Congos seek support for landmine clearance

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC) have sought the support of the international community to eradicate antipersonnel landmines. The plea came in a statement issued on Friday at the end of a two-day conference held in the ROC capital, Brazzaville, which representatives from Angola, Burundi and Chad also attended. "The presence of mines in ROC along the Angolan border has yet to be verified by experts, particularly near Cabinda dating back to the 1970s," said Gen Jacques Yvon Ndolou, the minister-delegate of the ROC presidency in charge of national defence, adding that preceding governments had not resorted to the use of landmines, even though an imprecise number of them were found in various locations following numerous civil wars of the 1990s. Some 5,090 antipersonnel landmines in ROC were cleared between February and April 2002, and have been stockpiled pending their destruction, due to take place later this year. However, about 400 others are to be kept for future training of mine-clearance operatives. Ambassador Mbolandinga Katako, president of the national consultative committee for security in the DRC, reported that the use of landmines in his country had caused great harm to people and property during the past several years of war. "The DRC has decided to join in the fight against antipersonnel landmines with the support of experts from specialised agencies, operational partners and donor nations which support demining operations," he said. Landmine experts from the DRC reported that antipersonnel landmines had been identified in and around the northeastern cities of Kisangani and Bunia, with some 622 having been found in December 2002 in the former, and in April 2003, 1,172 in the latter. The Canadian ambassador to the DRC, Roland Goulet, said his country was ready and willing to lend both financial and material support to mine-clearance activities in an effort to encourage countries in the region to ratify the Ottawa Landmine Treaty. Signatories to the treaty agree to never, under any circumstances, use, produce, acquire or transfer landmines, nor assist anyone in such activities. Furthermore, signatories must also destroy all pre-existing landmines, regardless of their location in secure military depots or in situ in the field. However, it is permissible for signatories to retain a certain number of landmines for the sole purpose of training of personnel in mine clearance and destruction. "The confirmed presence of mines in locations such as Bunia and Kisangani, and along the DRC border with Angola, prevents the predominantly agricultural populations of these regions to safely use their land, their roads, their schools, and other infrastructure," said Goulet, who called the use of mines "cowardly". The conference, organised with the support of Canada in collaboration with the UN Mine Action Service, brought together national and international experts to discuss implementation of the Ottawa Landmine Treaty.