Ten-Year Review: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed the convention in 2009 and its parliament approved ratification in 2013, but the ratification process still has not been completed. The DRC attended the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019, its first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2015. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2019.

In 2011, the DRC reported that it has never used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions, and does not possess a stockpile. Cluster munitions were used in the DRC in the past, but the party or parties responsible has never been conclusively identified.

Policy

The DRC signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 18 March 2009.

The current status of the DRC’s ratification efforts is not known. The Senate adopted the ratification legislation on 28 November 2013.[1] In 2015, the DRC stated that the ratification legislation was awaiting review by the Constitutional Court.[2]

The DRC stated in 2014 that its implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty had been amended to incorporate provisions of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3] However, the Monitor has never been able to obtain a copy of the law to confirm this.

The DRC provided three voluntary Article 7 transparency reports for the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011–2014, but none since then.[4]

The DRC actively participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and strongly supported a comprehensive ban as well as the inclusion of provisions on international cooperation and assistance. Due to inadequate signing authority, the DRC could not sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008, but it signed three months later at the UN in New York.[5]

The DRC has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019.[6] This was its first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2015.

In December 2019, the DRC voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[7] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.[8]

The DRC has abstained from Human Rights Council resolutions condemning use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in June 2020.[9]

The DRC has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2012, the government’s national mine action coordinator said that the DRC agreed with the views of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that the provisions of the convention forbid transit in, foreign stockpiling of, and investment in the production of cluster munitions, and also forbid assistance with the use of cluster munitions in joint military operations with states not party.[10]

The DRC is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The DRC reports that it has never produced cluster munitions and does not possess a stockpile.[11]

However, the DRC may have received a shipment of Chilean-manufactured cluster munitions from Zimbabwe in or after July 2013.[12] As a signatory, under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the DRC has committed not to take any action that runs contrary to the object and purpose of the convention such as importing or otherwise receiving cluster munitions.

The DRC states that it never used cluster munitions, but “foreign armies” used cluster munitions in the DRC in the past.[13] The DRC’s cluster munition contamination includes BL-755, BLU-63, BLU-55, ShAOB-0.5, and PM1-type submunitions.[14]

In May 2013, the DRC reported that an abandoned stockpile of 1,593 ShAOB-0.5 submunitions was found and destroyed in Goma in 2011.[15]

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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is contaminated by antipersonnel landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), as a consequence of armed conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) since the late 1990s.[1] In 2011, the DRC reported that contamination from mines and ERW existed across the country, although ERW contamination was a more extensive problem than mine contamination. Cluster munition remnants contamination has also been discovered, but these areas have not yet been surveyed. In 2018, the resurgence of armed conflict resulted in new ERW contamination, particularly in eastern and central regions.

In 2011, the DRC requested a 26-month extension to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline in order to understand the extent of remaining contamination, and further requested a six-year extension in 2014, with a deadline of 1 January 2021. However, the DRC did not meet this deadline and submitted a third extension request in September 2020 for an additional 18 months. This was approved at the Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, which was held virtually in November 2020.

Risk education in the DRC is carried out by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community volunteers, who conduct risk education sessions, mark hazardous areas, and convey alerts to the national authorities. High-risk groups are children, women, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and refugees.

The DRC is responsible for a significant number of mine/ERW victims, and reported more than 1,700 survivors as of the end of 2019.[2] Despite existing measures benefiting mine/ERW survivors, such as free access to medical care and prostheses, and tax exemption for companies which employ a mine survivor, most survivors are not aware of these rights due to the lack of victim assistance coordination in the country.[3] Several victim assistance actors report that funding for such activities was scarce, and that there was no improvement in 2019 compared to previous years.[4]

Treaty status

Treaty status overview[5]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline

The DRC’s initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline was 1 November 2012, but a 26-month extension was requested to conduct national survey to better understand the extent of the remaining contamination, enabling the DRC to submit a follow-up extension request in 2014.[6]

The DRC did not meet its extended Article 5 deadline, resulting from the second extension request, of January 2021. The DRC submitted a third extension request in September 2020, which was approved, setting a new deadline of 1 July 2022.[7] The DRC reports it is on track to meet this deadline, provided that sufficient funding is available and security and health conditions improve.[8] This projection is based on a budget of some US$3 million and a collaboration between three mine clearance operators, supported by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).[9] In February 2020, DanChurchAid (DCA) took responsibility for clearance of three quarters of the remaining contaminated areas.[10]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination overview[11]

The Congolese Mine Action Center (CCLAM) was established in 2012, with support from the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). CCLAM took over responsibility from UNMAS for the coordination of mine action in the DRC in 2016, although UNMAS continues to provide guidance and support.

Strategies and policies

The DRC’s National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, developed with support from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), UNMAS, and the Government of Japan, has expired. The DRC reported in August 2020 that it was in the process of developing a new national mine action strategy.[12]

There is a gender unit within CCLAM’s advocacy department. It aims to ensure the mobilization and inclusion of women in mine action, to ensure the participation of women and men in the implementation of all five pillars of mine action, and to promote the inclusion of women in both administrative and operational activities.[13]

Mine action is integrated into the DRC’s National Development Plan, through the security governance component.[14]

Information management

CCLAM assumed responsibility from UNMAS for information management in January 2016. The alerts received from mine action operators and local communities are recorded by CCLAM in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[15]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[16]

National Standards and guidelines

The National Risk Education Strategy was included in the expired National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019.[17] Led by the head of the risk education department within CCLAM, the program meets on a quarterly basis.

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[18]

Note: NGO=non-governmental organization.

* The National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019 included a reference to victim assistance in its first strategic objective. The strategy has now expired.

Laws and policies

The constitution prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and provides specific protection, however the government did not enforce these provisions effectively and persons with disabilities often found it difficult to obtain employment, education, or government services. A new Ministry of Social Affairs in charge of people living with disabilities and other vulnerable persons was created in August 2019. Legislation does not mandate access to buildings or government services for persons with disabilities, and persons with disabilities continued to suffer social stigmatization.[19]

The DRC acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in September 2015. However, the DRC has not adopted national laws to implement the provisions of the CRPD. A proposal for new legislation to protect persons with disabilities in the DRC and promote their rights was drafted in 2012, with the involvement of NGOs, but has not yet been adopted.[20]

In June 2016, the Ministry of Social Affairs adopted a National Strategic Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Persons with Disabilities.[21]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of August 2020)[22]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war; and SHA=auspected hazardous area.

Landmine contamination

The DRC is contaminated by antipersonnel mines and ERW as a result of armed conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and NSAGs, which has worsened since the late 1990s.[23]

Mine contamination limits circulation of populations and access to water, food, shelter and health services. IDPs and returnees are particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by mines/ERW.[24]

Remaining contamination in the DRC is low, but primarily affects the Ituri and North-Kivu provinces, which are difficult to access due to the presence of NSAGs and the Ebola epidemic.[25] The DRC also reported that some contaminated areas in North-Ubangi, Tanganyika, and Tshuapa provinces were difficult to access, and therefore will require more time and resources to clear.[26]

As of the end of 2019, CCLAM reported remaining mine contamination totaled 0.33km² across 47 areas.[27] However, in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request of August 2020, the DRC reported 33 mined areas remaining, totaling 1.28km².[28]

In addition, the Aru territory in Ituri province, and the Dungu territory in the Haut-Uele province, still remain to be surveyed.[29] These two territories were not surveyed as part of the national survey in 2013 due to security concerns.[30]

Improvised mine contamination was identified in North-Kivu. Surveys could not be conducted due to ongoing security concerns in the region, and the extent of the contamination there is unknown.

Various types of improvised mines have been discovered in the DRC, and identification of these types was ongoing as of the end of 2019. Some of the devices discovered have been described as ‘‘pressure-release’’ mines, and survivors’ testimonies indicate that some of the devices were activated by the contact or weight of a person.[31]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

The expired National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019 stated that in addition to landmines and ERW, “some areas contaminated by submunitions have also been reported but the areas affected remain negligible.”[32]

In August 2020, the DRC reported that several areas were found to contain cluster munition remnants, but these areas had not been surveyed and their size had not yet been determined. Cluster munition remnants contamination has been identified in at least five provinces: Ituri, Maniema, Tanganyika, Tshuapa, and South-Kivu.[33]

ERW Contamination

The DRC is affected by other ERW as a result of years of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and rebel groups. Successive conflicts have also left the country with significant quantities of abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO).[34]

In 2019, explosive ordnance continued to pose a significant risk to civilians in the DRC, increased by the resurgence of armed conflict that has resulted in new ERW contamination in eastern and central regions. The DRC reports that there are 44 confirmed hazardous areas (CHA) contaminated with ERW, covering 0.06km² in total. ERW contamination has also been reported at firing ranges in Kitona, Kisangani, and Mbandaka.[35]

Casualties

Casualties overview[36]

*The age and gender of two casualties in 2019 was not reported.

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Casualties in 2019: details

In 2019, 42 civilian casualties were identified in the DRC. As in previous years, children constituted a significant portion of all casualties, with nearly half of casualties being minors. The 2019 casualty total represented an increase from the 31 mine/ERW casualties recorded for 2019.[37]

All casualties in 2019 were civilians; and all incidents resulting in casualties involved ERW, except one incident that was reported to have been caused by an antipersonnel landmine.

Casualty data for the DRC significantly under-represents the true number of people killed and injured, due to the absence of a national data collection system for mine/ERW casualties and the fact that parts of the country remain inaccessible due to lack of infrastructure and security constraints.[38] In 2020, CCLAM reported that identifying mine/ERW victims remained challenging in the DRC.[39]

Cluster munition casualties

Unexploded cluster munition remnants have caused 207 casualties in the DRC, for all time.[40] The last unexploded submunition casualties identified in disaggregated data occurred in 2010.

Addressing the impact

Mine action

Operators and service providers

Clearance operators

Clearance

Land release overview[41]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Land release: landmines

There is still a need to conduct survey in order to determine the total extent of contamination in the DRC, particularly in areas affected by recent conflict.[42] In November 2019, the DRC and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) launched a reassessment of confirmed hazardous areas (CHA) and suspected hazardous areas (SHA) in 12 regions.[43]

The DRC reported that 0.21km² was cleared in 2019, while non-technical survey (NTS) conducted in Ituri, North-Ubangi, South-Ubangi, and Tshopo provinces led to the release of 0.28km².[44]

Land release: cluster munition remnants

During clearance operations in 2019, 94 unexploded submunitions were cleared and destroyed. The DRC has reported a need to strengthen the capacities of its coordination and operational personnel with regards the clearance of cluster munition remnants.[45]

The national survey had identified two areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants in the provinces of Ituri and Tanganyika, covering 0.02km². These areas were subsequently cleared and a total of 2,688 cluster munition remnants were cleared and destroyed.[46]

Deminer safety

In 2019–2020, there were several violent incidents involving deminers, including the kidnapping of a member of AFRILAM and the murder of a TDI team leader in North-Kivu province.[47]

Residual contamination

Over 400 deminers from FARDC and PNC have been trained since 2011, and a recycling program was being developed in order to deal with any residual risk once the DRC’s Mine Ban Treaty clearance obligations have been met.[48]

Risk education

Operators and service providers

Risk education operators[49]

* Other national organizations providing risk education in the DRC, not listed in the table, include: the DRC Red Cross, ADAID, SYOPADI, ACCOLAM, COODEPE, ADES, and ADEPSU.

Note: IDP=internally displaced persons.

The network of NGOs and community volunteers listed in the above table, ensure the sustainability of risk education efforts in the DRC, mark hazardous areas, and convey alerts to national authorities.[50]

Implementation: target groups

The main target groups for risk education in the DRC are communities in conflict areas, young people, women, people living in regions worst affected by mines/ERW, refugees, IDPs and returnees, staff members of international NGOs, medical personnel, and members of peacekeeping missions.[51]

In the DRC, children are among the most vulnerable to the threat of mines/ERW due to their curiosity and lack of awareness of danger. Women are also vulnerable as their daily activities often include traveling, and searching for goods and materials needed for survival of the household. IDPs and refugees are also at risk because they are often unaware of mine/ERW contamination in the areas where they have taken refuge.[52]

Major developments in 2019

In addition to education sessions, risk education is provided through text messages, social media, radio, and television.[53] There was no assessment of the DRC’s risk education program in 2019.[54]

Victim assistance

Providers and activities

Victim assistance providers and activities overview[55]

Major Developments in 2019

The security situation in the DRC remained volatile in 2019. Ethnic violence persisted, and continued to result in casualties, displacement, the destruction of livelihoods and property, and other abuses against civilians.[56]

The DRC reported a significant decrease in funding for victim assistance in 2019, and the activities of several organizations providing such assistance stopped. There has been little funding for victim assistance since 2012.[57] AFRILAM reported that new mine/ERW survivors in eastern DRC did not receive any assistance in 2019.[58]

Some mine/ERW survivors in North-Kivu received support through the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (UNCERF) in 2019.[59]

In 2019, a draft national bill, designed to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), was submitted to the National Assembly for adoption.[60]

Needs assessment

The identification of mine/ERW survivors in the DRC remained challenging due to a lack of financial and logistical means to reach survivors, and the unavailability of victim assistance services.[61]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Access to quality healthcare remained limited in the DRC.[62] The costs of medical care and prostheses for mine survivors are covered by the state,[63] yet there was no reliable referral system for victim assistance.[64] A reference center for physiotherapy and orthopedic services was being built in 2019 with ICRC support, and will be the first center of its kind in the DRC when it opens.[65]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

Providing psychological support remained a significant challenge, as has been the case for several years. Psychological support and socio-economic inclusion services were only available in one province in 2019.[66] CNOPHAVM’s peer support activities were at a standstill.[67]

The DRC reported a lack of funding for the socio-economic inclusion of survivors.[68] The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, together with partners and US funding, created a private-public partnership, the Lake Kivu Coffee Alliance, which provided vocational training within the coffee industry for mine/ERW survivors, in addition to physical rehabilitation and prosthetics. The initiative also supports a local mine survivors’ association. In 2020, a coffee tasting lab and training center was under construction in partnership with the University of Buffalo.[69]

The Ministry of Education increased its special education outreach efforts but estimated fewer than 6,000 children with disabilities were being reached.[70] ANASDIV ran remedial teaching schools in eastern DRC for children of mine victims, but funding was insufficient.[71]

There is a tax exemption in the DRC for any company which employs a mine survivor.[72]

Cross-cutting

Few provisions exist to reach mine/ERW survivors living in rural and remote areas,[73] while there was no specific assistance for child survivors.[74]

Policy

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 2 May 2002, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2002. The National Commission to Fight Antipersonnel Mines was created in 2002.[1]

The DRC enacted legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty in 2011. “Law no. 11/007 implementing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo” was promulgated by the president on 9 July 2011 and published in the official journal on 15 July 2011.[2] The law was first adopted in December 2010 and a final version adopted by Parliament on 16 June 2011.[3]

Law 11/007 prohibits the development, manufacture, production, acquisition, stockpiling, conservation, supply, sale, import, export, transfer, and use of antipersonnel mines or their components and also prohibits assistance, encouragement, or inducement in these activities.[4] The law establishes penal sanctions for persons violating its provisions of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of CDF10–20 million (about US$11,000–$22,000). The law also provides penal sanctions for legal entities (companies) guilty of violations of CDF10–20 million (about US$11,000–$22,000).[5] The law also contains provisions on victim assistance.

The DRC regularly attends meetings of the treaty, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided a statement on Article 5 clearance obligations, and the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019, where it provided a statement on victim assistance.[6] The DRC also attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. The DRC provides updated Article 7 transparency reports semi-regularly, most recently in 2019.

The DRC is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It is a signatory state to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, use, stockpile destruction, and retention

The DRC is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. While government forces have used antipersonnel mines in the past, the Monitor has not received any allegations of such use since it acceded to the treaty. There were credible allegations of use of antipersonnel mines in the DRC by non-state armed groups (NSAGs) at least until 2004 and by Ugandan and Rwandan government forces in 2000.[7]

In May 2006, the DRC informed States Parties that it had completed the destruction of all 2,864 stockpiled antipersonnel mines it had been able to identify, thus fulfilling its treaty obligation to destroy stocks by 1 November 2006. It stated that if more stockpiled mines were discovered they would be destroyed in a timely fashion.[8]

Since May 2006, the DRC has destroyed newly discovered, seized, or turned in antipersonnel mines on many occasions. It reported an additional 198 mines destroyed in 2006, 936 in 2007, 631 in 2008, 101 in 2009, and 70 in 2010.[9]

In March 2010, a government official informed the Monitor that there were some live antipersonnel mines retained for training at the Military Engineers’ School in Likasi, but the types and numbers had not yet been reported.[10] Since 2011, the DRC has reported “not applicable” on Form D on mines retained for training or research purposes. In 2009, as in its previous report, the DRC stated that information on retained mines was “not yet available.”[11]

Non-state armed groups

NSAGs, both Congolese and foreign, remain active in the country.[12] In August 2009, a military officer reportedly stated that 25 soldiers had been killed by antipersonnel mines laid by the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (Forces Démocratiques de Liberation du Rwanda, FDLR, Rwandan Hutu rebels), and noted, “We are not aware of other antipersonnel mines planted in the area. Teams from the United Nations or other international bodies will be needed to clear the mines.”[13] The Monitor could not confirm if this constituted new use of antipersonnel mines, or if so, by whom.

In 2019, four donors contributed a total of US$6.9 million toward mine action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which represents a 12% decrease from 2018.[1]

The DRC also received in-kind assistance from Switzerland valued at $1.5 million to support mine clearance operations.[2]

The DRC has never reported any national contributions to its mine action program, but in its Third Article 5 deadline Extension Request, submitted in September 2020, the DRC committed to providing approximately $564,000 from 2021–2022.[3]

International contributions: 2019[4]

Note: N/A=not available; N/R=not reported. UN CERF=United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.

In the five-year period from 2015–2019, international contributions to mine action activities in the DRC totaled more than $32 million, an average of some $6.5 million per year.

The DRC’s most recent Mine Ban Treaty extension request projected that a budget of $3.9 million would be required for 2021–2022, of which $2.4 million would go to demining and survey operations and $0.9 million to risk education activities, while the remainder would be used for coordination from its mine action center.[5]

Summary of international contributions: 2015–2019[6]