LANDMINE FREE AFRICA

As a result of the numerous conflicts facing the continent - particularly the internal conflicts which involve non-state actors – there are about 35 million landmines in Africa's soil, representing nearly one third of the total number of mines disseminated world-wide. These inherently indiscriminate weapons do not know when a ceasefire has been concluded, and, long after the end of hostilities, continue to claim thousand of lives and to provoke untold suffering among innocent civilians, mainly women and children. They prevent refugees and displaced persons from returning to their former homes and using their land; increase the burden on already fragile health services, which are to provide treatment to landmine victims; prevent the utilization of strategic infrastructural sites and roads which have been mined; disturb and hinder economic and social development. In a nutshell, landmines undermine the ability of a society and a country to rehabilitate long after the war has ended. This situation is exacerbated by the high cost of mine clearance operations, for which important resources need to be mobilized while many other priorities are left unattended to because of a lack of funds.

In light of the above, the OAU has paid sustained attention to the problem of anti-personnel mines. As early as June 1995, the OAU pronounced itself for the total ban of these weapons. In May 1997, the OAU organized in Kempton Park, South Africa, the first ever-Continental Conference of African Experts on Anti-Personnel Mines (APM), entitled “The OAU and the Legacy of APM-Towards a Landmine-Free Africa”. The Conference adopted a Plan of Action, known as the Kempton Park Plan of Action, with the objective of eliminating all anti-personnel mines and transforming Africa into a landmine Free Zone. The Plan provided for the enhancement of African capacities in mine clearance and mine victims assistance. It further called for increased international assistance.

As part of the implementation of this Plan of Action, which was endorsed by the OAU Council of Ministers in Harare in May 1997, OAU Member States played a key role in the Ottawa Process, which led to the Convention banning landmines. Today, 48 AU Member States have either ratified or acceded to the Convention.

In Algiers, in July 1999, the OAU Summit adopted a decision in which it recommitted itself to the Convention, and called on all OAU Member States, which have not yet done so to become parties to the Convention.

During its Maputo Session, in July 2003, the AU Executive Council adopted a decision in which it welcomed the proposal made by Angola to convene a continental conference on the problem of anti-personnel mines, including the status of implementation of the Ottawa Convention, and requested the AU Commission to facilitate the rapid organization of that conference. Steps are underway for the holding of the Conference in Luanda, in early May 2004.