Key developments since May 2002: The Gambia ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 September 2002 and became a State Party on 1 March 2003. It submitted a voluntary Article 7 report on 28 August 2002.
The Gambia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. The Gambian parliament ratified the treaty on 2 November 1999 and the instrument of ratification was sent to the United Nations on 29 June 2000. However, it was not formally deposited until 23 September 2002. The treaty entered into force for The Gambia on 1 March 2003. The Gambia has reported that it intends to incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty into its domestic laws.[1] The Gambia submitted a voluntary Article 7 report on 28 August 2002, in which it declared that it has never produced or possessed antipersonnel mines and is not mine-affected.[2]
The Gambia participated in the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 and intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February 2003. It voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 on 22 November 2002, calling for the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
A Gambian citizen was among a group of eight people killed in a landmine explosion in the Casamance region of Senegal in March 2002.[3]
[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 28 August 2002; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 556.
[2] Article 7 Report, Forms B and C, 28 August 2002.
[3] “Eight Killed in Landmine Explosion,” The Independent, 15 March 2002.