Key developments since May 2005: Sierra Leone has not submitted an Article 7 transparency report since February 2004. It has not enacted any national implementation measures.
The Republic of Sierra Leone signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 29 July 1998, ratified on 25 April 2001, and became a State Party on 1 October 2001. In 2004, Sierra Leone stated, “Appropriate enabling legislation is under consideration.”[1] It has not since reported the enactment of any national implementation measures which are required by Article 9 of the treaty.
Sierra Leone submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report almost two years late on 9 February 2004, covering the period 30 March 2002 (the due date) to 31 December 2003. Sierra Leone has not submitted the annual updated reports required in 2005 or 2006.
Sierra Leone did not attend the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005. It did not participate in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2005 and May 2006.[2]
Sierra Leone has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3. Thus, it has not made its views known on the issues of joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.
Sierra Leone joined all protocols of the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 30 September 2004, including Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Sierra Leone did not participate in the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to Protocol II in Geneva in November 2005 and did not submit a national annual report as required by Article 13.
Both government and rebel forces used antipersonnel mines in very limited numbers during the various civil conflicts.[3] Sierra Leone is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel landmines. In February 2004, Sierra Leone told States Parties that on 11 February 2003, it had “completed the destruction of its entire stockpile of 956 anti-personnel mines that were captured from the AFRC/RUF rebel coalition forces [including] 875 pieces of MAI 75, 72 pieces of PMNs, and 9 pieces of SB 33,” and noted that the destruction was witnessed by observers from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).[4] Sierra Leone’s February 2004 Article 7 report gives slightly different figures, indicating that 959 mines were destroyed, including 878 MAI 75 mines.[5] Sierra Leone’s deadline for stockpile destruction was 1 October 2005.
Sierra Leone is primarily affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW).[6] It declared in its 2004 Article 7 report that it has no mined areas.[7] It has not amended this information subsequently. In previous years, Landmine Monitor has reported that most landmines used during civil conflicts had been removed, either by ECOMOG or the International Military Advisory Training Team (IMATT) attached to Sierra Leone’s military forces.[8]
UNAMSIL reported in 2002 that there was contamination from unexploded ordnance (UXO) and booby-traps, and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported previously that UXO posed more of a problem than mines. Areas identified as likely to be UXO-affected included Kono, Kailahun, Moyamba, Tonkolili and Koidu.[9]
There is no mine action program in Sierra Leone. As recommended by UNMAS, the Mine Action Office was established in 2000, which housed the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).[10] The office was formally closed when UNAMSIL was disbanded in December 2005. There is no information on any demining since then and it is not known if the IMSMA database has been maintained.[11]
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Sierra Leone is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 October 2011. The extent to which antipersonnel mines remain in mined areas in Sierra Leone is unknown, but based on available evidence is minor.
Landmine Monitor has not recorded any new mine/UXO incidents in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war in 2002.
The total number of mine/UXO survivors in Sierra Leone is not known. However, the government estimates that the number of amputees due to the war is between 1,500 and 3,500.[12]
Except for emergency surgery, there is limited support for the treatment and rehabilitation of mine/UXO survivors in Sierra Leone.[13] In January 2005, the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation (POF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to support the building, equipping and managing of the Prosthetic and Orthotics Center in Makeni, Northern Province. The center was scheduled to provide physical rehabilitation services for northern Sierra Leone as of April 2006. POF worked with a local NGO, the Single Leg Amputee Sports Club.[14]
Amputees received assistance from local and international NGOs in reconstructive surgery, prostheses and vocational training; ex-combatants benefited more from these services than civilians.[15] The Norwegian Refugee Council built 330 homes for amputees.[16]
Sierra Leone does not have disability legislation.[17] The Amputees and War-wounded Association advocates for equal rights for people with disabilities. Under the agreement that ended the civil war and resolutions of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Sierra Leone government promised to provide free education, medical care and public transportation for amputees.[18]
[1] Article 7 Report, Form A, 9 February 2004 (for 30 March 2002-31 December 2003).
[2] Sierra Leone has not been a regular participant in international ban treaty fora, having only attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua in September 2001, the February 2004 intersessional meetings in Geneva, and the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November 2004.
[3] The Sierra Leone military acknowledged that in the Kailahun area in 1994-1995 it used a small number of antipersonnel mines. In 2002, the Revolutionary United Front confirmed that it had used a limited number of landmines during the 1991-2001 civil war. Both the military junta and ECOMOG forces reportedly used mines following the 1997 coup. For details of past landmine use in Sierra Leone, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 168-170, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 177-178. ECOMOG = Military Observer Group of the Economic Community of West African States.
[4] Statement by Sierra Leone, Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 12 February 2004.
[5] Article 7 Report, Form G, 9 February 2004. Other mine destruction activities were reported to have been undertaken by ECOMOG forces during their intervention in 1998. From 1999 to 2002, UNAMSIL reportedly received, or found and destroyed, 148 antipersonnel mines and one antivehicle mine. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 178-179, and Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 434.
[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] Article 7 Report, Forms I and C, 9 February 2004.
[8] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 724.
[9] Interview with Maj. Ahsan, UNAMSIL, Freetown, 26 February 2002; UNMAS, “Assessment Mission Report,” 7 February 2000; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 724.
[10] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 725.
[11] Email from Vladimir Jankola, Program Officer, UN Mine Action Service, New York, 9 June 2006; “UNAMSIL,” www.un.org, accessed 9 June 2006.
[12] “Sierra Leone amputees feel marginalized,” Associated Press (Jui), 5 April 2006, www.cbsnews.com, accessed 19 May 2006.
[13] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 725.
[14] “Construction begins for the Sierra Leone Prosthetics and Orthotics Center,” Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, www.pofsea.org, accessed on 19 May 2006; “POF Dedicates New Project Office in Sierra Leone,” www.pofsea.org, accessed 19 May 2006.
[15] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2005: Sierra Leone,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.
[16] “Sierra Leone amputees feel marginalized,” Associated Press (Jui), 5 April 2006.
[17] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practice-2005: Sierra Leone,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.
[18] “Sierra Leone amputees feel marginalized,” Associated Press (Jui), 5 April 2006.