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afrol.com, 15 February - The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) today called on all countries of Africa to join, implement and comply with the international treaty banning antipersonnel mines (1997 Mine Ban Treaty) at the opening of a two-day regional governmental meeting on landmines in Bamako, Mali. - We call on the ten remaining hold-out states of this region to join the ban treaty and urge the twelve states that have only signed to ratify immediately, said Mereso Agina, Kenya Coalition Against Landmines (KCAL), a member of the ICBL. "I am very pleased that my country, Kenya, last week ratified the ban treaty bring the global total of States Parties to 110," she added. Ten of the 53 countries of the African continent refuse to join the global treaty which bans the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines (Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Congo Kinshasa, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria and Somalia). Twelve African countries have signed but not yet ratified (Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tomé & Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Zambia). - While the majority of African countries that are party to this treaty are implementing it in good faith there is still a continued need for increased openness and awareness of what it takes to comply with the ban, said Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Laureate and ICBL Ambassador. "Since this treaty entered into force, antipersonnel mines have been used in more conflicts in Africa than in any other region. The ICBL deplores any use of this weapon by anyone but particularly by countries that have joined the ban treaty," she added. While globally use of antipersonnel mines has diminished greatly, in its recent Landmine Monitor report, the ICBL's monitoring initiative provided detailed evidence of continued use of mines in treaty signatory Angola by government and UNITA opposition forces. It also reported allegations of use of mines in two other treaty signatories: Burundi (by government) and Sudan (by government and opposition rebels). Thousands of mines were laid during the recent conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. While no concrete evidence has been presented to date, allegations persist of use by States Parties to the ban treaty in the conflict in the DR Congo. - We hope that this meeting serves to increase awareness of the need for domestic legislation to implement the terms of the treaty, including penalties for violators, said Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator. "We also hope that it spurs the rapid development of national destruction plans to eliminate stockpiled mines within the four-year deadline set by the treaty," she added. South Africa destroyed its stockpile of nearly 250,000 mines in 1997 and others from the region that recently completed destruction include Mali, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Globally, over 22 million antipersonnel mines have been destroyed in recent years. Zimbabwe is the only country on the continent that has national legislation in place. Non-signatory Egypt, a staunch opponent of the landmine ban, is the only producer of antipersonnel mines on the entire continent of Africa. - Africa is one of the most mine-affected regions of the world yet when compared to other regions it receives perhaps the least mine action assistance, said Noel Stott, South African Campaign to Ban Landmines, an ICBL member. "We hope that governments attending this meeting heed the ICBL's call for increased and sustained resources for humanitarian mine action and mine victim assistance, as stipulated in the ban treaty. Landmine survivors, their families and communities cannot wait any longer," he added. The Mine Ban Treaty states that each State Party "in a position to do so" provide assistance for mine clearance and mine awareness, destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines and care and rehabilitation of mine victims. Landmine Monitor Report 2000 recorded a total of US$ 40 million spent in 1999 on mine action programs in twelve countries in Africa out of a global spending total of US$ 211 million. 31 of the 53 states on the continent have a problem with uncleared landmines and new mine victims were reported in nearly all these countries in 1999. African states played a crucial role during the Oslo ban treaty negotiations in 1997 by responding vigorously to the ICBL's call for a strong treaty with no loopholes, no reservations and no exceptions. The Bamako meeting, co-hosted by the governments of Canada, France and Mali, marks the first time since May 1997 that countries of the region have come together to discuss the landmine ban. In May 1999, Mozambique hosted the treaty's First Meeting of States Parties.
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