Guinea-Bissau

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 14 August 2022

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]



[1] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 1 January 2020. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database. Previously, an official said the country’s Penal Code provides sanctions for any violations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Lomé Regional Seminar on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Lomé, 23 May 2013.

[2] The initial report covers an “initial” period from 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019. It was originally due by 28 October 2011.

[3] For details on Guinea-Bissau’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 86–87.

[4] Guinea-Bissau participated in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2010–2014 and intersessional meetings in 2011–2015.

[5]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 76/47, 6 December 2021.

[6] Statement by Amb. Augusto Artur António Silva, Secretary of State and International Cooperation, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 4 December 2008.

[7] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 1 January 2020; and statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 3 September 2014. Guinea-Bissau told States Parties it had asked for help to destroy its stockpile in 2013 from the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), which had conducted a technical assessment in 2011 that found the cluster munition stocks were held by the armed forces “in very bad conditions.” See, statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 11 September 2013. A 2011 inventory review by the National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenação da Acção Anti-Minas, CAAMI) found that an air force base in Bissau city held stocks of cluster munitions. Interview with César Luis Gomes Lopes de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, in Geneva, 27 June 2011. RBK-series air-dropped bombs and PTAB-2.5 submunitions were among munitions ejected by an explosion at an ammunition storage facility on the outskirts of Bissau city in 2000. Cleared Ground Demining, “Guinea Bissau,” undated.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Convention on Cluster Munitions intersessional meetings, Geneva, 19 May 2022.

[10] GICHD, “To assist the Guinea-Bissau authorities in the identification of suspected cluster munitions,” Project No. 91023, 11–17 January 2020. According to the report, GICHD Ammunition Management Advisory Team (AMAT) technical experts were provided “access to all ammunition stores in Guinea Bissau … [to be] shown … the bombs suspected of being cluster munitions.” The team visited storage facilities in the capital Bissau city, and in Gabú and Nhala. They reviewed weapons held by the armed forces, the Ministry of the Interior, and the national police. The AMAT experts identified old Soviet-made OFAB and FAB bombs and incendiary weapons (eighteen RBK ZAB-series bombs) but no cluster munitions. According to the report, “Disappointment was expressed at not being shown either the suspected cluster munitions or any stores of current operational and training ammunition.”

[11] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form C, 1 January 2020.


Impact

Last updated: 15 November 2021

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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

Mine Ban Treaty

State Party (Entry into force: 1 November 2001)

Convention on Cluster Munitions

State Party (Entry into force: 1 May 2011)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

State Party (Ratification: 24 September 2014)

 

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]

Government focal points

National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI)

Coordination mechanisms

Technical Working Group on Risk Education (TWG-RE), led by CAAMI; inactive since 2012

Risk education standards

None

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[9]

Government focal points

Ministry of National Defense and Freedom Fighters of the Fatherland (Ministério da Defesa Nacional e dos Combatentes da Liberdade da Pátria)

Coordination mechanisms

None

Coordination regularity and outcomes

None

Plans/strategies

National Victim Assistance Strategy has expired

Survivor inclusion and participation

None

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]

Landmines

1.09km² CHA

Extent of contamination: Small

ERW

0.4km² CHA

Extent of contamination: Small

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]

Type of organization

Name of organization

Type of activity

Governmental

Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM)

Physical rehabilitation, prosthetics, and mobility devices

International

Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

Inclusive education in Oio and Cachéu regions; HI closed its office in Guinea-Bissau in March 2021, but maintains a local focal point

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Raw materials, components for assistive devices, and equipment for CRM; coverage of treatment costs for 12 Senegalese survivors at the CRM; supports CRM fundraising efforts; refresher courses for CRM prosthetic/orthotic technicians and physiotherapy assistants; outreach and physical rehabilitation referrals for persons living in remote areas; inclusive sports; and emergency cash for 50 persons with disabilities

 

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]


[1] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021; and statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings (held virtually), 23 June 2021.

[3] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021; and Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings (held virtually), 22–24 June 2021.

[4] Interviews with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of National Defense, Bissau, 29 April 2019; and with César de Carvalho, CAAMI, in Geneva, 23 June 2010.

[5] Email from Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 4 March 2021.

[6] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021, p.7.

[7] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings, held virtually, 23 June 2021.

[8] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of National Defense, 24 March 2021.

[9] Interview with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; response to Monitor questionnaire by Hervé Wandfluh, Physical Rehabilitation Project (PRP) Manager, ICRC, 7 March 2019; response by Israel Santos, Country Manager, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), 15 April 2021; and email from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, Director, Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), 15 May 2018.

[10] United States (US) Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau,” 30 March 2021.

[11] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Guinea-Bissau,” 30 March 2021.

[12] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021; and Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021.

[14] Ibid., p. 5.

[15] Email from Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 4 March 2021.

[16] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[17] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021; and Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021.

[18] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings, held virtually, 23 June 2021.

[19] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021, p.7.

[20] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 22 April 2009.

[21] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 30 April 2008 to 30 April 2009), Form C. See, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Database.

[22] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 21 June 2010.

[23] Interview with César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, in Geneva, 23 June 2010.

[24] Email from Cassandra McKeown, Finance Director, CGD, 28 April 2011.

[25] Email from Mário Penedo Tomé Nunes, NPA, 11 March 2011.

[26] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Form F. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[27] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021. This figure is not consistent with the 0.56km² contaminated with ERW, which Guinea-Bissau reported in 2019.

[28] Emails from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, Director, Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), 17 June 2016, 15 May 2018, and 27 March 2019; Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Annex 1. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database; interview with Filomeno Graça, Mine Risk Education and Victim Assistance Program Coordinator, CAAMI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; Monitor media monitoring from 1 January to 31 December 2020; and email from Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021.

[29] Guinea-Bissau Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 28 May 2021; and “Guinean child dies after setting off grenade left in former Portuguese barracks,” Publico, 29 January 2021.

[30] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2013; and email from César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, 12 March 2014. Additional casualty data obtained in emails from Joao Kennedy de Pina Araujo, CRM, 17 June 2016 and 15 May 2018; from Nautan Mancabu, National Director, CAAMI, 24 March 2021; and Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Annex 1. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[31] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2013.

[32] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 4 December 2013.

[33] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Oslo, 28 November 2019.

[34] Humanity & Inclusion (formerly Handicap International, HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), Annex 2, p. 145.

[35] Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of National Defense, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[36] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form H. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[37] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of National Defense, 24 March 2021; and Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 May 2011 to 21 November 2019), Form G. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[38] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Israel Santos, Country Manager, HI, 15 April 2021. Interviews with Hervé Wandfluh, PRP Manager, ICRC, in Bissau, 30 April 2019; with Emmanuel Pinto Lopez, Operational Coordinator, HI, Bissau, 29 April 2019; HI, “Country Card: Guinea-Bissau,” September 2020; ICRC, “Newsletter: January–December 2019,” February 2020, p. 6; and ICRC, “Annual Report 2020,” June 2021, p. 168.

[39] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Israel Santos, Country Manager, HI, 15 April 2021.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Ibid.

[42] Guinea-Bissau Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form H. See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[43] The six hospitals are located in Bafata, Bissau, Buba, Canchungo, Catio, and Gabu. Interview with Irene Laval, General Secretary, Ministry of National Defense, Bissau, 29 April 2019.

[44] ICRC, “Annual Report 2020,” June 2021, p. 168.

[45] Ibid.

[46] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Hervé Wandfluh, PRP Manager, ICRC, 7 March 2019.

[47] ICRC, “Physical Rehabilitation Programme: 2019 Annual Report,” 3 July 2020, p. 20; ICRC, “Annual Report 2020,” June 2021, p. 168; and interview with Hervé Wandfluh, PRP Manager, ICRC, in Bissau, 30 April 2019.

[48] Emails from Sarani Diatta, Coordinator, ISAD, 15 and 18 June 2021; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Israel Santos, Country Manager, HI, 15 April 2021.

[49] ICRC, “Annual Report 2020,” June 2021, p. 168.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 18 December 2019

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 10th 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]



[1] Statement by Soares Sambu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mine Ban Treaty First Review Conference, Nairobi, 2 December 2004.

[2] Email from César de Carvalho, General Director, CAAMI, 19 July 2007. This point has been stated in Guinea-Bissau’s Article 7 reports; see, for example, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2006 (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006), Form A. The report cites Articles 85.1, para. h), and 68, para. e), of the Constitution as making the treaty national law, and Article 206 of the Penal Code, which allows sentencing of crimes. Penal Code Article 206, Number 1 prohibits the use of explosives.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A (for the period 30 April 2010 to 30 April 2011).

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Forms F and G (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006); and Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 461–462. Guinea-Bissau destroyed 4,943 antipersonnel mines on 17 October 2005; 1,000 mines on 12 September 2002; and 4,711 mines in February 1998. There are differences between the numbers of stockpiled mines Guinea-Bissau declared in its previous Article 7 reports and the number destroyed in October 2005.

[5] Statement of Guinea-Bissau, Mine Ban Treaty Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Phnom Penh, 1 December 2011.

[6] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report. Form D (for the period April 2007 to April 2008). Guinea-Bissau had made inconsistent statements about its intent to retain mines for training purposes. See, Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 377.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for the period 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006). At the time of the final destruction in October 2005, Guinea-Bissau said that it would retain 67 mines. This included 58 disarmed mines (50 POMZ-2 and eight PMD-6) and nine active. Letter to Kerry Brinkert, Director, Implementation Support Unit, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining, from César de Carvalho, CAAMI, 20 October 2005.

[8] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for 30 April 2008 to 30 April 2009).

[9] Under mines retained for training, Guinea-Bissau stated “No training for us is taking place.” Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D (for the period 30 April 2010 to 30 April 2011).

[10] For details, see, Landmine Monitor Report 2006, pp. 463–464. In April 2006, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had ousted rebel forces from its territory. The ICBL condemned the antipersonnel mine use in northern Guinea-Bissau and noted that the MFDC in 1999 signed the Banjul Declaration, which among other things, committed the group to cease using landmines.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 22 November 2013

In 2012, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau declared it had completed its Article 5 Mine Ban Treaty mine clearance obligations.[1] Norway contributed NOK1,000,000 (US$171,877) to Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) for final survey and clearance.[2]

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[3]

Year

International contributions ($)

2012

171,877

2011

2,431,891

2010

1,661,693

2009

2,068,000

2008

1,694,882

Total

8,028,343

 



[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Ingunn Vatne, Senior Advisor, Department for Human Rights, Democracy and Humanitarian Assistance, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 April 2013. Average exchange rate for 2012: NOK5.8181=US$1. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.

[3] See Landmine Monitor reports 2008–2011; and ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Guinea Bissau: Support for Mine Action,” 10 September 2012.