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afrol.com, 7 September - There have been laid new mines in the Casamance Province in 2000, the Landmine Monitor Report 2000, which was released today, concludes. It is almost certain that the MFDC rebels have laid new mines this year, but there is some confusion whether the Senegalese Government did lay antipersonnel landmines in its military action in Guinea-Bissau in 1998 or not. The government categorically denies the use of landmines, claiming to live up to is ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty. Landmines were used in the fighting in Casamance Province throughout the 1990s. It appears that new mines have been laid by Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) rebels in the province in 1999 and 2000, the report concludes. According to government officials, the mined areas are on the Cap Skirring - Ziguinchor - Kolda road and on the border between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. The landmines found during mine clearance operations or as a result of landmine incidents are from Belgium, Spain, France and Russia. Improvised devices have also been found. There were some fifty-nine victims of AP mines registered in 1999, a decline from 195 in 1998. Treatment is provided at the hospital in Ziguinchor. The civilian victims can be sent to Dakar, depending on the seriousness of the injury. The military victims are automatically transferred to Dakar where they are taken care of in a special ward. The Senegalese Government states that new use of landmines occurred in several municipalities up to February 2000. The latest accident was on 27 February 2000 when a military vehicle struck an antitank mine in Kolda department resulting in three dead and four wounded. Another military vehicle was damaged in January 2000 on the road between Elenkine and Oussouye, in the Oussouye department. The use of landmines is one of the issues being tackled in the current negotiations for peace in Casamance. The MFDC would participate in the work of the National Commission created to oversee the application of the Mine Ban Treaty. According to Colonel Ndaw, the two belligerent parties could reach an agreement regarding the issue of landmines. In the Banjul Declaration of 26 December 1999, the Senegalese government and MFDC committed to no use of antipersonnel landmines in the future. The MFDC rebels have never formally denied their use of mines. The MFDC use AP mines "in a conventional manner," laying them in small amounts around their positions or in order to protect themselves while withdrawing. Mines are also used to protect economic assets, such as cannabis fields. Farmers linked to the MFDC have laid mines to protect their assets from theft and the army. Livestock bandits, who steal between 300 and 400 head of cattle each week, may also lay mines in order to discourage or delay any attempt of pursuit by the army or the farmers. Cashew production is also affected by antipersonnel landmines. The army sometimes forbids the farmers to access their fields for fear that they are mined. The MFDC is suspected of laying mines in the areas surrounding the fields or to have spread rumors that they have laid mines in order to steal the crops. Occasionally mines are laid to settle personal vendettas, and a mine incident in Bignona is attributed to a dissident minority of the MFDC trying to upset the peace talks. The Minister of Internal Affairs, General Mamadou Niang, also points out that until 1974, Guinea-Bissau laid landmines on the border of Casamance and some important arms cache hiding places still exist today; former soldiers from Guinea-Bissau still know the location of these caches, unearth the landmines and sell them for their own profit, according to General Niang. Use of landmines by the Senegalese Army One Senegalese NGO has claimed that the Senegalese army used mines in Casamance in 1997 and 1998, but used precise maps to recover them when needed. However, civilians interviewed in Casamance by the Landmine Monitor did not know of the army laying mines. During the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999, the Senegalese delegation vigorously protested Landmine Monitor's conclusion that Senegalese troops had likely used antipersonnel mines during their intervention in Guinea-Bissau in June 1998. Colonel Abdoulaye Aziz Ndaw told Landmine Monitor that laying landmines would be against the principles of the Senegalese army. He also noted that the strategic logic goes against the use of mines in that circumstance, arguing that landmines are never laid during an attack but rather in case of troops withdrawing, and the Senegalese army was attacking during the 1998 events. Landmine Monitor in its report welcomes the unequivocal commitment of Senegal to never use antipersonnel landmines and anticipates full and effective implementation of and compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty on Senegal's part. Landmine Monitor believes that there was compelling, though not incontrovertible, evidence that led to its conclusion that Senegal had likely used antipersonnel mines in 1998 in Guinea-Bissau, prior to becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Mine
action The EU is considering support for mine clearance activities, in addition to the European Fund for Development programs fostering economic development in Casamance. On 31 January 2000 the EU delegation in Dakar sent a letter to the Finance Minister in support of granting funds to mine clearance activities, but as yet it has not received a reply. France has supported the KAGAMEN organization, which is assisting mine victims. ECHO has supported Handicap International's (HI) mine awareness program in the country in 1999 with Euro 300.000. French Cooperation also granted FF 2 million for the activities of HI in Casamance. There are no guiding strategies or policies regarding mine action. The Senegalese Army's current mine clearance techniques are outmoded and accidents occur. According to Colonel Ndaw, mine clearers usually use pitchforks and a long stick as a prodder. The Army's Engineering Department has drawn up a "Project regarding the Participation of the Military Engineering Department to the Works of Depollution and Restoration of Road Infrastructures in the Regions of Ziguinchor and Kolda. (Details of the intervention considered and Assessment of the Needs)." This project was prepared in March 2000 and is being modified before being sent to the European Union delegation in Dakar. A military mine clearance pilot project was launched on 1 July 2000; 400 men will clear the road from Ziguinchor to the border with Guinea-Bissau in the sector of Nyassia. Most of the clearance will be by hand. The bomb disposal experts have limited protective gear and a few metal detectors. Senegal signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 24 September 1998. Senegal claims to have no stockpiles of landmines. However, a military official told
Landmine Monitor that some landmines unearthed in Casamance have been deactivated and are used for training the military. Their number was not be specified.71 Some observers believe that it is likely Senegal has a stockpile, at least for training purposes. Source: Landmine Monitor
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