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STATES PARTIES

AUSTRALIA

Key developments since March 1999: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Australia on 1 July 1999. Australia destroyed its stockpile of antipersonnel mines in five days at the end of September 1999. Australia expects to spend a new high of US$8 million on mine action programs in its 1999/2000 budget year.

Mine Ban Policy

Australia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. The Parliament passed ratification and implementation legislation ("Anti-personnel Mines Convention Act 1998") on 10 December 1998. Australia officially deposited its ratification with the UN on 14 January 1999. The Mine Ban Treaty thus entered into force for Australia on 1 July 1999.

In addition to the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Act 1998, other implementation measures include: (1) a training booklet for the Australian National Defence Force that "aims to provide Commanders and staff with an interpretation of revised policy on landmines, booby traps and improvised explosive devices and their application to military operations;"16 and (2) an information document produced by the Department Of Defence "conveying to the Defence organisation its obligations under the Ottawa Convention."17

Australia participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999. In a statement to the plenary, the head of the Australian delegation said, "The Ottawa Convention has established a persuasive norm against landmines, a norm whose influence we see in the impressive number of countries that have signed and ratified the Convention, as well as in the tone of the debate on landmines issues in international fora." But he also noted that "the task remains immense and we must ensure that there is no slackening of international political resolve until it is complete."18

Australia's work in support of universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty has a particular emphasis on its own region. According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, "In late 1999, Australian Diplomatic Missions in the South Pacific undertook a series of representations to governments of those states that have not signed and ratified the convention. The Australian government has undertaken to report on the outcome of these consultations and to follow-up with each state prior to the second meeting of States Parties to the Convention."19 Recently Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer raised the issue of U.S. accession to the Mine Ban Treaty in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.20

Australia has been an active and important participant in the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty and is a regular participant in the New York-based Mine Action Support Group (MASG). At the March 2000 meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts on Mine Clearance, Australia presented a non-paper on civil and military cooperation for building national capacities for demining. At the December 1999 meeting of the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, Australia made a presentation on its destruction program.

Australia submitted its first Article 7 transparency report on 23 December 1999. The report covers the period from 1 June 1999 to 27 December 1999. On 18 April 2000 Australia submitted its second Article 7 report covering the calendar year 1999; it is identical to the first Article 7 report.

As it had done in previous years, Australia voted in favor of the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.

In February 2000, Australia appointed the Hon. Senator Kay Patterson, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, as its Special Representative on Demining, succeeding the Hon. Kathy Sullivan.21

CCW and CD

Australia ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons Amended Protocol II on 22 August 1997. Australia submitted its report under Article 13 of Amended Protocol II in November 1999 and participated in the December 1999 First Annual Conference of States Parties. In a statement to the plenary, Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and to the Conference on Disarmament Leslie Luck stated that:

The Australian Government is committed to the attainment of a truly universal ban on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines. This is our priority.... Realistically, however, this goal is unlikely to be achieved in the short or even medium term. Until that time, the restrictions imposed by Amended Protocol II will play an important role in reducing the indiscriminate and inhumane effect of landmines on civilian populations.22

In March 2000 a representative of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade described the government's continued support for negotiation of a transfer ban through the Conference on Disarmament:

Australia believes that a landmine transfers ban would complement the goals of the Ottawa Convention. Such a ban would engage key producers and users of landmines not yet in a position to adhere to the Convention in efforts to further strengthen the global regime against landmines. Australia believes that the Conference on Disarmament...is the most appropriate forum in which to pursue a transfers ban. Australia, however, is prepared to consider alternative options should the CD-route prove unfeasible.23

NGO Activities

The Australian Network of the ICBL has participated in most of the treaty intersessional meetings. Activities undertaken by the campaign in the past year include community participation in the Australian government's Destroy a Minefield initiative, managed by AustCare, a Call for Posters competition, and activities around the annual refugee week in October.

The Australian Network has written to the Australian embassies of non-signatory states of the region. On 3 March 2000, the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA) and several Australian NGOs and Sri Lankan community groups started collecting signatures for a petition urging the Australian Government to energetically lobby the Sri Lanka Government to sign the Mine Ban Treaty and for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to observe the terms of the Mine Ban Treaty.24

ICBL Issues of Concern

An ongoing issue of concern shared by the ICBL and Australia relates to antivehicle mines with antihandling devices. Australia's then-Special Representative on Demining the Hon. Kathy Sullivan in a February 2000 letter to the ICBL Coordinator stated, "It is also Australia's understanding that anti-vehicle mines which are configured to explode from an unintentional or innocent act should be treated as anti-personnel landmines for the purposes of the Treaty."25 This understanding is shared by the ICBL.

The ICBL has expressed concern about States Parties potentially engaging in joint military operations with non-States Parties that use antipersonnel mines. In this regard, Landmine Monitor Report 1999 expressed concern about and reported in detail on Australia's National Declaration that was deposited with its instrument of ratification at the UN, as well as Part 2, clause 7(3) of the Anti-personnel Mine Convention Bill.26 Questions were raised regarding the consistency of the Declaration and clause with the Mine Ban Treaty's Article 1 prohibition on assisting anyone in any way to engage in any activity prohibited by the treaty.

Production and Transfer

The Australian government states that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It imported AP mines from the United States in the past.27

Stockpiling and Destruction

Australia destroyed its entire stockpile of 128,161 AP mines in a period of five days from 27 September to 1 October 1999.28 The destruction of the stockpile just three months after entry into force, and nearly four years before the treaty deadline, was described as "a pro-active move on the part of the Australian Government and the Department of Defence."29

The destruction took place in the desert at the Lake Hart Demolition Area, in Woomera, South Australia using a demolition method devised by Defence that involved the preparation of pits laid alternately with mines and ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel fuel. A total of 90,371 NM M14 mines and 37,790 NM M14E1 mines, weighing approximately 27 tons, were destroyed with their fuzes. This particular method was chosen because of the "efficient and cost effective nature of the destruction."30 The cost of destruction was approximately US$146,000.31 The destruction was covered by national news media and the Coordinator of the Australian Network was brought to the destruction site to witness the process.

Colonel Paul Power of the Australian Defence Force, who oversaw the destruction process, presented the Australian case study at the first intersessional meeting on stockpile destruction in Geneva on 9 December 1999. Australia wanted to provide information on its stockpile destruction to other States Parties, especially those in the region, that may require assistance in developing their own destruction techniques. One result of the December 1999 intersessional meeting is that Australian Defence Force personnel have traveled to Peru to discuss destruction options.

Australia has decided to keep 10,000 AP mines, (4,500 NM M16 and 5,500 NM M14) for training and research purposes. According to the Article 7 report, these mines are held in ammunition depots throughout Australia and training is conducted by the School of Military Engineering in Sydney. Australia took the decision to retain these mines after the Department of Defence conducted a "training needs analysis" that determined that:

Defence trains over 600 personnel per year in demining techniques and our training methods require that each student destroys at least one mine during training. Retention of this stock will provide a 10-year training reserve for Defence and will thereby provide adequate time to source training stocks of foreign mines that better suit Australia's training requirements. Alternatively, if such procurement is not possible, Defence will need to resort to a replica device to meet its research and training requirements. No such device has yet been developed. Depending on the availability of alternative training devices, additional APL may be destroyed during the period 200l-2003.32

Use

Australia halted operational use of AP mines on 15 April 1996, though it retains for operational use a stockpile of command-detonated Claymore mines.33 Use of command-detonated Claymore mines is allowed under the treaty, but not use of Claymores with tripwires. In September 1999, the Australian Defence Force confirmed that it had brought command-detonated Claymore mines to East Timor as part of its peacekeeping mission.34 This clarification came after media witnessed the unloading of Australia's supplies at the airport in Dili saw wooden boxes clearly marked "anti-personnel mines."35

Mine Action Funding

The Australian Government, through its international development agency AusAID, has contributed or spent approximately US$30 million on humanitarian mine action from fiscal year 1995/1996 through 1999/2000, including a new high of about $8 million in 1999/2000.36 In addition, Australia has already committed about $18 million for the period 2000/2001 through 2004/2005. The total of $48 million represents over three-quarters of Australia's commitment to provide approximately $60 million (Australian $100 million) to mine action by 2005.37

AusAID Assistance for Mine Action Programs: Year by Year (US dollars)

Contributed

 

1995-1996

$4.5 million

1996-1997

$4.5 million

1997-1998

$5.9 million

1998-1999

$7 million

1999-2000

$8 million

Subtotal:

$29.9 million

Committed

 

2000-2001

$6.5 million

2001-2002

$3.2 million

2002-2003

$2.7 million

2003-2004

$2.7 million

2004-2005

$2.7 million

Subtotal:

$17.8million

Total: 1996-2005,U.S. $47.7 million

(Australia's fiscal year is from 1 July to 30 June)

AusAID's Humanitarian and Emergencies Section coordinates all demining policy and programming within the Australian aid program. This includes contributions to mine action programs globally, in particular through NGOs, as well as contributions to UN agencies. Funding is directed, roughly in descending order of magnitude, to core grants (Cambodian Mine Action Center, Mozambique Accelerated Demining Program, UN Development Program, and UN Mine Action Service), mine clearance (NGOs and UNDP), integrated programs (including surveys), mine victims, equipment and technical assistance (including seminars and conferences) and mine awareness. Core grant contributions cut across all aspects of humanitarian mine action and it is difficult to separate the categories.

There is a clear geographic priority for funding, with the bulk allocated for projects/action in Australia's immediate region, particularly Cambodia (which has received more than half of Australia's mine action funding) and Laos. Significant support has also been provided to countries outside of the region, in descending order: Mozambique, Angola, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. Funds will soon be available for Thailand.

Summary of Expenditure & Commitments January 1996 to December 200538

Mine Action Programs in Millions of Dollars

COUNTRY

Mine Clearance

Mine Awareness

Mine Victims

Integrated Programs

Core Grant

Equipment, Technical Assistance, Seminars & Conferences

TOTAL (Aus.$ Million)

CAMBODIA

2.57

0.87

2.15

10.81

25.50

2.80

44.69

LAOS

2.30

1.73

0.29

2.74

4.80

0.51

12.37

THAILAND

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.49

0.00

0.49

MOZAMBIQUE

8.01

0.00

0.07

0.00

0.50

1.18

9.76

ANGOLA

0.96

1.16

0.58

0.50

0.30

0.00

3.50

AFGHANISTAN

1.00

0.05

0.00

0.50

0.90

0.00

2.45

SRI LANKA

0.00

0.06

0.00

3.35

0.00

0.00

3.41

GLOBAL

0.00

0.00

2.00

0.28

1.25

0.33

3.86

TOTAL

14.84

3.87

5.09

18.18

33.74

4.82

80.53

Other recent funding commitments include the Australian government's "Destroy a Minefield" initiative launched in November 1999 by the Foreign Minister. Approximately $411,000, including $127,200 from sales tax revenue from the Elton John CD "Candle in the Wind" in memory of Princess Diana has been committed to "Destroy a Minefield." The government will provide one dollar for every two dollars raised by the Australian public for mine clearance in Cambodia.39 In April 2000, the Australian Government announced a $100,000 contribution to the ICBL's Landmine Monitor.40 The Australian Network of the ICBL has received funding assistance from the government to enable participation by campaigners in international meetings, for the cost of advocacy-related meetings both domestic and international, and for an art and photography exhibition by Australian artist George Gittoes.

A proportion of Australian mine action funding includes in kind contributions, either in personnel costs or equipment. The Australian Defence Force provides on a rotating basis two military personnel to work as technical advisers to the U.N.'s Accelerated Demining Program in Mozambique. Australian civilians, and until recently soldiers, provide training and organizational support to Cambodia's mine action program.41

One Australian company, Minelab, has donated a small amount of equipment for use in humanitarian mine clearance. It is envisaged that Australian businesses and corporations will make contributions to mine clearance under the "Destroy a Minefield" initiative.

AusAID is currently developing a policy framework for expenditure of mine action funds. At an April 2000 national gathering of the Australian Network of the ICBL, AusAID presented a summary of the government's humanitarian mine action strategy.42 This came after a period of consultation with NGOs, interested individuals (including commercial deminers), multilateral organizations and Australian diplomatic, posts between September and November 1999. There are also guidelines available to NGOs for writing proposals, submitting progress reports and acquitting funds.

In April 1999, following reports of corruption in the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), Australia, CMAC's largest donor, temporarily suspended its AusAID funding of approximately $1.7 million a year. In November 1999 CMAC received a bridging payment of $254,400. On 5 April 2000, Australia disbursed $920,000 to a donor trust fund managed by the UNDP, which oversees CMAC's finances, saying the agency had made substantial progress in reforms to address concerns raised during 1999.43 In early June 2000, the Australian Foreign Minister visited Cambodia to view the CMAC mine clearance program and that of other humanitarian agencies.44

Research and Development

In December 1997, Australia announced that its government-funded Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) would spend Australian $4 million over the next five years on "further research into mine detection and neutralization."45 In its CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report, Australia said, "Within the Australian Department of Defence, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the Combined Arms Training Centre are developing new methods of clearing mines. Completion of this research will take a number of years. At this stage, Australia is not in a position to provide details, but will do so as soon as methods and technologies are refined."46

In July 1999, the DSTO co-hosted, along with the U.S.-based Mine Warfare Association (MINWARA) and the U.S.-based Wilson Institute for Demining and Humanitarian Assistance, an "International Symposium on Technology and the Mine Problem." From 26-30 March 2001, MINWARA and the Wilson Institute will be a holding a "Second Australian-American Joint Conference on the Technologies of Mines and Mine Countermeasures" in Sydney, Australia but involvement by the DTSO is unknown.47

Since 1996, the University of Western Australia has undertaken research on mine and UXO clearance problems in several countries.48 At the second SCE on Technologies in May 2000, Professor Trevelyan of the University of Western Australia presented a paper on opportunities for improving the mine action process. This research has been funded principally by the U.S. Department of Defense and by private donations since 1997.

Adelaide-based company Minelab Electronics, together with Canada's Computer Devices Corporation, has developed the "Improved Landmine Detection System" vehicle.49

Landmine Casualties

While Australia is mine-free, there have been a number of civilian and military casualties to landmines from overseas work, but no detailed data is available. Comprehensive national disability laws exist including the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

CAMBODIA

Key developments since March 1999:

At least 1,012 people were hurt or killed by landmines in 1999, a decrease of 41% from the previous year. There were 417 mine casualties reported in the first five months of 2000. As areas formerly held by the Khmer Rouge became accessible, whole villages of disabled people were being discovered. In 1999, about 11.9 square kilometers of land were cleared. The Land Use Planning Unit was established in May 1999. Nearly 500,000 people received mine awareness education in 1999, the most ever in a single year. A scandal over financial mismanagement resulted in the Cambodian Mine Action Center making some important reforms.

Cambodia ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 28 July 1999. It entered into force for Cambodia on 1 January 2000. Treaty implementation legislation took effect 28 May 1999; the new law created the National Demining Regulatory Authority to coordinate activities related to the mine problem. Cambodia has served as co-chair of the Standing Committee of Experts on Technologies for Mine Clearance. More than 5,000 stockpiled mines were collected and destroyed. No new mines were reported laid.

Mine Ban Policy

Cambodia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and deposited its ratification document at the United Nations on 28 July 1999. The treaty entered into force in Cambodia on 1 January 2000. Cambodia's transparency report required by Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty was due on 28 June 2000.

"The Law to Prohibit the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines" is the domestic legislation of the Royal Government of Cambodia to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. The law was adopted by the National Assembly on 28 April 1999, and entered into force when King Norodom Sihanouk signed it on 28 May 1999. The law bans the production, use, possession, transfer, trade, sale, import and export of antipersonnel mines. It provides for criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment for offences committed by civilians, or members of the police and the armed forces. It also provides for the destruction of existing antipersonnel mine stockpiles and the creation of the National Demining Regulatory Authority to coordinate activities related to the mine problem.

The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) has produced a video and television spots explaining the law. These have been aired on national television. Mine Awareness teams from CMAC and at least one NGO have played the video in village settings to educate people on the implications of the law. Songs, traditional chants, plays and village discussions have also been used. In some places the village people are aware of the law and are afraid to either keep or sell mines. In other places, the storing of mines so they can be traded across the border is observed. To date, there are no known instances of trial or punishment for breaking the antipersonnel mine ban law.

Cambodia voted in favor of the December 1999 UNGA resolution promoting the Mine Ban Treaty. At the 54th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations Sun Suon, said, "As one of the victim countries of landmines, Cambodia supports all initiatives leading to the total ban of the production, use, stockpiling, export or transfer of landmines and to their destruction forever. It is in this spirit Cambodia was one of the first countries to sign the Ottawa Convention in 1997. This year...it became one of the States Parties.... Now we realize that the emphasis should be placed on the full and speedy implementation of the Ottawa Convention in the worldwide context."50

Cambodia participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Mozambique. The Cambodian Representative made a statement in which he expressed his Government's deep concern about landmines, inside and outside the country, it's concrete commitment to eradication of landmines around the world, and recalled CMAC's official focal position within the eradication process inside Cambodia.51 At the meeting, Cambodia agreed to serve as the co-chair of one of the five newly created Intersessional Standing Committees of Experts (SCEs) - the SCE on Technologies for Mine Clearance.

Aside from the Technologies SCE, the government has also actively participated in most of the other SCE meetings, on Victim Assistance, Mine Clearance, and Stockpile Destruction, and in the second the SCE meeting on General Status of the Convention in May 2000. Representatives of the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines attended the Victim Assistance SCE meetings and addressed the September 1999 meeting. The tenor of their message was that the credibility of the treaty depends on its credibility in the eyes of the victims.52

Cambodia is a state party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It participated in the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in December 1999. Cambodia submitted its report required under Article 13 of the amended protocol. At the conference Head of Delegation Ieng Mouly said, "Mine action depends largely on support in terms of funding, human resources and technologies. Many developed nations hold the keys to resources. Many mine affected countries belong to the developing world; it is essential therefore to support mine action with good co-operation. This co-operation reflects also the spirit of international solidarity."53

Cambodia has no stated position on negotiating a ban on mine transfers in the Conference on Disarmament. However, the government is against anything that dilutes the Mine Ban Treaty and will continue to promote all aspects associated with this treaty.54

Production

While the government of Cambodia has never mass-produced mines,55 various armed forces have manufactured homemade mines (Improvised Explosive Devices). However, there is no evidence of production of even homemade mines by any Cambodian group since February 1999.

Transfer

Since the early 1970s, many landmines have crossed the borders of Cambodia, though it is difficult to know which mines were imported by the Cambodian government, by opposition forces, and which were simply brought to Cambodia by foreign armies.56 The Cambodian government is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines in the past.

Since October 1994, Cambodia has maintained a formal position against the import or export of antipersonnel landmines.57 In an interview on 17 February 1999, the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and Chief of Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Pol Saroeun stated that the government was no longer importing landmines, and that he was unaware of any such trading in Cambodia.58 Informal surveys in February 1999 and April 2000 of a local market notorious for the sale of weapons found that antipersonnel landmines were no longer available.59

However, Landmine Monitor researchers have been told of three cases of people storing mines for possible cross border trade.60 In one instance, a demining agency found some villagers reluctant to surrender mines for destruction because they can sell them across the Thai border for 20 Baht each (about US$.50).61

It is claimed that antipersonnel landmines are clandestinely traded by groups or individuals through Thailand to the Burma border, and also sold to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, but no evidence of such transfers was found in 1999 and 2000.

Stockpiling and destruction

On 17 February 1999 RCAF Deputy Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Pol Saroeun formally stated that the RCAF no longer had stockpiles of antipersonnel landmines. The RCAF reported that between 1994 and 1998, it destroyed 71,991 antipersonnel mines, as well as 3,585 antitank mines, and 2,302 improvised explosive devices.62 These landmines were destroyed by explosion, individually and in groups, as they were found.63

Landmine Monitor Report 1999 pointed out that the relatively small number of AP mines destroyed--and reported by the military to be the entire stockpile--stands in stark contrast to previous estimates of Cambodia's stockpile of more than one million mines.64 RCAF has continued to maintain that its entire stock has been destroyed.65 However, throughout 1999 and 2000 significant numbers of antipersonnel mines held at provincial military and police facilities have continued to be turned in and destroyed. Mines held by villagers, and even the Khmer Rouge, have also been destroyed.

Article 10 of the domestic mine ban law states, "Whoever possesses any types of mines, be it ministry or institution, shall report to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, specifying the types, numbers of mines and other detailed information related to the mines in their possession no later than 90 days after the entry into force of this law." Article 11 of the law states, "The Cambodian Mine Action Center must destroy all the mines as stipulated in Article 10 within one year after the entry into force of this law and send a report to the Royal Government."

The law also established the National Demining Regulatory Authority to coordinate activities related to the mine problem, including the registering and destruction of stockpiles. In 1999, the Regulatory Authority wrote to all relevant ministries and provincial authorities asking that all stockpiles of antipersonnel mines held by police, soldiers and village authorities, be handed over so that the mines could be registered and destroyed.

The Regulatory Authority and CMAC reported that a total of 5,118 antipersonnel mines were handed over and destroyed in 1999, and another 250 in January 2000. Mr. Sen Samnang of the Authority visited the sites and witnessed destruction. The Regulatory Authority also reported 1,390 antipersonnel mines destroyed in 1998 that were not included in the RCAF totals for that year.66

Landmine Monitor obtained from the Regulatory Authority a detailed list of the places that had turned in mines.67 It included police stations, military garrisons, military courts, "Secretariat of Espionage Research," Army Stockpiles in Battambang province, and other locations. The largest number of mines were turned in by "Police Headquarters for Rubber Plantations, Kampong Cham province," with 845 on 18 June 1999 and another 845 on 18 July 1999.

CMAC reported 789 antipersonnel mines destroyed in Siem Reap, possibly removed from minefields or handed in by villagers.68 CMAC also reported that in January 2000 it was called by Khmer Rouge military leaders, at the urging of villagers, to destroy 250 mines held in a former storage house of the Khmer Rouge in Bung Beng Village, Banteay Meanchey.69

Landmine Monitor researchers were shown a very large abandoned cache of weapons, including mines, in Anlong Veng province near the Thai border. Many farmers report finding small "stockpiles" as they dig gardens.70

The Cambodia Mine Action Center has retained less than one thousand antipersonnel landmines for training. These are kept in the regional headquarters and the training center in Kampong Chhnang. CMAC usually uses copies of landmines for training purposes.71

Use

While many mine incidents occur in Cambodia, it is almost certain they occur because of mines laid in the ground in the past. There is no concrete evidence that new mines were laid in 1999 or 2000 by any of the armed groups that now make up the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

Rumors persist that individuals still use mines to protect or mark off their plots of land.72 Domestic squabbles are sometimes settled with the use of weapons including mines. An antipersonnel mine was responsible for the death of six people in a private house in Tuol Kok, Phnom Penh in November 1999.73 This indicates that antipersonnel mines are still hidden in private homes.

Non-State Actors

The remaining Khmer Rouge officially rejoined the nation on 25 December 1999, so officially there are no longer guerrilla groups in Cambodia.

Mine Action Funding

Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) provided a comprehensive report of their funding sources and expenditures from 1993 through 1999. A very large proportion of CMAC funds is channeled through the UNDP Trust Fund.74

During 1999 CMAC received US$8,594,941, of which $7,989,086 came from the UNDP Trust Fund.

Aside from the Trust Fund, other contributors to CMAC in 1999 included the UNHCR ($336,000), the German Rhino Project ($132,214), the Japan Brush Cutter Project ($24,623), and the Royal Cambodian Government ($66,238). "Adopt A Minefield" is a program initiated by the non-governmental United Nations Association-USA. A UNDP memo dated 18 April 2000 indicates $196,015 is available to CMAC for "Adopt A Minefield" programs in Cambodia.75

CMAC received a total of $53.7 million through the UNDP Trust Fund during the period December 1993 to 10 April 2000 (not including in-kind donations or equipment). The major donors included: Australia ($10.45 million); Netherlands ($9.36 million); Sweden ($8.02 million); and Japan ($7.8 million). Others contributing included UK, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Belgium, Finland, U.S., New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, and the Holy See.

However, the above list does not give an accurate reflection of total contributions by individual governments to mine action in Cambodia. Many governments contribute not just through the UNDP Trust Fund, but also through bilateral programs, non-governmental organizations, in-kind donations, and supply of equipment. The United States, for example, has given only $910,000 to the trust fund, but calculates that it has contributed an additional $19 million to mine action in Cambodia from 1993-1999.

In terms of in-kind donations and equipment, in 1999 Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) contributed technical advisers and a truck to CMAC, and a training assistant to the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics. The U.S. Embassy contributed trucks to CMAC, MAG and Halo Trust in 1999. On 11 May 2000 the Japanese government gave a $3 million in-kind to CMAC for mine clearance.76

Halo Trust's operations in Cambodia in 1999 cost about $4 million. Its donors included the governments of the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Ireland, and U.S., as well as the European Commission DGIB and ECHO, UNHCR, UNDP, Swedish Red Cross, Concern Worldwide (Ireland), Community Aid Abroad (Australia), Association to Aid Refugees-Japan, Fondation Pro Victimis, and Nagano Olympic Committee-Japan.77

The Mines Advisory Group's operations in Cambodia in 1999 cost about $3.9 million. Its donors included the governments of the United Kingdom (DFID), Australia (AusAID, in partnership with World Vision), United States (USAID), and Austria, as well as UNHCR, UNICEF, Fin Church Aid, EZE, Church World Service, Lutheran World Service, Anti-Landmijn Stichting, and Caritas/Austria.78

Norwegian People's Aid's operations in Cambodia in 1999 cost about $3.6 million for resettlement, rehabilitation and community integration in Beng Trakun, Seng, O Bei Choun and Poipet Communes of Banteay Meanchey.79 Funding is mainly from the Norwegian government.

Handicap International spent $2.197 million for its victim assistance programs in Cambodia in 1999. Funders included Echo, NORAD/NPA, UNICEF, FAO, Belgian Ag Framephone, Belgian Co-operation, Luxembourg Co-operation, Terre des Hommes, the Finnish government, and private donors. Programs funded included National Support to Cambodian Victims of Anti-Personnel Mines and People with Disability ($710,815); Economic and Social Rehabilitation 8 provinces (PRES) ($294,760); CRC Database ($291,377); Physical Rehabilitation Programme, Phnom Penh & 11 provinces ($289,644); Regional Rehabilitation Centre for Spinal Injured Persons ($250,000); Capacity Building of Disabled People in Community ($185,665); and Use of Demined Land in Favor of Vulnerable People ($174,370).

Jesuit Service Cambodia (JS/JRS) spent $815,272 in 1999 on different aspects of mine action, including farming assistance, housing, wells, hearing aids, wheelchairs, income generating possibilities and advocacy for survivors, building schools, roads, health posts, non-formal education in mine affected communities, vocational training for disabled, wheelchair production and furniture production by disabled. Additional funds were spent for other rural development activities. These funds came from private donors of Jesuit Service and two Catholic fund raising agencies.

Maryknoll reported spending $110,000 on skills training program for disabled. This was funded largely by Misereor, a Catholic funding agency in Gemany. Another German foundation funded Maryknoll's large program for the blind.

Landmine problem

After 30 years of conflict Cambodia is among the most mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) affected countries in the world. In 1999 and 2000, as areas formerly held by the Khmer Rouge became accessible, whole villages of disabled people were being discovered, as well as small groups of families living in extreme misery in areas surrounded by mines. Surveys and mine incidents particularly in the northwest of the country show that mine contamination is a grave restriction not only to economic development but also to a sense of freedom and security. The eradication of mines in Cambodia is still a priority for development.

According to the CMAC database, 644 square kilometers of land is mined, and another 1,400 square kilometers is suspected to be mined.80 About 155 square kilometers of land has been cleared thus far. The great majority of mined areas are located in the provinces along the Thai-Cambodia border where most of the fighting occurred since 1979. The eastern provinces are mostly affected by UXOs as a result of the Vietnam War, though there are also some mined areas. A 1998 U.S. State Department report estimated the number of mines in Cambodia at 4-6 million,81 but nobody knows the real number.

CMAC does not have an exact figure of the number of families affected by landmines. However, most of the rural communities living along the Thai-Cambodian border are affected by mines in various ways. Statistics from the CRC/HI Database reveal that most mine incidents in 1999 occurred in Battambang (31% of total incidents), Banteay Meanchey (20% of total incidents), Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Preah Vihear, Pailin and Pursat. The population in these provinces is 3,795,674, about 33% of the total population.82

Census enumeration could not be held due to conflict in whole districts of Anlong Veng in Oddar Meanchey, Samlot in Battambang and Veal Veng in Pursat and O'Bei Choan village of O Chrov district in Banteay Meanchey. The estimated population of these excluded areas is 45,000. These are very heavily mine infested areas and the population estimate is probably very conservative.

The main target beneficiaries of humanitarian mine clearance are returning refugees and Internally Displace Persons (IDPs). These newly settled villagers living on marginal land close to old military positions struggle to develop their communities because of the threat of landmines.83 In 1998 according to the World Food Program, there were still over 110,000 internally displaced people, waiting to resettle or just returned to their village of origin. In many cases these villages are either mined or very close to suspected areas. There were also 37,000 refugees living in Thai refugee camps who returned to heavily mine infested areas in Samlot, Samrong and Anlong Veng in 1999.84

Surveys and Assessment

There has never been a systematic Level One Survey of the mine problem in Cambodia, but a great deal of suspected and confirmed areas are registered in the Cambodia Mine Action Center Database. CMAC has collected and verified reports of suspected areas, and recorded them in the database since 1992. The information recorded in the CMAC Database as of May 2000 is as follows:

· Reported (suspected) mine areas: 543 locations covering 1,234 square kilometers

· Verified mine areas: 790 locations covering 533 square kilometers

· Marked mined areas: 417 locations covering 119 square kilometers85

Surveys are ongoing commune by commune on the request of the people who live in the suspected areas, the NGOs who are working there, and the local authorities. These suspected areas are then classified as reported, verified, marked, or cleared.

The most recent surveys were finished in April 2000, in Preah Vihear province and three districts of Oddar Meanchey province.86 The Preah Vihear survey showed an increase of 138% (an additional 18,378 hectares) of mined land compared to older data. In 1999, two provinces and one town in the southern part of the country were surveyed (Takeo, Keb, and Kampot). The survey of Kampot and Keb showed an increase of 86% (8 square kilometers) of mined land compared to older data.

The Canadian government (through CIDA) has agreed to fund a Level One Survey costing $2 million in the areas of the country not yet surveyed. Geo-Spatial, a Canadian company, has been awarded the contract. They will take the original CMAC survey team, recruit and expand and begin a one-year work plan in August 2000. The training will take place at the Kampong Chhang Training Centre. Planned surveys will take place in Kompong Chhnang, followed by Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Anlong Veng, Kompong Thom and later in the rest of the country.87

Mine Clearance

Mine clearance has been carried out in Cambodia by the national demining organization CMAC, two humanitarian demining NGOs based in the United Kingdom (MAG and Halo Trust), the military, villagers, and some commercial firms. About 155 square kilometers of land has been cleared thus far. In 1999, 11.86 square kilometers of land were cleared, and 8,006 antipersonnel mines, 70 antitank mines, and 91,131 UXO were found and destroyed.

AREA CLEARED OF MINES 1993-199988

Entity

Square Meters Cleared

Villagers

69,780,000

CMAC

53,875,460

Cofras

11,510,000

Halo

8,416,927

Army

3,940,000

MAG

3,735,374

UNTAC

2,110,000

CMM

190,000

Unknown

1,180,000

TOTAL

154,737,761

CMAC is operating in Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampot, Kompong Speu, Kompong Thom, Kompong Cham, and Preah Vihear. From 1993-1999, it cleared 53.88 square kilometers of land, including 9.51 square kilometers in 1999.

Halo Trust is operating in Siem Reap, Oddar Meanchey, and Banteay Meanchey. From 1993-1999, it cleared 8.42 square kilometers of land, including 1.99 square kilometers in 1999. Halo Trust reports that an expansion of personnel and machines, especially mechanical bush cutters (twelve were operational at the end of 1999), has resulted in a 100% increase in clearance rates during the first half of 1999 over the same period in 1998.89 In 1998 and 1999 Halo introduced the One Man One Lane (OMOL) demining procedure to all of its operational teams in Cambodia.

MAG is operating 22 Mine Action Teams in Battambang, Preah Vihear, Pursat, Kompong Thom, and Kompong Speu. These multi-skilled Teams conduct data gathering, community liaison, survey, marking mine clearance, EOD and emergency tasks in response to identified community needs. From 1993-1999, it cleared 3.74 million square meters of land, including 350,000 square meters in 1999. Since Spring 2000, MAG has deployed two Tempest Mini-Flail Systems in Battambang. The Tempest is a remote-controlled mini-flail device, the size of a small car. These machines are produced by the Demining Technology Workshop (DTW) in Phnom Penh, a charity initially set up by Warwick University, UK and sponsored by DfID. DTW employs, like MAG, disabled Khmer staff. The Tempest is armored for minefield deployment and is designed to thresh an clear undergrowth safely, thus dramatically speeding up the mine clearance process. MAG believes that the Tempest will likely achieve a 75% increase in productivity. MAG is also conducting a 12-month trial of the `Survivable Demining Tractor' also known as the `Pearson' tractor, developed by Pearson Engineering, with MAG input. MAG is trialing the armoured tractor with 17 attachments that can be utilized to increase the productivity of demining operations, including brush-cutting, roller and tree extractor. PRior to clearance, MAG works closely with LUPU and establishes land ownership and hand-over procedures. MAG is currently planning to create an impact evaluation unit. - This unit will, among other activities, monitor the impact of MAG's work, including the use of land post-clearance.

MAG works Teams in several former Khmer Rouge-controlled areas, around Pailin, Kompong Speu and Preah Vihear. Following the defections and recent improvements in security, refugees and IDPs have been returning to their homes in these areas. MAG's mobile Mine Action Teams and the flexiblity of its donors have enabled rapid responses to the beginnings of emergencies in these areas.90

CMAC reported in 1998 that in addition to clearance by CMAC, Halo and MAG, a total of 69.78 square kilometers of land has been cleared by village people, 11.5 square kilometers by COFRAS, 3.94 by the Army, 2.11 square kilometers by UNTAC, .19 square kilometers by CMAC CMM, and 1.18 square kilometers by unknown (likely commercial firms).

"Adopt a Minefield" is a program initiated by the non-governmental United Nations Association-USA. It has already funded clearance of two 35,000 square meter minefields in Battambang (at a cost of $37,100 each), and another six are planned. CMAC has examined potential additional sites in Battambang and, according to the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines, acted responsibly in suspending some sites in which there was a possibility of land grabbing.91 The Cambodian Campaign has a list of 17 "probable" new sites.

"Destroy a Minefield" is a program sponsored by the Australian government aid agency (AusAID), with funds being sought from the Australian public. Initial plans call for one mined area in Ta Peng village in Siem Reap to be demined by Halo Trust. From 1 December 1999, MAG has cleared one area in Boeung Sankae, Battambang under the Destroy a Minefield program.

Coordination and Planning of Mine Action

CMAC is the national demining agency. It implements mine clearance and mine awareness programs on its own, and is also responsible for the coordination of all mine and UXO clearance activities of all non-governmental organizations and others operating in Cambodia.92 CMAC expenditures in 1999 were $8,939,406. That included: Salaries $5,255,485; Equipment $910,109; Equipment Maintenance $1,015,136; Transportation $719,061; Accommodation $315,837; Support $573,136; Administration $159,733.

Accusations of Corruption and Mismanagement

Accusations about corruption, nepotism and poor financial management in many Cambodian organizations, including CMAC, received much publicity in the national and international media in 1999. CMAC donors suspended funding and called for a proper audit of the entire funds received and demanded new accountability for the use of funds. A fifty-point list of requirements before funding would be continued was given to CMAC. The audit, though critical of management practices, indicated that the disbursement of funds could be accounted for to within a small proportion of the total funds. This small percentage was mainly related to funds allocated to CMAC by the Royal Government of Cambodia.

In response to criticisms of the amount of money allocated for expatriate technical advisers, conscious effort is being directed toward the reduction and restructuring of international technical support to CMAC.

The past problems of CMAC and UNDP have been well documented. Financial audits, management audits, and recommendations have been widely distributed to donors. Sun System accounting procedures have been put in place. A wide consultation on suggestions for reform was set in place.

Nevertheless the media publicity damaged the image of CMAC and lowered staff morale. Concern over whether the agency would close and whether they would have a pay packet and a job the next month was spoken of by many staff. Relationships between UNDP and CMAC were strained and some instances of public recriminations appeared in the media. The consequent and probably understandable stop-start approach to funding hindered planning.

Australia is the biggest cash donor to CMAC. In May 2000, Australian Ambassador Malcolm Lederer told Landmine Monitor that Australia wants CMAC to continue as an organization. He noted that CMAC has gone a long way to meet the criteria for reform set by donors. He said Australia has faith in CMAC and believes it has the possibility to perform its mine clearance activities even better. Even though initially Australia was a very harsh critic of the failings in CMAC, it was also one of the first to restore funding and to give additional funding in 2000.93

Reforms

The "CMAC White Paper 2000" outlines CMAC's reform vision. The new director general of CMAC Khem Sophoan in the presentation of this strategy said, "We have a plan that will make CMAC more productive, more responsive to the needs of Cambodia and will increase the impact of our work. We have a plan that is consistent with the commitments for reform that we have already made."94 CMAC is to become a service provider of humanitarian mine action under the Royal Decree. There is to be clear separation between CMAC as an operational organization and the CMAC Governing Council, whose functions would include regulation;

The major changes seen to date in coordination and planning are:

· The separation and physical relocation of the Regulatory Authority with a staff separate from the CMAC Operational Staff.

· The ongoing meetings of Cambodian Demining Coordination Committee which includes all mine clearance agencies, some agencies working in the development of demined communities, the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines, the Royal Cambodian Army Forces, some donors and UNICEF.

· Invitation to the Land Use Planning Unit in Battambang to present their proposed form of operation.

· A renewal of the technical committee to advise on technical aspects of mine clearance.

Land Use Planning Unit and Provincial Sub-Committee

The Land Use Planning Unit (LUPU) was established in May 1999 in response to a national workshop on Land Use Planning and Management held in Battambang on 23-24 June 1998.95 The participants of the workshop included representatives from the Ministry of Interior, Defense, Rural Development, demining agencies, NGOs, IOs, UN agencies, district authorities, military commanders, governor and department offices of Banteay Meanchey and Battambang provinces. The participants in the workshop agreed there should be an institution established that has the task of land use planning and management for development.

In Battambang a Provincial Sub-Committee (PSC) was established to manage the task of land use planning after mine clearance and to strengthen the management structures, particularly at the district level, as they relate to mined land. LUPU is the support unit to the PSC and reports directly to the PSC. The main tasks of the PSC as related to land use planning in mined areas are to ensure effective land use and management in mined areas, review demining plans, and solve conflicts arising in land use management.

The PSC consists of managerial staff from government departments and the district chiefs. LUPU promotes coordination and discussion with the district authorities, demining agencies, development agencies and the PSC. LUPU tasks include: identify mined land, prioritize mined land for clearance, develop future plans for demining, prepare development plans for mined areas, prepare documents related to beneficiaries of demined land, organize land allocation process after demining, identify and address problems with use of land and land disputes.

Of the 12 districts in Battambang, 9 have landmines; in each of these nine districts a District Working Group (DWG) and a District LUPU has been established. The District LUPU reports to the DWG and Provincial LUPU. Many information sessions and training workshops have been conducted in the districts. Workshops were conducted in each of the districts to identify the priorities for demining. Many field visits were made to assess minefields, collect beneficiary names and obtain approval from village, commune and district authorities for demining.

Achievements to date include a workshop to finalize minefield selection for 2000 and approve development of a plan for 2000; establishment of a mapping system containing the minefields to be demined in 2000; some aerial photography and topographic information. Currently LUPU is collating a database of more than 2000 beneficiaries.

LUPU has received funding from CARERE/UNOPS, World Vision, UNHCR and LWS. However, due to the extensive structure, the operation costs are still in excess of the funding. LWS has provided funding for one of the LUPU staff to travel to Germany and study Land Use Planning for Rural Development at the Food and Agriculture Development Center. A volunteer is helping to develop the capacity of the staff, particularly in the areas of the Geographic Information System (GIS), data collection, database creation and mapping.

Use of demined land, reconstruction and development of cleared areas

The NGO Statement to the 2000 Consultative Group Meeting on Cambodia recommends that the government urgently address the issue of land titling in a way that the needs of the poor for land prevail over the wants of the powerful and the rich. This, the statement declares, is crucial to peaceful development in mine affected areas.96

The Land Reform Group reveals that the poorest half of Cambodia's population shares less than a quarter of cultivated land. One family in six has no land and one rural family in thirty is involved in land disputes, mostly with the military and public officials.97 This puts disputes over what happens to demined land in perspective. The most highly publicized dispute of this nature in 1999 was an area of land in Kampot which came under the control of a former Khmer Rouge commander accused of killing foreign tourists.

In 1999 and 2000 studies were done by Halo Trust on the use of cleared land in Cambodia that show by far the biggest proportion of land is used for purposes that benefit the poor. An extensive study done in the areas cleared by Halo Trust from 1993-1999 in Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, Siem Reap and Oddar Meanchey showed that 99% of all the land cleared by HALO was used for humanitarian purposes.98 The land cleared totaled 7.3 square kilometers and the primary uses were agriculture (44%), Resettlement (19%), and Roads/Bridges (10%). Over 318,696 Cambodians have directly or indirectly benefited from this land clearance and a further 155,840 benefit every day through roads or bridges built on Halo-cleared land.

There is only one instance of Halo-cleared land being used for an unintended purpose. In Trapeang Pol village, Samrong commune, Samrong district, Oddar Meanchey province, Halo was asked to clear the area so that land could be handed over for more housing and for use as vegetable plots. On completion of clearance, government military reclaimed the land and have subsequently used it to house their own families. Local people have so far been too afraid to lodge a complaint about this action.99 The director of CMAC in Siem Reap also said that there were some cases in which, after the handover of the mine-cleared land to villagers, some powerful people pressured them to sell their land for another purpose.100

A socio-economic assessment done by CMAC itself in 1999 of 9,977,573 square meters of land cleared by CMAC reported the use of the land as follows: 50% for agriculture, 12% for settlement, 3% for roads, 21% for other and 14% as contentious (and not yet distributed).101

Agencies working in development and reconstruction of mine affected communities include: CARE. Church World Service, Jesuit Service, Lutheran World Service, Norwegian People's Aid, and World Vision. Oxfam Great Britain does not implement directly but supports partner organizations to conduct their programs. Oxfam is involved in the NGO/IO Land Law Working Group providing input into the revision of the Land Law, research into landlessness and landlessness mitigation, and land-related advocacy issues.102

Mine awareness education

The main providers of mine awareness/mine risk education are CMAC, MAG and World Vision MATT team. Since 1993 more than 1.6 million people have received mine awareness education in 4,707 villages and 136 schools. Jesuit Service provides education that involves advocacy against mines; Church World Service, the NGO Forum and UNICEF have helped funded advocacy work in 1999. There is a working group led by CMAC on mine awareness where the agencies involved collaborate and coordinate their activities at both regional and national levels. Communities to be provided with mine risk education are selected according to the mine incident rate per population or upon request from the community itself.

Since 1993, MAG has undertaken mine awareness educational activities with around one million people. During 1999, MAG mine awareness and data gathering staff numbered 42 MAG staff, 12 Trainers of Teachers from three Provincial Departments of Education and 4 textbook writers from the Ministry of Education. MAG Child Mine Risk Education teams trained 3,916 schoolteachers from 1993 to September 1999. The Child Mine Risk Education Program, conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of mine risk education within the primary education system. This program will be handed over through the year 2000. Future community mine awareness activities will be integrated within Mine Action Teams - combined multi-disciplinary teams able to undertake community liaison, survey, marking, clearance, and awareness education work.103

Mine marking is a crucial form of mine awareness. CMAC has two kinds of teams involved in marking mined areas. Thirteen Mine Marking Teams mark verified mined areas of high priority. Another 13 community Mine Marking Teams mark priority areas and do small scale clearance of minefields in remote villages. In addition, CMAC has produced local printed materials, videos, radio broadcasts, plays, songs, and posters in efforts to make people aware of the danger of mines. In 1999 CMAC trained 54 mine awareness educators.

UNICEF is conducting an assessment in 2000 of the level of mine awareness in Cambodia. Criteria for classifying people as "mine aware" include knowledge, attitude change, and practices.

Number of People Receiving Mine Awareness Education104

1994:

59,817

1995:

121,678

1996:

216,649

1997:

281,916

1998:

423,434

1999:

497,198

Total:

1,600,692

Landmine Casualties 105

The number of mine casualties in Cambodia continued to drop in 1999. At least 1,012 people were injured by landmines and UXO in Cambodia during 1999. Of these 229 died, 311 needed limb amputations, 71 were blinded, and 34 were made deaf. The 1999 total is a decrease of 703 casualties, or 41%, compared to 1998. The 1999 total is only one-third the number of mines casualties recorded in 1996. Latest statistics show an even greater decrease. In the year from June 1999 to May 2000, there were 797 casualties.

It is important to note that the national database and consequently the Landmine Monitor Report 1999 had formerly reported 1,249 casualties for 1998. The number now quoted, 1,715, is the result of new data gathered. It is very possible that the 1999 figure will likewise be revised upward as new information is received.

Mine/UXO Casualties in Cambodia 1996-2000

Year

Recorded landmine/UXO casualties

Monthly Average

Every Day

1996

3,046

254 people

8 people

1997

1,711

143 people

5 people

1998

1,715

143 people

5 people

1999

1,012

84 people

3 people

2000

(5mths) 417

83 people

3 people

Most new mine incidents occurred in the provinces of Battambang (31%) followed by Banteay Meanchey (19%), Oddar Meanchey(9%), Krong Pailin(7%), Siem Reap(7%), Preah Vihear(7%) and Pursat (5%). A month-by-month, province-by-province breakdown of casualties is available. Of the 1,012 injured in 1999, 91% were civilians.

The cessation of hostilities is a very significant factor in the decrease of accidents. The most dramatic decrease in reported casualties occurred in Oddar Meanchey, home of the last Khmer Rouge fighters. In 1998, 253 casualties were recorded there, in 1999 the number was 76. At a national level, the total number of victims in May 1998 was 188 (110 civilian), in May 1999 was 111 (100 civilians), and May 2000 was 75 (67 civilians).

While the overall number of mine casualties is dropping, the percentage of incidents involving children is increasing: from 16% in 1998, to 26% in 1999, to 30% in the first five months of 2000.

From June 1999 to May 2000, civilian mine incidents occurred while farming (26%), travelling (25%), collecting wood and food (23%), tampering (14%) and fishing/herding (5%).

During this period, of the 797 casualties, 33% were children (under 18), 60% were men and 7% were women.

The first five months of 1999 coincided with the repatriation and resettlement of the last wave of refugees for the Thai border camps. Generally speaking, most of the exceptions to the trend of decreasing casualties in 1999 can be attributed to resettlement and land clearance activities during the first half of the year in the area most affected by repatriation.

It is difficult to estimate accurately the number of mine victims alive today in Cambodia. However, records show that at least 40,312 people were injured by mines through the end of 1999. Records also indicate that 13,709 of those injured died between January 1979 and December 1999, thus there may be approximately 25,000 mine victims in Cambodia today. The Disability Action Council, in May 2000, will use pilot studies to try to assess the number of disabled people in Cambodia, and the cause of their disability.106

Survivor Assistance107

A study of disabled people in mine infested areas of Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap and areas surrounding Kampong Speu revealed that of 1,663 survivors: 71% did not have a house that sheltered them; 7% had no house at all; 45% had to travel more than five minutes to get water for drinking and washing; 89% reported food insecurity; 32% had no land for housing or gardening; 28% received a government pension; 50% had a "job"(including rice farming); and the children of at least 46% did not go to school108.

Most support for landmine survivors is provided by non-governmental organizations. The government provides a small pension to soldiers who become landmine victims. The pension ranges from 30,000 to 180,000 riels per month (approximately U.S. $8 to $47).

Health

The national budget for health for 1999 was $21.1 million.109 Poor citizens are to receive free medical consultation in public hospitals, infirmaries and maternities.110 However, Medicam reports that the poorest Cambodians spent 28% of household income on health and 45% of Cambodians borrow money to pay for health care.111 Most Cambodian disabled are among the very poorest in a very poor country. Health costs for landmine injuries can completely bankrupt the family.

The Cambodian government has developed a health plan with operational districts, which consist of referral hospitals and health centers. These health centers are planned to be within ten kilometers or two hours walk of the population they serve. In the year 2000 surgical facilities are available at the provincial level for landmine injuries. A special hospital run by the NGO Emergency provides free professional surgical and post-operative care services to victims in the Battambang area. Medecins Sans Frontieres assists a hospital in Oddar Meanchey. In many areas, poverty of both the health care staff and of the patients is the problem, not the lack of facilities. However in the newly opened areas, where many landmine victims are located, health infrastructure has still to be developed. Equal access to quality health care at provincial centers according to the government plan is the main goal of the Cambodia Health Sector Reform, but it still has to be realized.

Prosthetics

Five international organizations have taken responsibility for the production and distribution of prosthetics in Cambodia. They include the American Red Cross, Cambodia Trust, Veterans International, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Handicap International. There are some fifteen workshops, located throughout Cambodia. In 1999 the total number of prosthesis produced was 6,215, an average of 518 per month. The Foot Factory is a private business with technical assistance from HI, which uses local materials to produce vulcanized rubber, solid ankle, and cushioned-heel prosthetic feet. The ICRC-funded and operated Components Factory supplies prostheses and orthotics parts to the majority of the workshops in Cambodia.

The National School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (NSPO) is located in Phnom Penh, sponsored by American Friends Service Cambodia, American Red Cross, Cambodia Trust and Veterans International, and operated by Cambodia Trust. The National School of Prosthetics and Orthotics has the capacity to train 12 students per year in a three-year curriculum course. The course has international accreditation and is developing a role in the region, as two students form the Laos joined the program last year. A Regional Rehabilitation Center for Spinal Injured Persons is sponsored by Handicap International in Battambang.

The total number of prostheses produced in 1999 include: the American Red Cross (589), Cambodia Trust (1,230), Handicap International (1,635), Veterans International (1,208), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (1,553).

Wheelchairs

Production of wheelchairs is done by three organizations in Cambodia. Assessment of wheelchair users, training in wheelchair use and follow-up is also done by these agencies. A national plan for wheelchair distribution was attempted and is partially successful. ICRC, ARC, HI, CT and various NGOs and individuals purchase and distribute wheelchairs to the handicapped. There is a policy amongst wheelchair producers and distributors that wheelchairs made in Cambodia, for Cambodian conditions, by Cambodians are the most suitable. Import of wheelchairs from other countries is discouraged. To date very few users are able to afford the $75 to pay for a wheelchair, however many users have made small donations towards the cost of wheelchair production in Cambodia.

Organizations producing wheelchairs in Cambodia, and total number of wheelchairs made in 1999, include: Jesuit Service Cambodia (908), Veterans International (351), and Association to Aid Refugees-Japan (300).

Vocational Training and Socio-Economic Integration for the Disabled

As the number of disabled in Cambodia is so large, vocational training centers which discriminate in favor of the disabled have been essential. Organizations that conduct vocational and skills training centers include: Association to Aid Refugees-Japan, Cambodian War Amputees Rehabilitation Social, Jesuit Service Cambodia, Maryknoll, United Committee of Cambodia, Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor and Veterans Affairs, partnered by World Vision.

In addition to centers, some organizations including International Labour Organization, Cambodia Disabled Peoples Organization, Veterans International, World Vision, Thean Thor, Maryknoll, and Jesuit Service have short courses in different locations or in the village to teach animal raising, community agriculture and other income generating skills. The National Center for Disabled Persons, Rehab Craft, Maryknoll, Veterans International, and Jesuit Service provide outlets for craft production or employment opportunities which discriminate in favor of landmine victims and other disabled.

Disabled children who have missed the opportunity to begin primary classes at the normal entry age may study at Lavalla school run by the Manst Mission. Deaf and blind children can study at Krousa Thmey centers. UNICEF has funded the Disability Action Council with $101,320 for a study on disabled children and education. Simple things like wheelchair access to school and the provision of wheelchairs and tricycles so handicapped children can travel to school are needed in many parts of Cambodia.

Community Services

Many organizations listed by the Disability Action Council help survivors and other disabled through self-help groups, community-based assistance, referral systems, counseling, and outreach. These include Action for Disability, Cambodian People's Disabled Organisation, American Friends Services Committee, Handicap International (PRES and CABDIC), Operation Enfants de Battambang, Servants, Maryknoll, Veterans International, Jesuit Service, Help Age, Social Services of Cambodia, National Center for Disabled Persons, American Red Cross, and Thean Thor. Creative ways of helping towards the empowerment of survivors are being implemented.

Disability Policy and Practice

Cambodia does not yet have separate disability laws, but disability issues are addressed in Cambodian laws. Article 74 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia says that the state shall help persons with disabilities and their families. Draft legislation of a proposed disability law has been prepared. This draft legislation is a basic tool for the promotion and development of measures to enable individuals and organizations to strengthen management capabilities to develop and initiate activities on disability prevention and social problem solving. The law should also contribute to developing a policy framework and guidelines for inclusion and integration of people with disabilities into mainstream development of programs (including education, vocational training, and employment) while recognizing some specialized services are still needed for specific categories of disabilities. The draft law aims to ensure the protection of the rights of all people with disabilities and prohibition of abuse and neglect of these persons and discrimination against them.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor and Vocational Training, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSALVY) has been assigned to undertake the main responsibility for disability and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, it is a poorly supported and financed ministry lacking major resources to address critical issues in the disability and rehabilitation sector. The Ministry of Veterans and Women's Affairs is responsible for the pensions for disabled veterans. Currently, the disabilities and rehabilitation sector has in place the Disability Action Council (DAC), which is a national coordinating body. The DAC plays a role in coordinating, facilitating, negotiating, and networking between individuals, organizations, and institutions working for the well-being of people with disabilities. A fundamental issue has been the limited representation by people with disabilities, including women, to take their place and role in society.

FIJI

Mine Ban Policy

Fiji signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 10 June 1998. Fiji has not yet enacted domestic implementation legislation. It submitted its Article 7 transparency report on 12 November 1999. Fiji voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had in previous years. Fiji was not present at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in May 1999 and has not participated in the intersessional meetings of the ban treaty. It is neither a member of the Conference on Disarmament nor a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

In March 2000, ICBL Ambassador and Cambodian mine survivor Tun Channereth travelled to Nadi, at the invitation of the UNICEF regional office, and advocated in support of Pacific nation accession, ratification, and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty at two meetings of parliamentarians from the Pacific region.112 He met and spoke with many Fijian parliamentarians and politicians, school children, local media and NGOs.

Fiji's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Boladuadua, told the ICBL delegation that he would look into preparation of domestic legislation and would consider putting the landmine issue on the agenda of the Heads of State Meeting of the Pacific Forum later in 2000.

Production, Stockpile, Transfer, and Use

It is believed that Fiji has never produced, transferred, or used AP mines. Fiji declared no stockpile of AP mines, including for training, in its Article 7 transparency report. Landmines have not been used in the recent coup nor are they believed to have been used in previous coups.

Landmine Casualties

In September 1999 three Fijian peacekeepers were slightly injured when a landmine exploded beneath their UN armored personnel carrier in south Lebanon.113

JAPAN

Key developments since March 1999: Japan's funding for mine action programs increased more than 60% to a total of $13.1 million in 1999. Stockpile destruction is underway. Japan has served as the co-rapporteur for the Standing Committee of Experts on Victim Assistance.

Mine Ban Policy

Japan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 September 1998. The ratification law also constituted domestic implementation legislation, and took effect 1 March 1999.

The Japanese delegation to the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo, Mozambique in May 1999 was led by Keizo Takemi, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. He stated, "It is an extraordinary success that the Convention entered into effect only one year and a few months after its opening for signature, and that it can already boast more than 130 signatories and more than 70 ratifiers. The States Parties should utilize each and every opportunity to urge other states to become party to the Convention."114

At the meeting Japan was named, along with Nicaragua, as the co-rapporteur of the Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts on Victim Assistance. Japan will become co-chair of that committee at the time of the Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2000. Japan has been an active participant in all of the intersessional meetings.

On 27 August 1999, Japan submitted, on time, its report to the UN as required by Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty. On 28 April 2000, Japan submitted its second report, covering the period from 1 April to 31 December 1999.

On 1 December 1999, Japan voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (54/54B) in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in 1997 and 1998.

Japan ratified Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 10 June 1997. Japan attended the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva from 15 to 17 December 1999. In accordance with Article 13 of Amended Protocol II, Japan submitted its annual report on 15 October 1999.

Japan is a member of the Conference on Disarmament and has supported efforts to begin negotiations on a landmine export ban in that forum, but such efforts failed in 1998 and 1999, and appear doomed in 2000.

Japan's commitment to the mine ban had been led by the interest shown by former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, who died on 14 May 1999. (For details on development of Japan's ban policy see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 355-357.) On 12 January 2000, during an official visit to Cambodia, the former Prime Minister visited a demining project site. He also attended the official ceremony of the commencement of the antipersonnel landmine destruction program held on 17 January 2000 at Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

NGOs remained active in promoting a mine ban in 1999 and 2000. The Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL) activities included research for Landmine Monitor 2000, hosting of symposiums and workshops, participation in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo, and publication of the "Landmine Monitor Executive Summary 1999" in Japanese. Association for Aid and Relief-Japan continued to serve on the Coordination Committee of the ICBL and in November 1999 and January 2000 hosted visits by Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams, who met Prime Minister Obuchi.

Production, Trade, Use

In the past Japan produced four types of antipersonnel mines, designated Types 63, 67, 80, and 87. The Type 87 is a scatterable mine with three variants. Production was halted in 1997, and Japan reported that manufacturing facilities had been decommissioned by 31 March 1999.115 Japan has never exported antipersonnel mines. Japan imported M3 mines from the U.S.116 Japan has not used antipersonnel since the establishment of the Defense Force in 1954.

Stockpiling and Destruction

As of 31 December 1999, the Japan Defense Agency (JDA) held 998,866 stockpiled antipersonnel mines.117 Japan intends to destroy all the mines, except 15,000 retained for training and research purposes, by 28 February 2003 in compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty.118

This is among the highest number of mines retained by any state party. Japan has said that the mines will be utilized over a ten year period for "training and education for safer and more effective mine detection and mine clearance. Also, if it becomes necessary to develop some equipment for mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction, Japan may test such equipment to ensure their proper functioning."119 Japan reported that it had "consumed" 1,148 of the retained mines between 31 March and 31 December 1999, leaving 13,852.120

In addition to the 1,148 mines used for training purposes, another seventy-five mines (Type 63) were destroyed "on a trial basis" prior to 17 January 2000. On 17 January an official ceremony was held to begin the destruction process; in attendance were Prime Minister Obuchi and about 200 other observers.121 Plans call for destruction of approximately 220,000 mines between 17 January 2000 and the end of March 2001, an additional 380,000 mines by the end of March 2002, and the final 385,014 by the end of February 2003.122

The JDA's four-year plan of destruction of antipersonnel mines is summarized in the following table.

Number of Antipersonnel Mines to be destroyed by type123

 

Stock as of March 99

To be destroyed by March 2001

To be destroyed by March 2003

To be retained for training

Type 63

28,879

9,232

16,670

2,977

Type 67

586,463

151,544

431,916

3,003

Type 80

326,445

52,812

270,619

3,014

Type87 Scatterable

8,375

2,772

2,600

3,003

Type M3

49,927

6,000

40,924

3,003

Total

1,000,089

222,360

762,729

15,000

The amount allocated for the destruction of 222,360 antipersonnel mines by March 2001 is 419,951,000 yen (about U.S. $3.5 million).124 The average cost of destruction per antipersonnel mine, therefore, is 1,889 yen (about $16). Costs for destroying another 380,000 antipersonnel mines by March 2002 are budgeted at approximately 800 million yen (about $6.7 million). This is some 2,105 yen per mine (about $17.50).125

During 1999, the JDA selected three private companies to carry out the first phase of destruction to March 2001: Asahi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. (Aebano Workshop, Shin Asahi Town, Shiga); Hokkaido NOF Co. Ltd. (Bibai City, Hokkaido); and, Nippon Koki Co. Ltd. (Saigo, Fukushima). Asahi Chemical will destroy 166,776 antipersonnel mines and 151,544 fuses under a $1.7 million contract. Hokkaido NOF will destroy 52,812 mines and 68,044 fuses under a $1.5 million contract. Nippon Koki will destroy 2,772 mines and 2,772 fuses under a $223,000 contract.126

The Japanese government has stated that destruction methods will include explosion and burning, cutting or crushing after disassembling.127 Destruction methods will vary depending upon the type of antipersonnel mine, but all explosions will be conducted in secured facilities and not in open-air fields.128 The JDA has required all three companies to observe and comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Explosives Control Act, Air Pollution Control Act, and Fire Service Law. Companies must receive permission from local authorities to explode mines within their jurisdiction. The JDA will send officials to confirm destruction of antipersonnel mines and relevant local authorities will conduct on-the-spot inspections in conformity with the Explosives Control Law. The JDA has also requested the companies to observe relevant environmental regulations. The dates for destruction will be coordinated between JDA and respective companies. Destruction may be open to the public, and information regarding destruction is to be disclosed by the companies.129

U.S. Antipersonnel Mines in Japan

Japan did not report in either of its Article 7 submissions the presence of U.S. antipersonnel mines in Japan. The U.S. is believed to have some 150,000 self-destructing antipersonnel mines stored in Japan, and perhaps some portion of the 1.2 million non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines that the U.S. is retaining for use in Korea.130 Japan has said that it does not have "jurisdictional authority," so "it continues to be feasible for the U.S. forces to retain any antipersonnel mines withheld and stockpiled in the U.S. bases in Japan."131 Japan has also said with regard to U.S. transiting of mines across Japanese territory, that "because we approve the possession of landmines by the U.S. forces stationed in Japan, it would not be necessary to request a prior notification, and thus the government has no intention of doing so."132

Mine Action Funding

In his speech to the UN General Assembly on 18 November 1999, Ryuichiro Yamazaki, Alternate Representative of Japan to the United Nations, said that the position of Japan on the issue of assistance in mine action is based on three principles: (1) "Ownership," or promoting the efforts of mine-affected countries themselves; (2) "Partnership," or promoting coordination of the activities of agencies of the United Nations, regional organizations, national governments, and NGOs; and (3) "Human Security," or promoting the survival, well-being, and dignity of all people.133

At the ban treaty signing conference in December 1997, Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi announced that Japan would contribute 10 billion yen (about $83 million) to mine action programs over the five-year period 1998-2002 in order to achieve the goal of "Zero Victims."134 In 1998, Japan's financial contribution amounted to 1 billion yen ($8.3 million). In 1999, it rose significantly to 1,577,470,000 yen ($13.1 million), and increase of 63%.135 The increase can be attributed to one major project in Cambodia where demining equipment was purchased.

Overall in 1999, Japan contributed to mine action programs in seventeen countries, as well as to the United Nations, Organization of the American States and International Committee of Red Cross. The 1999 contributions were devoted 89% to demining (up 9% from 1998), 9% to mine awareness, and 2% to victim assistance. International organizations received 60%, bilateral programs 30% (all to Cambodia), and non-governmental organizations 10%. The contributions to NGOs included approximately $60,000 to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines for its Landmine Monitor Report 2000.

The Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines has encouraged Japan to restructure its assistance to allow long-term financial commitment, with a greater emphasis on funding victim assistance and non-governmental organizations. The JCBL believes that Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA), from which funding for mine action is made, is primarily geared toward development and humanitarian assistance to governmental, inter-governmental and international organizations who tend to implement demining activities, rather than victim assistance or mine awareness activities that are more often implemented by private, non-profit organizations. JCBL believes that the emphasis on international organizations provides geographic diversity, but has made it difficult to directly monitor implementation and assess further needs on the ground. JCBL also believes that Japan tends to fund items that can be disbursed within a single year, such as purchase of demining equipment, rather than multiple years.

Japan's Financial Contributions to Mine Action in 1999 (by country/region)

 

Contributions Made - U.S. $ in thousands

 

Country/ Region

Directly to International Organizations

Through International Organizations

on Bilat. Basis

To NGOs

Total

 

U.S .$

U.S. $

Name

U.S.$

U.S.$

U.S.$

%

Cambodia

         

5,664

42.91

Demining

-

900

UNDP/ CMAC

3,920

244(b

5,064

 

Mine Awar.

-

600

UNMAS/ UNICEF

-

-

600

 

Laos

         

200

1.52

Mine Awar.

-

200

UNMAS/ UNICEF

-

-

200

 

Thailand

         

476

3.61

Demining

-

400

UNMAS/ UNDP

-

-

400

 

VA

-

-

 

-

76

76

 

Georgia

         

79

0.60

Demining

-

-

 

-

79

79

 

Bosnia Herzegovina

         

108

0.82

Demining

-

-

 

-

70

70

 

Victim Assistance

-

-

-

-

24

24

 

Mine Awareness

-

14(c

UNICEF

-

-

14

 

Macedonia

         

58

0.44

Mine Awareness

-

-

 

-

58

58

 

Yugoslavia

         

100

0.76

Victim Assistance

-

-

 

-

100

100

 

Kosovo

         

1,783

13.51

Demining

-

1,500

UNHCR

-

250(d

1,750

 

Mine Awareness

-

-

   

33(d

33

 

Azerbaijan

         

500

3.79

Demining

-

500

UNMAS

-

-

500

 

Mozambique

         

683

5.17

Demining

-

600

UNDP/ CND

-

83

683

 

Angola

         

82

0.62

Demining

-

-

 

-

82

82

 

Chad

         

400

3.03

Demining

-

400

UNMAS/ UNDP

400

 

Victim Assistance

-

-

 

0

 

Yemen

       

500

3.79

Demining

-

500

UNMAS/ UNDP

-

-

500

 

Afghanistan

       

1,411

10.69

Demining

-

1,300

UNOCHA

-

80

1,380

 

Victim Assistance

-

-

 

-

31

31

 

Nicaragua

       

300

2.27

Demining

-

250

UNMAS/ UNDP

 

250

 

Mine Awareness

-

50

UNMAS/ UNICEF

 

50

 

Guatemala

       

200

1.52

Mine Awareness

-

200

UNMAS/ UNICEF

 

200

 

Peru/ Ecuador

       

610

4.62

Demining

-

610

UNDP

-

-

610

 

Organization of the American States

       

45

0.34

Demining

35(e

   

-

-

35

 

Victim Assistance

10(e

   

-

-

10

 

Grand Total

13,199

100.00

Description of Japanese Government's Contributions to Mine Action

COUNTRY/REGION

Assistance through International Organization(s)

Assistance on Bilat. Basis

Assistance toward NGOs

CAMBODIA

(1) CMAC Demining Activities through UNDP/CMAC Trust Funds; (2) Mine awareness activities of UNMAS/UNICEF through Demining Trust Fund

(1) Demining related equipment to CMAC and deployment of experts to strengthen CMAC's information system; (2) Deployment of an expert in social welfare administration to the Ministry of Social Welfare

(1) Vehicles and other equipment to demining activities of Halo Trust; (2) Transport cost, given to CMAC, of a log removal machine for testing purposes

LAOS

Mine awareness activities of UNMAS/UNICEF through Demining Trust Fund.

   

THAILAND

Establishment of Thailand Mine Action Center, mine survey, mine database, and other related activities of UNMAS/UNDP through Demining Trust Fund

 

Rehabilitation of a local hospital for mine affected patients

GEORGIA

   

Demining vehicles and equipment to Halo Trust

BOSNIA HERCEGOVINA

Mine awareness activities of UNICEF

 

(1) AAR's reintegration activities of mine victims (equipment for vocational skills training); (2) Vehicles used in demining activities of a local NGO through Handicap International

MACEDONIA

   

Mine awareness activities of AAR

YUGOSLAVIA

   

Orthopedic equipment to AAR.

KOSOVO

Demining related activities of UNHCR

 

Mine awareness activities of AAR

AZERBAIJAN

Activities of UNMAS

   

MOZAMBIQUE

Demining activities of UNDP and Comissão Nacional de Desminagem

 

Vehicles (for medical use) used in demining activities of Halo Trust

ANGOLA

   

Vehicles used in demining activities of Halo Trust

CHAD

Establishment of Chad Mine Action Center, mine survey, mine database, and other related activities of UNMAS/UNDP through Demining Trust Fund

   

YEMEN

Victims assistance and mine awareness activities of UNMAS/UNDP

   

AFGHANISTAN

Demining activities of UNOCHA

 

(1) Vehicles for demining activities of Halo Trust; (2) Medical and orthopedic equipment for activities of a local NGO, Guardians

NICARAGUA

(1) UNMAS/UNDP activities in demining of mines relocated due to the hurricane; (2) Mine awareness activities of UNMAS/UNICEF

   

GUATEMALA

Mine awareness activities of UNMAS/UNICEF

   

PERU/ECUADOR

Demining activities of UNDP on the border between Peru and Ecuador

   

Notes on the tables:

a) The above tables do not include the following financial contributions to cover necessary costs incurred by the following activities on the part of the government of Japan: (1) Dispatch of project formation missions; (2) Dispatch of technical/management experts; and (3) Acceptance of trainees to Japan.

b) This figure includes transport cost for equipment granted to CMAC.

c) In March 1999, the government of Japan contributed $1.2 million to UNICEF, out of which $14,000 was estimated to be allocated to mine awareness activities.

d) Contributions made to NGOs in Kosovo included $250,000 for demining and $33,000 for mine awareness activities.

e) Japan contributed to the Organization of the American States (OAS) for its demining activities and medical assistance to mine victims in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica: $35,000 for demining and $10,000 for victim assistance.

NGO Mine Action Activities

Association for Aid and Relief-Japan (AAR) has been implementing various projects around the globe. It initiated a project in Cambodia with the objective of enhancing social and economic self-reliance of physically challenged people. AAR also initiated a demining project in Afghanistan (October 1999), and demining and mine awareness projects in Kosovo in collaboration with Halo Trust. AAR's demining project in Cambodia was phased out in September 1999.

The Japanese Red Cross Society has been supporting a victim assistance program in Cambodia. Humanitarian Orthotic/Prosthetic Endeavour (HOPE) implemented a project in the area of victim assistance in partnership with a Japanese NGO, Phnom Penh no Kai, and two British NGOs, Cambodian Trust and POWER. HOPE has been sending physical rehabilitation prostheses and assistive devices to Cambodia and Laos.

Japan Alliance for Humanitarian Demining Support (JAHDS), a consortium comprised of over sixty industrial and charity groups, has been operational since March 1998. JAHDS has been providing support to Cambodia and Kosovo by supplying mine detectors and other demining equipment. Japan Demining Action has been implementing a mine and UXO awareness project in Cambodia.

MALAYSIA

Key developments since March 1999: Malaysia ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 22 April 1999 and it took effect 1 October 1999. Implementation legislation is being considered by the Parliament. Malaysia has served as the co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction. Malaysia has developed plans for, but has not yet begun, destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile.



Mine Ban Treaty

Malaysia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. On 13 April 1999 the Foreign Minister signed the ratification instrument, and it was officially deposited with the UN Secretary-General on 22 April 1999. The Mine Ban Treaty thus entered into force for Malaysia on 1 October 1999.136

Malaysia participated in the First Meeting of State Parties (FMSP) to the ban treaty in Mozambique in May 1999. Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Dr. Leo Michael Toyad called for sustaining the "political will and momentum" generated by the treaty, including through "close collaboration" with NGOs and "consideration of all aspects of the anti-personnel mine problem."137

At the FMSP, Malaysia assumed the duties of co-rapporteur for the new Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts (ISCE) on Stockpile Destruction.138 It performed this role at the committee's meetings in December 1999 and May 2000 in Geneva.139 Malaysia has also participated in the meetings of the ISCEs on Victim Assistance and on the General Status of the Convention.

Malaysia voted affirmatively on the UN General Assembly's 1999 resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty.

Malaysia submitted its first transparency report required by the treaty's Article 7 on 1 March 2000,140 one month ahead of schedule.

Implementing legislation is in draft form and still needs to be presented for final reading and approval by the new parliament.141 Earlier parliamentary debate showed bipartisan support, with both administration and opposition members speaking against landmines.142 The bill was drafted by the Ministry of Defense, and is said to be patterned after the treaty and other national legislation such as Canada's, with some variation as to penalties, domestic obligations and inter-agency responsibilities. The implementing legislation is expected to result in some budgetary outlay for treaty compliance measures.143

The implementing legislation will also result in a new set of directives, including new military doctrine.144 These new directives, especially for the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), will be shaped not only by the legislation but also by a study with recommendations on treaty compliance. This study will be made by a board of officers already formed with the Army as "process owner." The study is to be kept within MAF in the meantime.145

As of January 2000, coordination on Mine Ban Treaty compliance is being done by an ad hoc inter-agency committee with the Ministry of Defense, particularly its Defense Policy Division, as the focal point. Other agencies involved are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, particularly its Multilateral Political Affairs Division; the MAF Headquarters and especially the Army; the Ministry of Home Affairs and, under it, the Police; and the Attorney-General's Chambers, only for legal and legislative aspects.146

This ad hoc arrangement will most likely be regularized after the passage of implementing legislation. The shape of any new arrangement would depend on the study and recommendations of the board of officers. The defense establishment is conscious of possible NGO participation in an appropriate way, but there are also reservations about this due to the military sensitivity of some matters.147

Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Protocol II on mines. Malaysia did not attend the First Annual Conference of States Parties of Amended Protocol II in December 1999. With regard to negotiations on a ban on mine transfers in the Conference on Disarmament, an official has said Malaysia "would like this to be taken up."148 Malaysia became a member of the CD in 1999.

Malaysian officials have underscored the importance of acting regionally, particularly in Southeast Asia, noting that in the "integration-sensitive" Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the landmines issue can be a gauge for trust-building, which is a level higher than confidence-building.149 Malaysia can be said to be taking the lead within ASEAN in addressing the landmine agenda.

Use, Production, and Transfer

Government officials state that there has been no use of antipersonnel mines since the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and the government concluded negotiations in December 1989. They also state that Malaysia has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.150 It imported four types of AP mines from Yugoslavia, as well as Claymore mines from the UK and US.151

Some in the Malaysian defense establishment advocate seeking "high-tech" mines or alternatives that are "better and humane."152

When asked by Landmine Monitor about the issue of another country transiting mines across Malaysian territory, an official responded that a general policy and practice has been to require foreign vessels to declare what they are bringing in - "no declaration, no visit."153 But this can also be "quite catchy," dealing with the rights of one party and the freedom of the other party, especially in passage through international sea lanes like the Straits of Malacca. This has to be tackled on a case-to-case basis, sometimes involving accommodations like a "partial declaration."154

Stockpiling and Destruction

According to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Malaysia has 94,263 antipersonnel mines in stockpile, with 82,252 ground-blast type and 12,011 "airburst" (bounding) type. The bounding mines are Yugoslav-made PROM-1. The ground-blast are Yugoslav-made PAM-2, PAM-3 and PAM-3 without UPMAH fuzes.155

The foregoing figures do not include Claymore mines, which are not prohibited by the treaty when used in command-detonated mode. Malaysian officials have indicated that all Claymores that are retained will be command-detonated and that steps, including modifications, will be made to ensure that is so.156

There has been planning for, but as yet no actual destruction of antipersonnel mines. Malaysia is awaiting the implementing legislation and the recommendations of the board of officers before beginning destruction. The locations of destruction sites have been decided: Asahan Range, Malacca; Kota Belud Range, Sabah; and Sempadi Range, Sarawak. The method of destruction would be demolition using electrical method, and to be done by the Army and the Police.157

Malaysia has announced that it will not keep any live antipersonnel mines for training purposes.158 It will use only non-explosive practice mines (smoke mines) for training. Malaysia's non-explosive training mines number 46,008.159 The destruction of AP mines in its stockpile may also be used for training purposes.160

Non-State Actors

Malaysia no longer has a non-state actor (NSA) problem, especially after its agreement with the CPM and its Malayan People's Army to terminate hostilities on 2 December 1989.161 This and other related agreements contained provisions on destruction of firearms, ammunition and explosives and on location and destruction of booby-traps to be done by the CPM.162 These agreements as well as the experience of their implementation could be studied further as a possible model for post-conflict mine clearance by NSAs. As Hussein Haniff put it, "without their cooperation, there is no way (for their mines to be cleared)."163

Most of the so-called booby-traps were actually AP mines albeit of the crude, improvised type that would expire after some exposure to the jungle elements. After 1991, with the mines expiring, it was deemed no longer cost-effective to conduct the joint mine clearing special operation ("Operasi Bersih").164

Landmine Problem

It is believed that virtually all of the landmines laid in the vicinity of the Malaysian-Thai border from the 1950s to 1980s have been cleared or rendered ineffectual by the elements.165 In its Article 7 report, Malaysia declared itself mine free.

Mine Action

Malaysia has not received any funding or in-kind contributions for mine action. It has made no financial contributions, but has sent peacekeeping forces that undertook mine clearing operations in countries like Cambodia and Bosnia.

Malaysia has pointed to the need for greater international and technical support for research in mine detection and clearance.

At the First Meeting of States Parties, Deputy Minister Toyad cited the need for "greater efforts to enhance research" and for "more active cooperation among states" in mine detection and clearance. He called on "countries with financial capability, technology and equipment, to come forward in providing financial, technical and humanitarian assistance to mine-affected countries as well as to landmine victims." He also underscored the importance of "effective and comprehensive public education on mine awareness" to significantly reduce casualties.166

Landmine Casualties

There have been no reports of civilian victims of landmines. In the last known incident, an army major was killed by a bounding mine in Bosnia in 1994 as part of the peacekeeping force.167

NEW ZEALAND

Key developments since March 1999: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for New Zealand on 1 July 1999. New Zealand has continued its international advocacy in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, and its financial and in kind contributions to mine action programs.

Mine Ban Policy

New Zealand signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, enacted implementation legislation (the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 1998) on 9 December 1998, and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 January 1999. The treaty entered into force for New Zealand on 1 July 1999. Its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report was submitted on 27 December 1999.

New Zealand participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo. Its delegation was led by HE René Wilson, New Zealand High Commissioner to South Africa and Mozambique, and also included the Convenor of the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM). In his plenary statement, Wilson expressed disappointment over the reports of the laying of new mines in Kosovo and Angola and said that "New Zealand will continue to work strenuously to make this Treaty universal."168 He stated, "Demining must also remain a priority. The increase in resources that have been put into this area in recent years is encouraging. New Zealand will continue, as a matter of priority, its efforts in the area of demining."

Representatives from the New Zealand UN mission in Geneva have attended some of the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, but have not been notably active or vocal participants.

In November 1999, New Zealand Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Trevor Hughes told the 54th session of the UN General Assembly, "The laying of new mines in Angola this year as hostilities resumed is particularly deplorable. New Zealand has had a long standing involvement in mine action efforts in Angola, and it was disheartening to see UN mine action efforts reduced and shut down after so much work."169

In December 1999, New Zealand voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had on similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998.

A new government took office in December 1999 and the new Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Mr. Phil Goff, made a detailed response to Landmine Monitor's request for updated information.170 He said, "New Zealand welcomes the Landmine Monitor Report and considers that it is a useful tool for encouraging transparency and the universalisation of the Ottawa Convention."171

Goff described New Zealand's activities in support of the ban on AP mines including raising accession to the treaty in high level bilateral meetings with non-signatory governments, "Recently these have included Finland, Russia, China, and Israel."172

At a meeting on 26 January 2000, CALM representatives and senior staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) met to discuss the ways in which both groups could work to encourage submission of outstanding Article 7 transparency reports, and also to encourage and assist signatory and non-signatory states in the region to fully join the Mine Ban Treaty. There was a shared concern that some antivehicle mines with antihandling devices held by some States Parties may not be legal under the Mine Ban Treaty.173

New Zealand ratified Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 8 January 1998. New Zealand's Disarmament Ambassador, based in Geneva, attended the December 1999 First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amend Protocol II, but did not make a statement. New Zealand has submitted its Amended Protocol II Article 13 transparency report.

At a January 2000 meeting with CALM, the Acting Director of the International Security and Arms Control division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated emphatically that the government was not interested in any effort on AP mines in the Conference on Disarmament and noted that the government would oppose it being added to the agenda.174

ICBL Issues of Concern

The ICBL has expressed concern about the possibility of ban treaty non-signatories, notably the United States, transiting antipersonnel mines through the national territory, waters, or airspace of States Parties. Foreign Minister Goff told Landmine Monitor that:

Under the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 1998, "transfer" is defined as including both importation into, and exportation from, New Zealand. Under the Customs and Excise Act 1996, importation and exportation are defined in terms of entry to or exit from New Zealand territory, including New Zealand territorial waters. Therefore, any transit of anti-personal mines through New Zealand territory would constitute a transfer, and would be prohibited under s7(1)(d) of the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act.175

The ICBL has also expressed concern about the possibility of ban treaty non-signatories using antipersonnel mines in joint military operations with State Parties. Foreign Minister Goff wrote that:

As a party to the Convention, New Zealand does not support the use of anti-personnel mines for any purpose, and indeed continues to promote universal adherence to the Convention. In practice, there may be instances where New Zealand's armed forces participate in combined military operations with States not party to the Convention. However, there would be absolutely no question of New Zealand's armed forces engaging in prohibited conduct, since they are bound by the obligations of the Convention and the prohibitions under the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act. Section 6 of the Act makes it clear that the Act binds the Crown, and s8(d) puts the matter beyond doubt:

(d) A member of the armed forces may, in the course of his or her duties, participate in operations, exercises, or other military activities with armed forces of a state not a party to the Convention that engages in conduct prohibited by section 7 (1), if that participation does not amount to active assistance in the prohibited conduct."176

In further comment on the question of the treaty prohibition on "assist" with respect to joint military operations, Foreign Minister Goff wrote:

As noted above, s8(d) of the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act prohibits members of the New Zealand armed forces from actively assisting in any conduct prohibited by the Convention, when engaged in combined military activities with States not party to the Convention. In light of the range of hypothetical situations that may arise, it is not possible to assess questions of interoperability except on a case-by-case basis. As a general proposition, however, it is New Zealand's view that making military use of munitions laid by a State not party to the Convention, or assisting another State in any way to lay such munitions, would constitute a breach of the Convention; merely being part of a coalition in which other States used APMs, however, would not.177

Production, Transfer, Use

New Zealand has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, but has in the past imported AP mines from the United States and perhaps other nations.178 At the First Annual Conference of States Parties to the Amended Protocol II in Geneva in December 1999, a Pakistani representative said that New Zealand had attempted to buy antipersonnel mines from Pakistan.179 In response to allegations that it had tried to illegally sell antipersonnel mines, the state-owned Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) said:

The POF does not export anti-personnel mines (APMs) to any part of the world.... The items shown at Serial No. 12 and 13 in our quotation are not APMs but devices that can only be exploded by the installer/defender. These are not victim-actuated mines.... It may be relevant to mention here that for the same category of items we have received queries from a company based in Australia for export to New Zealand which is a party to the Ottawa Convention on landmines."180

Serial No. 12 is the P5A3 Claymore-type mine and Serial No. 13 is the P7 MK2 bounding mine;181 the latter is clearly prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty. CALM representatives subsequently met with MFAT officials who stated that the New Zealand Defence Forces had placed an order with an Australian company for Pakistan-supplied demolition charges, but not the antipersonnel mines cited by POF.182 According to the officials, the demolition charges (designated Charge Demolition No. 1 and 6-inch Beehive Mk-6) are designed so that the explosive thrust goes downwards and are used to destroy landmines, but cannot be considered landmines.

New Zealand has a history of mine use dating back to World War II and the Korean War, but prohibited operational use in 1996.

Stockpiling

New Zealand destroyed all of its mines, both antipersonnel and antitank, when it declared the unilateral ban on use in 1996. The exact number destroyed is unknown. New Zealand has not retained any antipersonnel mines for training or research purposes, as allowed under Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty.183 Captain Martin Donoghue of the New Zealand Army said no mines are being kept for training because of the risk of serious injury to trainees. It was considered to be far more preferable to purchase sets of replica mines containing no explosive. A contract was arranged with a local company for the production of practice mines that emit a puff of smoke and a small report when triggered.184 New Zealand has a small stockpile of command-detonated Claymore mines, which are permitted by the treaty.

Mine Action

In February 2000, during his first visit to New Zealand, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan complimented New Zealand on its work on humanitarian demining and on its advocacy in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.185

CALM has noted New Zealand's departure in June 1999 from participation in the mine clearance program in Angola as perhaps the most disappointing aspect of New Zealand's international contribution to mine action in the past year. Two New Zealand Army engineers at the UN demining school near Luanda returned home in June 1999 and were not replaced. New Zealand soldiers have been involved with the school since it was set up in 1995. A senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official commented that the mine clearance training capability the New Zealand engineers had helped to build would not be lost with their departure: "They would have been pulled out eventually in any case, leaving a pool of indigenous skills in their wake, but growing safety concerns with Angola's slide back into civil war prompted an earlier withdrawal."186

New Zealand continues to contribute funds to humanitarian mine action programs in Cambodia, Laos, and Mozambique, as well as through the UN.

1998/1999 - US$450,000187

Cambodia

CMAC Trust Fund

$93,300

Rehabilitation Craft NGO (Survivor training/employment)

$62,500

Cambodia School of Prosthetics

$10,100

Laos

Laos UXO Programme

$81,000

New Laos UXO Warehouse

$18,500

Mozambique

Mozambique Accelerated Demining Program

$50,000

Contribution to Mozambique Govt, to assist in hosting FMSP

$10,000

International

UN Trust Fund for Mine Clearance

$125,000

   

1999/2000 - $398,000188

Cambodia

CMAC Trust Fund

$17,500

Rehabilitation Craft NGO (Survivor training/employment)

$57,500

Cambodia School of Prosthetics

$32,000

Laos

Laos UXO Program

$66,200

Mozambique

Mozambique Accelerated Demining Programme

$50,000

Mozambique ADP emergency flood relief efforts

$50,000

International

UN Trust Fund for Mine Clearance

$125,000

The New Zealand contribution to the UN Trust Fund for Mine Clearance is untagged and therefore goes into the fund's core budget, with the UN Mine Action Service ultimately deciding how the funds are spent. Funds donated to the CMAC Trust Fund, the Mozambique Accelerated Demining Programme and the Laos UXO Programme are intended to cover the in-country costs of the New Zealand Defense Force advisers seconded to those organizations.

Funding for mine action projects comes from New Zealand's Overseas Development Aid (NZODA) program, which is administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In-kind contributions are made by the provision of advisers from the New Zealand Defence Force. Officials from both organizations work closely together to ensure a coordinated approach.189

The letter to Landmine Monitor from Foreign Minister Goff has a lengthy description of the several sets of criteria that are taken into account by the government when deciding which mine action project to support. Among these are principles developed by the United Nations, especially that priority should be given to those who are most vulnerable, to mine action conducted under civilian auspices, and to affected countries whose authorities cease further use of antipersonnel landmines, and take steps to cease the trade, manufacture and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines.190

Most NZODA mine action assistance forms a part of a wider package of humanitarian aid in relevant bilateral and multilateral programs. It is recognized that mine action is crucial not only in a humanitarian sense but also as a precondition for enabling the development of rural areas.191

The government has also provided funds for the New Zealand branch of the Cambodia Trust (Aotearoa New Zealand), which in turn supports the Cambodia School of Prosthetics and Orthotics. The head of Aotearoa New Zealand told Landmine Monitor that by 2001 Cambodia should be self-sufficient in fully trained prosthetists. The School this year has also been training people from Laos (five), Sri Lanka (two) and the Solomon Islands (one). Funding for the School has now been underwritten by the Nippon Foundation at least until the year 2004. Future plans under consideration include funding one of the three Cambodia Trust field clinics in Cambodia, or the adoption of a village badly affected by landmines.192

Foreign Minister Goff has noted that "resources that are allocated to national mine action programmes are intended to reinforce New Zealand's in-kind contributions to UN mine action programmes, which aim to develop indigenous capacities for mine action. Funding to individual projects has specific objectives, e.g. the re-employment of landmine survivors."193

New Zealand's in-kind contributions to humanitarian assistance for 1999 and 2000 include: two NZDF personnel serving as technical advisers with CMAC in Cambodia and a contribution of $108,000; two New Zealanders working in the Accelerated Demining Programme in Mozambique administered by UNDP and a $121,000 contribution; two personnel (a logistics/procurement adviser and a national technical adviser) assisting the Laos UXO program and a $108,000 contribution.

Moreover, in May 1999, Lt. Col. John Flanagan was seconded by the New Zealand Defence Force to head the Kosovo Mine Action Center for an initial period of six months. He was then granted leave without pay for a further term of one year to continue in this position. The total contribution for Kosovo in this period was $14,500.

New Zealand has provided two personnel on secondment to the UN Headquarters in New York, working in relevant demining sections of the UN Secretariat. At present, there is one adviser in the Mine Action Service in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.194

Research work into mine detection continues at the Engineering School of the University of Auckland.

Mine Victims

New Zealand is mine-free but New Zealand civilians and military have been killed and injured by landmines during their work overseas. In a related casualty, Nicholas Speight, a New Zealander working with Greenfields Consulting on the UN mine clearance program in northern Iraq, was killed when he was shot by an unknown assailant in the city of Irbil.195 Speight had been training locals in mine clearance.

NIUE

Niue signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and was the ninth country to ratify on 15 April 1998. Niue was the first nation in the Pacific to submit its Article 7 transparency report on 2 September 1999. Niue has not enacted domestic implementing legislation and did not report on national implementation measures referred to in Article 9 in its transparency report.

In response to Landmine Monitor's request for information, a government official said that Landmine Monitor Report 1999 illustrates "the deepest concern of the Government of Niue and its people over the horrified and unhumane way in which millions of victims were killed by these deadly war weapons."196

Niue is not a member of the United Nations and therefore has not participated in any of the relevant UN General Assembly resolutions on landmines. Niue was not present at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo and has not participated in the intersessional meetings of the ban treaty, most likely due to resource constraints.

Niue has no military force as its defense is the responsibility of New Zealand. It is believed that Niue has never produced, transferred, or used AP mines. Niue declared no stockpile of AP mines in its Article 7 transparency report. It is not believed to provide assistance to humanitarian mine action.

THE PHILIPPINES

Key developments since March 1999: The Philippines deposited its instrument of ratification on 15 February 2000. Increased hostilities in 2000 have included the use of antipersonnel mines or improvised explosive devices by three rebel groups: Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf, and New People's Army.

Government Mine Ban Policy

The Philippines signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. On 10 January 2000 the Philippine Senate ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. In his sponsorship speech, Senator Francisco Tatad, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the treaty is a milestone in the disarmament process: "With the signing of the Convention, the landmine issue which was considered primarily a disarmament issue was transformed into a humanitarian concern and a human rights issue." He added that "small countries like the Philippines could make a difference in international affairs and the success of the Ottawa Process was a humbling experience for big powers such as the U.S. which bitterly opposed it."197

The instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General of the UN on 15 February 2000. The treaty will enter into force for the Philippines on 1 August 2000.

The Philippines attended the First Meeting of State Parties held in Maputo in May 1999 as a signatory state. The Philippines participated in Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts meetings on mine clearance in September 1999, on mine action technologies in May 2000 and on general status of the convention in May 2000 in Geneva. The Philippines voted in favor of the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had for similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998.

The Philippines is a party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It attended and submitted its Article 13 transparency report to the First Annual Conference of States Parties to the amended protocol in December 1999 in Geneva. The Philippines is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.

Rebel Groups' Mine Ban Policies

Although landmine use by both rebel and government forces was effectively banned under cease-fire and human rights agreements among the parties, many of these agreements were rescinded in 1999 and 2000 due to the breakdown of negotiations and resumption of fighting. The first half of 2000 thus witnessed increased rebel activity, including landmine use by three rebel groups: Abu Sayyaf, New People's Army (NPA), and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Two other groups, the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas (RPM-P) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), continue to observe pledges not to use mines.

Abu Sayyaf

The Abu Sayyaf (Bearer of the Sword) is a radical Islamic armed group that claims it is waging a jihad against the government. It openly engages in kidnappings and bombings and embraces the use of landmines.

NPA

The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF). Prior agreements between the government and CPP-NDF specifically provided the right of both parties not to be subjected to indiscriminate bombings and the use of landmines. The NPA used antipersonnel mines regularly in the past. Peace negotiations with the CPP-NDF were suspended in a dispute over the Senate ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. The suspension spurred renewed clashes between government troops and the NPA. The NPA raided police and military camps, kidnapped high-ranking military officials, and ambushed military convoys with the aid of mines.

MILF

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front withdrew from peace talks in April 2000 after government troops assaulted a main rebel camp. The MILF has subsequently made use of antipersonnel mines in its clashes with government troops.

The MILF formally agreed in 1997 to stop the use of antipersonnel mines. The MILF's 1997 policy on landmine use was reiterated in the Geneva conference on Non-State Actors on 24-25 March 2000, just prior to the outbreak of hostilities. MILF representative Atty. Lanang Ali announced that "except in strictly `defensive and discriminate' use of landmines for the defense, preservation or survival of the MILF and the Bangsamoro people, with due regards to the safety and right of innocent people to live a full life, and not to kill, injure or harm those who do not fight, the MILF has adopted internal regulations prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines."198 It also noted that it had strictly observed the provision in the November 1997 Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities, which identified the use of landmines among the prohibited hostile acts.199

The MILF "prohibition" was clearly only a partial restriction: "If needed for defense (self preservation), the MILF/BIAF [Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF armed wing], will use antipersonnel mines, but discriminately, only when the need of it arises or as the situation dictates, and upon order of the concerned MILF Commander on the ground during actual combat. MILF/BIAF APMs and ATMs, foreign and home-made, are command-detonated, tripwire, pressured triggered, or any of it (sic)."200

Stating that its use of APMs is strictly in accordance with Islamic rules and disciplines, the MILF prohibited the following:

· the indiscriminate use of APMs even during armed conflict

· the participation of minors, women, and unauthorized members or civilians in the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APMs;

· the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APMs near population centers, places of worship, schools, business establishments, residential areas, farm and farm-to-market roads, and even areas inhabited by working animals;

· the use, etc., of AP mines without order or clearance from the MILF Commander on the ground during actual combat when the enemy attacks the MILF camp;

· the use, etc., of APMs outside MILF camps, except when needed for the defense of MILF camps and upon clearance from the Chief of Staff of the BIAF.201

The MILF ordered the strict monitoring of APMs with location maps and visible signs indicating "Mined Areas - Keep OUT."202

On 27 March 2000, the MILF signed and deposited a Deed of Commitment for adherence to a total ban on antipersonnel mines with Geneva Call, a Swiss-registered non-governmental and nonpartisan body. Under the "Deed of Commitment under Geneva Call for Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action," the MILF committed itself not to use antipersonnel landmines under any circumstances. This commitment has not been kept.

RPM-P/RPA-ABB

The Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas (RPM-P) and its armed wing, the Revolutionary Proletarian Party-Alex Boncayao Briagade (RPA-ABB), both splinter groups from the CPP, in meetings with the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines, pledged to renounce the use of landmines.203 Stating that the use of AP mines has proven to be extremely prejudicial to the lives and safety of civilians, and destructive to properties and the environment, the RPM-P/RPA-ABB declared its opposition to the use and production of AP mines and gave full support to the global campaign to ban mines. On 27 March 2000, the RPM-P/RPA-ABB also signed and deposited the Deed of Commitment for adherence to a total ban on antipersonnel mines with Geneva Call.

MNLF

The peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front continued to hold as of May 2000.

Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling

The Philippines does not produce antipersonnel mines, though it may have been a minor producer in the past.204 It has never exported mines. It imported Claymore-type mines from the U.S. in the past. The government states that it destroyed its entire stockpile of mines in 1997.

Rebel groups fabricate improvised explosive devices and homemade mines. (See below, and see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 421-422). It is not possible to assess the holdings of the various rebel groups. There have been reports of attempts by rebel groups to acquire mines from other sources. Citing a guerrilla source, a newspaper reported in February 1999 that the MILF was awaiting an arms shipment from Afghanistan. Among other items, the shipment allegedly contained landmines.205 A report the following month indicated that the clandestine shipment already slipped into the country on 15 March 1999. The arms shipment was allegedly funded by Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden. However, MILF political affairs chief Ghazali Jaafar denied having received any shipment and insisted that they manufacture their own weapons.206

Use

There is no evidence of use of antipersonnel mines by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the fighting in 1999 and 2000.

The AFP's summary of landmine incidents from January to June 2000 lists six incidents attributed to the MILF, with landmines found or exploded in Maguindanao and Cotabato provinces, resulting the death of two soldiers and injuries to fourteen soldiers and three civilians. Two incidents are attributed to the Abu Sayyaf, both during the Basilan hostage crisis, resulting in injuries to two soldiers, including one who lost both legs.207 Another incident on 26 June, in which twelve soldiers died, is attributed to the NPA.208

A highly reliable source in the MNLF has also admitted that to defend and preserve the MILF in the recent AFP offensives, the MILF has planted victim-activated antipersonnel mines in certain "no man's land" zones in the defense perimeter of its main camp in Central Mindanao. The Philippine Campaign has pointed out that such victim-activated mines are not "discriminate" because they can victimize non-combatants who might stray into the area.209

Landmine victim Corporal Jurelyn Gargoles of the Sixth Infantry Battalion described the heavy fortification of an MILF satellite camp in Langkong, Matanog, Maguindanao. On 13 May 2000 the AFP launched offensives against the camp. It took them six hours to penetrate because of the landmines used as perimeter defense of the camps. Sgt. Gargoles described the mines as very difficult to detect. There were no signs of freshly disturbed earth or visible parts of a planted mine. The landmines had already blended well with the surroundings, an indication that the mines had been there for quite sometime. Corporal Gargoles recalled that they were under fire and his first reaction was to take cover behind a tree. When he did so, Corporal Gargoles activated a homemade mine tied at the base of the tree. The explosion severely damaged his right femur and he sustained shrapnel wounds around his body.210

In the Sipadan island kidnapping incident in May 2000, the Abu Sayyaf group allegedly used landmines to slow down the rescue operations conducted by AFP troops. The Abu Sayyaf, composed mostly of young Muslims, operates in Basilan, Sulu, and the Zamboanga peninsula. The Abu Sayyaf kidnapped nineteen foreigners and two Filipinos in a beach resort in Sipadan Island, Malaysia on 23 April 2000 and brought them to Talipao, Jolo, Sulu. Some villagers in Barangay Bilaan, Talipao reportedly fled their homes after witnessing members of the Abu Sayyaf planting and even test-blasting landmines.211

Following a military offensive launched against the Abu Sayyaf's main camp on 25 April 2000, landmines were discovered planted as perimeter defense. The Abu Sayyaf reportedly claimed that government troops suffered casualties due to landmines. The AFP, on its part, said that bad weather conditions and landmines hampered their pursuit operations.212 Sergeant Armando Villanueva of the First Scout Ranger Regiment described how they discovered the newly planted homemade mines. They noticed freshly dug earth while maneuvering towards the camp of the Abu Sayyaf in Punoh Mahajid, Sumisip, Basilan. A thorough examination of the area revealed some of the homemade landmines. Since it was very dangerous to demine the area, they were left with no option but to only mark it with sticks. They tied a piece of white cloth to the tip of the stick as a warning sign to other troops. Sergeant Villanueva stepped on a landmine that day, and lost both his legs. 213

The New People's Army is reported to have used homemade landmines, especially antivehicle mines, recently. On 27 June 2000, the NPA reportedly used an antivehicle mine against a military truck to set off the ambush which killed an Army brigade commander and twelve soldiers in Isabela province in northern Philippines.214 Another NPA-staged ambush on 4 July in Oriental Mindoro, Southern Tagalog region, used a landmine that exploded a police van. The rebels then open fired on the van and a second accompanying vehicle, leading the death of eight policemen.215

Three months earlier, in a staged ambush against local police in Sablayan town, Occidental Mindoro, Southern Luzon on 12 April 2000, two policemen were killed while three others were seriously wounded in the ambush that included the use of mines. "The troops were in the area to find the NPA stronghold and retrieve landmines that the NPA planted in some isolated areas of Sablayan and Calintaan towns," Occidental Mindoro Police Deputy Winston Ebersole said in an interview by journalists.216

In an interview with the Philippine Campaign, Ka Dorie, a former NPA rebel in Northern Mindanao admitted that they used landmines in their operations, especially in planned ambushes. Materials used were commercially available. Detonators, she said in the local language, "are easily improvised."217 According to Ka Dorie, landmine use by the NPA in Northern Mindanao, Southern Philippines declined in recent years since the death of their landmine "expert" in an encounter.

Sometime in 1998, the Fourth Infantry Division in Cagayan de Oro City filed a complaint at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)-Butuan City against the NPA for their use of "homemade" mines. The complaint, which documented cases of victims of landmines in the Infantry Division's area of operations in the northern and other parts of Eastern Mindanao, has not been acted on to date.218

Mine Clearance

The AFP reported the recovery of landmines and landmine paraphernalia from encounters with Moro rebels in Basilan and Cotabato, as follows: six 12-ounce bottles of homemade landmines; homemade landmines made of nineteen sticks of super dyne explosives, four blasting caps and four pieces of BA 30 batteries; and an improvised pressure release-type antitank landmine.219

The military conducted clearing operations immediately after the MILF rebels pulled out of their Talayan town hall siege last January 2000. Bomb experts were dispatched to remove landmines allegedly planted by the rebels along portions of the highway linking Cotabato and General Santos City. Metal detectors were used in the demining operations.

The Philippine Army Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in a Letter Directive dated 5 November 1999 prescribes guidelines and procedures for the granting of Special Promotions to Enlisted Personnel (EP) and cash rewards for the recovery of enemy combat equipment. A provision in the directive specifically grants cash rewards of P1,000 (equivalent to $25) for every landmine recovered in a combat operation. A bigger reward is given for high-powered weapons. The directive took effect on 1 January 2000.220

Mine Casualties and Survivor Assistance

There are no comprehensive statistics on landmine victims. Except for battle/special reports submitted to the J3 (Operations Division of the AFP) and occasional newspaper reports, no other data sources on landmine victims are available. Military hospital records do not give information on the nature or cause of a surgical case.221

The AFP report on landmine incidents from 1 January to 23 June 2000 identifies twenty-one casualties: two military personnel killed, sixteen military personnel injured, and three civilians injured.222 In a letter to the ICBL dated 30 June 2000, the Secretary of National Defense Orlando S. Mercado indicated that an additional twelve soldiers died on 26 June after the NPA used a landmine against them.223

As of March 2000, the MILF claimed that there had been no civilian casualties or victims of landmines blamed on to the MILF/BIAF "due to strict precautionary measures, secrecy and proper monitoring undertaken by BIAF commanders, considering that the MILF is a mass-based resistance."224 However, the major offensives on MILF camps in the succeeding months revealed landmines planted in camp perimeters. Three civilians and fourteen soldiers were injured, and two soldiers died, in the six landmine incidents from April to June 2000 attributed to the MILF.225

In an interview, the NPA's Ka Dorie admitted that civilians were not spared from the landmines NPA planted. She vividly recalled an incident in Misamis Oriental wherein a woman and her two children accidentally stepped on an improvised landmine while they were gathering kamote (sweet potatoes). They died instantly. The NPA unit in the area deeply regretted the incident but denied responsibility for what happened.226

Military station hospitals do not have the facilities and funds to make their own prosthetics and implants. They have to refer their patients to the AFP Medical Center (AFPMC) in Quezon City.227

Wounded AFP personnel, according to Operation Officer of the AFP-MC Major Majubaldo Malupeng, will receive Disability Benefits from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). The amount depends on the category of the injuries. They will also receive funds from the Mutual Benefits Association, Inc., an insurance company of the AFP. President Estrada also gave the wounded soldiers in the recent fighting in Mindanao 20,000 pesos each and promised educational plans for their children. They were also promised scholarships for computer training in the event that they can no longer serve as combatants.228

SAMOA

Samoa signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 23 July 1998. Samoa's Article 7 transparency report was due on 27 August 1999, but has not been submitted yet. Samoa is not believed to have enacted domestic implementing legislation. Samoa did not attend the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo, and has not participated in intersessional meetings.

Samoa voted in favor of UNGA Resolution 54/54B in support of the ban treaty in December 1999. It also supported the 1996, 1997 and 1998 UNGA landmine resolutions.

It is believed that Samoa has never produced, transferred stockpiled, or used AP mines. It is not believed to provide assistance to humanitarian mine action programs.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

The Solomon Islands signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 26 January 1999. The treaty entered into force for the Solomon Islands on 1 July 1999. It has not yet submitted its Article 7 transparency report, which was due by 27 December 1999.

The Solomon Islands voted for UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had on previous UNGA landmine resolutions. The Solomon Islands did not attend the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo and has not participated in the intersessional meetings of the ban treaty, most likely due to resource constraints.

The Solomon Islands has no defense force and is believed to have never produced, transferred, stockpiled, or used AP mines. The Solomon Islands is not known to provide assistance to humanitarian mine action.

There is a problem with UXO left over from World War II, especially on Guadalcanal, but it is unknown if this includes landmines. Recent media reports indicated that the WW II weapons once buried in ammunition dumps around the island of Guadalcanal, have been "dug up and pressed into service in a new conflict - the fighting between Isatabu militants who want to push migrant Malaitans off Guadalcanal, the nation's main island."229 Isatabu rebel leader Andrew Tee told media that his troops have no need to buy ammunition from outside the Solomon Islands because "[w]e get our arms from the American rubbish, what they left."

THAILAND

Key developments since March 1999: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Thailand on 1 May 1999. Thailand created a National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action in February 2000. Thailand has prepared a Master Plan for Humanitarian Mine Action for 2000-2004, and has commissioned a Level One Survey. In May 1999 Thailand destroyed 10,000 antipersonnel mines; it has developed a plan for destruction of all stockpiled AP mines.

Mine Ban Treaty

On 3 December 1997 Thailand signed the Mine Ban Treaty. It deposited its instrument of ratification at the UN on 27 November 1998, making Thailand the first in Southeast Asia to ratify. The treaty entered into force for Thailand on 1 May 1999.

The formal, national proclamation on entry into force of the ban treaty for Thailand, required to begin implementation, was approved by the Cabinet, received Royal signature, and became official when published in the Government Gazette on 6 July 1999.230 Thailand has not enacted a specific implementation law for the ban treaty, but it had domestic laws, even prior to the treaty, making it illegal for civilians to possess landmines.231

Thailand has been active in the international arena in support of a mine ban. Thailand participated in the First Meeting of State Parties in Maputo in May 1999 where the Deputy Foreign Minister, M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, led the Thai delegation. The Minister stated that Thailand would "endeavor to rid all Thailand's border areas of landmines in three years.... We will seek to address the problems of landmines in a comprehensive manner, as it should be, which means mine clearance, the promotion of mine awareness, the rehabilitation of victims and the rehabilitation of previously mined areas. We will engage in bilateral efforts with neighboring countries to demine common border areas... We are faced with the challenge of persuading non-signatory states to sign the Ottawa Convention or at the very least, to abide by the spirit thereof."232

Thailand has participated extensively in the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts meetings in Geneva, with high level representation from Bangkok in many instances.

Thailand proposed the inclusion of language on antipersonnel mines in the ASEAN Statement on Disarmament in the October 1999 meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly and referred to the ban treaty in its Opening Statement at that meeting.233

During the UN General Assembly session in November 1999, Thailand's Ambassador stated that Thailand "strongly supports the goal of `zero victims', and all international efforts to resolve the landmine threat once and for all."234

Thailand voted in favor of the UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, as it had in past years.

On 10 November 1999, Thailand submitted its first transparency report to the United Nations as required under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty, covering the period 1 May 1999 to 31 October 1999. It subsequently submitted its second report on 2 May 2000, covering the period 1 November 1999 to 31 January 2000.

On 8 February 2000, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai signed Order 15/2543 appointing a new "National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action," chaired by the Prime Minister. (See below for more detail).

Three NGO members of the Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines have been appointed as Advisors to the Thailand Mine Action Center (TMAC), which was established 18 January 1999 to serve as the focal point of contact to deal with all matters concerning antipersonnel landmines.

Thailand is not a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Landmine Protocol II. The government's position is that since they have already joined the ban treaty, it shows that Thailand is serious about coping with the landmine problem.235

Thailand has applied for membership to the Conference on Disarmament, but now participates as an observer.236 Thailand has not made a statement on its position on negotiating a ban on mine transfers in the CD.

Production and Transfer

The Royal Thai Government states that it has never produced antipersonnel landmines, although a number of different sources have identified Thailand as a past producer.237 Some armed rebel groups residing along the Thai-Burma border continue to produce, stockpile and use antipersonnel mines.238

It is not believed that Thailand has ever exported antipersonnel landmines. In the past, Thailand imported antipersonnel mines from the United States, China, apparently the former Yugoslavia, and perhaps other nations.239

Stockpiling and Destruction

Thailand has reported to the UN that as of 31 January 2000, it had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines numbering 411,625.240 The primary types are U.S. M14 (197,126), U.S. M16 (77,868), U.S. M18/M18A1 Claymore (39,761), and U.S. M26 (35,554). Thailand is one of the few ban treaty States Parties to include Claymore mines in its reporting.

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) stockpiles mines at Fort Bhanurangsri in Ratchaburi province and other RTA Centers. The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) also hold stockpiles of mines.241

The list of detailed types of mines held in stockpiles as reported to the UN includes:

TYPE

QUANTITY

M14 (K121)

184,369

M14 (K221)

8,392

APM 14

3,219

APERS NM14

1,146

M16 (K092)

75,279

APERS M16

2,589

M18A1 (K143)

33,179

APERS M18A1

4,178

APM 18A1

2,356

APERS M18

48

M26 (K090)

35,334

APERS M26

220

Unidentified

34,668

(Bouncing Fragmentation Mines)

MA-5A-153B

7,800

Type 66 (China)

1,200

Type 69 (China)

1,679

APERS 69

7,504

Type 72 (China)

5,006

Type PMN (China)

19

Unidentified (China)

418

APERS PAM2 (Yugo?)

2,927

APERS (?)

60

M2 (K090)

32

APERS M2

3

The RTA, the RTN and the RTAF and the Ministry of Interior have prepared a plan to destroy stockpiled AP mines, considering timing and quantity of mines to be destroyed. Authorization to destroy mines rests with the Minister of Defense. There is no implementation legislation regarding destruction.242 The estimated cost of destruction is $90,000 over the three-year period 2000-2002.243

Mine Demolition Ranges designated as destruction sites are: (1) Mount Puka Artillery Center, Ratchaburi province; (2) 6th Division Ordnance Department, RTA in Ubon Ratchathani province; (3) Third Division Ordnance Department in Nakhorn Ratchasima province; and, (4) RTA and the Special Combat-Training Camp at Park Chong, Nakhorn Ratchasima province.244 Safety and environmental considerations have been included in the proposed Methods for Proceeding with Demolition of AP mines.245

Ten thousand landmines were destroyed on 1 May 1999 at the RTA camp in Lop Buri province on the occasion of the entering-into-force of the ban treaty in Thailand. Mines destroyed were M14 (7,334), M16 (1,000), M26 (1,260), and M18A1Claymore mines (406).246 A large group of landmine victims, Thailand ban campaigners, Landmine Monitor researchers and the diplomatic corps were invited to witness this first destruction of stockpiled mines.

An additional 113 mines were destroyed in the period from 1 November 1999 to 31 January 2000, including PMD 6M (56), PMN (49), TM 46 (6), and Type 72 (2) mines.247

Thailand, at the request of the co-chairs, made a formal presentation at the meeting of the SCE on Stockpile Destruction in Geneva on 23 May 2000. Col. Talerngpan Chiewvej of TMAC described Thailand's initial destruction and methodology. He indicated financial assistance was needed, as well as technical assistance on environmental aspects. With such assistance, he said Thailand hoped to destroy its stockpile within two years.248

Thailand has reported that it intends to retain 15,604 mines for training and research, under Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty.249 This is one of the largest number of mines to be retained by any State Party. It must be noted, however, that the total includes 6,117 M18A1 Claymore mines, which most countries are not including in Article 7 reporting. Claymore mines are not banned by the treaty as long as they are used in a command-detonated mode (without a tripwire). Other mines to be retained include 7,972 M14, 601 M16, 391 M26, 120 each of Type 66, 69, 72, and MA5A, 19 PMN, 9 M2, and 15 unidentified Chinese mines.

At the 30 May 2000 SCE Meeting on General Status of the Convention, the Thai representative stated that there are ongoing consultations between TMAC and the armed forces branches on the possibility of reducing the number of mines retained, and that Thailand hoped in the near future to report a decreased number.250

Use

The Thai military no longer uses antipersonnel mines. For information on past use by Thailand and other armed forces inside Thailand, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999.251 Along the northwestern Thai-Burma border it appears new mines are being laid, apparently by Myanmar troops and perhaps by refugees from Burma seeking shelter in Thailand.252 TMAC sources have noted that the border with Burma is "vulnerable to the risk of more mines being laid, some of which could spill into Thai territory since the border remains unclear."253

Landmine Problem

According to the government, about 400,000 people in at least 148 Thai villages in 48 districts are affected by antipersonnel mines.254 Mine-affected land includes mainly agricultural lands, village lands, and parts of national forests.

As noted in Landmine Monitor Report 1999, a survey conducted by the RTA and the RTN in 1998 concluded that in all border areas 796 square kilometers are mined.255 Of these mined areas, 532 square kilometers are on the Thai-Cambodian border, 124 square kilometers are on the Thai-Lao border, 53 square kilometers on the Thai-Burma border, and 87 square kilometers on the Thai-Malaysian border. The nineteen provinces in the northern, northeastern, southern and western parts of Thailand affected by landmines are Sa Kaew, Buriram, Surin, Sisaket, Ubon Ratchathani, Chanthaburi, Trat, Tak, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan, Uttraradit, Phitsanulok, Narathiwat, Songkla, Nakorn Srithammarat, Yala, and Chumphon.0

A 1998 report by the U.S. State Department estimates the number of mines in Thailand at 100,000,1 but the Thai government has not made an estimate.

Mine Action Funding

Thailand has called "on all donor countries and international organizations, as well as non-government organizations, to provide necessary support and assistance, as called for in Article 6 of the Convention, to translate our political commitments into concrete action."2 Both United Nations organizations and individual governments have been approached to provide financial assistance for mine action programs in Thailand.

Thailand does not have sufficient funds and resources to meet its mine action needs, which it has estimated to cost nearly $13.8 million from 2000-2004. The biggest expenditures would be survey and clearance operations ($7.2 million) and equipment ($3.9 million).3

Delayed availability of the government funding allocation to TMAC, requested as part of the Ministry of Defense budget, has held up progress on mine action.4 The total domestic budget for year 2000 was determined by a working group of TMAC and approved by the Committee on Dealing with Anti-Personnel Mines. The TMAC request for Thai government resources in the fiscal year 2000 is approximately 60 million Baht (U.S.$1.5 million), of which 45 million Baht is to be used for survey and clearance operations.5

Supreme Command allocated 1.6 million Baht to start mine action operations in Sa Keaw province in March 2000.6 In June 2000, the Royal Thai Government Cabinet decided to provide an additional special budget for TMAC operations in FY 2000 of 16.4 million Baht.7

Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek during a visit to Thailand in January 2000 announced that Norway would contribute U.S.$400,000 (16 million Baht) to the Thailand Mine Action Center for a Level One Survey.8 An additional grant of U.S.$30,000 (equivalent to 1.11 million Baht a year for three years) was made to help destroy all stockpiled landmines.9 The United Kingdom agreed to assist in funding the Level One Survey with a grant of 300,000 pounds (U.S.$400,000 or 16 million Baht).10

The United States has provided $3 million for the establishment of TMAC infrastructure, including three training centers: Humanitarian Demining Center at Ratchaburi, Mine Awareness Training Center at Lop Buri and Mine Detection Dog Center at Pak Chong.11 On 18 January 2000, the U.S. provided 150 2½-ton trucks worth $6.2 million to TMAC.12

Japan provided $400,000 through the UN Voluntary Trust Fund For Mine Action in Thailand in April 1999.13 The UN Development Program is preparing a proposal to assist TMAC's Mine Action program.14

Coordination of Mine Action

Coordination of mine action was restructured in February 2000 with the Office of the Prime Minister's Order No. 15/2543. The Committee on Dealing with Anti-Personnel Mines, established on 17 August 1998, was renamed as the National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action. It is chaired by the Prime Minister instead of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense. The 26 members of the Committee are all government officials serving in official capacity. The National Committee is authorized to stipulate policy, supervise operations, conduct public relations both national and international, give recommendations to the government, consider appointing subcommittees to work on relevant matters and to coordinate with government agencies concerned.15 The TMAC serves as its operational core.

The Thailand Mine Action Center was established on 18 January 1999 with responsibility for the coordination of mine action operations. It is located in Thung Si Gun (Don Muang) area, north of Bangkok. TMAC reports to the Prime Minister through the Supreme Command Headquarters (Ministry of Defense) and the National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action. TMAC is headed by Director, Lt. Gen. Dr. Vasu Chanarat. Three NGO members of the Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines have been appointed as Advisors to TMAC. The U.S. government supports a Mine Action Technical Advisor to TMAC and instructional staff to the three training centers. Other civilian advisors are from concerned ministries: Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Public Health, as well as the Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation.

TMAC serves as a focal point of contact to deal with all matters concerning antipersonnel landmines, including demining training, area demining, mine awareness, victim assistance, stockpile destruction, and coordination of domestic and international assistance on landmine management.16

TMAC is responsible for preparing and coordinating implementation of a national mine clearance plan. Thailand has completed an initial "Master Plan on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand" for the five-year period 2000-2004. Seven "Humanitarian Mine Action Units" (HMAUs) of ninety-nine persons each will be established, with each unit responsible for a designated geographic area. Their duties will include public relations, mine awareness, gathering of information, technical survey, and searching for and eliminating mines.17

Surveys and Assessment

The Thailand Mine Action Center has commissioned a Level One Survey of mine affected areas in 19 provinces. It began on 1 June 2000 with initial set up of the program (procurement of equipment, recruitment, training, testing, etc.). The actual survey is expected to begin in September 2000.18 The UN Mine Action Service, the Global Landmine Survey, Norwegian People's Aid, and TMAC are responsible for the survey.19

Initial Level One Survey operations have been conducted by HMAU #1 Mine Awareness Teams in Sa Keaw province. Level Two Technical Survey operations are underway on the first minefield in Sa Keaw.20

Mine Clearance

Previously the Royal Thai Army cleared about 2,500-3,000 mines per year along the border. RTA units engaged in civil support and border security missions along the all four borders conducted these operations. Landmine Monitor researchers have no access to information on these operations or on the total area cleared.

U.S. technical support for the Humanitarian Mine Action "train the trainer" program has been initiated in Thailand for RTA staff to develop a Thai capacity to support humanitarian mine action operations. U.S. and Thai instructors have trained humanitarian demining trainers and other demining personnel during four sessions in September 1999 through June 2000 at Ratchaburi. Three Mine Awareness courses have been conducted in Lop Buri between September 1999 and May 2000. The first Mine Detection Dog Handlers course started June 2000 at Pak Chong Military Dog Center.21

The first HMAU has become operational in Sa Keaw province, where it has been responding to local requests to remove mines and unexploded ordnance from villages in Sa Keaw province. These rapid response humanitarian actions operations have removed dangerous ordnance from high population areas, totaling 63 mines, 83 UXO and one booby-trap.22

The HMAU started mine awareness operations on 1 April 2000, followed by Level Two Technical Survey Operations 1 May, and mine/UXO clearance operations 6 July 2000 at Ban Ya Khao village.23

Mine Awareness Education

The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), an international training center located on the campus of the Asian Institute of Technology, is working in partnership with TMAC specifically on Mine Awareness education for the public sector and communities in mined areas.24 A National Seminar on "Mine Action in Thailand" was held on 17 December 1999 in Bangkok with H.R.H. Princess Galayani receiving reports from working groups on Mine Awareness Strategies. Senior public officials and invited NGOs participated. The ADPC has held meetings with governmental organizations and NGOs on mine awareness education to be included in the curriculum of primary schools along the border areas.

Handicap International Thailand has a program of Mine Risk Education in select villages and refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, conducted in coordination with its activities of assistance, through orthopedic fitting and physical and social rehabilitation, to people with disabilities, particularly landmine victims. In addition HI has a community based Mine Risk Education program in six mine-affected villages of Chanthaburi Province, along the Thai-Cambodia border.25

The Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines (TCBL), a coalition of NGOs, continued to organize programs of Mine Awareness Education in the heavily mined province of Sa Keaw and among schools and universities. In April 1999, to celebrate the Entry-into-Force of the Mine Ban Treaty in Thailand (1 May 1999), TCBL organized a five-day Bicycle Rally in which sixteen landmine survivors, several TCBL members and other friends cycled the 250-kilometer distance from Sa Keaw, a Thai-Cambodian border province, to TMAC, located in northern Bangkok. The program was funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives in Thailand and was well covered by the local and international media.26 A second Ban Landmines Bicycle Rally from Sa Keaw to Surin, a northeastern border province, was organized by the "Network of Landmine Victims 1999, Sa Keaw," TCBL and the Bicycle for Health Club from 26 April-1 May 2000.

Landmine Casualties

TMAC has published a list of mine victims, including fifty-six fatalities, covering the period 1969-1999. Only recently have efforts been made to compile records across the country for the total number of landmine casualties, both military and civilian. TMAC reports in twenty-two provinces, over a thirty-year period, a total of 1,849 mine deaths and injuries, including 502 injured in the area occupied by the Third Army.27 TMAC has also requested official reports from the Ministry of Health. The initial reports available of military and civilian casualties appear to be incomplete.

The Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines has recorded names, addresses, ages, types and dates of injury of about 700 landmine victims in a few provinces.28 TCBL regularly receives reports of new casualties.

Recently the national press has begun reporting injuries and deaths due to landmines, leading to greater public awareness of the problems of mines and problems for victims.29 Much publicity was given to an elephant working in a forest near the western border in Tak province that stepped on a landmine and required a prosthetic leg.30

Survivor Assistance

There has not been much progress in the implementation of landmine awareness and victim assistance programs. TMAC's initial efforts have focused on planning for clearance, demining and destruction of landmines. An in-depth survey of survivors was conducted by the Royal Thai Navy on behalf of TMAC during June-July 1999 in Sa Keaw province. On the occasion of the Queen's Birthday on 12 August 1999, some victims and their children were invited to Sa Keaw provincial hall to receive subsidies as well as scholarships. Funds were solicited by TMAC in this initial effort to start its Mine Victim Assistance project.31

Handicap International Thailand provide prosthetic and orthotic devices and community-based rehabilitation programs for disabled, including mine survivors, along the Thai-Burma border. Main target groups include amputees and disabled living in refugee camps and surrounding Thai villages. In addition, HI Thailand is about to start a community-based rehabilitation program in selected mine-affected villages of Tak province, in cooperation with the Provincial Public Health Office, which will provide a facilitator, and with the Royal Thai Government implementing agency, the Social Welfare Department.

The mobile unit of the Prosthetics Foundation under the Royal Patronage of the Princess Mother, while providing artificial limbs to the disabled all over the country, has collected and processed specific data on "landmine victims/survivors." Previously, information was not collected from patients on how they were injured. Dr. Therdchai Jivacate, head of the Mobile Artificial Legs Production Unit, founder of the Prosthetics Foundation and lecturer in rehabilitation medicine at Chiang Mai University, was recognized as one of three Outstanding Thais in 1999.32 Dr. Therdchai and his team were again honored with the award of Outstanding Inventors of Thailand BE 2543 for "Effective and Efficient Distribution of Prosthetic Limbs," which emphasized the newly designed prosthetic legs for use in wet paddy fields, issued in pairs with a more cosmetic limb.33

Following the April 1999 Bicycle Rally, a "Network of Landmine Victims 1999, Sakaeo," based in Taphraya, Khok Soong, Aranyaprathet, and Khlong Haad districts of Sakaeo province, was established to help the communities gain self-reliance through socio-economic projects. TCBL facilitated community formation. The first attempts focused on preparing proposals to obtain funds for small economic projects and scholarships for children of victims, under a program designed for the "less-fortunate" by the Social Investment Fund (SIF) of the Government Savings Bank. A total of seven proposals by the "Network of Landmine Victims 1999, Sakaeo," covering 166 mine victims and their families from seven groups/communities were approved and implemented as of 16 December 1999 for an amount of 2,300,000 Baht, equivalent to $58,000.

TCBL also continues to conduct surveys of affected communities and individual mine victims along the Cambodian border in order to update and enlarge the information on mine victims. New projects are in progress in Chanthaburi, Trad, Surin, Sisaket, and Buriram provinces.

Medical and rehabilitation services in Thailand are available in both state and privately owned hospitals and health care units, functioning at the provincial, district, and community levels. While facilities offering first aid are located at all district and village levels, patients who have severe injuries and are in need of surgical care are referred to a higher level and to a better equipped institution. Psychological and social support are normally not provided.

Regarding rehabilitation facilities, mainly provincial hospitals with adequate equipment, personnel, and space provide this service since there are a number of patients with paralytic and/or diabetic problems having similar needs there. The Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Rehabilitation Center, Nonthaburi, offers courses for persons working with handicap individuals, families, and communities.

Several border provincial hospitals have prosthetic and assistance devices available. There are also some government provisions for vocational or skills training for landmine survivors but most of the interviewees, especially those with family members dependent on them, do not take up the training. Projects for financial support are under the responsibility of the Social Welfare Department, but most of the survivors have not been provided such assistance due to the budget constraints of the county.

Some of the important centers supporting medical rehabilitation service and specialized doctors include:

· Mae Sot District Hospital, Tak province, 310 beds.

· Aranyaprathet District Hospital, Sakaeo province, 120 beds.

· Prasat District Hospital, Surin Province, 60 beds.

· Surin Provincial Hospital, Surin Province, 652 beds.

· Mae Hong Son/ Sri Sangwan Hospital, Mae Hong Son province, 120 beds.

· Phra Pokklao Provincial Hospital, Muang, Chanthaburi province, 777 beds.

· Khlong Yai Sub-district Health Care Office, Pong Namron District, Chanthaburi province.

· Somdejprachataksin Provincial Hospital, Muang, Tak province, 330 beds.

· The Prosthetics Foundation under the Royal Patronage of the Queen Mother, Chiang Mai University Hospital, Muang, Chiang Mai province.

Disability Policy and Practice

A national disability law, titled "Laws on Rehabilitation of Thai Disabled Persons, 1991," has been implemented since 1994. Landmine survivors are considered for eligibility under the description of handicapped persons as given in this law. However, many victims are rejected as not fulfilling the strict Thai legal description of a "handicapped person." The law states that handicapped and disabled "persons who register...are entitled to receive services pertaining to welfare, development and rehabilitation."34 Medical rehabilitation services and expenses to be covered are stipulated: "Vocational counseling and advice as well as vocational training suitable to their physical condition and existing ability to perform the occupation." Due to the economic downturn and the tight national budget, many funding conditions of this law have not yet been realized. Implementation has been inconsistent among provinces, districts and tambons.

The 1997 People's Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand prohibits unjust discrimination against a person on the grounds of physical or health condition.35 It also states that "disabled or handicapped shall have the rights to receive public conveniences and other aids, as provided by law."36

The National Education Act of B.E. 2542 (1999) includes sections pertaining to disabled persons' rights and opportunities to receive basic education specially provided. Implementation of the Act is just beginning. It states, "Education for the disabled shall be free of charge at birth or at first diagnosis. These persons have the right to access the facilities, media, services, and other forms of educational aid in conformity with the criteria and procedures stipulated in the ministerial regulations."37 Several draft laws are under consideration and await approval, including sections on upgrading the living quality and rights of disabled persons.

16 Training Information Bulletin (TIB), no. 86, "The Ottawa Convention: A Commander's Guide," Article 7 report submitted 23 December 1999.

17 Defgram, No. 196/99 entitled "Ottawa Landmines Convention-Defence implications and obligations." A Defgram is a publication disseminated within the Defence Organisation. Article 7 Report submitted to on 23 December 1999.

18 John J. Griffin, Assistant Secretary, International Security Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, "Australian National Statement to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Landmine Ban Convention," Maputo, 3-7 May 2000.

19 Email from Philippa King, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations, Geneva, to HRW/Landmine Monitor, 20 June 2000.

20 Foreign Minister Downer speech at the Australian Network event, the Assessment of the Call for Posters, 29 May 2000. This was reported in Australian Network, Memorandum 47, 31 May 2000.

21 Letter from the Hon. Kay Patterson, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, received 21 June 2000.

22 Statement by Australian Ambassador to UN & Conference on Disarmament Leslie Luck to First Conference of State Parties to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 15 December 1999.

23 Email from Paul Stephens, Executive Officer, Conventional & Nuclear Disarmament Section, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to Australia Network, 29 March 2000.

24 Kosala Jayasingh, "Australian action against landmines in Sri Lanka," Daily News, 8 March 2000.

25 Letter from the Hon. Kathy Sullivan, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, 10 February 2000. The letter echoed a statement made by the Australian delegate to the January 2000 meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts on the General Status and Operation of the Convention.

26 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 348-350.

27 Ibid., pp. 350-351 for more details.

28 "Australia destroys its Stockpile of Anti-Personnel Landmines," Media Release by Defence Affairs Organisation, Department of Defence, DPAO 293/99, 28 September 1999. Up until this point, Australian officials had refused to release details on the exact number, types, origins or location of stockpiled AP mines and had given no indication of the timetable for destruction.

29 Ibid.

30 Ibid., Annex A.

31 Ibid., "Response to Specific Questions," annex.

32 Ibid., Annex A.

33 Ibid.

34 Paul Daley, "Landmines report `false' - Australia," The Age (Melbourne daily newspaper), 22 September 1999.

35 Yenny Zannuba, "Australian peacekeepers fly in - peacefully," The Age, 21 September 1999.

36 Email from Penny Bond, AusAID, to HRW/Landmine Monitor, 16 June 2000.

37 This commitment was reiterated at the First Meeting of States Parties. Statement by John Griffin, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to the First Meeting of States Parties, Maputo, 3-7 May 2000.

38 The dates are both calendar and fiscal years as this represents the period of the Government's 10 year commitment. AusAID: program information as at June 2000. Email from Penny Bond, AusAID, to Stephen Goose, Human Rights Watch, 13 July 2000.

39 Email from AusAID to Australian Network, 17 March 2000.

40 Letter from the Hon. Senator Kay Patterson to Landmine Monitor, 3 April 2000.

41 Australia's national annual report under CCW Amended Protocol II, Article 13, Form E, submitted November 1999.

42 1999-2000 AusAID MINE ACTION FUNDING ROUND.

43 "Australian Funding Keeps Cambodian Demining Agency Afloat," Associated Press (Phnom Penh), 6 April 2000.

44 "Cambodia's landmine myths exploded," The Australian, 3 June 2000.

45 Statement by Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the Ministerial Treaty Signing Conference for the Mine Ban Treaty, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

46 Australia's national annual report for CCW Amended Protocol II, Article 13, submitted November 1999.

47 Mine Warfare Association website <www.demine.org> accessed on 10 June 2000.

48 Assoc. Prof. James Trevelyan, "The University of Western Australia Demining Research Project 1999-2000," http://www..mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/demining/.

49 "Australia Helps Make World's 1st Landmine Detection Vehicle," Asia Pulse Ltd, 8 July 1999.

50 H.E. Sun Suon, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the UN, Statement to the UN General Assembly, New York, 18 November 1999.

51 H.E. Ieng Mouly, (then) Chairman of the Governing Council of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, Statement to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, 3 May 1999.

52 Tun Channareth and Denise Coghlan, address to ICSE, Geneva, 15 September 1999.

53 H.E. Ieng Mouly, Statement to the First Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 15 December 1999.

54 Interview with Ieng Mouly, Phnom Penh, 1 February 1999.

55 The government manufactured just one type of mine, the KN-10 Claymore-type mine, in the early 1970s. Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 389.

56 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 390-394. Landmine Monitor Report 1999 reported that thirty-six different types of antipersonnel mines from about a dozen countries had been found in Cambodia. A June 1999 Ministry of Interior report on mines found in the national police stockpiles indicated the most common were Type 72, POMZ-2 and OZM-4 antipersonnel mines, as well as TM-62 antitank mines. "Mines in Police Stockpiles in Provinces," Ministry of Interior, June 1999.

57 Norodom Sihanouk, Declaration of King of Cambodia, Beijing, 2 October 1994.

58 Interview with Lt. Gen. Pol Saroeun, Phnom Penh, 17 February 1999.

59 Market survey conducted by Kim Phirum, February 1999 and April 2000.

60 Interview, Cambodian Red Cross, Banteay Meanchey, 21 January 2000.

61 Interview, Halo Trust, Banteay Meanchey, 21 January 2000.

62 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 391, for year-by-year destruction totals.

63 Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, Report about demining in Cambodia, 15 February 1999.

64 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 391. See also, Human Rights Watch, Cambodia at War, 1995, p. 100.

65 This was noted by Ieng Mouly, Director of the National Demining Regulatory Authority, at a meeting of the Cambodia Coordination Demining Commission on 7 April 2000. He said obtaining information about stores of any weapons held by the Defense Ministry was very difficult. RCAF has not been responsive to inquiries regarding stocks from either Landmine Monitor or the National Demining Regulatory Authority in 2000.

66 Information provided by Regulatory Authority, 4 January 2000; CMAC Report to Landmine Monitor meeting, Banteay Meanchey, 21 January 2000; CMAC PMU Siem Reap report, Cambodian Demining Commission meeting, 7 April 2000; "Mines in Police Stockpiles in Provinces," Ministry of Interior, June 1999.

67 Information provided by Regulatory Authority, 4 January 2000. See also, "Mines in Police Stockpiles in Provinces," Ministry of Interior, June 1999.

68 CMAC PMU Siem Reap report, Cambodia Demining Commission meeting, 7 April 2000.

69 CMAC Report to Landmine Monitor meeting, Banteay Meanchey, 21 January 2000.

70 Landmine Monitor field visits to Anlong Veng and Trapeng Prasat, February 2000.

71 Interview with CMAC Director General Sam Sotha, Phnom Penh, 16 February 1999.

72 Interview, Cambodian Red Cross, 21 January 2000.

73 Phnom Penh Post, November 1999, p. 14.

74 Financial Report, 12th Steering Committee Meeting, CMAC Trust Fund, Phnom Penh, 25 April 2000.

75 UNDP Memo, Claude Grahame to Dominique McAdam, Phnom Penh , 18 April 2000.

76 Cambodia Daily, 12 May 2000, p. 7.

77 Halo Trust, "Socio-Economic Land Use Report," October 1999.

78 MAG Briefing Paper, December 1999.

79 NPA Report to Landmine Monitor, 17 December 1999.

80 CMAC Database, 3 May 2000.

81 U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. 64.

82 General Population Census of Cambodia, 1998, p. 28. Battambang has a population of 791,589 and Banteay Meanchey 577,300.

83 Halo Trust report, 1999.

84 UNHCR statistics, Phnom Penh, May 1999.

85 Interview with PMU Demining Unit, CMAC, Siem Reap. For details see CMAC Database, 3 May 2000.

86 CMAC Database, 3 May 2000.

87 Interview with CMAC, Mr. Mao Vanna, 3 May 2000.

88 CMAC Statistical Profile 1998; Information obtained from CMAC, MAG, and Halo Trust, January 2000.

89 Halo Trust, Socio-Economic Land Use Report 1992-99, p.120.

90 Information on MAG activities provided via email by Tim Carstairs, MAG Communications Director, 28 July 2000.

91 UNDP Memo, Claude Grahame to Dominique McAdam, UNDP Phnom Penh , 18 April 2000.

92 Law to Prohibit the Use of Anti-Personnel Mines, Article 5.

93 Telephone interview with Australian Ambassador Malcolm Lederer, 8 May 2000.

94 CMAC White Paper 2000, December 1999, p.18.

95 LUPU Report to Landmine Monitor, March 2000.

96 NGO Statement to the 2000 Consultative Group Meeting on Cambodia, p. 47.

97 Ibid., p. 50.

98 Halo Trust/AAR, Socio-Economic Land Use Report, October 1999.

99 Halo Trust/AAR, Socio-Economic Land Use Report, October 1999. In a 28 July 2000 email to Landmine Monitor, a HALO official noted that "this is the solitary example from 120 separate cleared areas."

100 The Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines has other examples of misuse of cleared lands.

101 CMAC, Socio-Economic Assessment on Cleared Mine Fields, 27 April 2000.

102 Moira O'Leary, Oxfam, letter to Landmine Monitor, 13 December 1999.

103 Information provided to Landmne Monitor via email by Tim Carstairs, MAG Communications Director, 28 July 2000.

104 Interview with Tan Sung Hao, CMAC Department of Mine Awareness Education.

105 The following information comes from the Cambodia Mine Incident Database, Monthly Report, March 2000; and, Cambodian Red Cross and Handicap International, "Cambodia Mine Incident Database Project, Casualty Trend, 1998-2000: Reported mine/UXO casualties by Month, Reporting Period: January 1998-May 2000," dated 13 June 2000.

106 Disability Action Council, "Disability Data Base Study," 1999.

107 Information in this section was provided by the named organizations for the purposes of the Landmine Monitor.

108 Data gathering in Jesuit Service Disabled Outreach as of 31 March 2000.

109 Ministry of Finance Report, 5 April 2000.

110 Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Article 72.

111 Medicam Statement Human Rights Supplement, Cambodia Daily, April 2000.

112 UNICEF, Report on the Pacific visit of Tun Channareth, ICBL Ambassador, March 22-31, 2000, p. 7.

113 "3 Lebanon peacekeepers hurt," Associated Press (Tyre, Lebanon), 25 September 1999.

114 Statement by Mr. Keizo Takemi, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, before the Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-personnel Landmines, 3 May 1999.

115 Report required by Article 7 of the Convention, Form E, submitted 27 August 1999.

116 Presentation by Mr. Hisao Yamaguchi to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, 9 December 1999.

117 Report required by Article 7 of the Convention, Form B, submitted 28 April 2000. Japan's first report, submitted 27 August 1999, listed 1,000,089 mines.

118 Article 7 reports, Forms D and F, submitted 27 August 1999 and 28 April 2000.

119 Presentation by Mr. Hisao Yamaguchi to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, 9 December 1999. See also, written note to JCBL from Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2000.

120 Article 7 report, Form D, submitted 28 April 2000.

121 Presentation by Mr. Hisao Yamaguchi to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 23 May 2000.

122 Article 7 report, Forms F and G, submitted 28 April 2000.

123 Information provided by Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Public Information Division, Secretariat of Minister of State for Defense.

124 This is included in the Fiscal Year 1999 budget. The Japanese fiscal year begins in April and ends in March of the following year. The exchange rate is that used by the government of Japan for 1999: US$1 = 120 yen.

125 These are funds in the FY 2000 budget. Statement by Kozo Oikawa, Director, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency, on the occasion of the Official Ceremony of the Commencement of the Stockpiled Antipersonnel Mines Destruction Program held on 17 January 2000.

126 Information provided by Public Relations Division, Secretariat of Minister of State for Defense, 17 August 1999. Detailed information about types, quantities and costs of destruction of mines for each company is available.

127 Article 7 report, Form F, submitted 27 August 1999.

128 Presentations by Mr. Hisao Yamaguchi to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 9 December 1999 and 23 May 2000. See also, Asahi Chemical Industry Press Release, 25 October 1999.

129 Ibid.

130 See, Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 333. Letter and Fact Sheet from U.S. Department of Air Force, 11th Wing, to Human Rights Watch, 26 May 1998, provided in response to Freedom of Information Act request. Additional information supplied to HRW on confidential basis, 1999.

131 Statement of Akio Suda, Deputy Director-General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Proceedings Report No. 6, 25 September 1998, p. 2. For more detail, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 360.

132 Statement by Nobutaka Machimura, Parliamentary Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Proceedings Report No. 5, 25 September 1998, p. 9.

133 Press release by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, 18 November 1999.

134 Ibid.

135 Unless otherwise indicated, information regarding Japan's financial contributions toward mine action was provided by Aid Policy Division, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, January 1999 and 17 March 2000.

136 Interview with Hussein Haniff, Under Secretary (Multilateral Political Affairs), in the presence of Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah, Assistant Secretary, Policy Planning Division, and Ho May Yong, Principal Assistant Secretary (Commonwealth & Disarmament), all of the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at Wisma Putra, Kuala Lumpur, 2 December 1999.

137 Statement by the Honourable Datuk Dr. Leo Michael Toyad, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia to the First Meeting of the State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, Mozambique, 4 May 1999.

138 Interview with Hussein Haniff, 2 December 1999.

139 Interview with Cdr. Razali Bin Md. Ali, RMN, Principal Assistant Secretary (Policy) 4, Defence Policy Division, Ministry of Defence, at Wisma Pertahanan, Kuala Lumpur, 19 January 2000.

140 Malaysia Report under the Mine Ban Treaty Article 7, 1 March 2000.

141 Cdr. Razali Bin Md. Ali, email, 15 May 2000.

142 "Both sides speak against landmines," The Star (Kuala Lumpur), 21 April 2000.

143 Interview with Hussein Haniff, 2 December 1999.

144 Interviews with Cdr. Razali, 19 January 2000, and Hussein Haniff, 2 December 1999. The draft bill is still a classified document.

145 Ibid.

146 Interviews with Hussein Haniff and with Crd. Razali.

147 Interview with Cdr. Razali. At the May 2000 meeting of the SCE on General Status of the Convention, the Malaysian delegation said that a board of officials had been formed to oversee all mine-related issues, headed by a senior military official, which would meet for the first time in June 2000. It is unclear if this is the formalization of the ad hoc committee.

148 Ibid.

149 Ibid.

150 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, interview with Cdr. Razali and Major Mustaffa, 8 February 1999, p. 415.

151 Ibid. Also, Malaysia Article 7 report, 1 March 2000.

152 Interview with Cdr. Razali, 19 January 2000.

153 Interviews with Cdr. Razali and Hussein Haniff.

154 Interview with Cdr. Razali.

155 Malaysia Article 7 report, 1 March 2000. Though listed in the report as "PAM" mines, these are usually designated "PMA" mines.

156 Interview with Cdr. Razali.

157 Malaysia Article 7 report, 1 March 2000, and interview with Cdr. Razali, 19 January 2000.

158 Malaysia Article 7 report, 1 March 2000. The Malaysian representative at the ISCE on General Status of the Convention announced this in Geneva, 30 May 2000.

159 Cdr. Razali Bin Md. Ali, email, 27 April 2000. Also, oral statement to ISCE on General Status, 30 May 2000.

160 Ibid.; Razali email, 15 May 2000.

161 Agreement between the Government of Malaysia and the Communist Party of Malaya to Terminate Hostilities, signed on 2 December 1989 in Haadyai, Thailand, which is Appendix "D" of General Dato' Kitti Ratanachaya, The Communist Party of Malaya, Malaysia and Thailand: Truce Talks Ending the Armed Struggle of the Communist Party of Malaya (Bangkok: Duangkaew Publishing House, 1996), p. 292.

162 See, especially, paragraphs 2.4 and 2.5 of the Administrative Arrangement between the Government of Malaysia and the Communist Party of Malaya Pursuant to the Agreement to Terminate Hostilities, signed on 2 December 1989 in Haadyai, Thailand, which is Appendix "G" of Kitti, The Communist Party of Malaya, pp. 302-311.

163 Interview with Hussein Haniff.

164 Interview with Cdr. Razali. According to him, a final report on the operation may be found in the Army Operations Center at Wisma Pertahanan.

165 This assessment comes from Malaysian NGO colleagues, particularly Dr. Gopala Gopinath, a retired colonel in the Air Force medical corps, who now also does work with the Malaysian Red Crescent Society and the Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Sanen Marshall, formerly of Just World Trust and now with the British Council, during the Landmine Monitor researcher's conversations with them on 2-3 December 1999.

166 Malaysia FMSP Statement.

167 See Landmine Monitor Report 19 99, p. 417.

168 Statement by HE René Wilson, New Zealand High Commissioner to South Africa and Mozambique, to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, 4 May 1999.

169 Statement by New Zealand Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Trevor Hughes to the UN General Assembly, Fifty-Fourth Session, Item 35: Assistance in Mine Action, 18 November 1999.

170 Letter from Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 13 April 2000.

171 Ibid.

172 Ibid.

173 Meeting with Lucy Duncan, Acting Director, and Simon Rae, Policy Officer, International Security and Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington, 26 January 2000.

174 Ibid.

175 Letter from Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 13 April 2000.

176 Ibid. Emphasis added.

177 Ibid.

178 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 371-372.

179 Pakistani Brig. Feroz Hassan Khan said this in a meeting with the ICBL in Geneva, 16 December 1999.

180 Letter from Azhar Nawaz Khan, Director Exports, Pakistan Ordnance Factories Export Division, to Mr. Steve Boulton, LWF for Dispatches, their reference No. 4105/14/G/EXPORTS, dated December 1999, faxed on 2 December 1999, pp. 1-2.

181 Pakistan Ordnance Factories Export Division "Quotation for Sudan," their reference No. 4105/14/C/Exports dated 11 November 1999.

182 Meeting with Lucy Duncan, Acting Director, and Simon Rae, Policy Officer, International Security and Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington, 26 January 2000.

183 New Zealand Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Form D, submitted 27 December 1999.

184 Telephone interview with Captain Martin Donoghue, New Zealand Army, 11 May 2000.

185 Statement by Kofi Annan, Secretary General of United Nations, to UN Association of New Zealand and NZ Institute of International Affairs, Victoria University, Wellington, 23 February 2000.

186 Mathew Dearnaley, "NZ quits scheme to clear Angola of mines," New Zealand Herald, p. B1, 17 May 1999.

187 Funding details provided in Letter from Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 13 April 2000. Conversion done by Landmine Monitor NZ$1=US$0.50.

188 Letter from Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 13 April 2000.

189 Ibid.

190 Ibid.

191 Ibid.

192 Email from Russell Marshall, Chairman Cambodia Trust Aotearoa New Zealand, to Neil Mander, CALM, 2 May 2000. At the beginning of 1999, the School was certified as of international standing by the International Society of Prosthetists and Orthotists, one of only three NGO-operated schools in the world to be so registered.

193 Letter from Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 13 April 2000.

194 Ibid.

195 Waiel Faleh, "New Zealander Killed in Iraq," Associated Press (Baghdad), 26 April 1999.

196 Fax from Crossley Tatui, Deputy Secretary to Government, to Neil Mander, Convenor of NZ Campaign Against Landmines, 20 May 2000.

197 Senator Francisco Tatad's Sponsorship Speech, "Let's Take Out All The Landmines Now," 10 November 1999.

198 "MILF Official Declaration on the International Campaign to Ban Antipersonnel Mines," signed by MILF Central Committee Vice-Chairman for Political Affairs Ghazali Jaafar, 13 March 2000, Camp Abubakar, Maguindanao, Mindanao.

199 Ibid.

200 "MILF Views on Landmine Use," signed by MILF Central Committee Vice-Chairman for Political Affairs Ghazali Jaafar, on 13 March 2000, Camp Abubakar, Maguindanao, Mindanao.

201 "MILF Internal Regulations on the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines," signed by Ghazali Jaafar.

202 Ibid.

203 This pledge was made public in the conference, "Engaging Non-State Actors in a Landmine Ban: A Pioneering Conference," hosted by the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines, in cooperation with the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines and a number of other national mine ban campaigns, Geneva, 24-25 March 2000. A full report of the conference is available from the Swiss CBL, ereusse@worldcom.ch.

204 See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 421.

205 Nonoy E. Lacson, "MILF awaits arms shipment from Afghanistan," Tempo ONLINE, 22 February 1999. The report said the arms would be delivered aboard a foreign vessel named M/V Alkeen Perdaba to Surabaya in Indonesia. From there, the shipment would be escorted by MILF division commanders to Tawau district in Sabah, Malaysia. The arms would then be transferred and distributed to dozens of pumpboats and delivered to ten remote coastal areas in Sarangani and Davao del Sur. The military identified these areas as Tinoto, Maasim, Mindupok, Maitum, Malapatan and Colan, all in Sarangani province; Tibungko and Toril in Davao City; Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur; and at the Matimus Point. MILF chair Hashim Salamat reportedly ordered fifty mujahideens to guard each of the designated unloading site in Central Mindanao to ensure that the arms will reach their destinations.

206 "Secret arms shipment slips into Mindanao," Tempo ONLINE, March 20, 1999.

207 Memorandum for the Secretary of National Defense, Subject: Landmine-Related Incidents, from the AFP Chief of Staff, signed by Maj. Gen. Antonio C. Santos, OJ3 (received by the DND on 28 July 2000).

208 Letter from Secretary of National Defense Orlando S. Mercado to Coordinator, ICBL, 30 June 2000.

209 Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines, "Preliminary Report and Statement on the Recent Landmine Incidents in the Mindanao Conflict: Coming to a Higher Level of Attention and Engagement," 30 June 2000.

210 Interview with Corporal Jurelyn Gargoles, Heroes Ward, AFP Medical Center, 1 June 2000.

211 Noralyn Mustafa et. al., "Foreigners threatened with beheading if...," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29 April 2000, p.1, 16.

212 Chandler E. Ramas III, "AFP closes in on Abu's main camp," Philippine Post, 24 April 2000, p.1, A14.

213 Interview with Sergeant Armando Villanueva, Heroes Ward, Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center, 1 June 2000.

214 Villamor Visaya, Jr., "Colonel, 12 soldiers die in ambush," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 26 June 2000, p.1.

215 Joel Jabal, "NPA rebels kill 8 cops in Mindoro ambush," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 6 July 2000.

216 Joel Jabal, "Mindoro NPAs strike, kill 2 cops," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 14 April 2000, p.15.

217 Interview with Enercita Lopez, aka Ka Dorie, a former regular member of the New People's Army for 18 years, Cagayan de Oro City, 3 January 2000.

218 Interview with Maj. Johnny Macanas, 4ID spokesman and Assistant Chief of Staff, G7 Civil-Military Operations, Fourth Infantry Division, Camp Edilberto Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro City, 4 January 2000.

219 Memorandum for the Secretary of National Defense, Subject: Landmine-Related Incidents, from the AFP Chief of Staff, signed by Maj. Gen. Antonio C. Santos, OJ3 (received by the DND on 28 July 2000).

220 "Special Promotion, Cash Rewards for Recovered Enemy Combat Equipment," Headquarters Philippine Army Directive dated 5 November 1999.

221 Phone interview with Maj. Edwin Bautista (MC) PA, Executive Officer Camp Evangelista Station Hospital, Cagayan de Oro City, 3 January 2000.

222 Memorandum for the Secretary of National Defense, Subject: Landmine-Related Incidents, from the AFP Chief of Staff, signed by Maj. Gen. Antonio C. Santos, OJ3 (received by the DND on 28 July 2000).

223 Letter from Secretary of National Defense Orlando S. Mercado to Coordinator, ICBL, 30 June 2000.

224 "MILF Views on Landmine Use," signed by MILF Central Committee Vice-Chairman for Political Affairs Ghazali Jaafar, on 13 March 2000, Camp Abubakar, Maguindanao, Mindanao.

225 Memorandum for the Secretary of National Defense, Subject: Landmine-Related Incidents, 28 July 2000.

226 Interview with Enercita Lopez, aka Ka Dorie, Cagayan de Oro City, 3 January 2000.

227 Phone interview with Maj. Edwin Bautista (MC) PA, Executive Officer Camp Evangelista Station Hospital, Cagayan de Oro City, 3 January 2000.

228 Interview with Major Majubaldo Malupeng, Operations Officer, AFP Medical Center, 1 June 2000.

229 "Back In Service: Rebels in Solomon Islands are using U.S. weapons left over from WWII," Associated Press (Ngalibiu, Solomon Islands), reprinted in Dallas Morning News, 15 June 2000.

230 Royal Thai Government Gazette, dated 6 July 1999, on the Entry into Force of the Ottawa Convention.

231 Act on the Export Control of Armaments and Materials of B.E. 2495 (1952); Act on Firearms, ammunition, explosive articles and fireworks of B.E. 2490 (1947); Decree on the Export Control of Armaments and Materials of B.E. 2535 (1992). Cited in Thailand's Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, 10 November 1999.

232 H.E. Deputy Minister M.R. Sukumbhand Paribatra, "Statement of the Head of Delegation of Thailand to the First Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention," Maputo, Mozambique, 3 May 1999.

233 Apirath Vienravi, Minister Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations at the General Debate of the First Committee, 54th session of the UN General Assembly, New York, 20 October 1999.

234 H.E. Asda Jayanama, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the UN, fifty-fourth Session of UNGA, 18 November 1999.

235 Landmine Monitor email communication with Apirat Sugondhabhirom, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN Office in Geneva, 7 March 2000.

236 Ibid.

237 For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 376.

238 See Landmine Monitor Report 2000--Burma/Myanmar. Also, Landmine Monitor interviews with villagers, NGO workers and displaced migrants living in Thailand near the Burma border, January 1999 through March 2000.

239 Based on types of mines listed in Thailand's Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Form B, Stockpiled anti-personnel mines, submitted 10 November 1999.

240 Ibid. The report does not give an overall total, or totals for individual mine types. The Form B submission is 33 pages long, and apparently organized by various stock locations rather than mine type. Landmine Monitor has compiled the numbers from Form B.

241 Telephone interview with Lt. Gen. Vasu Chanarat, Director General of TMAC, 16 February 1999 and Thailand's Article 7 report, 10 November 1999.

242 Landmine Monitor, communications from TMAC, 10 May 2000, and from a government official, Department of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 17 December 1999. Landmine Monitor researchers have had access to a Summary of the Plan.

243 Thailand Mine Action Center/JOC 107, The Master Plan Summary on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand in 5-year Periods, No. 1 2000-2004, (TMAC, Bangkok, 2000), pp. 6-8.

244 Thailand's Article 7 report, Form F, 10 November 1999.

245 Ibid.

246 Ibid., Form G. Thailand is one of the few States Parties to have destroyed Claymore mines

247 Ibid.

248 Notes taken at the meeting by Human Rights Watch.

249 Thailand's Article 7 reports, Form D, 10 November 1999 and 2 May 2000.

250 Notes taken at the meeting by Human Rights Watch. At the 23 May 2000 Stockpile SCE, Thailand said it was unsure of the proper number to retain, and welcomed technical advice.

251 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 377-378.

252 Members of Thailand Campaign to Ban Landmines, discussions with NGO workers and displaced ethnic migrants housed in camps along the Thai-Burma border, Mae Sot, Tak province, January 1999 through January 2000. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2000-- Burma/Myanmar.

253 Saritdet Marukatat, "Burma row leaves border vulnerable," Bangkok Post, 19 January 2000.

254 Thailand Mine Action Center/JOC 107, The Master Plan Summary on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand in 5-year Periods, No. 1 2000-2004, (TMAC, Bangkok, 2000), p. 20; telephone interview with Lt. Gen. Vasu Chanarath, Director of TMAC, 8 March 2000.

255 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Document given to Humanitarian Demining Team Leaders on 18 August 1998, No. 1.3, p .1; Thailand Mine Action Center, "Summary of National Plan of Action for Humanitarian Demining of Anti-Personnel Landmines in Thailand, for the Five Year Period 1 May 1999 - May 2004," [in Thai language] undated, p. 4-12. These statistics were also used in the Deputy Minister's Statement to the First Meeting of States Parties, Maputo, 3 May 2000.

0 Thailand Mine Action Center/JOC 107, The Master Plan Summary on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand in 5-year Periods, No. 1 2000-2004, (TMAC, Bangkok, 2000); Thailand's Article 7 report, Form C, Location of mines areas, 10 November 1999 (which also lists Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, and Prachuabkirikan as affected by booby-traps).

1 U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, September 1998, p. A-2.

2 Apirath Vienravi, Statement at the General Debate of the First Committee, 54th session of the UN General Assembly, New York, 20 October 1999.

3 Thailand Mine Action Center/JOC 107, The Master Plan Summary on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand in 5-year Periods, No. 1 2000-2004, (TMAC, Bangkok, 2000), p. 8.

4 Saritdet Marukatat, "Funding hurts demining effort," Bangkok Post, 18 January 2000, p. 10; "Mine clearing agency hit by lack of funds," The Nation, 10 February 2000, p. 5.

5 TMAC, Master Plan Summary, pp. 27-29. The fiscal year runs from October 1999-September 2000.

6 Information provided by Dave McCracken, Mine Action Technical Advisor, TMAC, 20 July 2000.

7 This was announced by the Director of TMAC at a meeting of advisers on 15 June 2000

8 TMAC, Master Plan Summary, p. 2. See also, Vorapun Srivoranart and Sa-nguan Khumrungroj, "Norway calls for better regional security ties," The Nation, 7 January 2000.

9 Ibid. See also, "Arms-destroying fund pledged," Bangkok Post, 7 January 2000.

10 Ibid., p. 2.

11 Ibid., p. 2. Information provided by Dave McCracken, TMAC, 20 July 2000. See also, Vorapun Srivoranart, "US financial demining programme launched," The Nation, 17 August 1999; CNN Web Board, 9 February 2000. www.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/ southeast/02/09/thailand.landmines.ap/index.html

12 Ibid., p. 2. See also, Embassy of the United States in Thailand, "US Government donates $7 Million in Trucks for Demining Efforts in Thailand," 18 January 2000; Landmine Monitor/Thailand interview with Dave McCracken, TMAC, Bangkok, 18 January 2000.

13 Information provided by Dave McCracken, TMAC, 20 July 2000.

14 TMAC, Master Plan Summary, p. 2.

15 Thailand Mine Action Center, "Office of the Prime Minister's Order No.151/2541 on the Appointment of the Committee on Dealing with Anti-Personnel Mines" in the Summary of National Plan, [in Thai language], p. 1-3, and Prime Minister's Order 15/2543 on Establishing the National Committee on Humanitarian Mine Action.

16 TMAC, "Scope of Responsibility of TMAC" in The First Year of TMAC-Establishment of TMAC, 18 January 1999, One Year of TMAC, 18 Jan 2000, p.10.

17 Thailand Mine Action Center/JOC 107, The Master Plan Summary on Humanitarian Mine Action of Thailand in 5-year Periods, No. 1 2000-2004, (TMAC, Bangkok, 2000); TMAC, Summary of National Plan [in Thai language], pp. 2-3.

18 Information provided by Guy Rhodes, Norwegian People's Aid, to TCBL, received 26 June 2000.

19 Interview with Survey Action Center team (Richard Kidd of Global Landmine Survey, James Prudhomme of UNMAS and Guy Rhodes from Norwegian People's Aid) Bangkok, 27 January 2000.

20 Information provided by Dave McCracken, TMAC, 20 July 2000.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, P.O. Box 4 Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Tel (662) 524 5354, Fax: (662) 5245360, E-mail: adpc@ait.ac.th.

25 Landmine Monitor discussion with Duangkamol Wattanasuk, Country Director, Handicap International Thailand, Bangkok, 19 January 2000.

26 Rita Patiyasevi, "Bicycle rally against landmines on Sunday," The Nation, 22 April 1999; "Long ride seeks an end to maiming," Bangkok Post, 28 April 1999; "Six days on a bicycle for peace and an end to landmines!," Udomsarn Weekly, 29 April 1999.

27 TMAC, Master Plan Summary, pp. 21-22.

28 Mine survivor leaders, Mr. Ophas Thepnok from HI at Prasat Hospital in Surin and Mr. Supan Kota from Sakaeo province, organized the data and presented it to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai at Parliament House on 18 December 1997.

29 Reports covering two weeks in January-February: "Ranger loses leg to mine," The Nation, 19 January 2000, p. A6; Chaiwat Pumpuang, "Landmine kills four Thai soldiers in Suan Phung," The Nation, 21 January 2000, p. A6; "Landmine blast injuries Thai soldiers," The Nation, 1 February 2000, p. A6; "Border patrol - Five soldiers hurt by landmine," Bangkok Post, 2 February 2000, p. 3; "Landmine blast injures four soldiers," The Nation, 4 February 2000, p. A2.

30 "Elephant hurt in blast," The Nation, 20 August 1999; "Hurt Elephant may need an artificial foot," The Nation, 21 August 1999; "Elephantine Problem," The Sunday Nation, 22 August 1999; "Motala's jumbo operation," The Sunday Nation, 29 August 1999; "Motala-Waiting for death," Matichon (Thai language paper), 30 August 1999; "Vets encouraged by Motala's initial recovery," The Nation, 31 August 1999; "New limb offers for Motala," Bangkok Post, 7 September 1999; "Setback for Motala," Bangkok Post, 10 September 1999.

31 TMAC, "Establishment and Operation Plan for Mine Victim Assistance Project in Thailand," July 1999.

32 "Recognizing Their Good Deeds," The Nation, 27 February 1999; Vasana Chinvarakorn, "The `artificial leg' doctor," Bangkok Post, 2 March 1999.

33 Committee on National Research, National Research Council of Thailand, "Announcement of Winners of the Award of Outstanding Inventors for B.E. 2543," Bangkok, 21 November 1999.

34 Laws on Rehabilitation of Thai Disabled Persons, 1991, Article 15 Sections 1 and 3, Article 17 Sections 1 and 2, Article 18.

35 People's Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand of B.E. 2541 (1997), Article 30, Clause 3.

36 Ibid., Article 55.

37 Section 2, Article 10, National Education Act of B.E. 2542 (1999).

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