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The Central African Republic has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty. In an interview, C.A.R.’s Ambassador to Belgium said the C.A.R. supports a partial ban on antipersonnel mines negotiated through the Conference on Disarmament.[1]
The C.A.R. is not believed to be mine-affected. There is no evidence that the C.A.R. has ever produced or exported landmines. Government officials acknowledge that there is no practical way to control the movement of weapons, including landmines, across the C.A.R.’s territory, due to a near-complete lack of border controls. It is assumed that C.A.R. has a stockpile of AP mines, but no information is available.
When France withdrew its garrisons from Bangui and Bouar in early 1998, no stocks of landmines were left behind. Nor is the Francophone African peacekeeping force which went in to deal with a crisis and army mutiny in early 1997 in C.A.R. believed to have used mines. The successor peacekeeping force, the U.N.-backed MINURCA (which shared a high proportion of its personnel with MISAB) is also not believed to have used landmines.
Although not as badly affected by central Africa’s politico-military crisis as are countries such as Congo-Brazzaville, the Central African Republic is traversing a period of great insecurity, especially in rural areas and the eastern region, close to the border with Sudan. The situation is capable of deteriorating.
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[1]Interview, M. Zounguere-Sokambi, Ambassador of the Central African Republic, in Brussels, 26 February 1999.
