LM Report 2002

MALI

Mali signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it on 2 June 1998 and became a State Party on 1 March 1999. National legislation implementing the ban treaty was adopted on 27 September 2000 and 15 November 2000, including penal sanctions.^[1]

In June 2002, an interministerial decree created a national commission on landmines.^[2] It reportedly will be composed of 13 members, including representatives of parliament, civil society and media.^[3]

Mali’s first Article 7 transparency report, due on 28 August 1999, was submitted on 17 May 2001. The annual updated Article 7 Report, due on 30 April 2002, has not yet been submitted. Preparations for the Presidential and the National Assembly elections of April 2002 reportedly delayed preparation of the report.^[4]

Mali attended the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001, and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in January 2002, but not in May 2002. Mali also participated in the regional “Conference on Arms and International Humanitarian Law: the CCW and the Ottawa Convention” in Abuja, Nigeria, organized by the ICRC in collaboration with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on 10 and 11 October 2001. On 29 November 2001, Mali cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Mali does not produce or export antipersonnel mines. Mali states that it has never used antipersonnel mines. Since their destruction in 1998, Mali possesses no stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. It retained 2,000 antipersonnel and 1,000 antivehicle mines for training purposes.^[5]

Mali is not mine-affected and there are no reports of any mine victims on its territory.^[6]

However, contingents of the Malian Army have been trained in the United States, France, Germany, and China in demining techniques. Although Mali is often involved in military peacekeeping operations in the region, no antipersonnel mine casualties have been reported by the Army.^[7]

[1] For detail on the legislation, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 95.
[2] Telephone interview with Mamadou Lamine Ouatara, Technical Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 17 June 2002. The decree will enter into force after official publication.
[3] Interview with Mamadou Lamine Ouatara, Technical Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 28 January 2002.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Article 7 Report, Form D, 17 May 2001. For details on the stockpile and its destruction, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 96-97.
[6] Landmine Monitor report 2001, p. 96.
[7] Interview with Mamadou Lamine Ouatara, Technical Adviser, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 28 January 2002.

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