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Key developments since May 2001: Niger reported that it does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, contrary to previous information.
Niger signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified it on 23 March 1999 and became a State Party on 1 September 1999. The National Commission for the collection and Control of Illegal Weapons is in charge of the mine issue.[1]
Niger’s first Article 7 transparency report was due on 28 February 2000. As of 31 July 2002, it had not been officially sent to the United Nations. However, a report has been prepared, and a copy has been provided to Landmine Monitor.[2] The report is dated 9 August 2001 and covers the period from September 1999 to April 2001. Among other things, the report states that Niger is “engaged” in the process of enacting national implementation measures.
Niger did not attend the Third Meeting of State Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001 or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in January or May 2002. Niger 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. Niger co-sponsored UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, but was absent during the vote.
Niger adhered to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its three original Protocols, but not to amended Protocol II. It did not attend the third annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II nor the Second CCW Review Conference, both of which were held in Geneva in December 2001.
Niger is not believed to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[3] In the Article 7 Report supplied to Landmine Monitor, Niger states that, as of April 2001, it had no stockpile of antipersonnel mines, and no mines retained for training purposes.[4] This would seem to be at odds with the statement made in February 2001 by a military official who informed Landmine Monitor that Niger planned to proceed with destruction of stocks as soon as possible.[5] Antipersonnel mines have been used in the past, allegedly by the Army and by the Tuareg and Tubu rebels.[6]
Niger’s mine problem dates back to World War II. More recently mines were reportedly laid in the Aïr mountains in the north and central regions of the country and the Ténéré desert.[7] The Article 7 Report supplied to Landmine Monitor identifies areas suspected to be mined: Aïr, Mangueni, and northeast (Tibesti).[8] The Peace Agreements signed in D’jamena, Chad, in December 1998, with the FARS Tubu rebellion foresaw demining in the mine-affected areas. To date, no mine action activities have taken place. Niger has indicated it will need international assistance to locate, mark, and clear mined areas, and to train qualified personnel.[9]
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[1] Phone interview with Mahamadou Koudi, Administrative Secretary of Col. Maï Moctar Kassouma, President of the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illegal Weapons, 23 May 2002.
[2] Draft Article 7 Report, dated 9 August 2001, for the period September 1999 to April 2001. A copy was faxed to Landmine Monitor on 27 June 2002. It contains handwritten entries on the standard Article 7 reporting forms.
[3] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 88.
[4] Draft Article 7 Report, Forms B and D, 9 August 2001. It also indicates in Form F that no stockpiled antipersonnel mines have been destroyed in the reporting period of September 1999 to April 2001.
[5] Interview with Col. Mai Moctar Kassouma, President of the National Commission for Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons, Bamako, Mali, 16 February 2001, reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 131.
[6] For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 88.
[7] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 88.
[8] Draft Article 7 Report, Form C, 9 August 2001.
[9] Ibid.
