Guinea-Bissau

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 18 November 2020

Ten-Year Review: State Party Guinea-Bissau ratified the convention on 29 November 2010. It has participated in meetings of the of the convention, but not since 2015. Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting implementation of the convention in December 2019.

Guinea-Bissau provided its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in November 2019, which confirmed it has never produced cluster munitions. Guinea-Bissau has reported that it possesses cluster munitions, but a review of storage facilities conducted by technical experts in January 2020 did not identify any stocks.

Policy

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 29 November 2010. The convention entered into force for the country on 1 May 2011.

Guinea-Bissau reported in January 2020 that it is in the process of drafting implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

Guinea-Bissau submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 11 November 2019 and provided an updated report on 1 January 2020.[2]

Guinea-Bissau participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, including the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, where it joined other African states in opposing efforts to weaken the convention text and participated in the consensus adoption of the text.[3]

Guinea-Bissau has participated in meetings of the convention, but not since 2014.[4] It was invited, but did not attend, the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.

Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2019.[5] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Guinea-Bissau has also voted in favor of other UNGA resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2019.[6]

Guinea-Bissau has not elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and the prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.

Guinea-Bissau is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Since 2008, Guinea-Bissau has said that it has not used or produced cluster munitions.[7] In its initial transparency report provided in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau confirmed that it has no cluster munition production facilities.

Guinea-Bissau is not known to have exported cluster munitions, but it may have imported them in the past.

Stockpile destruction

Guinea-Bissau has reported stockpiling cluster munitions, but it has not shared information on the types or quantities stockpiled.[8] It is unclear if Guinea-Bissau still knowingly possesses cluster munitions and whether it has the capability to use them.

A 2011 inventory review by the National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenação da Acção Anti-Minas, CAAMI) found that an air force base in Bissau City held stocks of cluster munitions.[9] Since then, Guinea-Bissau has requested financial and technical assistance to destroy the stockpile, most recently in the transparency report provided in January 2020.[10]

However, a subsequent assessment visit by ammunition management experts from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in January 2020 reported that their inspection of storage facilities did not identify any cluster munitions.[11]

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Guinea-Bissau was required to destroy any stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible, but not later than 1 May 2019. Guinea-Bissau has not requested an extension to its stockpile destruction deadline, and should clarify whether it still knowingly possesses cluster munitions.

Guinea-Bissau reported in January 2020 it has not retained any cluster munitions for research or training purposes.[12]



[1] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 1 January 2020. Previously, an official said the country’s Penal Code provides sanctions for any violations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, Togo, 23 May 2013.

[2] The report was originally due by 28 October 2011 and covers an “initial” period from 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019.

[3] For details on Guinea-Bissau’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 86–87.

[4] Guinea-Bissau participated in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2010–2014 and intersessional meetings in 2011–2015. It has attended regional meetings on cluster munitions, most recently in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

[5]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 74/62, 12 December 2019.

[6]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution 74/169, 18 December 2019.

[7] Statement by Amb. Augusto Artur António Silva, Secretary of State and International Cooperation, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 4 December 2008.

[8] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 1 January 2020. Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014. Guinea-Bissau told States Parties it had asked for help to destroy its stockpile in 2013 from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which had conducted a technical assessment in 2011 that found the cluster munition stocks were held by the armed forces “in very bad conditions.” See, statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.

[9] Interview with César Luis Gomes Lopes de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, in Geneva, 27 June 2011. RBK-series air-dropped bombs and PTAB-2.5 submunitions were among munitions ejected by an explosion at an ammunition storage facility on the outskirts of Bissau City in 2000. Cleared Ground Demining, “Guinea Bissau Project Update,” undated but 2006.

[10] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 1 January 2020. Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014. Guinea-Bissau told States Parties it had asked for help to destroy its stockpile in 2013 from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which had conducted a technical assessment in 2011 that found the cluster munition stocks were held by the armed forces “in very bad conditions.” See, statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013.

[11] GICHD Report, Project Number 91023, “To assist the Guinea-Bissau authorities in the identification of suspected cluster munitions,” 11–17 January 2020. According to the report, the GICHD Ammunition Management Advisory Team (AMAT) technical experts were provided “access to all ammunition stores in Guinea Bissau … [to be] shown … the bombs suspected of being cluster munitions.” The team visited storage facilities in the capital Bissau and in Gabú and Nhala. They reviewed weapons held by the armed forces, Ministry of the Interior and national police. The AMAT experts identified old Soviet-made OFAB and FAB bombs and incendiary weapons (eighteen RBK ZAB-series bombs) but no cluster munitions. According to the report, “Disappointment was expressed at not being shown either the suspected cluster munitions or any stores of current operational and training ammunition.”


Impact

Last updated: 21 April 2021

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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

As a result of armed conflicts dating back to 1963, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau became contaminated by mines (both antipersonnel and antivehicle) and explosive remnants of war (ERW). On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. However, in 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from ERW.[1]

Guinea-Bissau is responsible for significant numbers of mine/ERW survivors.There was only one physical rehabilitation center, located in the capital Bissau, and persons with disabilities living in remote areas remained difficult to reach. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) support to the physical rehabilitation center was reported to be ending in December 2021.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Mine Ban Treaty

State Party

Convention on Cluster Munitions

State Party

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

State Party

 

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the two-month extension request granted in 2010, Guinea-Bissau was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2012. On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under the treaty.[2]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

The National Mine Action Coordination Centre (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI), established in 2001 and under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense since 2009, coordinated mine action operations. It has been inactive since 2012.[3]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[4]

Government focal points

Ministry of National Defense and Freedom Fighters of the Fatherland (Ministério da Defesa Nacional e dos Combatentes da Liberdade da Pátria)

Coordination mechanisms

None

Coordination regularity and outcomes

None

Plans/strategies

National Victim Assistance Strategy has expired

Disability sector integration

 

Not reported

Survivor inclusion and participation

None

 

Laws and policies

There is no law specifically prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities.[5] No efforts were made to counter discrimination against persons with disabilities and ensure access to buildings.[6] No improvement was reported in the accessibility of the survivors’ physical environment.[7]

Former military personnel with disabilities received pensions from the Ministry of Defense, but these programs did not adequately address health, housing, or food needs.[8]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2019)[9]

Other ERW contamination

1.54km2 (CHA: 0.56km2, and SHA:0.98km2)

Extent of contamination: Small

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war; and SHA=suspected hazardous area.

Landmine contamination

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[10] However, in its declaration of clearance completion, Guinea-Bissau noted that “Battle Area Clearance tasks remain as well as an expected residual contamination which will be addressed by CAAMI.”[11]

Cluster munition remnant contamination

The last known unexploded submunitions were said to have been destroyed by Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) in August 2008,[12] although Guinea-Bissau submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2009 which referred to “some clusters” at the Paiol da Bra ammunition storage area (ASA).[13] Subsequently, CGD reported clearing 73 PTAB 2.5M submunitions at Paiol da Bra in 2009.[14]

In June 2010, the general director of the CAAMI acknowledged the existence of a cluster munition problem, but stated that survey was needed to identify its extent.[15] During 2010, CGD found and destroyed six unexploded PTAB 2.5M submunitions during subsurface clearance at Paiol da Bra.[16] In March 2011, NPA stated that no unexploded submunitions had been found during their survey of explosive contamination in Guinea-Bissau.[17]

In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report submitted in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau stated that cluster munition contaminated areas were cleared before the convention entered into force for the country.[18]

ERW contamination

As of the end of 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that 0.56km2 remained contaminated by ERW, and that just under 1km2remained to be surveyed. It noted that 22 months of demining work would be necessary to clear all remaining contamination, but it did not indicate if the country had the capacity to conduct these operations.[19]

Casualties

Casualties overview

Casualties

All known mine/ERW casualties (between 1963 and 2019)

1,581 (including at least 1,430 people reported injured)

 

Mine/ERW casualties: details

No mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea-Bissau since 2016, when a boy was killed by an ERW in Bissorã, Oio region.[20]

The Monitor recorded 211 mine/ERW casualties (91 injured, 75 killed, and 45 survival unknown) between 2001 and 2016. No new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea Bissau between 2016 and 2019. There was no extensive national data collection after 2013. In 2019, national authorities noted that the Ministry of Defense was not informed of new casualties since the CAAMI ceased its activities.[21]

From 1963 to 2019, a total of 1,581 mine/ERW casualties were reported, including at least 1,430 survivors.[22] However, this is not believed to be a comprehensive figure. The 1963–2019 casualty total includes 1,533 casualties noted in a statement of Guinea-Bissau in December 2013 and CAAMI reporting through December 2013, as well as an additional 48 casualties for the years 2014 and 2016. In its 2013 statement, Guinea-Bissau recognized that some mine/ERW survivors might have since died, and that many more probably went unrecorded. No disaggregated information was available on the military and civilian status of those casualties. Guinea-Bissau reported that an estimated 80% of all casualties were boys and men, the majority of whom were farmers. [23] In 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that there were close to 1,300 mine survivors in the country. [24]

Cluster munition casualties

While the total number of casualties from cluster munitions is not known in Guinea-Bissau, there were 11 casualties in 1998 during an attack on a weapons depot; the explosion that caused the casualties involved cluster munitions.[25] In 2019, the Ministry of Defense responded that it was not aware of any cluster munition casualties in Guinea-Bissau.[26]

Addressing the impact

Risk education

No risk education activities were conducted since 2012. This was reportedly due to a lack of funding.[27]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Victim assistance operators[28]

Type of organization

Name of organization

Type of activity

Governmental

Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM)

Physical rehabilitation, prosthetics and mobility devices

International

Humanity & Inclusion (formerly Handicap International, HI)

Inclusive education

ICRC

Materials and components for assistive devices, and equipment for the CRM; technical and management training for CRM personnel; mobility devices; referrals to physical rehabilitation services and to institutions providing livelihood support; inclusive sports

 

Major developments in 2019

Needs assessment

Guinea-Bissau has reported a need to conduct a survey to identify cluster munition survivors.[29]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Six hospitals had the capacity to provide medical care to mine/ERW survivors, but only the Bissau hospital could treat very serious injuries.[30] Large sections of the population did not have access to health services.[31]

The Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), supported by the ICRC, remained the only physical rehabilitation center for the country.[32] In 2019, the CRM treated nearly 3,900 patients, a 12% increase compared to 2018. The ICRC improved the management and strengthened the capacities of the CRM. As a result, the quality of services offered at the center improved.[33] The ICRC covered the cost of treatment for 430 CRM patients.[34] Some limited rehabilitation services were also provided in healthcare centers, although staff were not qualified.[35] Persons with disabilities outside the capital remained difficult to reach. The ICRC and the CRM conducted media events and outreach visits to remote areas to identify persons with disabilities in need of physical rehabilitation services.[36] Survivor networks reported that the ICRC’s support to the CRM would end in December 2021.

Since 2015, mine/ERW survivors from Senegal have been receiving prosthetic devices at the CRM through an agreement between the ICRC, the Senegalese mine-action authorities, and Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD).[37] The agreement will end when the ICRC closes its program in Guinea-Bissau in December 2021.

There were no psychological support services for mine/ERW survivors.[38]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The ICRC referred persons with disabilities to institutions providing livelihood support including vocational training.[39]

Guinea-Bissau has a federation for inclusive sports supported by the ICRC. The ICRC donated wheelchairs and supported activities of the federation.[40]

Cross-cutting issues

The ICRC covered transportation costs for persons living in poverty and/or living in remote areas to facilitate accessibility to the CRM. However, the majority of patients treated at the CRM came from the capital city Bissau.[41]



[1] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[3] Interviews with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019; with César de Carvalho, CAAMI, in Geneva, 23 June 2010.

[4] Interview with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; response to Monitor questionnaire by Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, 7 March 2019; and email from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, Director, Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), 15 May 2018.

[5] United States (US) Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau,” 11 March 2020.

[6] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau,” 11 March 2020.

[7] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, 7 March 2019.

[8] United States (US) Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau,” Washington, DC, 11 March 2020.

[9] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[11] Ibid., p. 5.

[12] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 22 April 2009.

[13] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 April 2008 to 30 April 2009), Form C.

[14] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 21 June 2010.

[15] Interview with César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, in Geneva, 23 June 2010.

[16] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 28 April 2011.

[17] Email from Mário Penedo Tomé Nunes, NPA, 11 March 2011.

[18] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Form F.

[19] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[20] Emails from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, Director, CRM, 17 June 2016, 15 May 2018, and 27 March 2019; and Guine-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Annex 1; interview with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, 29 April 2019; and Monitor media monitoring from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

[21] Interviews with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; and with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[22] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2013 and email from César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, 12 March 2014. Additional casualties were recorded in emails from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, CRM, 17 June 2016 and 15 May 2018; and Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Annex 1.

[23] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2013.

[24] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[25] Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), Annex 2, p. 145.

[26] Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[27] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Form G.

[28] Interviews with Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, Bissau, 30 April 2019; with Emmanuel Pinto Lopez, Humanity and Inclusion (HI), Bissau, 29 April 2019; HI, “Country card: Guinea-Bissau,” September 2020; ICRC, “Newsletter: January–December 2019,” February 2020, p. 6; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” Geneva, June 2020, p. 160.

[29] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Form H.

[30] The six hospitals are located in Bafata, Bissau, Buba, Canchungo, Catio, and Gabu. Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[31] Email from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, CRM, 15 May 2018.

[32] Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019; ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” June 2020, p. 160; and ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: 2019 Annual Report,” June 2020, p. 20.

[34] ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” June 2020, p. 160.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, 7 March 2019.

[36] ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: 2019 Annual Report,” June 2020, p. 20; and interview with Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, Bissau, 30 April 2019.

[37] ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” June 2020, p. 160.

[38] Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of Defense of Guinea-Bissau, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[39] ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” June 2020, p. 160.

[40] Interview with Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project Manager, ICRC, Bissau, 30 April 2019; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2019,” June 2020, p. 160.

[41] Interview with Emmanuel Pinto Lopez, HI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; and ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: 2019 Annual Report,” June 2020, p. 20.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 18 December 2019

Policy

Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 22 May 2001, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2001. In December 2004, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said Guinea-Bissau was planning to enact domestic legislation to implement the treaty,[1] but in July 2007, the director of the National Mine Action Coordination Center (CAAMI) told the Monitor that the government would not adopt a new law as the treaty automatically became national law under the constitution, making mine-related crimes subject to existing penal sanctions.[2] Guinea-Bissau has reported that the Mine Ban Treaty was approved by parliament on 13 December 2000 and subsequently by the office of the president by a decree, thus entering the Convention’s obligations into law in Guinea-Bissau.[3]

Guinea-Bissau previously regularly attended meetings of the treaty, but has not done so since it attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Guinea-Bissau submitted its 10th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2011, but has not submitted subsequent reports.

Guinea-Bissau is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Guinea-Bissau is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Guinea-Bissau has reported that it never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. On 17 October 2005, Guinea-Bissau destroyed the last of its 10,654 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, just ahead of its stockpile destruction deadline of 1 November 2005.[4]

In December 2011, Guinea-Bissau demonstrated transparency by reporting that an ammunition storage assessment conducted jointly with the UN Mine Action Service had identified a small number of additional stockpiled antipersonnel mines in the military bases of Quebo and Gabu.[5] Seven PMN mines were found, as well as two boxes containing an undetermined number of POMZ-2 mines. Guinea-Bissau stated its intention to destroy them no later than 31 March 2012, but as of September 2012 the Monitor had not received a confirmation that the mines had been destroyed. Under the Cartagena Action Plan, a State Party that discovers stockpiled mines after the expiration of its deadline must share such information with States Parties as soon as possible and destroy the mines as a matter of urgent priority.

In its 2008 Article 7 report, Guinea-Bissau reported having retained 109 mines for training purposes.[6] However, 100 of these—50 POMZ-2 and 50 PMD-6—were listed as “disarmed.”[7] In its 2009 report, Guinea-Bissau stated that the 50 POMZ-2 mines had been recycled for metal use, and the 50 PMD-6 mines had also been destroyed.[8] In its subsequent Article 7 reports, Guinea-Bissau listed only nine mines as retained for training: six PMN, one M409, and two M969 mines. Most recently, in 2011, Guinea-Bissau reported that there was no training underway.[9]

Use

There have been no reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Guinea-Bissau since March and April 2006, when a faction of the Senegal-based Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de la Casamance, MFDC) fled from Senegal and laid both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in northern Guinea-Bissau.[10]



[1] Statement by Soares Sambu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mine Ban Treaty First Review Conference, Nairobi, 2 December 2004.

[2] Email from César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, 19 July 2007. This point has been stated in Guinea-Bissau’s Article 7 reports; see, for example, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2006 (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006), Form A. The report cites Articles 85.1, para. h), and 68, para. e), of the Constitution as making the treaty national law, and Article 206 of the Penal Code, which allows sentencing of crimes. Penal Code Article 206, Number 1 prohibits the use of explosives.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A (for the period 30 April 2010 to 30 April 2011).

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Forms F and G (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006); and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 461–462. Guinea-Bissau destroyed 4,943 antipersonnel mines on 17 October 2005; 1,000 mines on 12 September 2002; and 4,711 mines in February 1998. There are differences between the numbers of stockpiled mines Guinea-Bissau declared in its previous Article 7 reports and the number destroyed in October 2005.

[5] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 1 December 2011.

[6] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report. Form D (for the period April 2007 to April 2008). Guinea-Bissau had made inconsistent statements about its intent to retain mines for training purposes. See, Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 377.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006). At the time of the final destruction in October 2005, Guinea-Bissau said that it would retain 67 mines. This included 58 disarmed mines (50 POMZ-2 and eight PMD-6) and nine active. Letter to Kerry Brinkert, Director, Implementation Support Unit, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, from César de Carvalho, CAAMI, 20 October 2005.

[8] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for 30 April 2008 to 30 April 2009).

[9] Under mines retained for training, Guinea-Bissau stated “No training for us is taking place.” Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for the period 30 April 2010 to 30 April 2011).

[10] For details, see, Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 463–464. In April 2006, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had ousted rebel forces from its territory. The ICBL condemned the antipersonnel mine use in northern Guinea-Bissau and noted that the MFDC in 1999 signed the Banjul Declaration, which among other things, committed the group to cease using landmines.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 22 November 2013

In 2012, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau declared it had completed its Article 5 Mine Ban Treaty mine clearance obligations.[1] Norway contributed NOK1,000,000 (US$171,877) to Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) for final survey and clearance.[2]

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[3]

Year

International contributions ($)

2012

171,877

2011

2,431,891

2010

1,661,693

2009

2,068,000

2008

1,694,882

Total

8,028,343

 



[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Ingunn Vatne, Senior Advisor, Department for Human Rights, Democracy and Humanitarian Assistance, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 April 2013. Average exchange rate for 2012: NOK5.8181=US$1. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.

[3] See Landmine Monitor reports 2008–2011; and ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Guinea Bissau: Support for Mine Action,” 10 September 2012.