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Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlivory
From 2009.igem.org
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The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 June 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 December 2000.
Cote d’Ivoire has reported that it has never used, produced or exported antipersonnel mines and has no stockpile, even for training purposes. In 2006, a commander with the former non-state armed group, New Forces, stated they had not used mines either.
Despite the former armed conflict between government and rebel forces, there is no evidence that Cote d’Ivoire is affected by landmines.
In its latest Article 7 report Cote d’Ivoire again reported no areas in which antipersonnel mines were confirmed or suspected. There is, however, a sporadic threat from explosive remnants of war (ERW), as evidenced by several tragedies in 2008 involving civilians, particularly children.
In 2007, no new landmine casualties were recorded in Cote d’Ivoire, but two soldiers were injured in an unexploded ordnance (UXO) incident at the Tiebissou military base in February 2007. This was the first incident reported since July 2005, when two children were killed by UXO 150km from the town of Daloa.
Casualties continued to be reported in 2008, with at least 18 ERW casualties in two incidents (seven people killed and 11 injured). In January, seven children were killed, two seriously injured and five slightly injured while playing with a grenade in a school in Bondoukou town, near the frontline of the five-year conflict which ended in March 2007. In May 2008, three men and a 10-year-old boy were injured while trying to open a rocket in Yamoussoukro city, central Cote d’Ivoire.
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