elisabeth Bernstein (ICBL Coordinator), São Tomé, 20 August 2001.
[3] Letter from Director Luís Viegas, International Policy and Economy Affairs Directorate, to Landmine Monitor, São Tomé, 20 February 2002.
[4] Telephone interview with Luis Maria, Office of the Chief of Staff, São Toméan Armed Forces, São Tomé, 26 March 1999.
[5] Meeting with a Protocol Service Official to deliver a Landmine Monitor Report Questionnaire, Lisbon, 17 January 2001.

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