Policy

The Republic of the Gambia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. While it completed domestic ratification of the treaty on 2 November 1999, the instrument of ratification was not deposited until 23 September 2002. It became a State Party on 1 March 2003. In 2002, the Gambia reported its intent to incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty into its domestic laws, but no progress on national implementation legislation has since been reported, including in Gambia’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports submitted in 2009 and 2010.[1]

Gambia attends meetings of the treaty semi-regularly, most recently attending the Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties in Santiago in November–December 2016. Gambia also attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Gambia has submitted four Article 7 reports since it became a State Party, in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013.

Gambia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Gambia is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Prior to ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty, Gambia submitted a voluntary report on 28 August 2002, in which it declared that it has never possessed antipersonnel mines.[2] Gambia’s 2010 Article 7 report states that the Gambia “never have [sic] a production facility.”[3]

In a statement at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in November–December 2010, Gambia declared that in October 2010 its armed forces seized three antipersonnel mines from members of the Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC) who had crossed into Gambia and were intercepted by Gambian forces.[4]

In its Article 7 report submitted in 2010, Gambia declared that it retains 100 VS-50 antipersonnel mines, with “fuses separated,” for “instructional and mine awareness training purposes.”[5] This number remains unchanged from the number of mines retained for training reported in 2009. However, in its 2009 Article 7 report, the Gambia reported that its mines retained for training were used for “combat and mine awareness training,” whereas the 2010 report does not contain a reference to combat training.[6]