Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

78 guinea-bissau
An explosion at a military facility in Bra, near the capital
Bissau, led to serious contamination in the surrounding
area, documented by Handicap International in 2002. 835
In February 2003 two National Community Survey Teams
from the NGO LUTCAM began a complete general impact
survey among communities in suspected areas of Bissau. 836
Impact
The national survey of ERW/mine casualties revealed 616
ERW/mine survivors as of May 2004: 35 per cent of the
survivors are from the northern region, 25 per cent from
Bissau and its surroundings, 19 per cent from the
Southern region and 21 per cent from the Eastern
region. 837 Almost 35 per cent of the victims are children
and among adults approximately 70 per cent are men.
During 2003 and up until May 2004, 33 accidents with
ERW and mines were recorded: 16 in the north of the
country, one in south and 15 in the capital, Bissau, killing
a total of 10 people. 838 Looking at data from 2001-2002
the government noted an increase in accidents during the
cashew harvesting season. 839
In the dry season the ERW/mine contaminated areas of the
Plaque I district of Bissau are used for gathering cashews,
cattle farming, building houses and collecting wood. In the
rainy season people cultivate nuts, manioc and black corn.
These activities are made much more dangerous by contamination
from ERW and mines. 840
In “Enterramento”, north of Bissau, the socio-economic
impact of ERW and mines on the 1,350 inhabitants is
heightened due to the expansion of the city of Bissau and
local reliance on cashew cultivation. Every day around
1,800 vehicles pass along the main road through this area,
which is not expected to be cleared of ERW, MOTAPM and
AP mines before the end of 2005.
A number of military ammunition depots attacked during
the 1998 conflict are located in urban areas with no
barriers to effectively exclude the population. 841 In such
sites people tend corn and rice crops, collect mangoes and
nuts, and forage for scrap metal from the thousands of
ERW spread throughout these areas. 842
829 CAAMI, República da Guiné-Bissau: Situação de minas e engenhos explosives (map), October 2002.
830 Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004, p. 5.
831 “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The U.S. Commitment to Humanitarian Mine Action,” Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State,
August 2004, accessed on 29 November 2004 at: http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2004/37227.htm
832 Map: CAAMI Guiné-Bissau-UNDP/UNOPS-Data Base -October 2002. Republic of Guinea-Bissau: Situação de minas e engenhos explosives.
833 Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2003.
834 Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004.
835 Technical Mission Report, Handicap International in Guinea-Bissau, Lyon, April 2002.
836 Article 7 Report, Form C, 13 May 2004, p. 6.
837 Statement by Irene Laval, PEPAM Assistant, CAAMI, Standing Committee Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2004.
838 Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2004, p. 15.
839 Article 7 Report, Form I, 13 May 2004, p. 15.
840 Landmine Monitor field visit, 29 April 2004.
841 Landmine Monitor field visit, 29 April 2004.
842 Landmine Monitor field visit, 29 April 2004.
erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004
The government has noted that Guinea-Bissau’s primary
tourist resort, on the island of Bubaque in Bolama region,
contains large numbers of ERW, another example of the
potentially serious socio-economic impact of ERW. 843
Efforts to address these problems
According to Guinea-Bissau’s 2004 Article 7 transparency
report, “the goal (...) is to eliminate the impact of
landmines and UXO in Bissau, the Capital, two years from
the period where the requested funds will be available,
and the rest of the country in the following three years.” 844
Two domestic NGOs conduct manual demining in Guinea-
Bissau: HUMAID since 2000 and LUTCAM since February
2003. As of April 2004, HUMAID had demined approximately
612,000 square metres, clearing 14,652 ERW and
2,560 landmines. In early 2004 the main focus was on
agricultural areas. 845 LUTCAM’s demining operations in
“Enterramento”, north of Bissau, have cleared 411 ERW
and two AV mines since 10 March 2004.
As of April 2004, 111 risk educators had been trained by
the National Mine Action Centre (CAAMI): 89 in Bissau and
22 in the north and south of the country. These risk
educators work with facilitators from local communities.
Another 84 teachers received training, 50 in Bissau and 34
in the north and east. It was reported by CAAMI that this
work had reached a total of 30,000 people: 20,000 in
Bissau and 10,000 outside the capital. 846
Legislation
Guinea-Bissau has not signed the CCW and has not
attended CCW-related meetings. The National Mine Action
Coordination Centre was officially established and a draft
National Humanitarian Mine Action Programme (PAAMI)
was prepared in early 2001. 847 Guinea-Bissau has recently
expressed an interest in joining the CCW, in particular
since the adoption of Protocol V on ERW. 848 Guinea-Bissau
has been a State Party to the Ottawa Convention since 1
November 2001.