Key developments since May 2005: On 16 September 2005, Liberia joined Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Liberia has not submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report since October 2004. It has not enacted any national implementation measures. Liberia has declared no mined areas containing antipersonnel mines. The little information available indicates a small residual risk from landmines and a greater risk from unexploded ordnance. Landmine Action UK conducted a pilot project in early 2006, which revealed at least 14 previously unreported casualties since November 2004, and a need for risk education and improved reporting of explosive ordnance.
The Republic of Liberia acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 December 1999 and it entered into force for the country on 1 June 2000. Liberia has not taken any legislative or other measures to implement the treaty domestically, as required by Article 9.
Liberia submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report nearly four years late on 20 October 2004, together with a cover letter from the Minister of Defense. With the exception of Form A on national measures, which is left blank, every other form in the report states “not applicable” or “nothing to report.”[1] Liberia has not submitted the required annual updated reports in 2005 or 2006.
Liberia did not attend the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005, or the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005 and May 2006.[2]
On 16 September 2005, Liberia joined the Convention on Conventional Weapons Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It did not attend the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2005 and it did not submit a national annual report in accordance with Article 13.
Liberia’s treaty-mandated deadline for destroying any stocks of antipersonnel mines was 1 June 2004. The deadline passed without Liberia officially informing States Parties that it had met the obligation. Its “nil” Article 7 report submitted in October 2004 says “not applicable” on the forms for stockpiled mines, mines retained for training and destruction of stockpiled mines.
Liberia has stated that it has not produced, transferred, stockpiled or used antipersonnel mines. In his letter accompanying the Article 7 report, the Minister of Defense said that Liberia’s “National Defense Policy has never permitted the purchase for inclusion in our inventories, Anti-Personnel Mines.”[3]
There were no reports of use of antipersonnel mines by anyone in Liberia in 2005 or the first half of 2006. In 2005 the army was completely demobilized and in 2006, a new national army was being recruited and trained with the US government taking the lead in assisting the effort through a contract with DynCorp International, a US-based security firm.[4]
It appears antipersonnel mines were not used during the second civil war (1999-2003), and no landmines were handed in during the disarmament process. Landmines were used during the country’s first civil war (1989-1997).[5]
Liberia is primarily affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW)[6] as a result of 14 years of internal and regional warfare involving neighboring Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. Assessments by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in September 2003 and UNICEF in April-May 2004 covered only part of the country, but both concluded that landmines and ERW were not a major problem in comparison with others facing Liberia and that ERW would be the larger of the two problems.[7] Since that time, UNICEF’s country office has supplied updates upon request with the understanding they should alert UNMAS if the situation changes significantly. The most recent update came in February 2006 in response to a Handicap International inquiry regarding abandoned explosive ordnance. The update supplied by UNICEF indicated that no increase in risk or victims was detectable in Liberia.[8]
However, as of May 2006, Landmine Action UK (LA-UK), a British NGO working in Liberia, had received reports of nine people injured and five killed by unexploded ordnance (UXO) from five towns it had visited in Nimba and Lofa areas.[9] In contrast, there were no official reports of any mine casualties in 2005 or January-May 2006.[10]
A limited number of mines were used in earlier conflicts, notably by the Military Observer Group of the Economic Community of West African States,[11] but it subsequently reported that all the mines had been cleared.[12] Following official closure of the disarmament phase of the Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Rehabilitation process (DDRR), weapons continue to be recovered in collaboration with the local population but among those recovered no mines had been encountered.[13] However, among the weapons and ordnance collected by LA-UK by May 2006 was an antivehicle mine found under a tree near a rural town, Ganglota. In addition, on 3 May 2006, during a visit to the same town, the organization’s field staff were told of the existence of an antipersonnel mine that was being kept ‘safe’ in a person’s house.[14]
There is no formal mine action program in Liberia. A number of ad hoc mine action initiatives have taken place.
The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) no longer uses the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database to record mine contamination and clearance operations.[15] Formerly, it used an early version of IMSMA, but the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) has not received any requests for support.[16]
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Liberia is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 June 2010. According to its first and thus far only Article 7 report, Liberia has declared no mined areas in the country and no areas suspected of being mined.[17] Landmine Monitor does not contest this assertion based on currently available information, although vigilance will be required over the coming years in case mined areas are identified.
UNMIL has six explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams, each composed of six people, positioned in five different sectors. Their task is to locate and evaluate the ERW threat, and to dismantle or destroy isolated items of explosive ordnance.[18]
In addition, LA-UK established a small arms and light weapons (SALW) project in November 2005.[19] It has monitored SALW collection boxes in Ganta town and initiated pilot projects in four rural towns in Lofa county for weapons collection, reports of mines/UXO and for Quick Impact Projects. As of May 2006, the focus of the project was changing from SALW to UXO disposal based on the number of incidents recorded.[20]
During 2006, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) implemented the Community Arms Collection for Development Program, which provides community development projects in exchange for weapons in Grand Gedeh, Lofa and Nimba counties. It was planned to progressively extend the program to other counties as funding permits.[21]
No comprehensive assessment has been carried out of the extent of the ERW problem and no surveys are known to be planned.[22]
No contaminated areas are known to be marked or fenced. LA-UK introduced marking materials to the four communities where it implemented pilot projects, alongside developing an effective reporting mechanism. UNMIL EOD teams conduct rapid response to community reports of UXO sightings, according to LA-UK. However, there is still some dangerous behavior on the part of communities that needs to be addressed (for example, people would handle and deliver to UNMIL items of UXO they found in order to benefit financially from the DDRR process).[23]
In December 2005, the UN Secretary-General reported that, “Since the formal closure of the disarmament and demobilization programme in November 2004, UNMIL has continued to collect weapons and ammunition voluntarily surrendered or discovered during search operations. So far, some 400 weapons, 49,062 rounds of ammunition and 389 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been collected.”[24]
From 14 January to 31 May 2006, LA-UK collected 3,319 rounds of small arms ammunition and 140 items of UXO, in addition to several dozen small arms and light weapons.[25]
Landmine Monitor has received no reports of any casualties among EOD personnel in 2005 or January-May 2006. One UNMIL Pakistani EOD officer was slightly injured in 2004 when disposing of a hand grenade.[26]
UNMIL is said to provide basic mine risk education (MRE) through posters in refugee transit centers.[27]
LA-UK’s pilot project in four rural towns in Lofa (Ganglota, Salayea, Tinsu and Yeala) in March-April 2006 revealed UXO-related casualties that were unknown to UNMIL and a need for mine/UXO risk education and community liaison. The pilot project successfully tested a fourfold integrated approach to weapons and mine/UXO collection. Community liaison is carried out to establish each community’s experiences during and after the war, its main concerns (related to mines/UXO and weapons, and to the wider developmental context), and a Quick Impact Project (lasting longer than 10 days), which provides a resource it is in need of. Risk education relating to dangers of mines and UXO is conducted in the communities; this includes a reporting system that links with police and UNMIL, as well as people handing in any weapons. Community members cooperating in these activities become paid participants in the Quick Impact Project. Weapons are ceremonially handed over to UNMIL for removal and destruction. On completion, a humanitarian impact assessment is conducted.[28]
In May 2006, LA-UK sought funding to implement this approach beyond the pilot period.[29]
Between November 2004 and May 2006, there were at least 14 new UXO casualties. LA-UK cross-checked information about incidents in four communities it had surveyed and found five killed and nine injured by UXO since the end of the DDRR process in November 2004. This includes one child killed and two seriously injured in April 2006; UNMIL did not have knowledge of this incident.[30] In 2004, eight people (including one woman and one child) were injured in three UXO incidents in the first five months of the year.[31]
There is no data collection mechanism for mine casualties in Liberia as medical statistics and reporting mechanisms are almost non-existent. However, LA-UK started collecting data in 2006 as part of a preliminary assessment of the SALW/UXO situation.[32] Generally, no distinction is made between casualties of war and mine/UXO casualties.
Years of conflict have damaged the health infrastructure in Liberia, with many public health facilities closed due to fighting, looting and a lack of staff and supplies. Healthcare services depend on international resources for implementation, support and capacity-building.[33]
Approximately 100 centers have re-opened with the support of international NGOs. There is no functioning public health system and many medical facilities are privately run or run by churches. The costs are prohibitive to most Liberians, ranging between LRD250 (US$4) and LRD5,000 ($87).[34] The World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with local organizations, provides medical care to ex-combatants.[35]
In 2006, international aid organizations initiated the process of handing basic health services over to the government. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-Belgium transferred the 150-bed Redemption Hospital, the only functioning public hospital in Monrovia, to the government. It continued to provide limited support until the end of June 2006, but by March supplies were running low. It was estimated that services would no longer be free when MSF ceased support completely, and that hospital staff might leave for the private sector. The hospital treats approximately 1,200 people per month, many of them displaced people.[36]
John F. Kennedy hospital, the largest public hospital, was not functioning to full capacity as of March 2006 due to lack of funds.[37] In 2006, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was mainly involved in community-based primary healthcare and supported several healthcare units.[38] ICRC supported two hospitals until 2004.[39]
Handicap International (HI) runs the Monrovia Rehabilitation Center, providing technical training for orthopedic technicians and physiotherapists, as well as materials. In 2005, the center assisted 1,439 people (70 percent male); 734 of them were amputees, but it is not known if any were mine/UXO survivors. Five technicians who had received on-the-job training since 2000 received their certification in October 2005; one of them was sent to the Tanzania Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists for training in September 2005.[40] There is a lack of trained technicians and physiotherapists in Liberia, and materials to make artificial limbs must be imported.
HI also supports a program for the socioeconomic reintegration of people with disabilities in Monrovia and Buchanan, in cooperation with local partners. The Lady of Fatima social center works with HI to accommodate people visiting the Buchanan center. HI was scheduled to phase out its activities by July 2006.[41]
The Organization of the Center of Rehabilitation of Injured and Disabled, a private clinic and center run by an orthopedic surgeon, performs stump revisions for amputees and other surgery, and produces prostheses using ICRC polypropylene technology; the DDRR program funds its activities through WHO. The Spanish Catholic Sisters run a rehabilitation center for disabled children, but capacity is limited due to financial restraints.[42]
There are few socioeconomic reintegration programs and, in general, disabled people have very little access to services.[43] However, Liberia has an active civil society, with local NGOs and churches working to improve the lives of the most vulnerable, including people with disabilities.[44]
There is no legal framework to protect the rights of people with disabilities.[45]
[1] The date of submission listed by the UN is 20 October 2004, but the report itself is dated 30 April 2004. The reporting period is listed as calendar year 2004. The report was originally due by 28 November 2000. The cover letter states, “We wish to assure you that the National Transitional Government under the Chairmanship of H.E. Charles Gyude Bryant, will continue to uphold the spirit of the treaty banning all APMs and related devices.”
[2] Liberia has only participated in one of the six annual Meetings of States Parties (in 2000), and has never participated in the intersessional meetings, which began in 1999.
[3] Letter from Daniel L. Chea, Sr., Minister of National Defense, to Mine Ban Convention Article 7 Officer, UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, Geneva, 20 October 2004. Other military leaders, including some active in the country’s civil wars between 1989 and 2003, repeated this to Landmine Monitor in 2004 and 2005. UNICEF has also reported that Liberian military leaders claimed never to have possessed mines. UNICEF, “Liberia Mines/UXO Situation Analysis Risk Assessment,” April/May 2004.
[4] DynCorp International, Public Affairs Office, Press Release, Monrovia, 25 January 2006; statement by Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State, Star Radio, Monrovia, 16 January 2006.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 533-534; Landmine Monitor Report 2005, pp. 406-407.
[6] Under Protocol V to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, explosive remnants of war are defined as unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance. Mines are explicitly excluded from the definition.
[7] UNICEF, “Liberia Mines/UXO Situation,” April/May 2004; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 534.
[8] Email from Peter Alm, Programme Officer, UNMAS, New York, 30 May 2006.
[9] Email from Richard Moyes, Policy and Research Manager, LA-UK, London, 25 May 2006.
[10] Ibid.
[11] See for example Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 407.
[12] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 88.
[13] Interview with Cdr. Anders Johansson, military spokesperson, UNMIL, Monrovia, 24 January 2006; see also “Communities mobilize to protect Liberian peace,” Africa Renewal, Vol. 19 #4 (January 2006), UN, New York, p. 5, www.un.org, accessed 26 May 2006.
[14] Interview with Richard Moyes, LA-UK, Geneva, 11 May 2006; email from Aneeza Pasha, Consultant, LA-UK, Monrovia, 30 May 2006.
[15] Email from Peter Alm, UNMAS, New York, 30 May 2006.
[16] Email from Jean-Paul Rychener, IMSMA Regional Adviser for Africa, GICHD, 20 May 2006.
[17] Article 7 Report, Forms C and I, 20 October 2004.
[18] Interview with Cdr. Johansson, UNMIL, Monrovia, 24 January 2006; see also “Communities mobilize to protect Liberian peace,” African Recovery, January 2006, p. 5.
[19] Email from Aneeza Pasha, LA-UK, Monrovia, 16 May 2006. LA-UK collaborated with UNDP and a national NGO based in Gunta region on the SALW project. LA-UK was responsible for daily security monitoring of weapons collection boxes; UNDP was responsible for positioning of the boxes, collection of weapons and disposal.
[20] Email from Richard Moyes, LA-UK, London, 25 May 2006.
[21] UN, “Tenth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Liberia,” S/2006/159, 14 March 2006, p. 5.
[22] Email from Richard Moyes, LA-UK, London, 25 May 2006.
[23] Ibid.
[24] UN, “Ninth progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission in Liberia,” S/2005/764, 7 December 2005, p. 8.
[25] “SAA, ERW and SALW Collection/Disposal, 14 January-25 April 2006,” Report in email from Dan Ayliffe, LA-UK, Monrovia, 1 June, and email, 26 June 2006.
[26] Email from Col. Claes Wolgast, Chief of Staff, UNMIL, 23 August 2005.
[27] Email from Aneeza Pasha, LA-UK, Monrovia, 18 May 2006.
[28] Aneeza Pasha, “Psycho social impact of Landmine Action’s work”; Nick Sanders, “Mine Risk Education and Direct Community Involvement – LMA/CHF Approach. Assessment findings to affect a community based ‘Weapons in Society’ Program.” Both reports provided to Landmine Monitor on 16 May 2006.
[29] Email from Aneeza Pasha, LA-UK, Monrovia, 16 May 2006.
[30] Email from Aneeza Pasha, LA-UK, Monrovia, 18 May 2006.
[31] UNICEF, “Liberia Mines/UXO situation,” April/May 2004; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 536.
[32] Email from Aneeza Pasha, LA-UK, Monrovia, 18 May 2006.
[33] WHO, “Health in Action Crises, Liberia: Health Sector Needs Assessment,” www.who.int, accessed 23 May 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 409.
[34] “Hospital’s shaky transfer from NGO to government spotlights challenges,” IRIN (Monrovia), www.irinnews.org, accessed 23 May 2006. Estimated average exchange rate for 2005: US$1 = LRD57.33 based on Central Bank of Liberia, “Money and Banking: Liberian Dollar Exchange Rates, Period Averages 2005,” and www.oanda.com.
[35] HI, “Country Situation Analysis: Liberia,” Brussels, June 2005, pp. 4, 7, 9; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 536.
[36] “Hospital’s shaky transfer from NGO to government spotlights challenges,” IRIN (Monrovia), www.irinnews.org, accessed 23 May 2006.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Interview with Tobias Epprecht, Head of Delegation, ICRC, Monrovia, 22 May 2006.
[39] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 409.
[40] HI, “Monrovia Rehabilitation Center Annual Report 2005,” (internal document), Monrovia, 17 February 2006, pp. 5, 14-15.
[41] Ibid, pp. 3, 4, 10; email from Christelle Sanchez, Country Director, HI, Monrovia, 23 May 2006.
[42] Email from Paivi Elina Laurila, Medical Coordinator, ICRC, Monrovia, 13 September 2005.
[43] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 410.
[44] HI, “Country Situation Analysis: Liberia,” Brussels, June 2005, pp. 4, 7, 9.
[45] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: Liberia,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.