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Key developments since May 2001: Burkina Faso adopted a decree to incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty into domestic law on 2 May 2001. Although Burkina Faso possesses no stockpiles, it reserves the right to retain a maximum number of 500 antipersonnel mines.
Burkina Faso signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 16 September 1998, becoming the 40th country to do so, and therefore triggering the treaty’s entry into force on 1 March 1999. On 2 May 2001, the President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Campaore, signed a decree on the ban of antipersonnel mines, incorporating the treaty into domestic law. Violations of the decree are sanctioned with a one- to five-year term of imprisonment and/or a fine of CFAF 300,000 to 1,500,000 (US$410 to $2,050). The State is authorized to retain a maximum of 500 antipersonnel mines for training purposes. The decree specifies the conditions for inspection as per Article 8 of the Treaty. The same penal sanctions are applicable in the case of preventing inspection operations. The Ministers of Security, of Defense, and of Justice and Promotion of Human Rights, are responsible for the implementation of the decree.[1]
Burkina Faso was scheduled to attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001, but due to flight difficulties was unable to do so. It attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in January and May 2002. Burkina Faso also 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 (ECOWAS) on 10 and 11 October 2001.
In November 2001, Burkina Faso cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, which calls for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Burkina Faso submitted its third Article 7 transparency report on 14 March 2002, for calendar year 2001.[2] As a follow-up to its commitment at the regional landmine conference held in Bamako, Mali in February 2001, Burkina Faso co-chaired with Belgium a meeting of the Article 7 Contact Group in Geneva on 30 January 2002. Burkina Faso has since directly contacted a number of States Parties to encourage them to submit their transparency reports.[3]
Burkina Faso is not a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It did not attend the third annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II of the CCW, or the Second CCW Review Conference, both of which were held in Geneva in December 2001.
Burkina Faso has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[4] The military and governmental authorities have reaffirmed that the country has never used antipersonnel mines.[5]
Burkina Faso possesses no stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. However, national legislation permits the authorities to “retain and transfer antipersonnel mines for training in detection, demining and destruction,” with the number being limited to no more than 500 mines.[6]
Burkina Faso’s last two Article 7 Reports state that the Army has not retained antipersonnel mines for training purposes “yet.”[7] When asked about this, a Ministry of Defense official underlined the need for training for militaries involved in international operations. He added, however, that the purchase of antipersonnel mines is forbidden.[8]
One battalion (approximately 200 persons) of the Military Engineering Department have been trained in demining techniques in France since independence in 1969. Since 1997, every year, six soldiers attend demining training sessions at the “Ecole de la Paix” in Zambakro, Côte d'Ivoire.[9]
Burkina Faso is not mine-affected. There are no mine victims. It is not involved in conducting mine clearance or mine risk education programs and has not made any financial contribution to mine action programs during the reporting period.
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[1] Decree N°2001-180/PRES/PM/SECU on the ban of antipersonnel mines in Burkina Faso, 2 May 2001, published in the monthly Official Journal in June 2001.
[2] The UN lists the date of submission as 14 March 2002, although Burkina Faso has it dated 23 January 2002.
[3] Interview with Blaise Kiema, Officer of the Military Engineers, Ministry of Defense, and with Piabé Firmin N’Do, Counselor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 30 May 2002. Antivehicle mines with antihandling devices are explicitly excluded from the application of the decree.
[4] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 61; confirmed by Capt. Blaise Kiema, Ministry of Defense, and Piabié Firmin N'Do, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 29 January 2002.
[5] Interview with Capt. Blaise Kiema, Ministry of Defense, and Piabié Firmin N'Do, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 29 January 2002.
[6] Decree N°2001-180/PRES/PM/SECU, 2 May 2001.
[7] Article 7 Reports, Form D, 14 March 2002 and 6 August 2001.
[8] Interview with Blaise Kiema, Ministry of Defense, and Piabé Firmin N’Do, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 30 May 2002.
[9] Interview with Capt. Blaise Kiema, Ministry of Defense, Geneva, 29 January 2002; email from Capt. Blaise Kiema, 17 June 2002.
