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Key developments since March 1999: The Senate's Foreign Affairs Commission approved Mine Ban Treaty ratification legislation on 15 December 1999. On 26 April 1999, Chile imposed a unilateral moratorium on the production, export, and new use of antipersonnel mines. On 25 November 1999, the Army announced plans for an 11-year mine clearance program for 293 border minefields with 250,000 mines at a cost of $250 million. The Army began mine clearance along the border with Bolivia in December 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
Chile signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has yet to ratify it. Ratification legislation was approved by the House of Deputies on 6 October 1998, and was sent to the Senate via Official Decree 2150. The Senate's Foreign Affairs Commission approved the ratification legislation on 15 December 1999, and then sent the legislation to the Senate's Revenue Commission for review of the costs and potential funding sources for compliance with the treaty. According to Senator Carlos Ominami, President of the Revenue Commission of the Senate, the review was to be ready in June 2000.179
A new government assumed power in Chile on 11 March 2000 and it has not made any statements regarding the landmine issue.
Chile attended the First Meeting of State Parties in Maputo in May 1999. Chile has participated in four of the ban treaty intersessional meetings in Geneva - one for each of the Standing Committees of Experts, except Technologies for Mine Action.
Chile voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had for similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998. A Chilean representative said during the debate at the General Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament) that "[I]t was essential for the First Committee to restore shattered concepts in international security, including a total prohibition of anti-personnel landmines, protection of civilians in conflicts, and prohibitions on small arms."180
On 16 June 2000, at the meeting of the Grupo de Río held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Chile was one of 19 countries of the region that signed the Cartagena Declaration.
Chile is not party to CCW and did not attend the first annual meeting of states parties to Amended Protocol II in December 1999. Chile is a member of the Conference on Disarmament but has made no recent statements regarding landmines in this venue.
Production, Stockpiling, Transfer, Use
On 26 April 1999 in an official declaration signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariano Fernández Amunátegui, Chile imposed a unilateral moratorium on the production, export, and use of new AP mines.181 According to the Foreign Ministry, Chile has not produced or exported AP mines since 1985.182 Chile has produced at least six different types of AP mines in the past.183 AP mines were manufactured by both the Army's Fabricaciones Militares (FAMAE) and Industrias Cardoen, a private company.184
The size and composition of Chile's AP mine stockpile is not clear. In February 2000, Chile's Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Mario Artaza, told the ICBL that Chile's stockpile numbered 22,000, and that the estimated cost of destruction was $850,000.185 The stockpile number is surprisingly low and the destruction costs surprisingly high, but Landmine Monitor has not been able to get confirmation of either figure from other official sources.
In August 1999, in an official communiqué, reported in a newspaper article, Vice-Admiral Hernán Couyoumdjian, Chief of Staff of National Defense, stated that "the government has resolved to destroy its stockpiles, beginning the process with the destruction of one lot in the coming months, at a military training camp that is yet to be determined." The communiqué added that the AP mines situation in the country was one of the priority tasks of the Office of the Chief of Staff of National Defense.186 It is not known if any mine destruction has taken place.
The Army proposes destroying all AP and AT mines and replacing them by improved technologies, such as laser rays, "or smart or self-destructing mines."187
There is little information on the amounts and recipients of AP mines produced and transferred by Chile. However, because of the Mine Ban Treaty's transparency regime, some details are beginning to emerge. Ecuador declared in March 2000 that it stockpiles 101,458 Chilean AP mines.188
Landmine Problem
In September 1997, a Defense Ministry Official said that Chile had planted nearly one million AP and AT mines on its borders with Argentina, Bolivia, and Perú.189 Other estimates have ranged between 500,000 and one million landmines.190 In a newspaper article, Eduardo Santos, policy analyst at the Ministry of Defense, noted in November 1999 that there were at least 500,000 landmines along the borders with Argentina.191
According to a statement at a seminar in November 1999 by Vice-Admiral Hernán Couyoumdjian, Chilean minefields are marked throughout the country.192 However at the same seminar, Dr. Nicolás Larenas, father of a UXO victim in the north of the country, stressed that these markers are in a bad state and need to be repaired.193 Other newspaper articles have reported on the poor state of minefield markers in Chile, as well as the effects of climate and erosion that displace landmines. For example, in a ravine north of Arica, winter floods carried landmines towards the Pacific coast.194
According to a June 1999 newspaper report, a private gas company, Gas Atacama, had an unspecified accident involving landmines during construction of pipelines in the second region. According to the company, they subsequently had talks with the Army, which responded that "it did not have maps of the location of the mines and could not do anything about the matter." Gas Atacama reportedly then hired the services of a national demining company that checked the course of the proposed pipeline route for mines.195
The landmine problem affects two leading-edge astronomical radio-telescope projects in the Atacama highlands: the Millimeter Array (MMA) project of the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Large Southern Array (LSA) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), now united under the single Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) project. According to a June 1999 newspaper report, Edward Hardy, General Manager of the MMA project, requested information from the Chilean Foreign Ministry about the presence of landmines on Llanura de Chajnantor. The Foreign Ministry had previously confirmed from the Army that there were no landmines in the sector. Hardy noted that according to his conversations with Senator Carmen Frei, once Chile ratified the Ottawa Treaty, a mine clearance program in the zone would necessarily lead to a more accurate assessment of the landmine problem.196
Mine Clearance
Aside from the Army, there is no national agency that focuses on the landmine problem. The argument most often used by Chilean politicians for delay in ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty is the cost of clearing minefields in the country. The cost has been estimated at $300 and $400 million at various times.197 In August 1999, Vice Admiral Hernán Couyoumdjian, stated that the "political will of the Chilean government in eliminating the antipersonnel landmines laid in our frontiers and noted that advances would be made on this as needed economic resources were made available."198
On 25 November 1999, the Army released plans for a mine clearance program for 293 minefields with 250,000 mines along Chile's borders. The estimated cost was $250 million, and estimated time period of eleven years to complete. According to a newspaper article, "the plan would be implemented once the Congress ratified the Ottawa Treaty."199
On 13 May 2000 it was reported in the press that a "Mine Clearance Programme had been approved by the Ministry of Defense but it is was not clear what percentage of mines would be cleared, taking into account topographical variations and the fact that thousands are made of plastic."200
The Argentinean and Chilean governments held talks on mine clearance during former Argentinean President Menem's visit to Santiago in August 1999. Argentina offered technical assistance but the Chilean military reportedly declined that option.201 Nonetheless, Vice Admiral Couyoumdjian announced that engineering plans were being developed for the first mine clearance activities in the south of the country. According to an official communiqué, these mine clearance activities were already financed and would be carried out in Cabo del Hornos Island in the Wollaston Archipelago.202
At the 34th Conference of American Armies, held in November 1999 in the Bolivian capital La Paz, General Ricardo Izurieta, the Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army, announced that Chile would clear its minefields along the borders with Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.203 General Izurieta said, "in the briefest timeframe we'll clear minefields along the borders with Bolivia, Perú and Argentina - within the year - as a demonstration of our concrete and frank intention to strengthen ties with all our neighbours and in particular with the Bolivian Army."204
On 1 December 1999, the Chilean Army announced in Santiago the launch of the program to clear mined areas and specified that it would begin immediately along the border with Bolivia: around Tambo Quemado, between Chile's First Region (Primera Región de Chile) and the Bolivian zone of Charana, at an altitude of some 4,000 meters in the Andes.205 On 9 December 1999, it was reported that deminers had cleared an area of 13,500 square meters in Portezuelo de Tambo Quemado near the Bolivian border, destroying 250 M-14 antipersonnel mines and 27 M-15 antitank mines. The mines were found at a distance of 15 to 150 meters from the international highway linking Arica with La Paz, Bolivia. A team from the "Azapa" 6th Engineers Regiment, based in Arica, carried out the clearance operation.206 At the time, the Chilean Army estimated that it would take approximately three months to demine this area,207 but the mine clearance was still underway as of May 2000.
Mine Awareness
There are no official mine awareness programs in Chile. In November 1999 the Fundación Nacional por los Derechos del Niño (FNDN) [National Foundation for Children's Rights], presided by Senator Mariano Ruiz-Esquide, held a seminar on landmines in Chile attended by landmine victims, mayors of affected communities, the Chief of Staff of National Defense, and the UNICEF representative for Chile. The FNDN subsequently held a press conference on the landmine problem. The FNDN press release called for the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Senate to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty, for the government to begin a mine prevention program, and for the Chief of Staff of National Defense to collaborate in the identification, marking, and reporting on Chilean minefields.208
Landmine Casualties
There are casualties to landmines every year in Chile but the exact number is hard to determine. According to a newspaper report, the Chief of Staff of the Corps of Engineers of the Army stated that between 1976 and 1999 there have been twenty-six civilians injured and seven killed by landmines. This includes seven wounded and three killed Peruvian citizens engaged in drug-smuggling across the mined border areas. Fifty Chilean military personnel have been injured and five killed in the same period.209 Colonel Bernardo Castro Salas, Chief of Staff of the Engineers Command of the Army, stated in November 1999 that "while Army minefields were `registered,' those laid by the subversive guerrilla forces were unregistered, and to this he attributed the death of twelve persons and the wounding of seventy-six others during 1976-1999 in Chile."210
The national media continue to report on landmine casualties. In one case in September 1999 a Peruvian entered Chile illegally and walked into a marked minefield.211 In November 1999 a newspaper article reported that an Army conscript from the "Azapa" 6th Engineers Regiment was seriously injured while putting minefield warning signs near the Chilean-Peruvian border, only 500 meters from the Panamerican highway to Tacna. The conscript apparently stepped on a landmine that was outside the perimeter he was marking.212 On 4 May 2000 it was reported that a conscript of the "Carampangue" 5th Infantry Brigade was wounded by an AP Mine while jogging outside Fort Baquedano.213
In January 2000 a landmine victim filed a legal case against the Chilean government, asking for $500 million pesos (approximately US$933,000) in damages. According to a newspaper article, the individual was on an international road to Argentina in the region of Antofagasta when he was seriously injured by a landmine on the side of the road, losing both hands, an eye and hearing in one ear. The lawyer who has filed the lawsuit is quoted as saying, "The case is against the government, [since] it has responsibility to safeguard citizens from landmines which have not been eradicated."214
Victim Assistance
Military personnel who are injured by landmines receive care in military hospitals. There are no specific services available from the national health service, private health institutions, or NGOs for civilian landmine victims in Chile. The Fondo Nacional de Discapacitados [National Fund for the Disabled] provides social assistance for the disabled, but there are no specific programs for landmine victims. An NGO, Andes Sur Action Team, has recently requested funding for a victim assistance program from the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, through the Swiss Embassy in Santiago. The intended beneficiaries, the Survivor Network of Atacama Desert, are cooperating in the project.
Key developments since March 1999: Guerrilla groups have continued to use antipersonnel mines. In October 1999 UNICEF and other partners launched a mine awareness program. In November 1999, Colombia's AP mine production facilities were destroyed. In January 2000 the President signed the ratification law, a crucial, but not final, step in the ratification process. In March 2000 Colombia ratified CCW Amended Protocol II. The Army cleared 35 minefields, in military operations, in 1999. More than 2,000 AP mines were destroyed from stockpiles.
Mine Ban Policy
Colombia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has not yet ratified. On 14 January 2000 at a public ceremony during an official visit by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy, Colombian President Andrés Pastrana Arango signed ratification Law 554/2000 approving the treaty.215 As established by Colombia's Constitution, following President Pastrana's signature of the law, the Constitutional Court is required to prepare the legal instrument for ratification of the treaty. In January 2000, Landmine Monitor was told that this process was expected to take between three to six months.216 The ratification law does not contain other provisions for implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Colombia participated as an observer in the First Meeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in May 1999. The head of the delegation, Ambassador Jaime Girón Duarte, told the plenary that "the use of antipersonnel mines in armed conflicts is an affront to all notions of human dignity." He went on to state that Colombia "has communicated its willingness to replace the use of antipersonnel mines protecting vital production and telecommunications sites, both military and civilian, with sensors and electrified fences."217 Colombia has not participated in the various intersessional meetings of the treaty in Geneva.
Colombia voted in favor of the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in 1997 and 1998.
On 16 June 2000, at the meeting of the Grupo de Río held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Colombia was one of nineteen countries of the region that signed the Cartagena Declaration.218 The Declaration's paragraph 15 states, "We call on all States that have not done so to ratify as soon as possible the Ottawa Convention, in order to achieve the elimination of antipersonnel mines... and we renew our commitment to landmine victim rehabilitation as well as mine clearance in our region, in keeping with our goal to declare the hemisphere free of antipersonnel landmines."219
According to an official in the Disarmament Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a questionnaire to gather data on the antipersonnel landmine situation in the country has already been submitted to relevant civilian and military authorities in preparation for the Article 7 transparency report.220 It is expected that the "imminent ratification of the Ottawa Treaty will force those authorities to produce this data rapidly, for the preparation and submission of the document to the UN." 221
Colombia on 6 March 2000 ratified Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. A technical report has been requested from the Ministry of the Defense in order to comply with the Convention and its protocols, including Amended Protocol II regarding landmines.222 Colombia did not attend the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 1999 in Geneva.
Colombia is a member of the Conference of Disarmament. According to an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombia maintains a "favorable position" on the question of negotiating a transfer ban on landmines in that forum.223
Over the past year, the Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas (Colombian Campaign Against Landmines), or CCCM, has made a concerted effort to press for ratification of the treaty in the National Congress, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense and has also urged support for the treaty by the various groups involved in Colombia's internal war. CCCM has been active through a number of letters, forums, meetings and working documents, and has requested other organizations' support as well. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Colombia has also advocated for ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, and its law department has produced a document encouraging the government to incorporate the Mine Ban Treaty in Colombian law.224 UNICEF Colombia has also played an important role in pressing for treaty ratification and for the extension of mine awareness programs throughout Colombia.225
Production
According to the General Command of Colombia's Armed Forces, Industria Militar (INDUMIL), a government-owned facility, destroyed its antipersonnel mine production equipment on 18 November 1999.226 Landmine Monitor Report 1999 reported that the Ministry of Defense had instructed INDUMIL to cease production of antipersonnel mines in 1996,227 but the General Command indicates that antipersonnel mine manufacture did not cease until September 1998.228 According to INDUMIL's Production Manager, there is still production of the Carga Direccional Dirigida (CDD) directional fragmentation mine (Claymore-type).229 He said these are made to be used only in command detonated mode, and are not classified as AP mines by the Colombian Army. Claymore-type mines used in command detonated mode are permitted under the Mine Ban Treaty, but prohibited if used with tripwires.
Nearly all major guerrilla groups have publicly acknowledged that they are not only users but also manufacturers of AP mines. The Colombian Armed Forces have identified and denounced the production of AP mines by Colombian guerrilla groups in several documents and declarations in the past.230 Most of these mines are homemade, using cheap and easy to find materials. The common "Minas Quiebrapatas" (Legbreaker mines) are mainly manufactured by the UC-ELN (Unión Camilista-Ejército Nacional de Liberación Nacional). There are also so-called "Kleimor" (Claymore) or "Cazabobos" (fool hunters) mines, "M-Klim" mines, Propelled Mine or Charge and the "Bomba Elena."231
According to the Colombian Army's Press Agency, in the past two years there has been an increase in the use of homemade antivehicle mines by guerrilla groups in Colombia. These antivehicle mines are manufactured with gas, oxygen, or refrigerating cylinders.232
Mines and improvised explosive devices are also made and used by non-combatants in Colombia. In several parts of the country, including Chocó, Santander and Antioquia Departments, farmers make "pig mines," for various reasons, including protection of crops from animals and theft.233 Antipersonnel landmines are also manufactured and used by coca, poppy, and marijuana growers to protect illegal drug crops, and by alkaloid processors in order to keep the Army and others away from their laboratories and stockrooms.234
Transfer
Colombia maintains that it has never exported AP mines, though it has not adopted a formal moratorium on exports.235 In the past, it has imported AP mines from the United States and perhaps other nations.236 A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine Monitor of his growing concern over the increasing illegal traffic of light weapons, including AP mines, across Colombia's borders with Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama by land, air, and sea routes.237 During the crisis sparked by the multiple kidnapping of civilians at the Church of La María, in Cali, Valle del Cauca, the Army said it found approximately 500 industrially manufactured foreign landmines while searching for the victims.238 No additional information was released about the mines.
Stockpiling and Destruction
According to a March 1999 letter from the Office of the General Inspector of Colombia's Armed Forces, the Armed Forces have at least 18,000 AP mines in stockpile.239 In January 1999 Colonel José Manuel Castro, a legal advisor in the Ministry of Defense, stated that the Colombian Armed Forces have mines in stockpile and that "the Ministry wants to search for alternatives, to destroy them as soon as possible."240 According to an official in the Disarmament Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, information on the size and composition of the AP mine stockpile will be made available when Colombia ratifies the Mine Ban Treaty.241
According to a letter from the General Command of the Armed Forces, on 2 July 1999 INDUMIL destroyed 2,542 AP mines from its stockpile, at the José María Córdoba Factory.242
It is not possible to get accurate information on guerrilla-held stockpiles of AP mines.
Use
Landmine Monitor knows of no instances of new deployment of antipersonnel landmines by the Colombian Army since Colombia signed the ban treaty in December 1997. The Commander of Colombia's Armed Forces, General Fernando Tapias Stahelin, has stated that the Armed Forces laid approximately 20,000 AP mines throughout Colombian territory in the past.243 In January 2000, he told Landmine Monitor, "Colombian Military Forces have defensive minefields, located near installations of high risk and difficult to access." He stated that the Armed Forces' minefields "are correctly identified, marked and protected by military personnel, and follow international guidelines."244 According to General Stahelin, Colombia's Armed Forces have maps of their minefields, but for security reasons this information is not available to the public.245 During a recent field visit to La Calera district near the capital Bogotá, the Colombian Campaign observed that Army minefields there did not have the necessary measures to prevent risk to the nearby population.246
Colombia's main guerilla groups are: FARC - Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the UC-ELN - Unión Camilista-Ejército Nacional de Liberación Nacional (Camilista Union-National Liberation Army), and the EPL - Ejército Popular de Liberación (Popular Liberation Army). There are also numerous paramilitary groups, collectively termed the AUC - Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-defense Groups of Colombia).
Two of the guerrilla groups, FARC-EP and the UC-ELN, as well as paramilitary groups, have used and are believed to still be using antipersonnel mines in the country.247 There is no evidence that the EPL has used AP mines. The FARC-EP and the UC-ELN have both in the past acknowledged their use of AP mines.248 According to a newspaper article published in Cali in May 1999, during talks with government officials FARC representatives discussed the landmines issue under the item that deals with International Humanitarian Law.249 Colombia's Armed Forces reported that 52 mines placed in San José de Sumapaz department had been discovered on 28 February 2000. The mines were found along village paths, around the school and football field, and near the radio transmission station on Granada Mountain.250
Landmine Problem
Colombia is perhaps the country most affected by mines in the Americas region. Information collected by the Colombia Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCCM) indicates that at least 135 of Colombia's 1,050 municipalities in twenty-three of the country's thirty departments are mine-affected in all five regions of Colombia (Caribbean, Andean, Amazonian, Orinoquia, and Pacific regions). The 135 municipalities cover a total area of 145,000 square kilometers or 13% of the national territory. The department of Santander is one of the most affected, and has reported mine victims since 1990.251
In updating its list from Landmine Monitor Report 1999, the CCCM has identified the following mine affected areas:252
1) Amazonian region
· Amazonas department: Santa Sofia municipality.
· Caqueta department: Florencia, Montañita, Miraflores, Puerto Rico, San Vicente del Caguán, Remolinos del Caguan, and Cartagena del Chairá municipalities.
· Guaviare department: Calamar, Miraflores, and San José del Guaviare municipalities.
· Putumayo department: Puerto Asís and Orito municipalities.
· Vaupes department: Mitú municipality.
2) Andean region
· Antioquia department: Caicedo, San Roque, San Carlos, San Francisco, Segovia, Mutatá, Turbo, Apartadó, Currulao, Zaragoza, Yondó, San Luis, Cáceres, Amalfi, Dabeiba, Tello, Bello, Yali, Puerto Triunfo, Cocorná, Granada, El Bagre, Maceo, Campamento, Carmen de Viboral, Copacabana, and Vegachi municipalities.
· Boyacá department: Pajarito, Pauna and Chiscas municipalities.
· Cauca department: Argelia, Caloto, Caldono, Corinto, El Bordo, and Patía municipalities.
· Cundinamarca department: Cabrera, Claraval, Junin, Guayabeltal, Medina, San Bernardo, Viotá, and Sumapaz municipalities.
· Huila department: Suaza, Acevedo, Algeciras, and Anzoátegui municipalities.
· Nariño department: Puerres and Tuquerres municipalities.
· Norte de Santander department: Ocaña, Convención, Cucutilla, Chitaga, Cachipa, Los Patios, El Turra, Tibú, and Teorama municipalities.
· Santander department: Barrancabermeja, Bucaramanga, California, El Playón, Florida Blanca, Galán, Piedecuesta, San Vicente de Chucurí, Lebrija, Matanzas, El Carmen de Chucuri, Betulia, Suaita, Suratá, Zapatoca, and Macaravita municipalities.
3) Caribbean region
· Bolivar department: Simití, Morales, San Pablo, Santa Rosa del Sur, Rioviejo, Tiquisio, Achí, Cantagallo, Altos del Rosario, Córdoba, Montecristo, Carmen de Bolivar, San Martín de Loba, and Zambrano municipalities.
· Cesar department: Curumaní, La Jagua de Ibirico, La Jagua del Pilar, Pailitas, Pelaya, San Alberto, Chiriguaná, Codazzi, El Copey, and Valledupar municipalities.
· Cordoba department: Tierralta and Puertolibertador municipalities.
· Magdalena department: Ciénaga and El Banco municipalities.
· Sucre department: Toluviejo, Guaranda and Ovejas municipalities.
4) Orinoquia region
· Arauca department: Fortul, Tame, Saravena, La Esmeralda, Arauca, and Arauquita municipalities.
· Casanare department: Támara and Sacama municipalities.
· Meta department: Calvario, El Castillo, Lejanías, Mapiripán, San Juanito, and La Uribe municipalities.
5) Pacific region
· Chocó department: Riosucio municipality.
· Valle del Cauca department: Palmira and Jamundi municipalities.
Not all the territory of each municipality is mine-affected. Most of the mine-affected lands are in rural areas inhabited by peasants who rely on small-scale subsistence agriculture and herding. Paths and walkways are often mined. Some urban centers have also been affected. There are some reports of increased mining of communal areas frequented by civilians, such as schools, football fields and bridges. In the department of Norte de Santander and Bolivar, most mine-affected areas are illegal drug plantations.253 CCCM has noted that a majority of minefields in Santander and Bolivar are unmarked, the exceptions being those closer to urban centers.
The humanitarian impact of AP mines is widespread and great. The government of Bolivar Department has estimated that 60% of school absenteeism in Santa Rosa del Sur was due to the risks posed to children by AP mines near schools and towns.254 CCCM carried out a field visit to the southern region of Bolivar Department and found that peasants in Buena Vista, near Santa Rosa del Sur, preferred not to send their children to school because of the threat of landmines.255 They estimated that at least twenty of their cows as well as other farm animals have died because of exploding mines in the past six months alone. The inhabitants of the area live in constant fear, and children suffer severe traumas associated with war, such as night terrors, incontinence and personality disorders.
Some communities are unable to produce food or earn money needed to survive; others suffer tremendous economic losses due to the mining of productive agricultural lands and the death of their farm animals.0 Equally devastating is the psychological damage suffered by people in mine-affected communities.1
These mine-affected communities urgently request help from NGOs, state institutions and international organizations to begin the processes of prevention, attention to victims and demining. Members of these communities feel they are military targets for the armed groups, and are completely abandoned by organizations and institutions that could help.2
Mine Clearance
While Colombia's rural population would greatly benefit from mine clearance programs, there are currently no official humanitarian mine clearance programs in progress. Mine clearance is undertaken by the National Army and is primarily military, not humanitarian, in its purpose as it is usually conducted during combat situations.3
The Colombian Army has reportedly destroyed a considerable number of antipersonnel mines belonging to the Colombian guerrillas. According to a report by the Press Agency of the Colombian Armed Forces, during 1999 the Army cleared 35 minefields and deactivated 370 AP mines. It also seized 239 mines from the guerrilla groups.4 Another military official reported that during the last week of 1999, sixteen minefields were cleared near the villages of San Vicente, San Luis, San Carlos, and San Francisco, in Antioquia department.5
The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Los Andes in Bogotá is interested in carrying out research to develop a robot for the detection of landmines. The research project has the support of the Mars Group, the explosives unit of the National Army.6
Mine Awareness
On 4 October 1999, the Ministry of Communications, UNICEF Colombia and the Canadian Embassy in Bogotá signed an agreement for implementing a mine awareness program in Colombia.7 The program, which was to run for one year, has recently received an additional $50,000 from the Canadian Embassy in order to extend it for an additional six months.8 Funds managed by the UNICEF Colombia Office have been invested in the production of material for the prevention of accidents and for advocacy. Three videos are being produced on the topic of landmines in Colombia, as well as a series of posters and a document about implementation of the treaty in Colombia. The Scouts of Colombia, Colombian Red Cross, and CCCM are in charge of designing, testing and fielding these prevention materials.9
Landmine Casualties
A statistical survey by CCCM has identified 736 mine victims since 1991.10 Accidents involving landmines were reported in 23 departments in the country. The largest number of casualties, 151, were recorded in 1997. CCCM identified 63 victims in 1999, and 35 in the first half of 2000.
Approximately 95% of mine victims were men, 3% were women and gender was not specified for the remaining 2%. A total of 83% of the victims were adults, and 7% were children (for the remaining 10% of the victims their age was not specified). Fifty-nine percent of the victims belonged to the Armed Forces, 22% were civilians, 2% were members of guerrilla groups, and 1% were police officers (the status or occupation of the remaining 16% was not specified). Approximately 90% of incidents involving landmines occurred in rural areas of the country.
CCCM believes the figures reported here significantly underestimate the actual number of AP mine victims in the country, due to lack of systematic reporting.
The Information Department of the Ministry of Health is currently in the third year of a project which aims to generate needed statistical data on various aspects related to health and violence in Colombia, so as to arrive at a comprehensive view of violence in the country. 11 While results are not available, the project does not include indicators on AP mines in its methodology.12
There is no precise data available on the total number of victims among non-state actors. The data compiled by CCCM only shows that six members of guerrilla groups have been injured and two killed, as well as one member of paramilitary groups injured and six killed in the 1993-99 period.13 This figure too is probably a significant underestimation of the real numbers of NSA mine victims in the country's long internal armed conflict.
Landmines continue to claim victims in Colombia on a regular basis. On 21 December 1999, 11 people were injured and 3 were killed in a newly-laid minefield in La Jagua del Pilar, between the departments of Cesar and Guajira.14 On 30 January 2000, in the Santa Rosa del Sur area, four peasants including an eight-month old infant girl were injured when a mina quiebrapatas (`leg-breaker' mine) exploded on a path they usually take between Buena Vista and their home.15 A few days prior, and in the same municipality, a twenty-four-year-old peasant from Campo Llano was killed by a mine.16 On 28 February 2000, General Euclides Sánchez Vargas, Commander of the Colombian Army's Fifth Division reported the discovery of fifty-two AP mines laid in San José de Sumapaz, Cundinamarca Department near the village school.17 Also in the Sumapaz area, two soldiers were injured by a mine in April 2000 while searching an abandoned guerrilla camp.18
Survivor Assistance
According to an Official at the Ministry of Health, Colombia's health care system is structured into three levels, in keeping with World Health Organization guidelines.19 The Colombia Campaign to Ban Landmines has examined information provided by the National Department of Statistics regarding the distribution of these health care systems by department. The Colombia Campaign concludes that Colombia's health care facilities are insufficient for providing adequate coverage and are also unequally distributed.
Medical, surgical and rehabilitation services for victims are usually located in the main urban centers, whereas most victims live in rural areas. In rural areas, it is sometimes nearly impossible to get immediate medical help and can sometimes take hours or even days to reach the nearest hospital. The injured person is often presumed to be the enemy, making their transit extremely dangerous.
While some major hospitals can provide quality medical assistance to mine victims, costs are high. There are relatively few doctors expert in dealing with the complex surgical demands of landmine injuries. Most victims never receive mobility devices, apart from crutches or improvised prostheses.
In Colombia, there are four institutions that manufacture prostheses and provide services for landmine and other victims of violence. The Hospital Militar de Colombia (Colombia's Military Hospital) in Bogotá is the only institution fully prepared and equipped to treat a landmine victim from the emergency room to rehabilitation, including psychological support. The hospital manufactures prostheses and has a rehabilitation center. It treats military but also provides services for civilians. The CIREC foundation in Bogotá has a prostheses factory which also manufactures orthopedic devices. The San Juan Bautista Orthopedic Center is located in Bucarmanga in Santander department. The Antioquia Rehabilitation Committeee is in Medellín in Antioquia department.
The Sueños Foundation, dedicated to caring for children that are victims of AP mines in Colombia, has received a donation of an undetermined number of prosthesis from a French donor.20
Disability Policy and Practice
Social and economic reintegration programs for landmine and war disabled remain virtually non-existent in Colombia. FOSYGA (Fund of Guarantees and Solidarity), of the Ministry of Health, is a governmental fund that provides some money to victims of political violence to cover their medical expenses. However, due to the complexity of the bureaucratic process and the documentation required to obtain funding, most landmine victims never request it.
In 1981, the President's Office decreed Law 2358, creating the National Rehabilitation System. In 1990, Law 10 reorganized the National Health System. In 1997, Law 418 established the obligation of the state to care for victims of armed political or ideological conflict. The Plan Nacional de Atención a Personas con Discapacidad, PNAPD (National Plan for People with Disabilities), coordinated by the Health Minister, has a budget of US$3.6 million for the year 2000.21 People with disabilities are generally not aware of the Plan or its benefits.
There are no specific laws for landmine victims but the Vice-President's Office, jointly with the National Planning Department and the Council Office for Social Policies, is developing a plan that could cover landmine victims, with an open view for other violence victims. Currently, the only disabled people in Colombia that receive a pension are either military personnel disabled while on duty, or insured workers that are disabled while on the job. Other victims of violence, including landmine victims, do not receive pensions.
Guyana signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 but has not yet ratified. Landmine Monitor has written to request information, including on the ratification status, but has not received a reply.22 Guyana voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had done on previous resolutions in 1997 and 1998. It has also supported the pro-ban Organization of American States resolutions. It did not attend the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in May 1999. Guyana has not participated in the treaty intersessional work program.
Guyana is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Guyana is not believed to have ever produced or exported AP mines. It is thought to possess a stockpile of AP mines, though the size, composition, and suppliers of the stockpile are not known.23 Guyana is not mine-affected.24
Haiti signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has not yet ratified. In a 31 January 2000 letter to the ICBL Coordinator, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Haiti planned to ratify the treaty when a new parliament was in place following the legislative elections, which were held on 22 May 2000.25 Haiti voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999. Haiti has stated that it has never produced, imported, stockpiled, or used AP mines.26 According to the United Nations, Haiti is not mine affected.27
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. It is the only member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) that has not yet ratified the ban treaty, even though it told Landmine Monitor in April 1999 that ratification would take "another three weeks."28 In response to a letter from Mines Action Canada (MAC), Mr. George Bullen, High Commissioner of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States in Ottawa, wrote that he has forwarded MAC's concerns about the delay in ratification on to the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.29
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines voted in favor of the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has stated that it has never produced, transferred, stockpiled or used AP mines and that it is not mine-affected.30
Key developments since March 1999: Suriname's Foreign Minister expects ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty in 2000.
Suriname signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 but has yet to ratify it. According to Foreign Minister Erroll G. Snijders:
Suriname has already taken the necessary action to be able to ratify the Ottawa Convention....This Convention is brought to the attention of the meeting of the State Council.... After advice from the State Council, the relevant documents will have to be brought to Parliament. It is expected that the Republic of Suriname will be in a position to ratify the Ottawa Convention some time this year.31
Suriname did not participate in the May 1999 First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, and has not taken part in any of the treaty's intersessional meetings.
Suriname voted for the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had for similar resoutions in 1997 and 1998. It has also supported the pro-ban Organization of American States resolutions. Suriname is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, nor a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Suriname is not believed to have ever produced or exported AP mines. However, during the 1986-1992 internal conflict in Suriname, an estimated 1,000 mines were laid. The supplier of the mines used in the conflict is not known. It is also not known if Suriname currently maintains a stockpile of AP mines. At the cessation of conflict in August 1992, Suriname requested assistance from the OAS to help clear the emplanted mines. Under the OAS-sponsored program, "Operation Pur Baka", land in Suriname was surveyed and cleared and Suriname has since been declared clear of mines.32 It is not known if there have been any landmine casualties in Suriname.
Key developments since March 1999: Stockpile destruction is underway.
Mine Ban Policy
Uruguay signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 but has not yet ratified. While ratification legislation was sent to the Congress on 4 September 1998, it was not passed before the change in government on 1 March 2000.33 According to a Foreign Ministry official, the ratification legislation needs to be reintroduced to the new Congress, and the Foreign Ministry intends to do so.34 In a letter to the ICBL dated 26 June 2000, Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Opertti said, "I would like to inform you that in my recent meeting with the Members of the International Relations Committee of the Congress I strongly urged them to speed up the ratification process of the Convention. After perceiving a positive response I feel encouraged to believe that the process will be soon finished."35 He also stated, "I share the view that ratification by all signatory states is critical and that this historic movement to eradicate this indiscriminate weapon needs the strong support not only of all Governments involved but the International Community as a whole."
Uruguay did not participate in the First Meeting of State Parties held in Maputo in May 1999 and has not attended any of the intersessional meetings of the treaty.
Uruguay voted for the December 1999 UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54 B supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had for similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998. In a speech to the UN, Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Opertti said the Mine Ban Treaty's entry into force was "an auspicious sign" along the road toward the creation of a "culture for peace."36
Uruguay supported the OAS resolution on Support for the Mine Clearance Program in Central America (AG/RES.164) on 7 June 1999 and the OAS resolution on The Western Hemisphere as an Antipersonnel Landmine Free Zone (AG/RES.1644) on the same date.37
Uruguay ratified Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 18 August 1998. It participated in the December 1999 First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II, but has not yet submitted its transparency report as required under Article 13 of the protocol.
Production, Transfer, Use
According to the Army, Uruguay has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.38 It has imported AP mines from Belgium. It does not appear that Uruguay has used antipersonnel mines in combat operations or for border defense.
Stockpiling
In November 1997 former Defense Minister Raul Iturria revealed that the Armed Forces had a total of 2,338 antipersonnel mines (1,604 Belgian M-35 mines and 734 Belgian NR-409 mines) as well as 1,377 antitank mines.39 Attempts to obtain updated information have been unsuccessful.40 The Army has stated that Uruguay does not have Claymore mines nor does it have antitank mines fitted with antihandling devices.41
Regarding stockpile destruction, the Army told Landmine Monitor in February 1999 that all AP mines had been collected and stored in a depot, and that the NR-409 mines would be destroyed in 1999. Only inert mines would be used for training.42 In May 2000, Minister of Defense Luis Brezzo told Landmine Monitor, "To date some mines have been destroyed in select military sites, taking into account people's safety and environmental protection." Minister Brezzo added, "It is not possible to be more explicit at this moment, while ratification of the Treaty is in process." 43
Mine Action
Since 1992 the Army has contributed US$24,000 to international humanitarian mine action. Armed Forces personnel have participated in United Nations peacekeeping and mine action programs in Angola, Cambodia and Mozambique, as well as with the Organization of American States (OAS) program in Nicaragua.44
The Uruguayan Institute for Development (UID) is reported to have signed a Letter of Intent with the government of Nicaragua to implement a humanitarian demining project in that country.45 According to retired Captain Fernando Poladura, a staff member of UID, the project would demine a hydroelectric dam that could supply electrical energy to three nearby towns as well as a large area of Nicaragua's Atlantic coast.46
UID states that it has also developed a project with the Uruguayan company Mundo Seguro S.A. and the Millennium Foundation of Cape Town, South Africa, to provide demining activities and assistance to mine victims, and to foster development in mine-affected countries.47 UID has received unspecified support from the Ministry of Education of Uruguay through a resolution dated 2 November 1999, for a planned prosthesis center.48 According to a staff member, the Institute also has the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which asked Uruguayan diplomats to promote it overseas.49
Landmine Problem
Uruguay is not mine-affected. There have been a few Uruguayan landmine casualties, mostly from military and peacekeeping operations. UID's retired Captain Poladura lost his right leg while participating in mine clearance in Angola in June 1996.50
179 Interview with Senator Carlos Ominami, President of the Senate's Revenue Commission, Valparaíso, 3 May 2000.
180 Statement by Juan Larraín, UN General Assembly First Committee debate, GA/DIS/3140, 11 October 1999.
181 Declaraci_n Ofici_l del Gobierno de la Rep_blica de Chile, "Moratoria Unilateral en la Producci_n, Exportaci_n, Importaci_n e instalaci_n de Nuevas Minas Terrestres Antipersonal," Santiago, Chile, 26 April 1999.
182 Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by the Foreign Ministry of Chile, through its Ambassador to Uruguay, Augusto Bermúdez Arancibia, 2 February 1999.
183 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 290 for details and types.
184 Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance, on-line update, 19 November 1999.
185 ICBL (Jody Williams and Liz Bernstein) meeting with Ambassador Mario Artaza, Washington, DC, 7 February 2000. See also follow-up letter from Williams to Artaza, dated 8 February 2000.
186 Constanza Bornhorn, "Comienza retiro de minas," Las Últimas Noticias, 19 August 1999.
188 Ecuador's Article 7 Report, Form B on Stockpiled AP mines, 29 March 2000.
189 Interview published by La Tercera (Santiago newspaper), 8 September 1997, and reproduced in Clarín (Buenos Aires newspaper), 8 December 1997.
190 See for example, Agence France Presse (Arica), 18 July 1998 and Agence France Presse (Antofagasta), 21 June 1998.
191 José Higuera, "Desminado fronterizo: La atrevida promesa de Izurieta," El Metropolitano, Santiago, 20 December 1999.
192 Statement by Vice-Admiral Hernán Couyoumdjian, Chief of Staff of National Defense, at the "Análisis de Riesgo y Prevención en Zonas Minadas" (Analysis of risks and prevention in mine-affected zones) Seminar held in the Chilean Senate, Valparaíso, 15 November 1999.
193 Statement by Dr. Nicolás Larenas at the Seminar held in the Chilean Senate, Valparaíso, 15 November 1999.
194 "11 Años tomará el retiro de minas," El Mercurio (Santiago), 26 November 1999.
195 Jordi Berenguer, "Campos minados podrían atrasar realización del proyecto" and "64 ojos verán el universo," La Nación, 7 June 1999.
197 "Statement by the President of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Commission," Press Release of the Chilean Senate, 15 December 1999; Marcela Ogalde, "US$400 millones cuesta desactivar minas antipersonales," La Nación, Santiago, 18 November 1999.
198 Constanza Bornhorn, "Comienza retiro de minas," Las Últimas Noticias, 19 August 1999.
199 "11 Años tomará el retiro de minas," El Mercurio (Santiago), 26 November 1999.
200 "Senado solicitó al Gobierno informe presupuestario para desminado," El Mercurio, 13 May 2000.
201 Constanza Bornhorn, "Comienza retiro de minas," Las Últimas Noticias, 19 August 1999.
203 José Higuera, "Desminado fronterizo: La atrevida promesa de Izurieta," El Metropolitano (Santiago), 20 November 1999.
204 "Izurieta anunció retiro de minas antipersonales en zones fronterizas," La Segunda (Santiago), 18 November 1999. "Chile announces the demining of its borders," Agence France Presse (La Paz), 18 November 1999.
205 "Chile begins the demining in the border with Bolivia," Agence France Presse (Santiago), 1 December 1999; "Army Begins To Dismantle Mine Fields," El Mercurio, (Chilean national newspaper), 1 December 99.
206 "Concluyó Primera Operación de Desminado," El Mercurio (Santiago), 4 December 1999. Both mines are of U.S. origin. See also, "277 Landmines Destroyed," MISNA, Tambo Quemado, Chile, 9 December 1999.
207 "Chile begins the demining in the border with Bolivia," Agence France Presse (Santiago), 1 December 1999.
208 Fundación por los Derechos del Niño, "Acuerdo de Compromiso y Tareas para la Prevención y Asistencia en Comunas con Zonas Minadas," Valparaíso, 15 November 1999.
209 "11 Años tomará el retiro de minas," El Mercurio, (Santiago), 26 November 1999; "Ejército confirma intención de retirar minas antipersonales," La Hora (Santiago), 25 November 1999.
210 "11 Años tomará el retiro de minas," El Mercurio (Santiago), 26 November 1999.
211 Mauricio Silva, "Un Muerto al Estallar Mina Antipersonal," El Mercurio (Santiago), 22 September 1999.
212 "Conscripto herido al estallar mina," El Mercurio (Santiago), 28 November 1999.
213 Narciso Donoso, "Soldado pisó explosivo," El Mercurio (Santiago), 4 May 2000.
214 "Víctima de mina antipersonal demanda al estado por $500 millones," La Hora, 13 January 2000.
215 "Convención sobre la Prohibición del empleo, almacenamiento, producción y transferencia de minas antipersonal y sobre su destrucción," Diario Oficial (Official Gazette of the Colombian Republic), 18 January 2000, p. 1-7.
216 Interview with Graciela Uribe de Lozano, Head of the Disarmament Unit, Special Affairs Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogotá, 14 January 2000.
217 Statement by Ambassador Jaime Girón Duarte to the First Meeting of State Parties, Maputo, 3-7 May 1999.
218 The nineteen governments were: Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, Honduras, Costa Rica, México, República Dominicana, El Salvador, Venezuela, Chile, Perú, Argentina, Guyana, Panamá and Paraguay.
219 Grupo de Río, Declaración de Cartagena, paragraph 15, 16 June 2000, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
220 Interview with Pedro Agustín Roa, Assistant, Disarmament Unit of the Special Affairs Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogotá, 12 November 1999.
222 Interview with Pedro Agustín Roa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogotá, 10 December 1999.
223 Interview with Graciela Uribe de Lozano, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bogotá, 14 January 2000.
224 Interview with Rolin Wabre, ICRC Delegate for Colombia, Bogotá, 12 April 1999. Law Department of the ICRC Delegation to Colombia, "La Convención de Ottawa sobre Minas Antipersonales," December 1998.
225 Interview with Nidya Quiróz, Peace and Development Programme Officer, UNICEF Colombia, Bogotá, 25 February 2000.
226 Letter to CCCM for Landmine Monitor from the General Command of the Military Forces, (No. 069087/CGFM-JADEC-DCCA-SJ-420), Ministry of National Defense, signed by General Fernando Tapias S., Commandant General of the Military Forces, received 21 January 2000.
227 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 294, citing an INDUMIL production manager. Last year's report indicated that INDUMIL produced MN-MAP-1 and MN-MAP-2 antipersonnel mines. The Colombian Campaign has since discovered INDUMIL also produced a Claymore-type mine, the CDD. Colombian Campaign Against Landmines, visit to School of Engineers, Colombian Army, Bogotá, 12 June 2000.
228 Letter by the General Command of the Military Forces, 21 January 2000.
229 Interview with Engineer Sergio Rodriguez, Production Manager, INDUMIL, 5 July 2000.
230 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 294.
232 Interview with Captain María del Rosario Vásquez, Human Rights Official, Press Agency of the Colombian Army, Bogotá, 25 January 2000.
233 Interview with users of "pig mines" in Chocó Department, Bogotá, November 1998.
234 Interview with Captain Javier Ayala, Director of Human Rights Office, Ministry of National Defense, Bogotá, 13 December 1999.
235 Interview with Alvaro Arias, Director, International Issues, Ministry of National Defense, Bogotá, 20 January 2000.
236 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 295-296.
237 Interview with Pedro Agustín Roa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24 January 2000.
238 Interview with Captain María Vázquez, Human Rights Official, News Agency of the Colombian National Army, Bogotá, 25 January 2000.
239 Letter from the General Command of the Military Forces to the Human Rights Unit of the Ministry of National Defense, numbered 2850-MDASE-DH-725, signed by Hugo Mauricio Ortiz Concha, in absence of Major General Mario Hugo Galán Rodriguez, General Inspector of the Military Forces of Colombia.
240 Interview with Colonel José Manuel Castro, Consultant for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Defense, Bogotá, 21 January 1999.
241 Telephone interview with Graciela Uribe de Lozano, Head of the Disarmament Unit, Special Affairs Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2 February 1999.
242 Letter from the General Command of the Military Forces, 21 January 2000. Héctor Rodríguez, INDUMIL's Production Manager, told Landmine Monitor in January 1999 that INDUMIL had already destroyed its stock of mines, numbering approximately 2,220. Interview with Engineer Héctor Rodríguez, Bogotá, 18 January 1999.
243 Interview with Captain Miguel Torralvo, Bogotá, 19 January 1999; and interview with Major Juan Carlos Barrios, Director of the Human Rights Office, V Division, Colombian Armed Forces, Bogotá, 24 February 1999.
244 Letter from the General Command of the Military Forces, 21 January 2000.
246 Field visit to La Calera, Bogotá.
247 Interview with Captain Javier Ayala, Director of Human Rights Office, Ministry of National Defense, Bogotá, 13 December 1999.
248 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 297-298. The July 1998 "Heaven's Door Agreement" between the UC-ELN and representatives of Colombian civil society states, "Mines to deliberately kill or mutilate civilians will not be used," and commits the parties to "no longer plant antipersonnel mines in high-risk areas for the civilian population." It also commits the parties to promoting "ratification of the Ottawa Treaty for banning the use of antipersonnel landmines in the Colombian Congress."
249 "Joint Agenda Government-FARC," El País (Cali), Colombia, 7 May 1999, p. 9A.
250 "FARC siembran 52 Minas en San José de Sumapaz," El Colombiano (Medellín), 29 February 2000, p. 7A.
251 Interview with Nidya Quiróz, UNICEF Colombia, Bogotá, 25 February 2000.
252 Statistical study by CCCM, on the basis of data provided by Fundación Sueños, National Army of Colombia, Office of the National Ombudsman of Colombia, Personería Municipal de San Vicente de Chucuri, and Personería Municipal de Santa Rosa del Sur.
253 Field visit to communities in the Departments of Santander and Bolivar, 28 April to 12 May 2000.
254 Lupe Mouthon Mejía, "Cuatro heridos al estallar minas en Santa Rosa del Sur," Vanguardia Liberal (Bucaramanga), 1 February 2000, p. 1D.
255 CCCM interviews with peasants in Buena Vista, Santa Rosa del Sur, Bolivar Department, 3 May 2000.
0 Interview with Jorge Rojas, researcher on forced population displacement at CODHES, Bogotá, 8 May 2000.
1 Interview with Luz Piedad Herrera, Assistant Officer of Information, UNICEF Colombia, Bogotá, 3 May 2000.
2 CCCM interviews with members of mine-affected communities in Santander and Bolivar Departments, 28 April to 6 May 2000.
3 Interview with Colonel José Manuel Castro, Ministry of National Defense, Bogotá, 21 January 1999.
4 Interview with Captain María Vázquez, Human Rights Official, News Agency of the Colombian National Army, Bogotá, 25 January 2000.
5 Interview with Major Anselmo Escobar, Human Rights Official, Fourth Brigade of the Colombian Armed Forces, Medellín, 5 January 2000.
6 Interview with Carlos Francisco Rodriguez, Director, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Los Andes, project "Automata for mines detection," Bogotá, 13 March 2000.
7 Press release from Canadian Embassy in Bogotá, "Canadá, el Ministerio de Comunicaciones y UNICEF firman convenio de cooperación técnica en torno a minas antipersonales," Bogotá, 4 October 1999.
8 Interview with Nicholas Caughlan, First Political Secretary, Canadian Embassy, Bogotá, 21 April 2000.
9 Interview with Clara Marcela Barona, Communications Officer, UNICEF Colombia, Bogotá, 10 May 2000.
10 Statistical study by CCCM, on the basis of data provided by Fundación Sueños, National Army of Colombia, Office of the National Ombudsman of Colombia, Personería Municipal de San Vicente de Chucuri, and Personería Municipal de Santa Rosa del Sur. CCCM, "List of Victims of AP Mines in Colombia," 1993-1999, Bogotá, April 2000.
11 Interview with Aicardo Oliveros, "Communication and Violence" Project Officer, Information Department of the Ministry of Health, Bogotá, 2 April 2000.
13 CCCM, List of Victims of AP Mines in Colombia, 1993-1999, Bogotá, April 2000.
14 Press release by the Press Agency of the Colombian Armed Forces, Bogotá, 22 December 1999.
15 "Cuatro Heridos al Estallar Minas en Santa Rosa del Sur," Vanguardia Liberal (Bucaramanga), 1 February 2000, p. 1D.
16 "Pueblo cercado por minas antipersonal," El Espectador (Colombian newspaper), Bogotá, 2 February 2000, p. 4A.
17 "FARC siembran 52 minas en San José de Sumapaz," El Colombiano (Colombian Newspaper), Medellín, 29 February 2000, p. 7A.
18 "Romaña se queda sin Víveres," El Espectador (Colombian Newspaper), Bogotá, 1 April 2000, p. 4A.
19 Interview with Aicardo Oliveros, "Communication and Violence" Project Officer, Information Department of the Ministry of Health, Bogotá, 2 April 2000.
20 Interview with Wilson Ordoñez, Sueños Foundation, UNICEF Colombia, Bogotá, 27 April 2000.
21 "Garantizada Atención a las Personas con Discapacidades," Ministry of Health Bulletin, Bogotá, 24 April 2000.
22 Requests for information have been forwarded to the Government of Guyana in March 2000 and to the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in May 2000.
23 Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Mine Action Database.
24 UN website: http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/guyana.htm.
25 Letter from Ministre Fritz Longchamp, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Haiti, to Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator of the ICBL, 31 January 2000.
27 United Nations Landmine Database, Country Report on Haiti: http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/haiti.htm.
28 Response by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tourism and Information, Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to 1999 Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 22 April 1999.
29 Letter from H.E. Mr. George R. E. Bullen, High Commissioner of the OECS, Ottawa, Canada, to Mr. Paul Hannon, Executive Director of Mines Action Canada, 28 June 2000.
30 Response to Landmine Monitor 1999 Questionnaire, 22 April 1999.
31 Letter from Erroll G. Snijders, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Suriname, to Dr. P. Hajac, ICBL Campaigner, Wroclaw, Poland, 28 February 2000.
32 UN Database Country Report: Suriname.
33 The same political coalition returned to power, headed by President Jorge Batlle, and with the same Foreign Minister, Didier Opertti.
34 Interview with Gerardo Pratto, Department of Special Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 February 2000.
35 Letter from Didier Opertti, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, 26 June 2000.
36 Statement by Didier Opertti, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the UN General Assembly 54th Session. See: http/www/un.int/uruguay/e54.html.
37 Response dated 28 March 2000 by Ambassador Carlos Clulow, Deputy General for International Political Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire 1999.
38 National Army Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, February 1999.
39 Letter dated 19 November 1997 from Defense Minister Raul Iturria to National Deputy Gabriel Barandiaran. Landmine Monitor has a copy of the letter.
40 Telephone interview with the Director, Ministry of Defense, 12 May 2000. The Director claimed no knowledge of the National Army response to the Landmine Monitor questionnaire of February 1999.
41 National Army Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, February 1999.
43 Letter from Luis Brezzo, Minister of Defense, to Landmine Monitor, 12 May 2000.
44 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 311.
45 Letter from Luis Brezzo, Minister of Defense, to Landmine Monitor, 12 May 2000.
46 Email from retired Captain Fernando Poladura of UID to Landmine Monitor Researcher, 8 May 2000.
47 Promotional material of the Uruguayan Institute for Development, undated. UID's website is: http//www.freez.com/landmines.
48 Response by Ambassador Carlos Clulow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 28 March 2000.
49 Email from Captain Poladura to Landmine Monitor Researcher, 8 May 2000.
50 Interview with Captain Fernando Poladura, Montevideo, 12 November 1998.