Cote d'Ivoire
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 30 June 2000, and became a State Party on 1 December 2000. Côte d’Ivoire has declared existing legislation under national implementation measures and has not enacted specific national legal measures to implement the treaty.[1]
Côte d’Ivoire has attended some Meetings of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty, most recently the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2015. It attended the treaty’s Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Most recently, Côte d’Ivoire attended intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019, but did not make a statement. It has not provided an updated Article 7 transparency report since 2014.
On 5 December 2018, Côte d’Ivoire voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 73/61 promoting universalization and implementation of the convention.[2]
Côte d’Ivoire is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, but not Amended Protocol II on landmines. Côte d’Ivoire is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling
Côte d’Ivoire has reported that it has never used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines.[3]
In 2011, Côte d’Ivoire experienced six months of post-election armed conflict between forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo and then-president-elect Alassane Ouattara.[4] Media articles reported allegations of mine use by both Gbagbo’s and Ouattara’s forces. Each side accused the other of use of antipersonnel mines,[5] but the Monitor has found no evidence of antipersonnel mine use during the conflict.[6]
In its initial Article 7 report provided in 2004, Côte d’Ivoire stated that it possessed no stockpile of antipersonnel mines, including for training purposes.
In its 2014 transparency report, however, Côte d’Ivoire declared stocks of antipersonnel landmines found during an inventory check after the 2011 elections crisis.[7] It reported that 1,526 mines were destroyed in 2012 and another 277 mines were destroyed between 27 July 2013 and 28 February 2014.
[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, 14 May 2014, Form A. Previously, in 2005 and 2006, Côte d’Ivoire reported that it was preparing draft implementation legislation, but the bill was never submitted to the National Assembly.
[2] “Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,” UNGA Resolution 73/61, 5 December 2018.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Forms B, D, and E, 27 May 2004; and interview with Capt. Patrick-Alexandre M’Bahia, National Gendarmerie, Abidjan, 22 March 2006.
[4] For more details, see Human Rights Watch Press Release, “Côte d’Ivoire: Crimes Against Humanity by Gbagbo Forces: As Crisis Deepens, Grave Abuses Committed by Both Sides,” Abidjan, 15 March 2011.
[5] Mine use accusations were found in a pro-Gbagbo’s website: Ivoire Blog,“Les rebelles installent des mines anti-personnelles au Golf” (“The rebels install anti-personnel mines in Golf [The Hotel du Golf]”), 23 January 2011; and other accusations in an anti-Gbagbo newspaper: “Crime de guerre: Gbagbo positionne des mines anti personnelles” (“War Crime: Gbagbo positions anti-personnel mines”), Le Mandat, 28 January 2011.
[6] In an interview with the Monitor, an officer from Côte d’Ivoire’s gendarmerie stated that the allegations of mine use were false, and that what media reports described as landmines were actually plastic packaging caps from containers for P17 rockets. Interview with Capt. Patrick-Alexandre M’Bahi, Gendarmerie, in Geneva, 21 June 2011.
[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 14 May 2014.