Key
developments since May 2001: In 2001, 54 new landmine/UXO casualties were
reported, a small decrease from the previous year. No systematic demining has
occurred, although the Army engages in some mine clearance. From mid-2000 to
mid-2001, Handicap International’s mine risk education program reached the
population in 680 of 776 accessible villages, and benefited 59,583 school
children.
MINE BAN POLICY
Senegal signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997, ratified it on 23 September 1998 and became a State Party on 1 March 1999.
There is no specific implementation legislation, but violations of Mine Ban
Treaty provisions would be sanctioned by national constitutional law and under
the 2001 Penal Code.[1] The
National Commission on Small Arms is in charge of the mine
issue,[2] but a separate
National Commission on Legal
Texts[3] is studying various
legislative reforms and considering national legislation vis-a-vis international
treaties ratified by
Senegal.[4]
Senegal submitted its third Article 7 transparency report on 22 April 2002,
for the period from 1 January 2001 to 1 April
2002.[5]
Senegal attended the Third Meeting of State Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, in
September 2001 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in
January and May 2002. In an interview with Landmine Monitor during the January
2002 meetings, a military official stated that Senegal would refuse to
participate in joint military operations where antipersonnel mines might be used
by militaries of another
state.[6]
Senegal participated in the regional “Conference on Arms and
International Humanitarian Law: the CCW and the Ottawa Convention” in
Abuja, Nigeria, organized by the ICRC in collaboration with the Economic
Community of West African States on 10-11 October 2001. In November 2001
Senegal voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolution 56/24M supporting the
Mine Ban Treaty.
Senegal is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on
Conventional Weapons (CCW), but did not attend the third annual meeting of
States Parties to the Amended Protocol or the Second CCW Review Conference, both
of which were held in Geneva in December 2001.
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, STOCKPILING, USE
Senegal states that it has never produced,
transferred or stockpiled antipersonnel
mines.[7] Authorities claim to
have never used antipersonnel
mines.[8]
In the Banjul Declaration of 26 December 1999, the Senegalese government and
the rebel Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MDFC) committed themselves
not to use antipersonnel
landmines.[9] Past editions of
Landmine Monitor have shown ongoing use of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines
by MFDC rebels in Casamance since that time. However, Landmine Monitor has not
received any specific allegations of use by MDFC in this reporting period, since
May 2001. A government official claimed that MDFC use of mines
continues.[10]
LANDMINE PROBLEM
The most mine-affected area is the region of
Niaguis, Southern Casamance bordering
Guinea-Bissau.[11] According to
Col. Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, the number of casualties in general has decreased
significantly, because fewer new mines have been laid and because more mined
areas are marked.[12] However,
despite a slight decline in the number of new victims of landmines in Casamance,
the suspected presence of landmines continues to concern many people in the
region, who view the mine problem as the main obstacle to the development of the
region.[13]
Regional agricultural production has decreased dramatically because of
landmines. One account states, “The regional service for Agriculture for
the Ziguinchor region estimates that the agricultural activities decreased 80%
in the southwest region of Casamance, which was the richest zone of the region
thanks to the diversity of agricultural
activities.”[14] Even when
crops are harvested, it remains extremely difficult to ensure transport of the
produce as few are willing to risk their lives and vehicles on roads suspected
of being mined. Tourism, another key economic activity in Casamance, has
suffered from the presence of mines, especially in the Cap-Skiring area, one of
the most visited sites in
Africa.[15]
In its 2002 Article 7 Report, the government for the first time identified
the types of emplaced mines found in Senegal: EXPAL, PMN, TM46, PRB ENCRIER,
and K 35 BG.[16]
MINE CLEARANCE
Most mine-related humanitarian initiatives in
Senegal target survivor assistance and mine risk education programs, rather than
mine surveys, assessments, mapping, marking or
clearance.[17]
During his official visit to Geneva in September 2001, the President of
Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, met with the Director of the Geneva International
Center for Humanitarian Demining, to seek assistance for mine clearance in the
Casamance region. The President reaffirmed the importance of the mine clearance
in Casamance as a prerequisite for real development of the
region.[18]
According to Col. Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, systematic humanitarian mine clearance
remains impossible as long as there is no peace agreement with rebel
forces.[19] The Army has
occasionally conducted mine clearance in the regions of Ziguinchor and Kolda to
allow populations to get back to their
homes.[20] In its Article 7
Report of April 2002, the government reports that 133 antipersonnel mines, 47
antivehicle mines, and three “mixed” mines have been destroyed as a
result of such operations.[21]
MINE RISK EDUCATION
Handicap International is the main provider of
mine risk education (MRE) in
Casamance.[22] Through its MRE
program, people in affected areas of the region are informed through community
activities, and children are reached through the educational
network.[23] HI reports that
from mid-2000 to mid-2001, the program reached the population in 680 of 776
accessible villages, via 101 community volunteers. The MRE program has
benefited 59,583 school children through the work of 1,074 primary school
teachers. The HI Casamance program’s budget (excluding structural costs)
for 2001 was 100 million FCFA (US$150,000). Donors include ECHO (until March
2001), HIF (April-July 2001), and USAID since August 2001.[24]
UNICEF has developed a landmine awareness campaign for the region. A song was
composed in five local languages and recorded on CD and tape. Murals have been
painted on the walls of the main high schools of the Ziguinchor region, and
notebooks for children attending primary schools feature a message on how to
prevent mine accidents.[25]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES
In 2001, 54 new landmine/UXO casualties were
reported, of which eight people were killed and 46 injured, including 48 men,
three women, and three
children.[26] This represents a
small decrease from the 65 new casualties reported in 2000, which included 22
killed and 43 injured.[27]
Handicap International has recorded another 452 landmine/UXO casualties between
1993 and 1999, including 91 killed, 324 injured, and 37 casualties where the
date of the incident could not be
determined.[28]
It is believed that the reported figures on mine casualties may not reflect
the true reality of the number of new landmine/UXO victims in the region because
of the influence of Islamic practice (burials take place as soon as possible
after a death) and the absence of death
registries.[29]
In Form C of its Article 7 report, Senegal reported that 89 antipersonnel
mines, 59 antivehicle mines, one “mixed” mine and four other
ordnance had been victim activated in the period 1 January 2001 to 1 April
2002.[30] It could be supposed
that this caused more than the 65 casualties reported in 2001. NGOs and other
mine survivor initiatives in the region are encouraging the local population to
report landmine incidents.
Casualties continue to be reported in 2002. Handicap International recorded
three men injured in mine incidents in
January,[31] and in March, a
landmine explosion killed eight people, including a Gambian
national.[32]
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
Due to a lack of national resources, assistance to
mine survivors is limited.[33]
Prosthetics and rehabilitation services are provided at the Ziguinchor hospital
and the Centre d’Appareillage orthopédique (Center of Orthopedic
Appliances) in Dakar. Handicap International is the main mine action actor. In
addition to data collection, HI supported the decentralization of the orthopedic
surgery and physical rehabilitation services of the Ziguinchor hospital. Two
departmental centers were created in Bignona and Oussouye, the two chief towns
of the region.[34] HI also
supports the training of physiotherapists and orthopedic technicians. Until
February 2001, HI financed the KAGAMEN victim transit center in Ziguinchor, and
provided survivors with prostheses and with financial support for income
generating activities. The program has now ceased
activities.[35]
In July 1999, mines survivors created the Association
Sénégalaise des Victimes de Mines (ASVM) to help empower survivors
to achieve sustainable economic reintegration. Since its creation, ASVM has
received forty prostheses from Handicap International, and CFA 2,400,000 (about
US$3,300) from the national football team. This money is being used for a
micro-credit program targeting mine survivors in the Casamance
region.[36]
The “Centre de Guidance Infantile et Familiale,” a NGO based in
Casamance, provides psychotherapeutic support for war victims, including
landmine survivors, through group discussion and
sensitization.[37]
[1] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye Aziz
Ndao, Director of Study Control and Legislation, Ministry of Armed Forces, and
Papa Diop, Director of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
African Union and Senegalese Abroad, Geneva, 29 May
2002. [2] For details on the commission,
see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 96.
[3] The commission is composed by
members of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. [4] Interview with Col.
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces and Papa Diop, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Geneva, 29 May 2002. [5]
Previous Article 7 Reports were submitted on 1 September 1999, covering 1
March-30 August 1999, and on 27 March 2001, covering calendar year
2000. [6] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces, Geneva, 29 January
2002. [7] Article 7 Report, 22 April
2002. [8] Phone interview with Col.
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces, 3 April 2002. In the past,
Landmine Monitor has reported allegations of use of mines by Senegalese Armed
Forces in Guinea-Bissau in 1998; see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
99. [9] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
98. [10] Interview with Col. Ousmane
Sarr, Director of Military Engineering and Infrastructure, Ministry of Defense,
Dakar, 16 May 2002. For details on allegations of use by rebel forces, see
Landmine Monitor 2001, pp. 138-139. [11]
Interview with Colonel Ousmane Sarr, Ministry of Defense, Dakar, 12 January
2001. [12] Interview with Col.
Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces, Geneva, 29 May 2002; Article 7
Report, Form I, 22 April 2002. [13]
Bertrand Diamacoune, ‘La paix est irréversible’ en
Casamance” (“Peace is irreversible in Casamance”), Le
Soleil (daily newspaper), 8 March 2002.
[14] “Mouvement des Populations
et Déminage,” Bamako, Mali, 15 February 2001, p.
5. [15] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
140. [16] Article 7 Report, Form C, 22
April 2002. EXPAL is listed as Portuguese, but is a Spanish manufacturer. The
TM 46 is a Russian antivehicle mine. The PRB ENCRIER is listed as Russian, but
is likely Belgian. The K 35 BG is listed as French, but is likely the Belgian
M-35. [17] Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p. 141. [18] “Le CIDHG prêt
à aider au déminage de la Casamance” (The International
Center for Humaniarian Demining of Geneva willing to help clear mines in
Casamance), Le Soleil (daily newspaper), 5 October
2001. [19] Interview with Col. Abdoulaye
Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces, Geneva, 29 May
2002. [20]
Ibid. [21] Article 7 Report, Forms C and
G, 22 April 2002. [22] Interview with
Col. Abdoulaye Aziz Ndao, Ministry of Armed Forces, Geneva, 29 May
2002. [23] Interview with Sophie
Wyseur-Gaye, Program Coordinator in Caasamance, Handicap International, 15 May
2002. [24] Email from Cathy Badonnel,
MRE Coordination, HI, Lyon, 4 July
2002. [25] Things that go Bang! (monthly
e-bulletin of UNICEF), Issue Four, 13 May
2002. [26] Data on mine and UXO victims
in Casamance from 1988 to January 2002, Handicap International, sent to Landmine
Monitor on 8 May 2002. [27] Revised
casualty data for 2000 was provided to Landmine Monitor by Handicap
International in an email dated 30 November
2001. [28] Data on mine and UXO victims
in Casamance from 1988 to January 2002, Handicap International, sent to Landmine
Monitor on 8 May 2002. [29] “Les
Victimes de Mines en Casamance,” Handicap International, November 2000, p.
21. [30] Article 7 Report, Form C, 22
April 2002. [31] Data on mine and UXO
victims in Casamance from 1988 to January 2002, Handicap International, sent to
Landmine Monitor on 8 May 2002. [32]
“Eight Killed in Landmine Explosion,” The Independent (Gambian
newspaper), 15 March 2002. [33] Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 101. [34]
Email from Sophie Wiseur-Gaye, Program Coordinator in Casamance, Handicap
International, 8 May 2002. [35]
Telephone interview with Sophie Wyseur-Gaye, Program Coordinator in Casamance,
Handicap International, Ziguinchor, 2 May 2002; email from Sophie Wiseur-Gaye, 8
May 2002; interview with Sophie Wiseur-Gaye, Ziguinchor, 15 May
2002. [36] Abdoulaye Seye,
“ Ziguinchor : des GIE pour les victimes de mines,” Le
Soleil (daily newspaper), 10 August
2001. [37] Interview with Emile Dieme,
Coordinator, Centre de Guidance Infantile et Familiale, Ziguinchor, 14 May
2002.
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