Summary

State Party Guinea-Bissau ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 29 November 2010. It participated in a meeting of the convention in May 2022. Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting implementation of the convention in December 2021.

Guinea-Bissau provided its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention in November 2019, which confirmed that it has never produced cluster munitions. Guinea-Bissau initially reported that it possessed cluster munitions, but clarified in May 2022 that it does not have any.

Policy

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified it on 29 November 2010. It became a State Party on 1 May 2011.

Guinea-Bissau reported in January 2020 that it was in the process of drafting implementing legislation for the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1]

Guinea-Bissau submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 11 November 2019, and provided updated annual reports in 2020­–2022.[2]

Guinea-Bissau participated in some meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, including the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, where it joined other African states in opposing efforts to weaken the convention text, and participated in the consensus adoption of the text.[3]

Guinea-Bissau attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in May 2022 and provided an update on stockpiles. This marked its first participation in a meeting of the convention since 2014.[4]

Guinea-Bissau voted in favor of the key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2021.[5]It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Guinea-Bissau has not elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibitions on transit; on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions; on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions; and on investment in cluster munition production.

Guinea-Bissau is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Use, production, and transfer

Guinea-Bissau said in 2008 that it has never used or produced cluster munitions.[6] In its initial transparency report provided in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau confirmed that it has no cluster munition production facilities.

Guinea-Bissau is not known to have exported cluster munitions, but may have imported them in the past.

Stockpile destruction

Guinea-Bissau initially reported that it possessed cluster munitions, but subsequently clarified in May 2022 that it did not have any.

Guinea-Bissau indicated in 2011 that it held cluster munitions, but did not provide information on the types or quantities.[7] Guinea-Bissau sought financial and technical assistance to identify and safely destroy its cluster munitions by the convention’s 1 May 2019 deadline.[8]

In May 2022, Guinea-Bissau told the convention’s intersessional meetings that the Ministry of National Defense recently carried out a verification exercise to confirm the existence of cluster munitions, which concluded that Guinea-Bissau “does not have any reserves of such ammunition under its jurisdiction or control.”[9]

Previously, an assessment of Guinea-Bissau’s storage facilities in January 2020 by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) did not identify any cluster munitions.[10]

Guinea-Bissau has reported that it does not retain cluster munitions for research or training purposes.[11]

Jump to a specific section of the profile:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

As a result of armed conflicts dating back to 1963, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau was contaminated by both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligations under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from mines/ERW and submitted an extension request.[1]

Guinea-Bissau is responsible for significant numbers of mine/ERW survivors. Yet there is only one physical rehabilitation center, located in the capital, Bissau, and persons with disabilities living in remote areas remained difficult to reach. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) support to the physical rehabilitation center was reported to be ending in December 2022.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the two-month extension request granted in 2010, Guinea-Bissau was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 January 2012. On 5 December 2012, at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under the treaty.[2]

In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from mines/ERW and submitted an extension request until 31 December 2022.[3]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

The National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI), established in 2001, and under the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defense since 2009, coordinated mine action operations in Guinea-Bissau. It has been inactive since 2012.[4] In March 2021, CAAMI reported that a new director had been appointed, and that it had resumed its activities,[5] although it also reported that it did not have the financial resources to fulfil its mandate.[6]

The national mine action database in Guinea-Bissau has not been functional for seven years.[7]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[8]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[9]

Laws and policies

There is no law in Guinea-Bissau that specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. During 2020, no efforts to counter discrimination against persons with disabilities or ensure access to buildings were made.[10]

Former military personnel with disabilities received pensions from the Ministry of National Defense, but this support did not adequately address health, housing, or food needs.[11]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination (as of December 2020)[12]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

In December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its mine clearance obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[13] However, in its declaration of clearance completion, Guinea-Bissau noted that “Battle Area Clearance tasks remain as well as an expected residual contamination which will be addressed by CAAMI.”[14] Following the declaration, clearance operators and mine action donors withdrew from Guinea-Bissau.[15]

At the Fourth Review Conference in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported residual ERW contamination, and said 22 months would be necessary to complete clearance.[16] In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported that residual contamination comprised both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, covering 0.49km² and 0.6km² respectively across nine confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs). In addition, 43 areas were suspected to contain both mines and ERW.[17] Guinea-Bissau reported that it did not have the financial resources to conduct survey and clearance operations.[18] The data on CHA reported in 2021 is the result of a 2014 survey conducted by Humanitarian Aid in Guinea-Bissau (HUMAID). The 43 SHA were identified by HUMAID through reports from the local population.[19] Since 2014, no new survey has been conducted.

Cluster munition remnant contamination

The last known unexploded submunitions were reportedly destroyed by Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) in August 2008.[20] However, in 2009, Guinea-Bissau submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report which referred to “some clusters” at Paiol da Bra ammunition storage area.[21] CGD later reported clearing 73 PTAB 2.5M submunitions at Paiol da Bra in 2009.[22]

In June 2010, the general director of CAAMI acknowledged that cluster munition contamination was a problem in Guinea-Bissau, but stated that survey was needed to identify its extent.[23] In 2010, CGD found and destroyed six unexploded PTAB 2.5M submunitions during sub-surface clearance at Paiol da Bra.[24] In March 2011, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported that no unexploded submunitions had been found during its survey of contamination in Guinea-Bissau.[25]

In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report submitted in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau stated that cluster munition contaminated areas were cleared before the convention entered into force for the country.[26]

ERW contamination

In 2021, CAAMI reported 0.4km² contaminated with ERW across five CHAs, based on 2014 data, and an additional 43 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) contaminated with mines/ERW.[27]

Casualties

Mine/ERW casualties: details

No mine/ERW casualties have been reported in Guinea-Bissau since 2016, when a boy was killed by an ERW in Bissorã, in Oio region.[28] One ERW incident was however reported in January 2021, when two children were killed and six children were injured by the explosion of a grenade left in an old army barracks in Buruntuma.[29]

The Monitor recorded 211 mine/ERW casualties (75 killed, 91 injured, and 45 survival unknown) in Guinea-Bissau between 2001 and 2016. No new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea-Bissau between 2017 and 2020. There has been no comprehensive national data collection since 2013.

From 1963 to 2020, a total of 1,581mine/ERW casualties were reported, including at least 1,430 survivors.[30] However, this is not believed to be a comprehensive figure. The 1963–2020 casualties include 1,533 casualties reported in a statement by Guinea-Bissau in December 2013 and CAAMI reporting through December 2013, as well as an additional 48 casualties for 2014 and 2016. In a 2013 statement, Guinea-Bissau recognized that some mine/ERW survivors might have since died, and that many more casualties likely went unrecorded.[31] No disaggregated information was available on the military or civilian status of casualties. Guinea-Bissau reported that an estimated 80% of all casualties were boys and men, the majority of whom were farmers.[32] In 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that there were close to 1,300 mine survivors in the country.[33]

Cluster munition casualties

While the total number of casualties from cluster munitions in Guinea-Bissau is not known, there were 11 casualties reported during an attack on a weapons depot in 1998, with the explosion that resulted in the casualties involving cluster munitions.[34] In 2019, the Ministry of National Defense indicated that it was not aware of any cluster munition casualties in Guinea-Bissau.[35] In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report for calendar year 2020, Guinea-Bissau noted that it needed to conduct a survey in order to identify cluster munition survivors.[36]

Addressing the Impact

Risk education

No risk education activities have been conducted since 2012, due to a lack of funding.[37]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators and activities

Victim assistance operators overview[38]

Major developments in 2020

A General Direction for Inclusive Education was created in 2020, with support from Humanity & Inclusion (HI).[39] Efforts were made to identify persons with disabilities, including children, living in remote areas, with the support of organizations of persons with disabilities.[40]

HI provided hygiene kits for all beneficiaries during group activities, in addition to information on physical distancing and COVID-19 protection measures.[41]

Needs assessment

Guinea-Bissau reported a need to conduct a survey to identify cluster munition survivors.[42]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Six hospitals in Guinea-Bissau have the capacity to provide medical care to mine/ERW survivors; but only one hospital, in the capital, Bissau, could treat very serious injuries.[43]

The Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), supported by the ICRC, remained the only physical rehabilitation center in Guinea-Bissau.[44] The ICRC covered the cost of treatment for 596 CRM patients, including accommodation and transport for 12 Senegalese survivors.[45] Limited rehabilitation services were also provided in healthcare centers, although staff were not qualified.[46] Persons with disabilities living outside the capital, Bissau, remained difficult to reach. The ICRC and the CRM conducted media events and outreach visits to remote areas, to identify persons with disabilities in need of physical rehabilitation services.[47]

Since 2015, mine/ERW survivors from Senegal have been receiving prosthetic devices at the CRM through an agreement between the ICRC, Senegal’s national mine action authority, and Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD). This agreement will end when the ICRC closes its program in Guinea-Bissau in December 2022. HI indicated that it did not have the resources to take over the support of the CRM from the ICRC.[48]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

In 2020, the ICRC donated sports wheelchairs and other equipment to a local organization, to advance the social inclusion of persons with disabilities.[49]

Policy

Guinea-Bissau signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 22 May 2001, becoming a State Party on 1 November 2001. In December 2004, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said Guinea-Bissau was planning to enact domestic legislation to implement the treaty,[1] but in July 2007, the director of the National Mine Action Coordination Center (CAAMI) told the Monitor that the government would not adopt a new law as the treaty automatically became national law under the constitution, making mine-related crimes subject to existing penal sanctions.[2] Guinea-Bissau has reported that the Mine Ban Treaty was approved by parliament on 13 December 2000 and subsequently by the office of the president by a decree, thus entering the Convention’s obligations into law in Guinea-Bissau.[3]

Guinea-Bissau previously regularly attended meetings of the treaty, but has not done so since it attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Guinea-Bissau submitted its 10^th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2011, but has not submitted subsequent reports.

Guinea-Bissau is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Guinea-Bissau is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Guinea-Bissau has reported that it never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. On 17 October 2005, Guinea-Bissau destroyed the last of its 10,654 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, just ahead of its stockpile destruction deadline of 1 November 2005.[4]

In December 2011, Guinea-Bissau demonstrated transparency by reporting that an ammunition storage assessment conducted jointly with the UN Mine Action Service had identified a small number of additional stockpiled antipersonnel mines in the military bases of Quebo and Gabu.[5] Seven PMN mines were found, as well as two boxes containing an undetermined number of POMZ-2 mines. Guinea-Bissau stated its intention to destroy them no later than 31 March 2012, but as of September 2012 the Monitor had not received a confirmation that the mines had been destroyed. Under the Cartagena Action Plan, a State Party that discovers stockpiled mines after the expiration of its deadline must share such information with States Parties as soon as possible and destroy the mines as a matter of urgent priority.

In its 2008 Article 7 report, Guinea-Bissau reported having retained 109 mines for training purposes.[6] However, 100 of these—50 POMZ-2 and 50 PMD-6—were listed as “disarmed.”[7] In its 2009 report, Guinea-Bissau stated that the 50 POMZ-2 mines had been recycled for metal use, and the 50 PMD-6 mines had also been destroyed.[8] In its subsequent Article 7 reports, Guinea-Bissau listed only nine mines as retained for training: six PMN, one M409, and two M969 mines. Most recently, in 2011, Guinea-Bissau reported that there was no training underway.[9]

Use

There have been no reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Guinea-Bissau since March and April 2006, when a faction of the Senegal-based Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de la Casamance, MFDC) fled from Senegal and laid both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in northern Guinea-Bissau.[10]