Key
developments since May 2001: Djibouti is the only State Party with a 1
March 2003 stockpile destruction deadline that has not begun destruction and has
not submitted an Article 7 Report or otherwise revealed information about its
stockpile or destruction program. A National Commission for Demining,
responsible for all aspects of treaty implementation, is reportedly being
established. After May 2001, the National Army started mine clearance and
marking operations in the northern districts. In September, the deminers
conducted a level one survey in the same area.
MINE BAN POLICY
Djibouti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997 and ratified it on 18 May 1998. The treaty entered into force for Djibouti
on 1 March 1999.[1] Djibouti
has not put in place any domestic implementation measures, as required by
Article 9 of the treaty. At the May 2002 Mine Ban Treaty intersessional
meetings, a government official told Landmine Monitor that a National Commission
for Demining was being established to advise the government on matters
pertaining to the Mine Ban Treaty. He said, “The document has been
drafted and is awaiting cabinet
approval.”[2]
He said the draft document would then require Presidential approval before
taking effect. “After that process is completed we shall then move forward
with implementation requirements of the
Treaty.”[3] He said it
would be an interministerial commission, with participation by local and
international non-governmental organizations, associations dealing with people
with disabilities, as well as trade unions. “This is a priority issue and
as soon as we get back to Djibouti, we shall report on the urgency of this
process.”[4]
Djibouti did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban
Treaty in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001. While Djibouti participated in
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2002, it did not attend
the meetings in January 2002.[5]
Djibouti has not submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report, which
was due on 27 August 1999. In May 2002, an official told Landmine Monitor that
the process of gathering information as required under Article 7 “has been
delayed due to lack of a national body designated to handle that
portfolio,” a need the National Commission for Demining should
fill.[6]
Djibouti voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support
of the Mine Ban Treaty on 29 November 2001.
Djibouti is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its
original Protocol II, but has not ratified amended Protocol II. Djibouti did
not participate in the third annual meeting of State Parties to Amended Protocol
II or the Second CCW Review Conference, both of which were held in Geneva in
December 2001.
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER AND STOCKPILING, AND DESTRUCTION
Djibouti has never produced or exported
antipersonnel mines. Landmine Monitor Report 2001 reported that Djibouti
has a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, but the numbers and types of mines are
not known.[7] In January 2002,
personnel at Djibouti’s National Mine Action Center acknowledged that the
Center has a stockpile of antipersonnel mines for training
purposes.[8]
In May 2002, a Djibouti official told Landmine Monitor, “Information
regarding stockpiles is held by the military. They are holding the key since
they are the technical advisors [to the
government].”[9]
Djibouti is not known to have carried out any destruction of stockpiled
antipersonnel mines; it has not made any public comments on the matter.
Under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Djibouti is required to report
details of its antipersonnel mine stockpile, including mines retained for
training purposes, and to report progress in stockpile destruction. Under
Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Djibouti is required to complete the
destruction of all stockpiled antipersonnel mines before 1 March 2003, except
those retained for training or development purposes. Djibouti is the only State
Party with a 1 March 2003 stockpile destruction deadline that has not begun
destruction and has not submitted an Article 7 Report or otherwise revealed
information about its stockpile or destruction program.
LANDMINE PROBLEM
Djibouti has a small landmine problem as a result
of the 1991-1994 internal conflict between the Front for the Restoration of
Unity and Democracy (FRUD) and the Djibouti military. Djibouti’s northern
plateau contains most of the suspected minefields or mined routes, particularly
in the districts of Obok and Tadjourah, north of Djibouti city. Mines were
laid in towns and their immediate surroundings, as well as main roads and small
paths.[10] A small unexploded
ordnance (UXO) threat also exists. Mine clearance operations by the national
army in 1998 were not successful due to lack of maps showing where mines were
laid.[11]
MINE ACTION FUNDING, COORDINATION, AND CLEARANCE
In its fiscal year 2001, the United States provided
$1.18 million to fund a US military train-the-trainer program for Djiboutian
military personnel, and for mine clearance supplies and
equipment.[12] The US has
allocated $290,000 for mine action in Djibouti for fiscal year
2002.[13]
The National Mine Action Center was inaugurated on 15 February 2001.
Thirty-five National Army deminers were trained by the US between 17 February
2001 and 7 May 2001. Shortly thereafter, the deminers started clearance and
marking operations in the northern districts. Deminers also conducted a level
one survey in the Obok and Tadjourah districts in September 2001 to determine
the extent of the landmine and UXO
problem.[14]
Since the demining operations started, a total of 1,623 and 4,253 square
meters of land have been cleared in Obok and Tadjourah regions
respectively.[15] In 2001 and
2002, in Obock district, 418 antipersonnel mines (Chinese type) were
destroyed.[16] In Tadjourah
district, 26 antipersonnel mines and 80 UXO were also destroyed in the same
period.
MINE RISK EDUCATION
In mid-April 2002, a series of mine risk education
activities was organized by a local non-governmental organization, Association
de Soutien aux Victimes de Mines (ASSOVIM), in collaboration with the National
Mine Action Center, in two primary schools located in the northern communities
of Andol and Alitou Dada
regions.[17]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES AND SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
In 2001, there were no confirmed reports of
landmine casualties in
Djibouti.[18] According to the
US State Department, between 1997 and 2000, 31 people have been killed and 90
injured in landmine incidents, including seven casualties in
2000.[19]
Public health services in Djibouti have remained heavily impaired since the
end of the civil conflict, and facilities for mine survivors are inadequate. In
response to the problems faced by people with disabilities, the government
initiated several actions, notably the renovation of a rehabilitation center,
which has a physiotherapy unit, and an orthopedic workshop. The ICRC runs a
small program that funds the travel and costs of 22 amputees to the
Prosthetic/Orthotic Center in Addis Ababa every two years for the replacement of
their prosthesis; the next trip is scheduled for
2003.[20] The center is
supervised by a local organization, Assistance to the Handicapped.
Beneficiaries of the program are mainly former soldiers. No vocational training
or psychological support facilities are known to exist in the country. The
action plan proposed by the Ministry of Health in November 2000 has not been
implemented due to a lack of
funds.[21]
[1] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 72;
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 51. [2]
Interview with Djibril Djama Elabe, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Geneva, 29 May 2002. [3]
Ibid. [4]
Ibid. [5] A Djibouti delegate at the
Standing Committee meetings in May 2002 said that Djibouti failed to attend the
meeting because of lack of funds and that the country was not aware of the
sponsorship program. [6] Interview with
Djibril Djama Elabe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 29 May
2002. [7] Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 72. [8] Interview with National
Mine Action Center, January
2002. [9] Interview with Djibril
Djama Elabe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 29 May
2002. [10] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p. 4; US State
Department, “Humanitarian Demining Country Plan for Djibouti,”
presented at the inauguration of the Mine Action Center, 15 February
2001. [11] Interview with National Mine
Action Center, April 2002. [12] US
Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001,
p. 4. [13] US Department of State Fact
Sheet, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5
April 2002. [14] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p.
4. [15] Telephone interview with Colonel
Youssouf Kayad, 11 April
2002. [16] Data from the National
Mine Action Center, updated in April 2002.
[17] Interview with ASSOVIM and
National Mine Action Center, 22 April 2002.
[18] US Department of State,
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2001: Djibouti, March
2002. [19] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p.
4. [20] ICRC Special Report, Mine Action
2001, Geneva, July 2002, p. 18. [21]
Interview with the President de l’Association Aide aux Handicapés
Phisiques et aux Populations Défavorisées, 11 April 2002; see also
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 74; and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
53-54.
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