Sudanese government and SPLM/A rebels seek ways to clear mines

NAIROBI, Aug 27, 2004, 2004 (IPS) — Sudanese government and rebels in the south, who seem about to sign a comprehensive peace deal, met in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, this week to explore ways of clearing landmines planted during the country’s 21-year civil war.

The two parties, who met in Nairobi on Aug. 26-27, agreed to step up efforts to eradicate the mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as soon as the long-awaited peace agreement is signed.

Sudan is a signatory to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the use, piling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction. “We signed this treaty, and are committed to it. We do not support use of landmines,” Hassabo Abed El Haman, Commissioner General of Humanitarian Aid Commission, told IPS this week.

The convention, signed by 122 countries including Sudan, was concluded in Ottawa, Canada. Sudan government ratified the treaty in Oct. 2003 and began implementing it in Apr. 2004.

Even though the treaty has come into force, there is still some element of laxity within the government which has continued to lay mines, according to anti-mine campaigners.

“We have got figures of more than 3,000 victims in parts of southern Sudan alone. We have now commissioned our field staff to assess the situation in other parts of the country and we expect the figures to go up,” Reuben Malek, programmes coordinator of the Sudan Landmine Information and Response Initiative (SLIRI), told IPS.

The SPLA signed the ‘Deed of Commitment for Adherence to a Total ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action’ in Mar. 2000. Under the treaty, signed by non-state actors, the rebel movement committed itself to adhering to provisions of the 1997 Ottawa convention.

The mines and UXO, which are outcomes of Sudan’s civil war, have killed, maimed and obstructed the reconstruction of Africa’s largest country. The war, between the government and SPLA, saw the former seizing towns and cities, while the insurgents taking hold of the countryside.

In the process, the government laid landmines to protect its garrison towns, and to curtail movement of insurgents’ supplies and troops. The rebels, on the other hand, used landmines to confine the movements of government troops in the towns, and curtail their supply lines.

According to non-governmental organisations, seeking to eradicate landmines in the vast north-east African country, both the government and SPLA used landmines as a strategy to outmaneuver one other.

“While authorities laid anti-personnel mines to protect government-controlled strongholds, villages and other assets, the SPLA mainly focused on laying anti-tank mines on main roads, approach routes and subsidiary roads,” said Sudan Mine Action Strategy Formulation, a de-mining initiative of the government, SPLA, civil society and partner organisations.

Thousands of civilians have died as a result of the landmines. “I regret having laid the mines. At that time, I thought it was useful, but in turn, people’s lives were lost. I laid many mines, I cannot recall how many,” SPLA Commander Aleu Ayieny Aleu told IPS in an interview.

He estimates that between 500,000 and 2.5 million mines have been planted in Sudan, compared to government’s figure of one million mines.

Statistics from anti-mine organisations show that 21 out of Sudan’s 26 states are affected by mines and UXO, but no figures are available of persons killed or maimed by the devices.

“The number is unpredictable because independent survey has not been done. It has been difficult to access some parts of the country due to insecurity. But many people have died from the landmines,” Malek noted.

To reduce the impact of the mines, efforts are being made to mark suspected areas and educate populations about the risks of the devices. Civil society organisations have undertaken this task and are planning to evacuate those who are living in suspected areas.

This week’s meeting, between SPLA and government, created a new hope of a mine-free Sudan, especially in the face of a looming comprehensive peace agreement.

“Whatever will be adopted at this meeting will be incorporated in the peace agreement and will form the basis on which direction the de-mining process will take,” Aleu said.

A comprehensive and final peace agreement, which will encompass all the six protocols signed so far between the government and SPLA, is expected in two months time.

The protocols, which stipulate how a post-war Sudan will be governed, are an outcome of peace talks seeking to end the conflict in Sudan. The talks, which opened in Kenya in 2002, are being mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body.

IGAD comprises Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.