STATES PARTIES

ALBANIA

Key developments since March 1999: Albania ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 29 February 2000. Albania inventoried its stockpiled mines and in May 2000 reported having 1,607,420 mines stored in 120 depots in the country. It estimates it will take up to two years to complete destruction at a cost of approximately $560,000. It has destroyed 8,400 mines. On 8 October 1999 the Albanian Mines Action Committee (AMAC) was founded to coordinate mine action in the country. In June 2000, RONCO began demining operations in two priority areas defined by AMAC. In northern Albania the ICRC and CARE are carrying out mine awareness programs. As a result of the Kosovo crisis, in northern Albania AMAE had recorded eighty-five mine/UXO incidents, resulting in eighteen dead and 118 injured, by early July 2000.

Mine Ban Policy

Albania signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 8 September 1998, and deposited the instrument of ratification at the United Nations on 29 February 2000. The treaty enters into force for Albania on 1 August 2000. Ratification was approved unanimously by parliament, and a Foreign Affairs Ministry official has said, "According to the instrument of ratification...the Convention is fully obligatory to Albania without any reservation or declaration."¹³² Domestic legislation to bring into effect the penal sanctions required for implementation is being prepared.

On 25 May 2000 the Council of Ministers announced "Decision No. 269" including the following key elements: all stockpiled antipersonnel mines will be destroyed by 2004; all the areas of the Republic of Albania, infected with mines, must be demined by 2009; the Ministry of Defense is to present to the Council of Ministers the program and finances needed carry out these obligations, three months after this law comes into effect; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other state institutions will seek financial and technological support to meet these MBT obligations, and aid for mine victims as well. The decree enters into force after its publication in the "Official Paper."¹³³ The Chief of the Albanian EOD organization confirmed that the Council of Ministers has already prepared projects toward the implementation of the MBT.¹³⁴

The government attended the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) to the MBT in May 1999. Government representatives have participated in one meeting each of the Standing Committees of Experts on Stockpile Destruction, Mine Clearance and General Status and Operation of the Convention. Albanian representatives also participated in the second Regional Conference on Landmines in Croatia in June 1999, and in the third regional conference in Slovenia in June 2000.

In December 1999, Albania voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B urging full implementation of the MBT, as it had with previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions. Landmine Monitor Report 1999 was well-received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that the report "notes a survey on the history of using and producing the landmines from Albania, the current situation and problems caused by landmines which were [previously not] known...."¹³⁵

NGO activity remains strong in Albania. In 1997 the AntiMining Friends Committee (AMFC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) started an awareness campaign focused on unexploded ordnance (UXO) and ammunition spread across the country. After the Regional Conference in Budapest in March 1998, efforts of the AMFC concentrated on promoting the Mine Ban Treaty with the general public and the authorities.

Albania is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but at the urging of the ICRC, the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs are now considering formal adherence to the CCW and its protocols.

Production

According to official sources AP mines have not been produced in Albania since 1990 or 1991.¹³⁶ No funding is available so previous AP mine production facilities scheduled for conversion to civilian production simply remain closed. One facility formerly owned by the Ministry of Defense has been partially privatized and continues to produce explosives for commercial purposes.¹³⁷

Transfer

Albania received large numbers of mines from the Soviet Union and China prior to 1975.¹³⁸ There was no official transfer of AP mines during the Kosovo crisis in early 1999,¹³⁹ but there were press reports of some groups of people being killed while transferring ammunition to Kosovo. Russian AP mines and Chinese antitank mines have been found in Kosovo, which may have been transferred from Albania.¹⁴⁰

Stockpile and Destruction

The Deputy Minister of Defense stated that "after the ratification of the Ottawa Treaty Albania is obliged to destroy the stockpile and to clear the mine fields as well as hot spots contaminated by UXO."¹⁴¹ A considerable stockpile of AP mines is held by the Albanian Armed Forces. During 1999, a new inventory took place, with results that have been reported on two recent occasions (with slight differences):

Type of AP Mine	Selanik Conference May 2000142	SCE Meeting May 2000143
Mine AP Wood	240,213	545,270 (type PMD-6)
Mine AP Bakelite	296,303
Mine AP Fragmentation	937,131	930,050 (type POMZ-2)
Mine AP Fibre	127,765	132,100 (type PMN)
Total	1,601,412	1,607,420

The mines are of Russian, Chinese and Albanian production. Locally manufactured mines are of the PMD-6, POMZ-2 and PMN types. They are stored in eighty areas covering 120 depots.¹⁴⁴

A plan for destruction of the stockpile with the assistance of the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Ammunition Storage and Training Team (EODASTT) has been prepared.¹⁴⁵ This will involve dismantling the PMD-6 and POMZ-2 mines, smelting their metal parts, re-using the explosives for demining, demolition or other commercial purposes, while burying the other materials, and destroying the PMN mines by demolition. It is proposed that this activity will be undertaken at nine regional locations based on selected ammunition storage facilities.

This plan will take up to two years to complete, at an estimated cost of US$ 561,600, which, Deputy Defense Minister Ilir Bocka told the SCE on Stockpile Destruction in May 2000, is not "readily identifiable in our budget. Currently our funds re allocated to safety related issues involving the destruction of life-threatening, dangerous ammunition.... Albania will require considerable support in order to implement its plan."¹⁴⁶ He stated that Albania had started to destroy its AP mine stockpile-a total of 8,400 thus far. In conclusion, Deputy Minister Bocka informed the SCE in May 2000:

Even in view of Albania's difficulties, this Committee and the International community should be aware that:

· Albania places the destruction of its Antipersonnel Mines high on its political agenda.

· The Albanian Government is confident that it is able to exercise appropriate control to ensure full cooperation of its Armed Forces in the implementation of its plans to carry out demilitarisation of Antipersonnel Mines.

· Our plans for the demilitarisation of our stockpile have been considered in terms of cost effectiveness, but also in terms of environmental aspects, socioeconomic factors and the expertise and technology currently available to Albania.

· Finally, Albania welcomes verification of its stockpile and the monitoring of the process and progress of its demilitarisation program by the Nation Members of this Committee and International Community at large.¹⁴⁷

Use and Landmine Problem

During widespread rioting in early 1997, the population looted an estimated 600,000 antipersonnel mines from stockpiles.¹⁴⁸ How many mines remain today in private hands is not known. Some of these stolen mines have been used for private purposes, for example mine explosive is used for fishing.

When the government signed the MBT on 8 September 1998 the Albanian Armed Forces were ordered not to use AP mines.¹⁴⁹ Despite Serbian incursions into Albania in early 1999 "even during the Kosovo crisis Albania did not mine its borders, acknowledging the problems they would cause in a post conflict situation."¹⁵⁰

However, the border was mined and contaminated with UXO, including Albanian territory, by Serb forces. Artillery and ABABEL-50 multiple launch rocket systems contaminated sixteen areas (140 hectares) with unexploded KB-1 bomblets up to 25 kilometers inside Albanian territory. Additionally, the entire Albania-Kosovo 80 km-long border is affected by antipersonnel and antitank mines laid by Serbian forces during border incursions. The total area contaminated is approximately 1,400 hectares, in the districts of Tropoja, Kukes and Has.

The mines are mostly located around approaches to border crossing-points, but nearby agricultural areas, grazing land and villages are also contaminated. The mines identified include PMA-1, PMA-2, PMR and TMA-5 types, which have been found up to 400 meters inside the border.¹⁵¹

A villager from Dobruna, a village in the Has district described what happened on one occasion: "We were evacuated from our village. Serbs set fire to our houses and mined the whole area of the border. When we went back home to start our life again 150 meters behind my house I stepped on two landmines and as you can see I lost both legs."¹⁵²

There are no reports of the border with Montenegro being mined.

These recent events have seriously aggravated what were the already substantial dangers and difficulties existing in much of Albania as a result of the 1997 riots. Explosions in thirty-eight depots, including fifteen major incidents, involving over 6,000 tons of explosives and ammunition of all types killed and injured many people, and contaminated large areas of land with UXO. The fifteen "hot spot" areas of gross contamination covered some 220 hectares of land.¹⁵³

Looting of ammunition depots, abandonment of looted ordnance including AP mines, private use, and the widespread use of AP mines to protect official buildings, added to this problem. Considerable socio-economic problems as well as physical danger have been caused by these successive phases of mine/UXO contamination.¹⁵⁴

"Weapons in Exchange for Development," a pilot UNDP program in 1999 in the district of Gramsh, aimed to collect weapons (including mines) and ammunition held by the population since 1997. This was completed at a cost of $1,300,000, considered very successful and there are plans for it to be implemented in other districts.¹⁵⁵

Mine Action

With respect to the mine problem related to 1997 difficulties, six of the fifteen "hot spot" areas, amounting to some forty hectares of land, have been cleared of hazardous ammunition and related scrap.¹⁵⁶

With respect to the problem in the north related to Kosovo, the Albanian Armed Forces (AAF) EOD organization conducted a Level 1 survey in August and September 1999, with the assistance of CARE International, to identify mine-contaminated areas. Some 1,400 hectares of land were assessed as potentially mined.¹⁵⁷ The AAF EOD team marked minefields along 120 kilometers of the northern border in August-September 1999 using 5,000 markers contributed by UNICEF. Due to theft of minefield markers and the damage caused by a hard winter, the AAF repeated this process in April and May 2000.¹⁵⁸

Since March 1999 the AAF EOD has maintained a constant operation to clear the hot spots with guidance provided by NATO-employed advisory staff. Protection equipment, detectors and some other relevant materials have been provided by NATO countries, principally Italy, Switzerland, UK and US.¹⁵⁹

Sixteen areas affected by KB-1 bomblets were cleared by the AAF EOD except where coincidental with mine contamination; approximately 140 hectares of land has been cleared and 2,700 bomblets destroyed.¹⁶⁰

On the 8 October 1999 the Albanian Mines Action Committee (AMAC) was founded, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Minister of Defense. The Committee is made up of representatives of the UN Development Program, UNICEF, the Emergency Management group and the Ministry for Local Government. The overall aims of AMAC are to obtain funding for humanitarian mine action and mine clearance, to carry out mine/UXO clearance and supervise these operations in order to optimize their impact.

To implement AMAC policy, the Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) was formed and effectively functions as the national Mine Action Center. Albanian authorities continue to make potential donor-countries aware of the extent and nature of the landmine/UXO problem in the country and seek financial and materiel support. AMAC has requested the Albanian EOD organization to prepare further demining projects in anticipation of interest by a funding organization.

All the information gathered regarding minefields, minefield marking, mine victims, mine awareness, and fundraising is centralized at the AMAE. Maps of minefields, marking signs and information about mine victims are accessible on a computer database (system provide by the United States). For the AMAE office until March 2000 contributions totaling $7,670 have been made by the UNDP ($4,445), Royal Norwegian Embassy ($725) and CARE International ($2,500). The government of Canada will meet the administrative costs of the AMAE from July 2000 through March 2001, after which the Swiss government has pledged support until March 2005.¹⁶¹

RONCO, a U.S. demining company arrived in Albania in early May to carry out an assessment, and has identified one contaminated area at Qafe Prushe, a border crossing point in Has District where clearance operations commenced in June, supported by a grant of $2 million from the US Department of Defense through Slovenia's International Trust Fund. On 8 June the AMAE announced "the commencement of demining in Albania." RONCO has been contracted "to work in Qafe Prush (Has) and Qafe Morine (Tropoja) which are two priority areas defined by AMAC and AMAE.... The company has two demining teams and mine detective dogs that have been based in the town of Kruma.... The Albanian Mines Action Executive is responsible to supervise the demining operations. The company will continue demining next year too. It is worth mentioning that local inhabitants welcomed the company hoping that the number of casualties will drop. One day before the company commenced demining two incidents occurred. Two men crossing the Albanian border got injured. One lost his leg and the other was injured in his face."¹⁶² In July Germany announced a grant of DM 1.2 million to the German NGO HELP for demining in Albania.¹⁶³

It is very important to start the mine clearance in the border regions because in many areas, for the local population the nearest villages are in Kosovo which can be reached only by illegal crossings, as using the official crossing points takes much longer. To re-open these unofficial paths, local Albanians have preferred to demine the routes themselves. Also, in the summer of 1999 there were rumors about landmines being collected by villagers for resale, with articles about this in the local media. The actual practice seems to have been very small-scale, but the publicity itself served to encourage a very dangerous activity.

Mine Awareness

In northern Albania the AMAE is coordinating the ICRC and CARE mine awareness programs. The CARE program includes training of teachers in three northern districts to implement mine awareness programs in schools, as well as training of committees in villages to increase mine awareness. The CARE budget ended in January 2000 but UNICEF sponsored the work in February and March, and UNDP in April and May. Two teams of three instructors are based in Kukes and Has districts, and two instructors may be located in Tropoja who will be supervised from Kukes.

The ICRC has a community-based approach to mine awareness, which relies on the network of Albanian Red Cross volunteers. Volunteers coming from the problem areas are trained as instructors, who then teach mine awareness to the general public, including children, and combine this with the distribution of food in the war affected border-villages because this increases the impact of the mine awareness activities. There are three teams of five instructors, who also try to identify new mine victims. Three instructors in other towns where children are more exposed to ammunition and UXO have also made presentations relevant to those circumstances. This program, in which the Albanian Red Cross takes a leading role, started in October 1999. UNICEF supported some public events as lead-agency and trained teachers from all over Albania and representatives from the Youth Council in mine awareness. CARE and the ICRC provided trainers for these courses. The Balkan Sun Flowers organization is also involved in a mine/UXO awareness program, with UNICEF support.

Survivor Assistance

A record of mine victims is maintained by AMAE and is publicly available. Seven military personnel have been injured while marking fields or on border patrol or other duties.¹⁶⁴ After the Kosovo crisis the number of civilian mine victims increased significantly. By early July 2000 AMAE had recorded eighty-five incidents, resulting in eighteen dead and 118 injured.¹⁶⁵ In addition to the two recent casualties mentioned by AMAE when announcing the RONCO contract, several children in the eastern town of Peshkopi in the district of Dibra were severely injured and one child was killed.¹⁶⁶

In general, most of the casualties were teenagers curious about what might be in prohibited areas. Many people were injured while attending grazing animals or crossing the borders illegally; some were killed or injured trying to rescue other people injured by mines. Illegal border-crossing is especially common in the Tropoja district where many people have no identification papers; because KFOR troops cannot allow them to cross the border without identification papers, the villagers use other routes through mined areas. The ICRC has raised this issue with the AMAE for the authorities' urgent attention.

State facilities provide immediate medical aid and treatment to mine victims. A one-year pension is available to people injured in the performance of their duties, such as border policeman or soldiers marking minefields, and approximately $80 per month (equivalent to monthly salary in the public sector) to disabled people, including mine victims. There is no statutory obligation to provide prostheses to amputees.

Albania's Prosthesis Center (located in the Military Hospital) collaborates closely with the ICRC, which along with the Swiss Red Cross, provides raw materials for the production of artificial limbs. There is an agreement between the Center's Director and the ICRC to give priority to mine survivors. Mine awareness instructors identify lower and upper leg amputees, then a medical specialist determines which of the survivors is ready for measurement. The ICRC then transports them to Tirana, accompanied by a relative, for the first phase of the fitting process, and then three weeks later for the final phase. The ICRC covers all costs, including accommodation and a per diem during the period needed for fitting. When the process is finished the ICRC returns the survivors to their villages. The Albanian government granted the Center $40,000 for 1999; any grant for 2000 is not known at present.

From April 1999 until the end of the year, Handicap International had an operation in Durres to provide psychological support to the victims of war for the Kosovar refugees. In Shkoder, HI distributed thousands pairs of shoes, orthopaedic devices, crutches and wheelchairs.

ANDORRA

Andorra signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, and deposited its instrument of ratification at the United Nations on 29 June 1998. According to Andorra's Ambassador to the UN, Juli Minoves, the treaty is a good and necessary instrument to completely ban antipersonnel mines in the near future, and he insists that it should be signed and ratified as soon as possible by those governments that have not yet done so.¹⁶⁷

Andorra has not passed on any implementation legislation apart from the ratification instrument. Prior to the Mine Ban Treaty, Andorra did not have any domestic legislation specifically on mines, but it did have a decree on arms, dated 3 July 1989. Chapter 1, section 3, article 2 of the decree prohibits the use of antipersonnel mines in Andorran territory.

Andorra has not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report to the United Nations, which was due 27 August 1999. The reason given is that Andorra lacks the administrative resources to service all its increasing international commitments. This is also given as the reason why Andorra was not able to attend the First Meeting of State Parties in Mozambique in May 1999 or attend the subsequent meetings of the Standing Committees of Experts in Geneva. However, Ambassador Minoves states that the Article 7 report will be available shortly, and Andorra has recently opened a diplomatic chapter in Geneva.

Andorra voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in December 1999 in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. Andorra has made numerous public statements promoting the treaty. Ambassador Minoves considers "an outrage the various new deployments, and allegations of new deployments being made of APMs around the world."

Andorra has not yet ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons, or the Amended Protocol II on mines, but will shortly do so. It is in favor of negotiating a ban on mine transfers in the Conference on Disarmament.

Andorra has not produced, stockpiled or used antipersonnel mines, and its territory is not mine-affected. Andorra does not have any military forces.

Although Andorra is not a big country, it has contributed to humanitarian action programs, especially to the UN Trust Fund (US$ 10,000 in 1998, US$ 10,500 in 1999, with US$ 20,000 budgeted for 2000). The government is currently studying the possibility of funding training programs for deminers.

AUSTRIA

Key developments since March 1999: Austria continued to play an active role in promoting universalization and effective implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It developed the reporting format for Article 7 reports, and has been an important player in the intersessional work program. The government has approved an increase in mine action funding to US$2 million in 2000.

Mine Ban Policy

Austria signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification at the United Nations on 29 June 1998. The Austrian Federal Law comprehensively banning AP mines entered into force on 1 January 1997, and, with penal sanctions for violations, served as the implementing legislation for the MBT in Austria.¹⁶⁸ Since the Austrian government was already committed to a total ban on AP mines, it was able to play a crucial role during the "Ottawa Process," including drafting the successive working texts of the Treaty.

Austria submitted its initial Article 7 report on 29 July, covering the short period from 1 March 1999 - 30 April 1999. Its second report, covering 30 April to 31 December 1999, was submitted on 28 April 2000; there was no updated information to report.

For many years Austria has made efforts to sensitize other countries to the landmine issue, and to universalize the MBT by encouraging more countries to join and fully implement its provisions. During 1999 the Austrian government made particular efforts to achieve a coordinated EU policy on AP mines, and also issued a number of statements condemning landmine use, particularly by the Yugoslav army in Kosovo. The Foreign Ministry believes these efforts have helped to increase the number of countries ratifying the MBT.¹⁶⁹

Austria took the lead in developing the format for Article 7 reporting, which was then adopted at the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) in Maputo in May 1999.¹⁷⁰ The Austrian government welcomed the release of the Landmine Monitor Report 1999 at the FMSP, and considers the information contained in the report as valuable for the regular work in the Foreign Ministry on mine ban issues.¹⁷¹

Austrian representatives from Vienna and its permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva have participated fully in all intersessional meetings of the MBT's Standing Committees of Experts. Austria has contributed in particular to the SCEs on Stockpile Destruction and on the General Status and Operation of the Treaty. At the first SCE meeting on General Status, held in January 2000, Austria was one of the governments that reiterated that under the definitions of the treaty antivehicle mines (AVM) with antihandling devices which function like AP mines - which may explode from an unintentional act of a person -- are banned under the MBT, noting that this is also consistent with the diplomatic record.¹⁷²

On 27 July 1998 Austria ratified Amended Protocol II (1996) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), which entered into force for Austria on 27 January 1999.¹⁷³ It submitted the required Article 13 report on 11 October 1999. The government participated in the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 1999.

Concerning the possibility of also dealing with AP mines in the Conference on Disarmament (CD), Austria has stated recently that it continues to support "all efforts that might contribute to the total elimination of anti-personnel mine world-wide, in all appropriate international fora, including the Conference on Disarmament, provided these efforts are in support of and consistent with the Ottawa Convention."¹⁷⁴

Production

Production, export and use of AP mines were formally renounced in September 1995 under a prohibition order that was later superseded by the national legislation. The Austrian Chamber of Commerce has stated on several occasions that there has been no production of AP mines in Austria since 1945.¹⁷⁵ This does not include command detonated directional fragmentation (Claymore-type) mines, which are not banned by the MBT, and which continue to be produced today.¹⁷⁶

Command detonated mines (or "charges" as they are now called in Austria) are considered AP mines under the treaty if used with a tripwire. The Chamber of Commerce stated early in 1999 that the Austrian Federal Army holds only command-detonated directional fragmentation charges.¹⁷⁷ More recently, the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs confirmed that stocks of directional fragmentation AP mines in the Austrian Federal Army have been modified by closing the inlet for the AP mine fuse to prohibit use in tripwire mode.¹⁷⁸ Dynamit Nobel Wien issued the following statement on 9 May 2000:

The Company DNW/DNG produces and distributes for more than 15 years Directional Fragmentation Charges and Anti Vehicle Charges. Since 1991 over 180,000 charges of this kind have been manufactured and delivered mainly to European countries. Only minor test quantities have been delivered into other countries outside Europe. Although the above-mentioned products have not been banned under the Mine Ban Treaty of Dec. 3rd 1997, DNW/DNG has acknowledged the worries and the meaning of the treaty and began to modify its products in a way that they were even succeeding the requirements of the 1997 treaty.

- In future there will be no production, sales or trade with mechanical firing devices that can be tripwire operated.

- Development of ignition systems that can only be command operated.

- Since 1997 the DFC 19/29 are furnished with one firing well only (previously two wells) with a fixed built in electrical detonator to prohibit trip wire operation.

DNG/DNW fully supports the Austrian Government with its obligation to observe the keeping of the 97 Treaty and provides periodically information on its activities.¹⁷⁹

Transfer

The transfer of AP mines is banned in Austria under the MBT and the preceding national legislation. Any import, export or transfer of any type of mine is tied to a strict system of licenses under the War Material Act. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, under whose jurisdiction this falls, stated initially that there were no requests for transfer licenses during 1999 and up to April 2000.¹⁸⁰ Dynamit Nobel Wien indicated that it submitted a request for an export license in July 1999, which has not been processed.¹⁸¹ The Ministry of the Interior has since confirmed that one application was received in 1999, which has not been processed.¹⁸² The Chamber of Commerce states that there is strict control and monitoring of sales of directional fragmentation mines/charges, including strict checks on end-use; any such mines exported have been adapted so that they can only be command-detonated and re-conversion for use with tripwires is ruled out.¹⁸³

A consignment of directional fragmentation mines/charges was exported to Norway in 1997.¹⁸⁴ The official Austrian response is that the license to export these was issued before 1996 and that the mines were not prohibited by the Austrian federal law.¹⁸⁵ This has been the subject of parliamentary questions to all relevant Ministers; they stated that the decision was taken in accordance with the law applicable at the time.¹⁸⁶ A meeting between the Legal Division of Austrian Red Cross, the Austrian Federal Army, Ministry of the Interior, Dynamit Nobel Graz, Irmtraud Karlsson MP and the Chamber of Commerce (at the latter's invitation) revealed that directional fragmentation AP mines had been exported to Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Brazil and the Netherlands; the export to Norway was in spring 1997; only those AP mines delivered to Brazil were physically adapted to prevent tripwire/victim-activation. The representative from the Ministry of the Interior considered that both tripwire-activated and command-detonated AP mines were exempted from prohibition under Austrian law; hence the permit for their export to Norway. This meeting took place on 3 December 1997, the same day that the MBT opened for signature in Ottawa.¹⁸⁷

Official sources state that the dissemination of production and export data on armaments is protected by Austrian law¹⁸⁸ (although Dynamit Nobel Wien has in fact released some such data on the export of directional fragmentation mines/charges as noted above). The Austrian government has been asked to reconsider this and provide information in the spirit of transparency embodied in the MBT, which Austria did so much to bring about.¹⁸⁹

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that, as a neutral country, Austria is keen to prevent any violations of the MBT and has denied transit to NATO countries either across its territory or through its airspace of any transport containing any weapons, in spite of NATO requests to do so during the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.¹⁹⁰

Stockpile and Destruction

The Austrian government has stated that the "destruction of all anti-personnel mines belonging to the armed forces has been completed in 1996."¹⁹¹ Austria's AP mine stocks included 116,000 US M14 mines, classified in Austria as Schuetzenminen M14, which were destroyed by the end of 1995.¹⁹²

The current stockpile of mines includes directional fragmentation charges modified to be MBT-compliant, and antivehicle mines. The quantities, dates and details of modification of these mines are not included in either of Austria's two Article 7 reports. In this respect Austria adheres strictly to the requirement of the reporting format for Article 7 for details of "APMs destroyed after entry into force" (Form G). However, as these directional fragmentation charges previously formed part of the AP mine stockpile, it would enhance the effectiveness of Article 7 as a transparency measure if Austria reported information the details of modifications to the weapons under the section for "supplemental information."

On the topic of antivehicle mines with antihandling devices that may function as antipersonnel mines, and therefore be prohibited by the MBT, the Ministry of Defense stated in May 2000 that it "possesses only such types of anti-tank mines (including anti-vehicle mines) as are compatible with the content of the agreement concerning the ban on the deployment, stockpiling, manufacture and transfer of APMs and their destruction (so-called Ottawa Convention), as well as other national regulations and international obligations."¹⁹³

Other sources list several Austrian antivehicle mines with antihandling devices of potential concern: the ATM 6, ATM 7, ATM 2000E, PM 83 and Pz MI 85 M, all because of sensitive fuzing; the AVM, SCRAM 95, SMI 21/11C and SMI 22/7C because of IR sensors; the Model 67 and Model 75 because of secondary fuze wells for antihandling devices, and finally the PM 3000, which possibly has a built-in antihandling device.¹⁹⁴

The Ministry of Defense states, "The mines of types PM 83 and PzMi 85M, which may be equipped with tilt rod fuses, are not known here. For this reason the Ministry of Defense cannot give an opinion on whether they would be permitted in agreement with the Austrian Republic's international legal obligations."¹⁹⁵ It does not mention the other mines of concern.

The ICBL has called upon states parties to report under Article 7 on Claymore mines and steps taken to insure command detonation only as well as information on antivehicle mines with antihandling devices that may function as AP mines.¹⁹⁶

Mine Action and Victim Assistance

In addition to playing a leading role in the Ottawa Process, the Austrian government has also viewed mine action and victim assistance as critical elements of the ban movement. Speaking at the FMSP in Maputo in May 1999, Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner¹⁹⁷ (who was State Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the time and has since become Foreign Minister) said, "In our assessment there is not only a need for increased funding for mine action, but simultaneously for further improvement in international co-ordination and co-operation. We support the central co-ordinating role of the United Nations, in particular through the United Nations Mine Action Service, and acknowledge the first results of their as well as our common efforts. However, we view strengthening co-ordination and co-operation as an on-going endeavour that still offers considerable potential for refinement."¹⁹⁸

The draft Federal Budget for 2000 introduced a specific budget line for humanitarian mine action and increased the proposed sum for assistance from the previous annual figure (since 1996) of US$1.25 million (ATS 18 million) to $2 million (ATS 30 million). This was subsequently approved by the government. The Foreign Ministry is currently reviewing its policy on mine action funding and victim assistance, to be finalized in August 2000.¹⁹⁹

In recent years Austria has supported a wide range of mine action programs, via direct financial assistance and in-kind contributions, including donations to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations, and research and development into technologies related to demining. In April 2000, the Foreign Minister said that in the past "Austria has supported programs and projects in the countries which are the focus of Austrian Development Co-operation. These are Mozambique, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Croatia.... The co-operation in the field of mine action with internationally recognized NGOs such as Handicap International, Mines Advisory Group or Norwegian People's Aid has proved very helpful in the past. There is also a need to promote the relevant activities within the framework of the UN."²⁰⁰ Governmental financial and in-kind contributions to mine action and victim assistance in 1999 and 2000 are in Table 1.

Table 1. Austrian governmental financial and in-kind contributions to mine action and victim assistance 1999-2000: ²⁰¹

Country	Year	Donations in ATS (US$)	Project
Namibia	1998-1999	300,000	Support to NGO demining program (MAG)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1999	($419,171)	Support NGO demining program (NPA) in Sarajevo
Cambodia	1999	($308,166)	Support to NGO demining program in Kompong Thom (MAG)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1999	($99,000)	Support NGO demining program (HI) in Bihac
Cambodia	2000	($267,913)	Support to NGO demining activities (MAG) in Kompong Thom
EU Program
Palestinian Authority	1999	-	EOD-training for 4 Palestinians in Austria
Palestinian Authority	2000	-	Train the trainers program for EOD personnel in West Bank and Gaza.

Additional governmental assistance includes an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team in the Austrian UN peacekeeping and monitoring contingent on the Golan Heights. In Albania, Austria set up a camp and hospital in Skodra to assist refugees from Kosovo who fled there in 1999. This included a team of experts to inform people of the dangers of landmines and increase their mine awareness when they returned home. The Army unit currently stationed with KFOR in Kosovo also has an EOD team, part of whose job it is to train new trainers at a local level.²⁰² As part of its general promotion of the Mine Ban Treaty, the Austrian government provided financial support to delegations from the Cape Verde islands, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Uganda,²⁰³ and has supported the Landmine Monitor with grants of $80,000 in 1999 and again in 2000.²⁰⁴

Governmental support to international organizations in recent years for mine-related activities is summarized in Table 2:

Table 2. Austrian governmental support to international organizations for mine-related activities²⁰⁵

Organization	Year	Donations in ATS (US$)	Project
ICBL	1999	1,000,000	Support for Landmine Monitor
WEU	1999	400,000	1 Expert Geographical Information System for WEU Mine Survey program in Croatia (in kind assistance) (EU Mine Action in Croatia)
ICRC	1999	500,000	Mine awareness program in Kosovo
UNHCR	1999	2,500,000	Mine related activities in Kosovo
Slovenian Trust Fund (ITF)	2000	600,000	Mine action programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Research and Development

The Austrian company Schiebel produces a wide variety of mine detectors and systems. It is currently concentrating on developing the CAMCOPTER, an unmanned, remote controlled mini-plane to detect mines from the air. Initially designed to detect antitank mines, it is now being refined to detect AP mines. Schiebel says it is trying to bring down the cost of the CAMCOPTER in order to put it within reach of humanitarian organizations, either by sale or lease, but to do this military involvement is needed. It considers the EU spending on research and development too little to get results within a short period of around five years.

Schiebel works closely with other research and development efforts, such as the EU FP4-ESPIRIT program whose objectives are set out in a March 2000 draft memoranda.²⁰⁶ It is also involved in the "Angel" project, under Spanish management, which is trying to combine different technologies to create a complete demining system, and in the "Pice" project, mainly funded by Sweden, which aims to develop a hand-held device, which combines a metal detector with ground penetrating radar, to reduce the false alarm rate in mine detection. To date, the Austrian government has provided no funding for this research and development, nor has the EU. Most of the testing is done in cooperation with the United States Army in the USA, the Austrian Army abroad, and elsewhere where demining is being carried out.²⁰⁷

Non-governmental Organizations

Austrian NGOs, including Austrian Aid for Mine Victims (AAMV), UNICEF, Care-Austria, the Austrian Red Cross, Caritas-Austria, Dreikonigsaktion, and Friedensburo, support mine action and victim assistance programs in a number of countries. AAMV, Caritas, the Austrian Red Cross and ORF (the Austrian broadcasting company) participated in a national fundraising campaign "Neighbor in Need" to help mine victims in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cambodia.

AAMV has helped to raise funds for MAG projects in Cambodia, Namibia and the Sudan. In 1999/2000, it funded victim assistance projects in Cambodia; $11,740 was donated to Jesuit Services-Cambodia for income generating projects and vocational training, with a further $3,000 for wheelchairs etc. AAMV has received a donation of $69,000 (ATS 1 million) from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,²⁰⁸ which has been earmarked for humanitarian mine action and victim assistance support in 2000. The Rotary club in Salzburg-West donated $4,200 (ATS 60,000) to AAMV for mine action, and Rotary-Klosterneuburg donated $3,500 (ATS 50,000) for mine action in Kosovo.

The UNICEF-Austria committee produced the German version of the UNICEF film "The Silent Scream" to be shown in schools in Austria. The Austrian Committee has also produced a user's guide and a summary of the MBT adapted for children, with the intention of raising awareness of the problem. The Austrian Committee fundraised for landmine-related UNICEF programs and contributed $69,000 (ATS 1 million) to mine awareness programs in Bosnia and Croatia, as well as $61,000 (ATS 886,250) to mine awareness and rehabilitation programs in Mozambique.²⁰⁹

Care-Austria provided $18,500 (DM 40,000) for a project in 1999 in Gornji Vakuf, central Bosnia, demining the local water supply pipeline and the bus station.²¹⁰

The Austrian Red Cross provided victim assistance in the Banja Luka area of the Bosnian Serb Republic, from March 1998 to April 2000. By the end of 1999, 170 mine victims were aided and fifty-four artificial limbs supplied. The Red Cross provided the equipment and technology for production of the prostheses, while the local manufacturers provided materials and labor. The cost per artificial limb was $700 (DM 1,500).

It also supported rehabilitation programs and income-generating projects for mine survivors in Bosnia. The funding of this program was divided into two phases: from March to September 1999, $45,000 (ATS 650,000) was provided by the 1998 Nachbar in Not (Neighbors in Need) fundraising effort in Austria; from September 1999 to April 2000 the Austrian Red Cross allocated $69,000 (ATS 1 million) to this project.²¹¹

Between January 1999 and May 2000, Caritas-Austria contributed ATS 5,096,540 (US$352,000) to mine victim assistance projects. In Cambodia, it contributed to projects involving mine awareness in Pursat province via the Mines Advisory Group, an income-generating project for women carried out through AAMV, and via help packs, wells and housing grants through the Jesuit Service-Cambodia. In Croatia it funded Caritas-Zagreb for the medical and psychological rehabilitation of mine victims and Caritas-Djakovo for medical rehabilitation and computer training for mine victims. In Bosnia Caritas-Austria funded the Jesuit Service-Bosnia for the rehabilitation of elderly mine victims. In Sudan it co-funded the MAG project for training an OSIL demining team. The Carinthia branch of Caritas funded prostheses and rehabilitation for three Kosovar boys with double amputations, and rebuilt their homes and some others in Kosovo. The Entwicklungshilfe Club contributed $15,000 to victim assistance funding Jesuit Services-Cambodia projects building bamboo housing, with Misereor as partner-organization, starting in November 1999.

Dreikonigsaktion and other Catholic organizations were involved in several mine-related activities during 1999: the `Three Kings Action' run by the Catholic Church youth movement, the Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam project (together with the Catholic Women's movement, the Diocesan Committee for the World Church and the development program of the Diocese Graz-Seckau). In previous years Dreikoningsaktion supported the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines with $17,000 (ATS 250,000) and a rehabilitation project for mine victims in Gulu (Uganda) with $7,000 (ATS 100,000).²¹²

BELGIUM

Key developments since March 1999: Belgium continued to play a leadership role in promoting universalization and effective implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Belgium served as co-rapporteur of the SCE on General Status of the Convention. The 1995 domestic AP mine ban law was amended to make it permanent. Belgium contributed about US$ 2.3 million to mine action programs in 1999, plus $1.4 million for mine action research and development activities.

Mine Ban Policy

In 1995 Belgium was the first country in the world to adopt domestic legislation banning the production, procurement, sale, export, use and custody of antipersonnel mines.²¹³ It played a central role in the "Ottawa Process" leading to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), which it signed on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 9 July 1998.

Part of the 1995 law was time-limited: Article 3 prevents the State or public administration from acquiring, supplying or using AP mines for five years. Parliament adopted a new law canceling the five-year limitation, which was voted in the Senate on 16 December 1999 unanimously with one abstention and in the Chamber of Representatives on 23 March 2000 unanimously. It was signed by the King of Belgium on 30 March 2000, published on 7 April 2000, and entered into force ten days later.²¹⁴

Belgium continues to play an active role in the global movement toward the total elimination on antipersonnel mines, stating in April 2000, "Belgium's global action considers three priorities, namely, the promotion of the further universalization of the Convention, the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention and the provision of assistance to victim countries both in the field and through the development of more efficient techniques."²¹⁵

Belgium participated in the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) to the MBT in May 1999, having been active in the preparation of the meeting with a group of countries, "all of which are ardent supporters of a rapid achievement of the goals of the Convention."²¹⁶

At the Meeting, in response to allegations of new AP mine use by some States, the Belgian Foreign Minister declared: "I notice with particular worry that in Europe, the Serbian Armed Forces are continuing to use anti-personnel mines. Belgium must insist that an end is brought to this practice as rapidly as possible. Belgium exhorts the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to renounce the use of anti-personnel mines.... While the removal of mines is a nearly superhuman challenge for the international community, it is incomprehensible that new mines are being laid. We have to strongly oppose those responsible for this deviation. As the Presidency of the European Union has underlined, it is even more serious that a signatory State of the Convention such as Angola continues to lay mines. It is with insistence that I have to exhort those countries to review their attitude."²¹⁷

Belgium was appointed as co-rapporteur (with Zimbabwe) of the Standing Committee of Experts (SCE) on the General Status and Operation of the Convention until the Second Meeting in September 2000, after which it will co-chair this SCE. It has attended all the intersessional SCE meetings of the MBT, with the exception of the second SCE meeting on stockpile destruction.

Belgium helped to develop the reporting format for reports required under Article 7 of the MBT. Although its first report was not required until August 1999, Belgium distributed an initial report at the FMSP in May 1999 to help develop a model of how to comply with the MBT obligations. This report covered from 3 December 1997 to the end of April 1999.²¹⁸ Belgium submitted its second report on 15 August 1999, covering 1 May to 15 August 1999.²¹⁹ A third report was submitted on 27 April 2000, covering the calendar year 1999. With other countries, Belgium is working to spur all States Parties to submit the annual implementation report in a timely manner, and various other initiatives have been undertaken to help States Parties to fulfil their obligations to report fully progress towards implementation. ²²⁰

During 1999 and early 2000, with the change of government in Belgium, political will regarding the AP mine issue has remained strong and many measures have been taken to promote the universalization and the implementation of the MBT. In March 2000 Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Louis Michel sent letters to twenty-six countries encouraging ratification of the MBT, and explaining the intersessional process of SCE meetings which signatory states are welcome to attend.²²¹ Other bilateral actions have been taken during the year, with follow-up in June 2000.²²²

An interdepartmental working group established under the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has continued to work on promoting the MBT. This special working group is composed of representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, and the State Secretary for Development Co-operation. The nongovernmental organization Handicap International is regularly invited to attend these meetings.²²³

Belgium sponsored and voted in favor of the UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in December 1999, which called for universalization and full implementation of the MTB; it has supported previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

On 10 March 1999 Belgium ratified Amended Protocol II (1996)²²⁴ of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and is currently preparing its full implementation.²²⁵ The government submitted its annual report as required under Article 13 on 8 October 1999, and participated in the First Conference of States Parties to the Protocol in December 1999. The delegation made no statement, as there was a common European Union statement.²²⁶ At informal expert meetings in Geneva prior to the Conference, on 31 May and 2 June 200, the government had spoken in support of the ICBL being invited to participate.²²⁷

Regarding the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the Belgian position has evolved since 1999: "In the international fora where this issue will be on the agenda, Belgium will support any additional action effectively contributing to the implementation of the Ottawa Convention, but will never agree to any measure which would be a step back vis-à-vis the Convention."²²⁸ In his opening speech at the CD on 8 June 2000 Ambassador Lint reminded delegates of the importance of universalizing the MBT.²²⁹

Belgium has not replied to the ICBL's inquiries about Belgium's position regarding the use of AP mines by a non-signatory of the MBT during joint military operations,²³⁰ but has confirmed its intention of replying soon.²³¹ When asked how the government interprets the term "to assist," it answered, "the Ottawa Convention...did not provide for a definition of the term `assist' in its Article 2 relative to definitions. This being said, any Belgian unit engaged in joint operations outside national territory cannot use anti-personnel mines, in any circumstances, whatever framework and subordination mode this engagement is undergoing. Belgium will also continue to undertake diplomatic and political steps to NATO partners who have not ratified the Ottawa Convention for them to adhere to the Convention."²³²

Production and Transfer

Belgium has not produced AP mines since demilitarization of facilities in 1990: "Belgium has neither produced or developed anti-personnel mines since PRB (Poudreries Réunies de Belgique) was closed down. The actions in which Belgium participates, whether as a promoter or as a participant, are by no means aimed at conceiving or developing munitions whose operation would be similar to the operation of anti-personnel mines."²³³ Details of past production and transfer were reported in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999.²³⁴ It is known now that the last years of production were 1983 to 1986. During that period around 112,000 mines were produced, nearly all were AP mines and none was bought by the Belgian Army; all were destined for export.²³⁵

Stockpile

Belgium was one of the first countries to complete the destruction of all stocks of AP mines, in September 1997.²³⁶ Mines retained for permitted training and development purposes under Article 3.1 of the MBT were reported as 5,980 Type M35Bg as of August 1999, and 5,816 as of 31 December 1999,²³⁷ the difference being "due to the consumption for training purposes."²³⁸ In an April 2000 letter to Landmine Monitor, the government cited a figure of 5,770 mines retained for training.²³⁹

An issue of particular concern to the ICBL and others has been certain antivehicle mines (AVMs) with antihandling devices that might act like an AP mine and thus be banned under the MBT. This issue has been discussed in various fora, and was a point in the January 2000 meeting of the SCE on the General Status and Operation of the Convention. During that SCE, nine governments spoke to reiterate that under the treaty's definitions antivehicle mines with antihandling devices which function like AP mines - which may explode from an unintentional act of a person -- are banned under the MBT, noting that this is also consistent with the diplomatic record. These governments supported a proposal put forth at the SCE to form an informal expert group to examine the antivehicle mine issue.²⁴⁰ Belgium was silent on the issue, but later said that it believes that discussion of this subject has to be within the framework of an expert group.²⁴¹

This issue had been noted in various country reports in Landmine Monitor Report 1999, including that of Belgium where it noted that Belgium possessed antitank mines and "that a certain percentage of the antitank mines retained by the army are equipped with antihandling devices."²⁴² The response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was that "the Landmine Monitor has a mission to monitor the implementation by States Parties of the obligation of the Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel landmines. The move to open the debate on the problem of mines, notably to antitank mines, should be relevant only if antitank mines were conceived to explode in the presence or the contact of a person. The general references to antitank mines in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999 do then not have their place in the context of the mission of the International Landmines Monitor."²⁴³

The Belgian antivehicle mines for which ban campaigners have asked clarification with respect to consistency with the MBT are: PRB-III and improved PRB-III, PRB-IV, PRM-ATK-3 (with PRB-M30 anti-lift device), as well as NR 141, NR 201, and PRB-408.²⁴⁴ The Landmine Monitor researcher has received no response regarding these antivehicle mines previously produced by Belgium and therefore possibly remaining in stockpiles. Some States Parties have already opted to destroy certain types of antivehicle mines that function as antipersonnel mines.

Landmine Problem

Today Belgium is not considered to be affected by landmines but is still occasionally affected by unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mines from the two World Wars.²⁴⁵ The Belgian Armed Forces maintains an explosive ordnance disposal unit, the SEDEE-DOVO, which still operates in Belgium on a regular basis as illustrated in the following statistics: in 1999 there were 3,463 notifications to the Unit and 1,489 in the first five months of 2000.²⁴⁶ Also, in 1999 three incidents resulting in death or injury due to unexploded ordnance were registered by SEDEE-DOVO.²⁴⁷ An engineer with the Braet company contracted to clear the beach of The Panne said in November 1999 that they had found thirty-nine mines and that the beach would be clear by the end of 2000.²⁴⁸

Mine Action Funding²⁴⁹

Belgium contributed approximately BEF 92.66 million (US$ 2.3 million) to mine action programs in 1999, including victim assistance programs. An additional $1.4 million was spent on research and development of new mine clearance detection and clearance technologies.

The financial contributions of Belgium to mine action in 1999 can be divided into various categories:

Support to advocacy work and public awareness: BEF 2.3 million (US$57,500)

· BEF 1.9 million ($47,500) was contributed to coordination of the Belgian network of the ICBL campaign, operated in cooperation with Handicap International Belgium.

· BEF 0.4 million ($10,000 for promotion of the MBT and advocacy through the production of the Belgian movie Vanna.

Support for the promotion and implementation of the MBT: BEF 6 million ($150,000) over two years

· BEF 3 million ($75,000) to the UN to make funds rapidly available for the FMSP, to Mozambique for more mine-related activities, and to several countries to enable them to attend the FMSP.²⁵⁰ (from the fiscal year 1998).

· BEF 3 million ($75,000) to promote the MBT and follow-up the FMSP, including to give countries the opportunity to attend international meetings about AP mines, such as the yearly meetings of States Parties, the intersessional meetings, as well as Landmine Monitor conferences.

Support for monitoring the MBT: BEF 6,350,000 ($158,750)

To monitor correct implementation of the MBT, the Belgian Government has supported the Landmine Monitor since its creation in 1998. In 1999 BEF 2 million ($50,000) was granted to support the research conference in Brussels in January/ February 2000. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put the Egmont Palace in Brussels and logistic support and BEF 1 million ($25,000) at the disposal of the ICBL for this event. Another BEF 3,350,000 ($83,750) was charged to the Development Co-operation budget to enable delegates from developing countries to participate in this conference. The Ministry of Defense also supported the conference in organising an exhibition of AP mines.

Support to mine clearance operations (humanitarian or military cooperation projects): BEF 60,060,000 ($1,501,500)

· Kosovo, (BEF 10 million, or $250,000): In cooperation with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and Canada, for a first mine clearance capacity unit in Kosovo which later developed into a Mine Action Center which coordinates civilian mine clearance. A contribution was also given to setting up mobile units in order to react to emergency situations. Contributed via the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund and UNMAS. Belgium has also sent three permanent mine clearance experts to this region, who operate under the KFOR mandate and assist local demining organizations.

· Croatia, (BEF 2 million, or $50,000): BEF 2 million was donated via the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund and UNMAS to CROMAC, the local mine clearance organization in Croatia, for demining agricultural land in the region of Osijek-Baranja. Three mine clearance experts have been operating under the SFOR mandate and assisting local demining organisations.

· Cambodia, (BEF 31.36 million, or $784,000): Since 1994 three mine-clearance experts have served as technical advisers to Cambodia Mine Action Center for a development project in three provinces supported financially by Belgium. International financial and technical support provided to this governmental organisation is coordinated by the UN Development Program (UNDP). Technical assistance is provided to enabling the Cambodian staff of the CMAC to ultimately operate independently. BEF 11.36 million ($284,000) has gone to the financing of this specific project and BEF 20 million ($500,000) to the UNDP Trust Fund for the development of local mine clearance capabilities.

· Laos: Since April 1998 four mine-clearance experts have served as technical advisers to the UXO LAO (the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Program) to train Laotian mine-clearance experts in the province of Champassak.

· Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH): in-kind contributions have been made to BH.

Support to victim assistance: BEF 18,008,400 ($450,210)

· BEF 3 million ($75,000) for the special appeal launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross (CRC) for the period 2000-2005 for prevention and assistance to victims of AP mines, released in late 1999.

· Financing (BEF 15,008,400, or $375,210) of a Handicap International project in Cambodia, aimed at the economic and social integration of war victims.

Support to research and development (R&D) of new mine detection and clearance technologies: BEF 51,235,930 ($1,405,773)

Belgium is involved in many different R&D projects and financial allocations to the main projects are summarized here:

· In 1999 Belgium allocated BEF 14.69 million (US$ 367,250) to the HUDEM (HUmanitarian DEMining) program launched in 1997 on the initiative of the Minister for Defense, which looks at ground-penetrating radar, metal detectors and infrared, nuclear quadripole resonance. This is financed jointly by the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs (International Co-operation Division).

· BEF 14,118,000 (US$ 352,950) was granted to the Airborne Minefield Detection pilot project, which is co-financed by the European Commission, several EU States and organisations.

· Belgium contributed BEF 6,657,930 (US$ 166,448) to a minefield detection project in Mozambique which aims to demonstrate under real conditions the feasibility of marking out mined areas.

· The APOPO project researching the use of `bio-sensors' (African rats) in humanitarian mine-clearance operations continued in 1999, funded by BEF 15,765,000 (US$ 394,125).

· The Ministry of Defense has contributed in kind to the ESPRIT/HOPE project, which is aimed at developing a portable, multi-sensor mine detection system demonstrator.

· Belgium funded the PARADIS project for BEF 5 million (US$ 125,000) through the Scientific Policy department budget.

Research and Development²⁵¹

Belgium has been involved in R&D for new mine-related technologies for several years. The Royal Military Academy is involved in many projects as a research center and as a coordinator for other actors such as universities and schools, private companies, research institutes and others.²⁵² Following presentation of the results of the HUDEM (humanitarian demining) project in Berlin on 6-9 June 1999, the Belgian Royal Military Academy has been designated to chair the expert group "Mines and Countermining" for its first task: distance detection of minefields and close detection of individual mines.²⁵³ The Royal Military Academy also has the presidency of the Western European Union Mine Clearance Experts Working Group.²⁵⁴

Such projects, some of which are noted above, are carried out within the framework of national or international consortia, involving academic institutions and industrial circles. Belgium has led and participated in numerous initiatives in the development of mine detection and clearance technologies, including protection equipment, detection by physical methods, satellite minefield mapping, ground-penetrating radar, electronics- and animal-assisted detection, processes for the destruction of devices containing explosives or harmful residues such as chemical munitions.

The Royal Military Academy is involved in the International Program for Test and Evaluation (ITEP) within the framework of a common action between the UN, EU, and the USA, which started in May 1998.²⁵⁵

Casualties/Survivor Assistance

From time to time, accidents occur due to unexploded ordnance. There were three accidents in 1999. The "incidents involved only unexploded ordnance, two due to manipulation by the collectors and ended with one death and one person seriously injured. The third accident occurred while carrying the device, nobody was injured."⁰

In addition to the contributions noted in the section above, two recent meetings have focused on mine victim assistance. On 25 February 2000 the scientific society of the military medical services organized a colloquium on the political, medical, humanitarian socio-economic and preventive aspects of AP mines, entitled "Anti-personnel Landmines, an Everlasting Problem."¹ More than 200 members of the Armed Forces were present. There were various presentations, focusing on the medical aspects of the treatment of landmine victims. On 24 March 2000 a benefit gala in favor of Handicap International's aid to landmine victims was organized under the patronage of Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canadian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, and others.

NGO Activity

In 1999 and 2000 various activities have been organized around the mine issue to keep the public informed of developments. To mark entry into force of the MBT on 1 March 1999 a big event was organized in Brussels with the fake mining of a forest and bell ringing. A press conference was held by Handicap International attended by the then- Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 29 April 1999 a press briefing was organized to announce the first Landmine Monitor report, followed by a press release on 3 May 1999 at the time of the FMSP, after which there was a presentation of the report to Belgian NGOs. The Landmine Monitor Report 1999 was widely distributed in Belgium. The Flemish section of the Belgian Red Cross organised a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on 9 May 1999, which the Belgian explosive disposal service SEDEE-DOVO attended and organized a demining demonstration in Sint Niklaas. On 25 September 1999 Handicap International organized a national day of blue laces for landmine victims, with many activities and awareness exhibitions for the public and the SEDEE-DOVO also put on an exhibition on landmines and demining.

The meeting on 31 January-2 February 2000 in Brussels of Landmine Monitor researchers was supported by the Belgian Government and included a press conference organized by Handicap International (HI). This was attended by Eddy Boutmans, State Secretary for Cooperation and Development, Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate and ICBL Ambassador, and the Director General of Handicap International as guest speakers. On 1 March 2000, to celebrate the first anniversary of the MBT entering into force, HI launched a postcard campaign to encourage accession to the Treaty by the United States. The same day, HI representatives met the US Ambassador in Brussels to hand him more than 1300 petitions by landmine victims from around the world. Various other activities on the landmine issue including school and youth activities have been organized during the year.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Key developments since March 1999: BiH's Mine Action Center (BHMAC) reported approximately 3.7 million square meters of land were cleared of mines in 1999 and 573,229 square meters surveyed. Mine casualties have decreased significantly, from a high of sixty-nine mine victims per month in 1994, to an average of eight per month in 1999; there were ninety-four new victims in 1999, or 37% fewer than in 1998. BiH completed destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile in November 1999, destroying 460,727 mines.

Mine Ban Policy

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 8 September 1998. It appears that two laws are being developed simultaneously in the country, one on national implementing legislation and a law on demining.

On 1 November 1999, a "pre-draft" of proposed legislation, Law on Application of Convention on Ban on Usage, Build-up, Production and Traffic of Antipersonnel-Pressure Mines and Their Destruction, was sent from the Federation Ministry of Defense through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Council of Ministers. It addresses national implementation measures as required under Article 9 of the MBT.

The government is also drafting legislation that "will address all issues of demining including the legal requirements committed to under the terms of the Ottawa Convention."² This law on demining was due to be completed by July 2000. Details of its content were not known at the time of writing, but it is believed that it will legalize the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BHMAC), with its standard operating procedures or technical guidelines becoming law.

The government attended the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) of the MBT in May 1999, where it announced the preparations for implementation legislation and the destruction of its stocks of antipersonnel mines, and possibly its antitank mines.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has participated in the intersessional work of the MBT, attending at least one of the meetings of each of the five Standing Committees of Experts (SCE) in Geneva. BiH's mine awareness coordinator gave presentations to SCE meetings on mine awareness in September 1999 and March 2000. At the meetings, the government noted that, in addition to the MBT, the Dayton Agreement entails extensive responsibilities for the country in humanitarian demining and stockpile destruction, and that the support of the international donor community is needed to carry out these tasks.³ However, BiH expects to achieve full compliance with the provisions of the MBT by the year 2010.⁴

Bosnia and Herzegovina representatives also participated in the regional conferences on landmines in Zagreb in June 1999 and Ljubljana in June 2000. It voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54 B calling for full implementation of the MBT in December 1999, as it had with previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions.

Its initial Article 7 report to the UN on implementation measures was due by 27 August 1999. The government was aware of this reporting requirement but delayed submission so that it could report on the completion of its stockpile destruction program.⁵ The Demining Commission prepared one report intended to meet both the August 1999 reporting requirement and the annual update required by 30 April 2000, which it submitted on 1 February 2000.⁶

There is no formal anti-landmine campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but there are many nongovernmental organizations working in the country that are also members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The Stabilization Pact for South Eastern Europe (Cologne, 10 June 1999) resulted in four "Tables" to work on issues promoting stability and economic reconstruction in the region. Working Table III focuses on Security Issues; landmines are addressed within the Sub-Table on Defense and Security Affairs. The Sarajevo Summit Declaration states, "We will also promote civilian control of the armed forces and effective measures against organized crime, terrorism and problems caused by landmines and small arms proliferation."⁷

Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 1 September 1993, but has not yet ratified Amended Protocol II (1996).⁸

Production, Transfer and Use

About half the total defense production of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the SFRY was a prolific producer of AP mines, possessing an estimated six million mines of all types at the start of the conflict when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992. Former SFRY production capacity of AP mines was reported to have been located in Gorazde, Vogosca and Bugojno.⁹ No further reference to the Vogosca facility has been noted. There is no indication that Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced, exported or used AP mines since signing the MBT in December 1997, although occasional use by individuals cannot be ruled out.

Regarding the conversion of production facilities, Bosnia and Herzegovina reported in its Article 7 report in February 2000 that it "has not completed the planning process appertaining to the conversion or decommissioning of APM production facilities. This work is intended to be undertaken during this year (2000) and will be reported on as and when the plans are completed."¹⁰

In April 2000, the Federation Ministry of Defense provided more specific information to the Landmine Monitor: "In regard to conversion of production capacities, FBiH has provided information in its report to the State of BiH that landmine factory `SLAVKO RODIC' Bugojno has completed the process of conversion."<sup>11</sup> It noted that the factory's landmine stocks had been destroyed, as well as its parts and fuzes. "Tools" used for production of landmines were also destroyed. These activities were "done in the presence of members of international military forces (SFOR) and some embassies in BiH. One problem that remains unsolved and which FBiH will try to solve is employment of certain number of persons left without job due to conversion of the factory.... In the process of conversion this factory has developed civil programs that need international financial assistance...."<sup>12</sup> Finally it stated that the Ministry of Defense "would also like to underline that production of improvised landmines, so called `GORAZDANKA,' was underway in small amounts during the war in city of Gorazde and that this factory never professionally/originally manufactured landmines."¹³

From May to November 1999, Rebuild International developed a prospectus for the conversion of landmine production plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on product opportunities in the cities of Gorazde and Bugojno. The prospectus provides extensive background about these two facilities.¹⁴

Stockpile and Destruction

At the London Peace Implementation Conference, held in December 1996 to monitor implementation of the Dayton Agreement, BiH was urged to begin plans for destruction of its stockpiles of mines. In the spring of 1999 the Command Unit of the Stabilization Force (COMSFOR) directed that Bosnia and Herzegovina's two "Entities," the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS) should destroy all of their stocks of AP mines. This was intended to be a confidence-building measure, but also had the benefit of meeting one of the key commitments of the MBT.¹⁵ Between March and November 1999, approximately 400,000 mines were destroyed and on 15 November 1999 the last stocks of AP mines in BiH were destroyed (with the exception of permitted retentions, as noted below).¹⁶ The types and number of AP mines destroyed are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Types and number of AP Mines destroyed by each Entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999¹⁷

The Entity Armies destroyed their stockpiles at different locations with the assistance of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) and NATO. The method of destruction was primarily by explosives though some dismantling and recycling occurred (in the case of PMR-type mines).¹⁸ There were two accidents in the RS during the destruction of AP mines, both in September 1999. One incident resulted in injuries to two RS soldiers; the second resulted in one RS soldier being fatally wounded and five other individuals injured (two SFOR soldiers, one SFOR interpreter and two RS soldiers).¹⁹

For training purposes permitted by Article 3 of the MBT, BiH retained 2,165 AP mines.²⁰ Of this total, the Federation retained 165 AP mines.²¹ These are held by the Entity Armies.²²

Table 2. Types and numbers of AP mines retained by the Republika Srpska and Federation of BiH for purposes permitted by Article 3 of the MBT²³

SFOR continues to have a rigorous inspection regime within the country and will continue to play a monitoring role in accordance with the Dayton Agreement.

Mine Action Funding

Mine action funding in Bosnia and Herzegovina is complex and difficult to summarize comprehensively. A mine action funding summary is reportedly being undertaken by the Advisor to the Demining Commission and was due to be completed during the first quarter of 2000.²⁴ No further information is available on the status of this activity.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has contributed to mine clearance operations through the payment of salaries of all Entity Army demining teams, and through tax exemption status for demining organizations.

The Entity Mine Action Centers, in a report to the Board of Donors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, reportedly received approximately $4,572,000 during the period 1 January to 30 November 1999.²⁵

To date, the World Bank has provided or channeled approximately $18 million for demining activities in BiH, through the Project Implementation Units (PIU) of each of the two Entities; these funds were allocated primarily to commercial demining companies. These PIUs are outside the Entity Mine Action Center (EMAC) structure, and can be used to channel mine clearance funds from other sources, as has already been the case with funds from the International Trust Fund.²⁶

The International Trust Fund (ITF), based in Slovenia, continues to play a major role in mine action funding for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since December 1998, all United States government funding for mine action goes through the ITF. In 1998 and 1999, the ITF received donations of $12,167,573, which were matched by the United States, thus making $24,335,146 available for demining and mine victim assistance in BiH. The amount actually spent in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999 is not known, although ITF reports demining success in these terms: area of 4,001,319 square meters demined, 1,250 AP mines found and 9,164 UXO.²⁷ Over 200 mine victims from Bosnia and Herzegovina were rehabilitated in Slovenia and fifty mine victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ITF plan for 2000 estimates five million square meters of land to be cleared and three hundred mine victims to be rehabilitated.²⁸

The Canadian government has pledged C$ 10 million for mine action over five years, starting in 1998. Through SFOR, it has supported the demining efforts of the Entity Armies (ambulances, clearance equipment), as well as providing funds to the UN Development Program (in support of the MACs), Canadian organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in mine action.²⁹ The United States donated $110,000-worth of protective footwear (240 pairs) to three local demining NGOs.

Landmine Problem³⁰

In its Article 7 report, BiH states that as of 1 February 2000 the number of suspect or mined areas was 18,293.³¹ As of 9 March 2000, according to documents provided to Landmine Monitor, the BHMAC had recorded 18,223 minefields in the country, but estimated the probable total number of minefields in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30,000.³² The majority of minefields are in the Zone of Separation, the total length of which is 1,100 kilometers and up to four kilometers wide.³³ The BHMAC summary of minefield records indicates the number and location of minefields shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Location and number of minefields as notified at 9 March 2000³⁴

BHMAC's records and maps of mined areas are on a computer database and publicly accessible. In late 1999 these records were to be updated; it is unclear if this is completed or still in process.

On 15 December 1999, the Ministry of Defense stated that "there are around 740,000 landmines planted in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina."³⁵ Minefields in Bosnia and Herzegovina generally remain unmarked. It is believed there is little or no effect from marking as the signs or markers are often removed for other uses. The Demining Commission chooses instead to focus on mine risk education through schools and local media.³⁶

Coordination and Planning of Mine Action

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center is the focal point for mine action in the country.³⁷ Governmental decrees/decisions established the Entity Mine Action Centers in the Federation on 14 May 1998 and in the RS on 23 April 1998. As of late 1999, these EMACs no longer conduct mine clearance operations. They work with surveying, quality assurance, and monitoring but do not engage in direct demining activities. The EMACs develop Annual Workplans identifying tasks and priorities to address throughout the year, which the Entity governments review and approve based on Entity priorities and agreed national priorities. Using the example set by the Federation MAC in determining priorities,³⁸ the two main criteria for prioritizing mine action are humanitarian reasons for the return of refugees and displaced persons, and economic reasons for the extension of agricultural land and pastures as well as for the renewal, reconstruction and development projects.³⁹

Priority lists and demining project development occur in four phases:

- Phase 1: Nomination of priorities (can be made by institutions, donors, individuals, cantons);

- Phase 2: Site-survey activities (general survey to determine if area is a mine-risk area);

- Phase 3: If identified as risk area, proposer defines the category of risk:

- Category 1: locations of regular civilian use, and/or of refugees and displaced persons return, and/or for infrastructure and economic renewal/reconstruction;

- Category 2: locations of occasional use or in contact zone with category 1 economic resources;

- Category 3: peripheral locations;

- Phase 4: Demining project development (contains all necessary data for the work executor).

The Federation MAC has been preparing priorities for the last two years and developed a list in February 2000, which covers 600 locations.⁴⁰ The EMACs are responsible for certification that areas are clear, but they do not take responsibility for ensuring cleared land is made available to those entitled to it. Generally, the municipalities decide how cleared land is allocated.⁴¹

Survey and Assessment

A general survey (level one) by teams from the Entity Mine Action Centers (EMACs) started in May-June 1999. There are a total of sixteen teams of two men each (one surveyor and one inspector). The Federation has ten teams and the RS has six.⁴² Bosnia and Herzegovina feels there is no need for international survey teams, given the country's own capacity and the fact that a general survey is underway;⁴³ it also believes the technical survey (level two) capacity exists within the MAC structure. According to BHMAC statistics, 573,229 square meters were surveyed in 1999 (it is unclear if this is level 1 or level 2).⁴⁴

Mine Clearance

In March 2000 Mr. Filip Filipovic, Director of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center, said that while no one can say all landmines in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be removed in the next ten years, within ten years Bosnia and Herzegovina will reduce the risk by 90% for the population.⁴⁵

All mine clearance operations report progress to the EMACs, which then send summary information to the BHMAC. In its December 1999 report to the Board of Donors, the following BHMAC statistics were provided for activities to date in 1999: cleared area: 3,720,000 square meters, houses cleared: 488, schools: 7, villages: 6, macadam: 68 km, bridges: 17, railway: 6 km, electric powerlines: 48 km, water/waste facilities: 24, churches/mosques: 8, graveyards: 17, total mines found and destroyed: 2,551, total UXOs found and destroyed: 1,015.⁴⁶

Later statistics for 1999 from BHMAC are: area cleared: 3,608,575 square meters, area surveyed: 573,229 square meters, area fenced: 500 square meters, houses cleared: 512, APMs cleared: 2,989, antitank mines cleared: 134, UXO cleared: 1,314.⁴⁷ Of the land cleared in 1999, about 25% was agricultural land, and approximately 26% was housing, 12% around electrical power sites, and almost 15% categorized as "other." The rest of the areas demined included health and social facilities; educational facilities; water and waste management facilities; roads, railways, and bridges; telecommunications; and utilities.⁴⁸

Mine clearance is carried out by Entity Armies (trained and supervised by SFOR), by local and international NGOs, by commercial demining companies (local and international), and by the Civil Protection Organization, which is responsible primarily for unexploded ordnance (UXO). Until the end of 1999, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was also involved in demining.

All demining organizations must be accredited by BHMAC, and accreditation must be renewed annually. In 1999 there were thirty-eight organizations accredited to work in Bosnia and Herzegovina (eighteen were listed in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999). At present, there is a lack of legal authority to enforce decisions to suspend or cancel accreditation or to stop a non-accredited organization from working. Investigating legal options or the development of new laws is one important new area of work for BHMAC.⁴⁹

Methods for mine detection and clearance include manual demining, use of mine detecting dogs (there are sixty to seventy trained dogs in the country), and mechanical ground preparation/clearance. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first country in the world requiring accreditation for dogs. In 2000, all dogs will be assessed by BHMAC and must be accredited before they can work.⁵⁰

Entity Armies (EA)

There are forty-three nine-man demining teams (nineteen Bosnian, eight Croat, and sixteen Serb) in the Entity Armies (EA). During 1999, the EAs began using integrated demining techniques (mechanical ground preparation and dogs) to facilitate their work. There were no Entity Army deminer casualties during clearance operations. SFOR has a training and monitoring role in mine clearance, and each team has an SFOR soldier with them to monitor and supervise its activities. In 2000, SFOR's role will be selective monitoring with its soldiers encouraging the increased independence of the EA teams.

It is the EMACs which identify the areas where Entity Armies are to demine. In 1998, Entity Armies cleared 100,303 sq.m. of 4,691 AP mines, and in 1999, they cleared 589,170 sq.m. of 1,178 AP mines.⁵¹

NGOs

The main international NGOs working with mine clearance in Bosnia and Herzegovina are Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) and HELP. Other NGOs include Tamar Consulting and INTERSOS. There are four local NGOs actively involved in mine clearance activities. Three of these organizations started in 1999 (Stop Mines, located in Pale; Pro Vita, located in Mostar, and BH Demining, located in Sarajevo). The fourth NGO, Akcija Protiv Mina (APM or Action Against Mines), operated in Una-Sana canton and uses a combination of dogs and manual demining. It was established in 1997, with UN funding, in a program implemented by Handicap International (France) and became officially independent in September 1998. Since then, HI has continued as a partner, by providing technical assistance, management training and assistance in accessing international funding.

Commercial Demining Companies

There are over twenty commercial demining companies accredited to work in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These include Amphibia, Decop, Defence Systems Ltd, Mechem, Oktol, RONCO, Unipak, UXB International, Greenfield, CZ Republike Srpske, CZ Federacije BiH, TNT Gorazde, Cum Call, AKD Mungos, Detektor, TNT Mostar, TWJ-deminiranje, GCI, C.F.D., A.B.C. Italy, MAAVARIM Israel, SGS UK Ltd and Geomines France.⁵²

UNHCR

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees discontinued direct involvement with demining in BiH on 31 December 1999. It had been responsible for six demining teams and as part of a phase-out operation, five of the teams and all the equipment were integrated into NPA and HELP.⁵³ The four teams acquired by HELP have yet to receive funding to support their operational activities. A media report on 5 June 2000 noted that "UNHCR is out of the de-mining business because of lack of funds" and quoted the head of the UNHCR program as saying that he had 127 Bosnian staff unpaid since January and a million dollars worth of equipment lying idle.⁵⁴

Civil Protection Organizations

In August 1998, the European Economic Community (EEC) awarded HELP a contract to further develop the capacity of the Civil Protection Organization for UXO disposal and house clearance capabilities (in support of EEC reconstruction plan of returning refugees and displaced people). There are fourteen operational civil protection teams (fifteen people in each team, four with UXO disposal capability and eleven for house clearance) and two management teams. The management teams (eight to nine persons) are located in Sarajevo and Lukovica and are responsible for logistics, financial oversight, and supervision. The civil protection teams in the RS are located in Banja Luka, Pale, Doboj and Trebinje. In the Federation they are located in Bihac, Livno, Mostar (2), Gorazde, Sarajev, Busovaca, Zeche, Tuzla and Orasje.

These teams have had three years' experience and, at the end of 2000, HELP plans to hand over main responsibilities to them and remain as a monitoring body. Civil Protection is outside the MAC authority, but follows accreditation requirements and reports all completed activities to the EMACs.⁵⁵ For 1999, the Civil Protection and HELP/UNHCR activity report summary noted that cleared area totaled 471,066 square meters.⁵⁶

Research and Development

Bosnia and Herzegovina is testing a number of foreign-made demining products in the country to help advance mine detection and mine clearance activities. Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) has been working with Development Technology Workshop (DTW) on their Tempest T4 and Tempest Mark 3 devices. The T4 is a vegetation-cutting tool now in use by NPA in Bosnia, and is also widely used in Cambodia. The Mark 3 is a newer version that was also initially made for cutting vegetation. NPA and DTW are working together to deploy a slightly modified version as a soil-cutting tool for ground preparation in April 2000.⁵⁷ NPA is also assisting Pretory, USA, Inc. in testing an IADE-device (flying reconnaissance for unexploded ordnance and landmines via helicopter).⁵⁸ An Arizona-based company (Chem Tech) has developed "ELF," a stand-off location system which was demonstrated in Croatia in late 1999. A formal testing program was to be undertaken by Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina beginning in April 2000.

Mine Awareness

The Mine Awareness Working Group (MAWG), which became the Mine Awareness Coordination Group (MACG) on 2 December 1999, assesses capabilities of the companies to deal with mine awareness in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The MACG consists of the following: BHMAC, Federation MAC, RS MAC, UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Federation Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, RS Ministry of Education, UN Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank and SFOR. A Guide to Accreditation for Mine Awareness Organizations is being prepared, and organizations must be certified by the MACG in order to carry out mine awareness programs in the country.

UNICEF has continued two main programs for mine awareness, one in the school system and another through sport (working with both Ministries of Sport, the former Spirit of Soccer program).⁵⁹ All teachers in the Federation and RS have received mine awareness training. All primary schools have mine awareness information included in "special subjects" lessons. UNICEF plans to consider a workbook for pre-schools in 2000. Secondary schools are considering inclusion of mine awareness in extra subjects (drama or protection and defense class) for September 2000.

The school program targets children through the school system and out-of-school activities with a high involvement and support from the Ministries of Education in both entities. Mine awareness quiz competitions involving primary school children were organized all over the country, with the aim of encouraging them to mobilize communities, media and local authorities to work on the mine problem. The children showed great knowledge, and similar activities will be organized in the course of 2000. A theater play, based on Little Red Riding Hood, is being performed throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina with 110 performances, fully supported by the Entity Red Cross organizations and Ministries of Education, for children aged three to ten years. In addition, the project included production and distribution of audiotapes and picture books.

The ICRC, in close cooperation with both Entity Red Cross organizations carries out mine awareness activities throughout the country, operating at the grassroots level through a network of 130 trained community-based mine awareness instructors and nineteen regional/cantonal coordinators. The program is gradually being handed over to the Entity Red Cross organizations, and local Red Cross coordinators at regional/cantonal level are increasing their involvement in most of the activities implemented in the field (community-based program, school program, data-gathering, media campaign), with the assistance and support of ICRC staff.⁶⁰ Support is given to community-based activities such as mine awareness sessions for high-risk groups (for example, returnees, groups such as hunters, fishermen, etc.), agricultural workers, refugees as well as local residents and children.

From June to December 1999, over 1,470 presentations were organized for some 36,500 people involving 130 community-based instructors. Printed materials (posters, leaflets, badges, notebooks, T-shirts, etc.), with specific mine awareness messages adapted to different target groups are being regularly disseminated throughout the country.

The ICRC media campaign includes radio and TV spots, talk shows, interviews and quizzes on the local radio and TV stations all over the country. Prior to this, a media survey was carried out in order to identify the best way to approach high-risk populations (farmers, returnees, children etc.). The ICRC provided the following data on the mine awareness of those injured by mines.

Table 5. ICRC statistics on the `Knowledge of Danger' (percentage) of those injured by mines⁶¹

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Yes	16.5	13.5	17	15.5	25.5	33.5	39.5	44
No	83.5	86.5	83	84.5	74.5	66.5	60.5	56

The Tarzan project is a joint effort of the ICRC, UNICEF, UNDP, BHMAC and SFOR. Prior to showing the Tarzan movie, mine awareness footage for children are shown and materials distributed. By the end of March 2000 some 140,000 children had seen the film and mine awareness footage through 902 projections held in the Federation of BiH. The project started in the Federation in mid-October 1999 and will continue to June 2000, and started in the RS in April 2000 and will continue for six to eight months.

The UN Development Program supported mine awareness (mass media and training of a coordinator) through a donation from the Ted Turner Fund (US$ 650,000), from May 1999 to May 2000. The original proposal was obsolete by the time the project coordinator arrived and a new plan was developed to include coordination efforts, accreditation issues and training of trainers.

In 1998 and 1999, Akcija Protiv Mina (APM) conducted teacher training in mine awareness in Una-Sana canton.

The Mines Information Coordination Cell provides mine awareness for all new arrivals and upon request by specific SFOR units or NGOs. Normally this is a two-hour brief. The British, Americans and Canadians have their own mine awareness capacity.

Mine Casualties

Information about landmine casualties is collected directly from mine-affected communities, the ICRC, the local Red Cross organizations, and other organizations involved in mine action; from hospitals and health centers; from local institutions for the war disabled; and from the police and military. Information pertaining to mine incidents and victims is stored on the ICRC database and the BHMAC database.

As of March 2000, the ICRC database contained 4,313 mine victims (those injured or killed by landmines). There has been a progressive decrease in the number of mine victims: a high of sixty-nine mine victims per month was reached in 1994, which has decreased to a monthly average of eight in 1999.⁶² Due to delays in reporting, these numbers may vary slightly from original reports and may further increase for the same reason.

In 1999 there were 94 new mine victims reported, compared to 149 in 1998; that represents a decrease of 37%.

Table 6. Numbers of mine victims 1992-2000⁶³

Information about location of mine accident, type of injury, age/gender of victim, and military/civilian status are compiled from data collected up to December 1999.

Table 7. Number of mine victims by location 1992-December 1999⁶⁴

Table 8. Age breakdown of mine victims 1 January 1996 to 9 March 2000⁶⁵

Table 9. Age breakdown of mine casualties from 1996 to 2000 (to March 2000)⁶⁶

Table 10. Fatal and non-fatal injuries 1992-1999 (percentage) and 2000 (number to March 2000)⁶⁷

The percentage of fatal injuries has risen in recent years. The ICRC explains this could be due to increasing occurrence of accidents caused by UXO and improvised explosive devices (IED), or the fact that injuries are often in remote areas with poor access to medical services.⁶⁸ It may also be due to the types of mines encountered.

Table 11. Types of device causing injuries or death 1992-2000 (to March 2000)⁶⁹

	TOTAL	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Mine	3,415	709	676	724	575	383	182	89	66	11
UXO	505	49	69	85	66	101	73	48	13	1
IED	142	24	20	22	30	25	11	3	6	1
Unknown	251	19	23	23	32	116	20	9	9	--
TOTAL	4,313	801	788	854	703	625	286	149	94	13

Table 12. Types of injury 1992-March 2000⁷⁰

Number of Mine Victims

Table 13. Civilian (40 per cent) or military (59 per cent) status of mine victims 1992-2000 (to March 2000)⁷¹

	Total	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Civilian	1,726	175	188	183	159	510	268	145	87	11
Military	2.561	613	587	671	544	115	18	4	7	2
Unknown	26	13	13	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
TOTAL	4,313	801	788	854	703	625	286	149	94	13

Table 14. Casualties by gender (percentages) 1992-2000 (to March 2000)

⁷²

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Male	95	93.2	96	96.2	90.7	90.6	90.6	91.4	100
Female	5	6.8	4	3.8	9.3	9.4	9.4	8.6

Table 15. Casualties by origin of the mine victim 1996-2000 (to March 2000)⁷³

The BHMAC has reports of 1,227 mine victims from January 1996 to March 2000. Since this data was received, further mine incidents have been reported in the media. On 11 April 2000, three children were killed after straying onto a reportedly unmarked minefield which is among seventy-seven Sarajevo areas slated for demining, but delayed for lack of funds.⁷⁴ On 26 June 2000, two deminers employed by the MAC in Banja Luka were killed at Jorgici-Vrela, Teslic municipality on the inter-Entity boundary.⁷⁵

Other organizations having detailed information about mine victims are Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) and Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). LSN has over 600 in-depth interviews with landmine survivors in its database.⁷⁶ JRS works directly with over 200 victims of landmines and houses specific information about these cases within their organization.⁷⁷

Mine Victim Assistance

There are six international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina providing assistance to landmine victims: the Austrian Red Cross, ICRC, International Rescue Committee, JRS, LSN and Queens University. Bosnia and Herzegovina has agreed to complete the Strategic Framework outlined by the World Health Organization. The Federation Ministry of Health is responsible for drafting an action plan, following the Mozambique table/guide, which was to be completed by 15 March 2000.⁷⁸

Bosnia and Herzegovina has four university clinical centers, in Tuzla, Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka, which carry out all types of medical treatments. There are thirty-one general hospitals in the Federation of BiH, all in bigger towns, and the RS is believed to have about seven general hospitals. General hospitals do not treat complicated cases which are sent to the clinical centers. Blood transfusion centers are located in all general hospitals. There are no private surgical clinics available in the country, only small private general practices. First aid posts are located in all health centers throughout the country. There are thirty-eight rehabilitation centers in the Federation, and one center opened in Banja Luka in the RS. There are prosthetic centers in the following regions: Sarajevo, two centers; Tuzla, one center; Zenica, two centers; Cazin, one center; Banja Luka, three centers; Trebinje; one center. Physical therapists are available in all rehabilitation and prosthetic centers. There are six occupational therapists in rehabilitation centers in Sarajevo and Tuzla.

There are no state programs for vocational rehabilitation but these programs are implemented through some NGOs working with disabled. There are no workshops for production and distribution of wheelchairs. Medico-social centers are located in Sarajevo, Travnik, Fojnica, Prijedor, Jakes and Tuzla. Social institutions helping disabled and all social categories of people are the only government organization. There are seventy-four Centers for Social Aid, located in all municipalities, that implement the legal regulations and social compensation for the disabled.

There are sixty-one NGOs, including local associations for the disabled, helping disabled people in Tuzla, Bihac, Mostar, Konjic, Sarajevo, Zenica, Banja Luka and Trebinje. Activities are mainly educational, reconstruction and reintegration programs. On the state level there are twenty-one sport clubs for the disabled. ⁷⁹

Disability Policy and Practice

There are three laws on the State level regulating the rights of disabled: a law on the rudiments of social protection of civilian war victims and protection of families with children; a law on pension and invalid insurance; and a law on health protection. Cantonal law covering the rights of landmine survivors is also being developed. Public institutions and all other private and state companies pay social insurance for their employees as well as health insurance. There is also voluntary insurance paid by those who are not employed but paying insurance according to the coefficient established by the law on pension/invalid insurance.

All disabled people receive a pension in accordance with the percentage of their disability. Military victims receive pensions through the military invalid branch and civilian victims receive their pensions through the Social Institutions. Military victims do not pay for medical treatments but they have to pay for medicines, and civilian victims have to pay for treatment as well as the medicines. There is a coalition of organizations working with the disabled on the state level, that includes cantonal coordination bodies responsible for following the disability laws and suggesting changes to the laws. LSN is part of the coordination body for Tuzla Canton.⁸⁰

BULGARIA

Key developments since March 1999: From April to October 1999, Bulgaria completed demining of its territory, including the borders with Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia, destroying 17,197 mines from 76 minefields. In 1999 Bulgaria revealed the size of its AP mine stockpile for the first time (885,872), and began the destruction program, eliminating 107,417 mines between September 1999 and April 2000. It intends to complete destruction in 2000.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Bulgaria signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 4 September 1998. On 10 August 1999, the Council of Ministers created an Interdepartmental Working Group to coordinate implementation measures, and on 16 September 1999, the Council of Ministers adopted a protocol that mandated a national program for implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.⁸¹ In May 2000, a Bulgarian representative stated that implementation legislation was pending.⁸²

In May 1999 Bulgaria participated in the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) in Mozambique. There its delegation stated that it "consistently supports all efforts, including those within the framework of the UN and the Conference on Disarmament, aimed at achieving a total ban of anti-personnel landmines, as well as the initiatives in this field of the EU, EAPC [Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council], and other international fora and organizations."⁸³

Bulgaria's representatives attended nearly all of the intersessional meetings of the ban treaty's Standing Committees of Experts (SCE). Bulgaria submitted its initial report as required under Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 on 27 August 1999 (covering 1 March-27 August 1999), and its second on 5 April 2000 (covering 27 August 1999-5 April 2000).⁸⁴

Government representatives participated in regional landmine conferences in Zagreb, Croatia, in June 1999 and Ljubljana, Slovenia, in June 2000. Bulgaria also participates in Working Table III (Security Issues) of the Stability Pact of South Eastern Europe, where it proposed a "[J]oint declaration by the countries of SEE on Anti-personnel Mines," in hopes of establishing a regional agreement on the elimination of landmines.⁸⁵

On 15 March 2000, the parliament ratified an agreement between Turkey and Bulgaria on mutual non-use and clearance of landmines along their common border. The vote was 146 in favor of ratification with only one abstention. When an opposition party leader noted that Turkey had not yet signed the Mine Ban Treaty, the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign and Integration Policy, Asen Agov, responded that this agreement is "paving the way for such a move" on Turkey's part.⁸⁶ The agreement was also approved by the Turkish National Assembly and it was concluded on 22 March 1999.

Bulgaria voted for the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had for similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998. During the 1999 debate on the resolution in the UN First Committee, Bulgaria "emphasized the importance of a full and speedy implementation of the Ottawa Convention."⁸⁷

Bulgaria is a party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It submitted its National Annual Report on landmines, as required under Article 13 of the Amended Protocol, on 15 October 1999⁸⁸ and attended the First Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in December 1999.

Bulgaria is a member of the UN Conference on Disarmament (CD). In December 1999, it stated that it "strongly supports all efforts in the Conference on Disarmament aimed at achieving global ban on APLM and universalization of the Ottawa Treaty."⁸⁹ During the first phase of the 2000 session of the CD, the Bulgarian representative supported a statement made by a coalition of countries, led by Germany, that included a motion for the "reappointment of a Special Coordinator to seek the views of Conference members on the most appropriate way to deal with questions related to anti-personnel landmines."⁹⁰

Production, Transfer and Stockpile

Bulgaria previously produced and exported antipersonnel mines.⁹¹ Restrictions were placed on exports in 1995, which became a full moratorium on export in 1996, and were superceded by the total ban under the Mine Ban Treaty.⁹² In its Article 7 reports, Bulgaria noted that the decommissioning of its AP mine facilities was "in process."⁹³

In June 1999 at the Zagreb Regional Conference on Landmines, the Bulgarian delegation had acknowledged it held a stockpile of "around one million" AP mines, and would need financial assistance in order to carry out stockpile destruction.⁹⁴ In its Article 7 report of 27 August 1999 this stockpile figure was revised to 885,872, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Stocks of AP Mines as at 27 August 1999⁹⁵

The government created an interdepartmental group to handle execution of Bulgaria's stockpile destruction goals, made up of representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Finance, Justice and Environment, as well as the Interdepartmental Council on the Military-Industrial Complex, which is chaired by a Deputy Minister of Defense.⁹⁶

When the working group was formed, it was estimated that the cost of eliminating the stockpile would be Leva 2,884,960 (US$1,398,100).⁹⁷

From March 1999 through March 2000, Bulgaria destroyed 107,417 AP mines, from the stockpiles of the Army, National Border Police and National Gendarmery. The destruction was carried out at three sites: Terem Co. in Kostentz, Dunarit Co. in Russe and Deserted Mine Galleries and Quarries (no location given). At the first two sites the mines were eliminated by "discharge," whereas in the third, explosion was the method used. Dunarit Co. is also a former production site that is being decommissioned.⁹⁸ Bulgaria announced that it is planned to destroy all remaining antipersonnel mines by the end of 2000 at the May 2000 SCE on stockpile destruction.⁹⁹

In its Article 7 report, Bulgaria stated its intention to retain 10,446 AP mines for development and training purposes, noting at the same time that "the figures shown in this section will be subject to further reduction by 01.01.2000 as a result of an ongoing reassessment of the needs of the Bulgarian Army."¹⁰⁰ With its second report, the number of mines to be retained had been reduced to 4,010, including the following: PMN (175), OZM (70), PM-79 (345), SHR-II (66), PSM-1 (2,730), and MON-50 (624).¹⁰¹ Again, Bulgaria noted the figures would be subject to further reduction by 1 June 2000 as a result of ongoing reassessment of needs.

Bulgaria has also submitted a proposal to the Stability Pact of South Eastern Europe for the "establishment of a regional facility for the destruction of landmines stocked in Bulgaria and later in the region." Some $1.9 million has been requested for this project.¹⁰² In a fact sheet distributed during the First Meeting of States Parties in May 1999, Bulgaria described a process in which stockpiles could be destroyed by disassembly at costs ranging from $2.50-$4.00 per mine. Among the benefits attributed to this method were safety, environmental soundness, and economic efficiency.¹⁰³

Landmine Problem and Mine Clearance

Bulgaria began clearing its border with Turkey during April 1999 in compliance with the bilateral agreement signed in March 1999. The duty was given to the National Border Police, who were responsible for roughly 1,000 hectares of land along the border.¹⁰⁴ Bulgaria also engaged in clearance of its borders with Greece and Macedonia. Bulgaria reported clearing a total of 56 minefields and destroying 11,898 PSM-1 mines by the end of August 1999. It then cleared another 5,299 PSM-1 landmines from twenty minefields in Momtchilgrad and Smolian.¹⁰⁵ Demining of the borders with Greece and Macedonia was apparently completed by October 1999.¹⁰⁶ Bulgaria announced that it had "completed the demining process on its territory on the autumn of 1999."¹⁰⁷

In its Article 13 report submitted for the First Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II of the CCW, Bulgaria noted that during demining and stockpile destruction operations "special attention is given to safety and environmental protection measures" and that "a special form for the environmental impact assessment has been elaborated for projects, which are not subject to compulsory assessment."¹⁰⁸

Mine Action Funding and Assistance

According to Bulgaria's CCW Article 13 report, it has participated in the NATO/EAPC Ad-hoc working group on global humanitarian mine action, and has taken part in mine clearance in Bosnia-Herzegovina, though it is not clear in what capacity.¹⁰⁹

CROATIA

Key developments since March 1999: A total of almost $24.4 million was spent on mine action in 1999, an increase of 80% over 1998. Estimates of mined or suspected mined areas have been revised down to 4,500 square kilometers. A total of 23.59 square kilometers of land was cleared of mines or declared not to contain mines. The ICRC and Croatian Red Cross organized mine awareness programs in 1999 in all fourteen mine-affected counties, reaching 66,612 residents in 3,165 presentations. CROMAC estimates that in 1999 there were fifty-one new mine victims, compared to seventy-seven casualties in 1998. Croatia destroyed its first 3,434 stockpiled mines in June 1999, but has reported no destruction since then. It plans to retain 17,500 mines, apparently more than any other nation.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Croatia signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 4 December 1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification at the United Nations on 20 May 1998.¹¹⁰ According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ratification process served to incorporate the MBT into Croatian law and establish obligations on both national and international levels.¹¹¹ In its Article 7 report, submitted on 3 September 1999, the government reported on the "Proposal of the Law on Anti-Personnel Landmines," to be considered after the summer break, noting that "part of the law specifically elaborates on penal sanctions for violators, ranging from prison-terms of approximately 10 years and fines of up to hundreds of thousands of US$."¹¹² The status of that law is not known.

Croatia has helped to promote the treaty regionally, including hosting the Second Regional Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines in Zagreb in June 1999. Organized jointly by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Croatian Red Cross, the ICRC and the Croatian Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL), it was attended by about 300 participants from thirty-three countries, fourteen international organizations and fifty nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The conference was appraised as the most important multilateral event held in Croatia in 1999. In the opening plenary session, Foreign Minister Dr. Mate Granic stated:

The whole Ottawa process, this Conference also being a part of it, is not only based on national interests of respective states, but primarily on the noble goal to free the world of landmines. Many of the speakers will explain in detail the evil and damage which antipersonnel landmines cause. Losses in economic terms can be roughly calculated and are measured in billions of dollars. Damage to the environment can also be calculated, and it is far from being small. However, we cannot account for the loved ones lost forever. My country was among the first to join the Ottawa process, being fully aware of its far-reaching goals. Croatia has actively supported and participated in all phases of the Ottawa process, and was the twelfth country to ratify the Ottawa Treaty. Croatia is fulfilling its obligations in accordance with the Ottawa Treaty.... ¹¹³

Croatia attended the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999 and attended all of the intersessional meetings of the Standing Committees of Experts (SCE) of the MBT, except one meeting on mine clearance. The SCE meetings on stockpile destruction were attended by experts from CROMAC (Croatian Mine Action Center) and the Croatian Army, where they reported on recent experiences of mine clearance and destruction, and legal provisions related to humanitarian mine clearance. Government representatives also participated in the Regional Conference on Landmines held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 21-22 June 2000.

Implementation of the MBT in Croatia is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense,¹¹⁴ which submitted its initial Article 7 report to the UN on 3 September 1999, providing information as of 31 July 1999. As of mid-July 2000 Croatia had not submitted its second report.

Croatia voted in December 1999 in favor of the UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B, which called for full implementation and universalization of the MBT; it had also supported pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998. At the UNGA plenary session on 18 November 1999, Croatia's Permanent Representative declared, "The Republic of Croatia continues to welcome all efforts leading towards the global ban on anti-personnel landmines....Croatia shall work hard with all interested countries to support the Ottawa Convention [MBT] in its next phase."¹¹⁵

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated also that the government would not approve of either transfer or relocation of mines by another country on its territory, and would oppose the use of AP mines in Croatia in any joint military exercise or operation.¹¹⁶

The country is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). However, ratification of Amended Protocol II (1996) is still in process.¹¹⁷ Since January 2000 Croatia has a new government and parliament, which are changing many laws to increase democratization of the country; at present, having already ratified the MBT, further "mine-action laws" are not on the immediate agenda. The government attended the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 1999, as an observer. It supports efforts in the Conference on Disarmament to address the landmine problem.

At the Regional Conference in June 1999, at the suggestion of the CCBL, representatives of NGOs from Central and Southeastern European established a Regional Network to increase coordination and cooperation of mine-related activities, including assistance to mine victims, promoting the MBT within the region and monitoring its implementation, strengthening NGO activity in the region as well as increasing links with ban campaigns in Western European countries and fundraising. NGOs involved in setting up this Regional Network were the CCBL, Strata Research (Croatia), Landmine Survivors Network (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Center for Strategic Research and Documentation (Macedonia), Helsinki Human Rights Committee (Yugoslavia) and the Antimining Friends Committee (Albania).

Production and Transfer

Until 1992 Croatia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) which manufactured AP mines. Upon the break-up of the SFRY and formation of the Republic of Croatia in 1991 none of the former production plants for AP mines or their components were located on its territory. According to Brigadier Slavko Haluzan of the Ministry of Defense, AP mines have never been successfully manufactured in quantity in the country.¹¹⁸ He states that during the war Croatia tried to develop the production of two types of AP mines at two state-owned companies. The PMA-3 blast mine was manufactured at the Cetinka plant in Trilje and the MRUD directional fragmentation mine was manufactured at the SUIS plant in Kumrovec. However, these mines never became available to forces in the field and did not become part of the Croatian arsenal, according to Brig. Haluzan. After abandoning attempts to produce AP mines, the factories resumed their normal production activities.¹¹⁹

Stockpile and Destruction

The number and type of AP mines stockpiled by Croatian forces and scheduled for destruction are shown in Table 1. This data was provided by the Ministry of Defense on 30 December 1999, but repeats the information provided in Croatia's Article 7 report as of 31 July 1999. The Ministry of Defense added that, at present, these mines are stockpiled as found at the end of war actions and have yet to be sorted out into separate stocks.¹²⁰

Table 1. AP mine stockpiles

Type of AP Mine	Total Stockpile (Army + Ministry of Interior)	Quantity retained for permitted training (Army + Ministry of Interior)	Quantity scheduled for destruction
Pressure-activated (PMA-1, 1A, 2, 3)	108,878 (96,908+11,560)	8,400 (6,000+2,400)	100,478
Tripwire fragmentation (PMR-2A, 2AS, 3; PROM-1, 1P)	71,158 (68,538+2,620)	5,200 (4,000+1,200)	65,958
MRUD directional fragmentation AP mines	18,613 (16,913+1,700)	3,800 (3,000+800)	14,813
Total mines:	198,649 (182,359+16,290)	17,500 (13,100+4,400)	181,149
Fuzes	34,243 (34,243+0)	0	34,243

The MRUD is a Claymore-type directional fragmentation mine, previously manufactured in the former Yugoslavia. The Ministry of Defense states that existing mines of that type can only be triggered electrically, "on command" and are therefore not banned under the MBT.¹²¹ However, Croatia plans to destroy all MRUD stocks with the exception of 3,800 retained for training.

The retention of mines "for the development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance or mine destruction is permitted" under the Mine Ban Treaty (Article 3.1 of the MBT). However, the 17,500 mines to be retained in Croatia appears to be largest number kept by any State Party, and is much higher number than in most other countries retaining mines (quantities commonly range from 1,000 to 5,000). Brigadier Haluzan of the Commission for Demining Issues at the Ministry of Defense has responded that the testing of a single demining item with 99.6 percent reliability requires a simulated minefield of at least 400 mines.¹²² At the May 2000 meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts on General Status of the Convention, the Croatian delegation stated that the Army is re-evaluating the number of retained mines needed.¹²³

The official start of AP mine destruction in Croatia was during the Regional Conference in Zagreb, on 27-29 June 1999, when 3,434 mines were destroyed at the military training range in Slunj. Since then, stockpile destruction has not continued due to a shortage of funds and Croatia welcomes any assistance from other countries or organizations, especially technical and financial help.¹²⁴ The latest estimate of mine destruction costs amount to US$ 3-5 per mine, assuming that military personnel carry out this work as part of their daily duties and their salaries are not included.

AP mine destruction will take place in specially prepared facilities at Ostarski Dolovi near Ogulin and the military training ranges Gasinci in Dakovo and Crvena Zemlja in Knin using the following techniques: explosion (PMA-2, PMA-3, PROM-1, PMR-3), repackaging (PMA-1, PMR-2) and dissembling (MRUD). Destruction will be conducted in compliance with all safety standards provided by the International Standards for Humanitarian Mine Clearance and other regulations enacted by the Croatian Government. The quantities of AP mines stockpiled, retained, destroyed already or scheduled for destruction are reported in detail in Croatia's first Article 7 report, analyzed by each mine-type, and the locations and methods of destruction are given in detail. Brig. Haluzan's comments suggest that the data has changed little since July 1999.

Landmine Problem

The formation of the Republic of Croatia from the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the widespread use of antipersonnel mines in conflicts related to this process were summarized in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999.¹²⁵ According to the Ministry of Defense, AP mines were last employed for military purposes in the course of the war in Croatia.¹²⁶ Since that time, there have been ten terrorist or criminal incidents in which AP mines were used, between October 1995 and October 1998.¹²⁷

Estimates of the number of mines deployed ranges from 400,000 to 1.5 million.¹²⁸ Mined areas are spread over fourteen of the twenty-one counties of Croatia.¹²⁹ There is also a high concentration of mines in wider areas of the cities of Sisak, Benkovac, Knin, Karlovac, Osijek and Vukovar. The frontlines were stretched all over these areas during the war. Slavonia is the eastern region of Croatia, bordering Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and includes four of the heavily mine-affected counties noted above, which make up 18.5 percent of Croatian territory. This fertile region has the most productive land in Croatia. The county most affected by mines is Vukovarsko-Srijemska.

The latest estimate is that mined areas and suspected mined areas cover 4,500 square kilometers, or 7.95% of Croatia.¹³⁰ Mined areas are often marked inadequately in terms of the quality and visibility of signs, and some mined areas have never been marked at all. As a result, there are many mine incidents. Data provided by the local Osijek office of the Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) gives a more detailed picture of the landmine problem in Slavonia.

Table 2. Mine-affected areas (confirmed minefields and suspected high-risk areas) in Slavonia region of Croatia¹³¹

County	Area (km2)	Mine-affected land (km2)	Percentage of land mine-affected	Number of minefields	Number of mines found	Average number of mines per mine field
Osjecko-Baranjska	4149	145.28	3.5%	1,016	43,598	43
Vukovarsko-Srijemska	2448	178.03	7.3%	878	45,551	52
Pozesko-Slavonska	1821	49.37	2.7%	310	4,959	16
Brodski-Posavska	2027	6.57	0.3%	378	7,422	20
All four counties	10,445	379.26	3.63%	2,582	101,530	36

Note: In addition, there are still large areas treated as `lower risk' for Osjecko-Baranjska County; for example, 220 square kilometers of woods belonging to Hrvatske sume (Croatian Woods) and other public companies.

In addition to the mined areas and suspected mined areas noted here, an unknown number of mines remain on the border with Hungary.

Mine Action Funding

To deal with its landmine problem, Croatia has allocated considerable financial resources to clearance operations, and has also received international support, such as loans from the World Bank. On 8 November 1999 the "Croatia Without Mines" trust fund for humanitarian mine clearance was established.¹³² A total of KN 182,863,864 (US$ 24.4 million), representing 0.123% of its GDP, was spent on mine clearance operations in Croatia in 1999, 80% more than in 1998. Of this amount, some KN 167,816,715 (US$ 22.4 million) went to demining companies that carried out direct demining operations.¹³³

CROMAC estimates that KN 400 million ($53.3 million) per year is required for demining operations in Croatia. Croatia has entered into a contract with the Slovenian International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance aimed at doubling existing funds.¹³⁴ In 1999, $2.6 million was received from foreign donors for mine action, as outlined in the table below.

Table 3. Foreign donations for demining received in 1999 and respective areas demined¹³⁵

Donor	Amount (KN)	Amount (US$)	Area (m2)
HELP	1,345,344	179,379	53,900
UNOPS	8,444,040	1,125,872	778,340
ASB-EC	6,937,588	925,011	636,059
Federation Suise De Deminage	792,870	105,716	42,545
UNMAAP & British Embassy	575,200	76,693	35,000
French Embassy	1,586,000	211,466	130,000
TOTAL	19,681,042	2,624,138	1,675,844

Mine clearance activities supported with these funds have included demining bridges, power lines, telecommunication networks, agricultural land, industrial sites, recreation centers, and homes and backyards.¹³⁶

Research and Development

Several initiatives have been launched in Croatia related to research and development of mine detection and mine clearance technologies, mainly through the activities of the Scientific Council of CROMAC.¹³⁷ These initiatives include research on metal detectors, mine detection sensors, equipment for pyrotechnists, a mini-thresher, remote detection from the air and satellite digital mapping, and neutron methods of mine detection.¹³⁸ A regional center for furthering mine clearance technologies and cooperation has been established at Obrovac, and is currently testing mine detectors.

Mine Action Coordination and Planning

The Croatian Center for Demining (CROMAC) was set up by the government as the civilian operational body for demining activities. It is based in the city of Sisak, with branch offices in Karlovac, Knin and Osijek. The head of CROMAC is appointed by the Government, and the CROMAC Council liaises with government. NGOs and other agencies involved in mine action are not represented on its Council. Its duties include marking and surveying of minefields, planning and assigning demining resources, administering the tender and contract process, supervising projects and quality control of demining activities, maintaining data on mined areas and all operations, and financial management. All mine clearance agencies must be registered by CROMAC.

CROMAC invites tenders for contracts to undertake mine clearance operations, and in 1999, 131 contracts were concluded on demining operations, and each month there were twenty-five to thirty work-sites in operation. Twelve local and foreign commercial companies were involved: AKD Mungos, Ru-Ru, Termosolar, TT-KA, TNT-35, Dok-Ing, Piper, Abcd, Exbel-Emcrom, Tamar Consulting, Mechem, Dr. Koehler and Maavarin. In some areas demining was also performed by Special Police units. The biggest contracts went to the following companies: AKD Mungos (KN 102,562,589, which was 61% of the total spent on demining in Croatia),¹³⁹ Ru-Ru (KN 11,441,292), Dr. Koehler (KN 10,967,911) and Special Police forces of the Ministry of the Interior (KN 10,214,748). ¹⁴⁰

Other aspects of mine action, such as victim assistance and mine awareness, are currently carried out by NGOs without significant involvement of CROMAC. This may change with the recent establishment of regional coordination centers, which include NGO representation, in all counties of Croatia except Dubrovnik and Zagreb. These regional centers will involve county representatives, the Croatian Red Cross and the ICRC, Ministry of Education and Sport, mine victim and returnee associations, international NGOs involved in mine action in Croatia and other local NGOs in mine action planning and coordination. One of the aims of this more integrated approach to mine action is better information flow and integration of mine-awareness education.

The cost of running CROMAC (excluding mine clearance activities) in 1999 amounted to KN 12,368,905 ($1.6 million) in 1999, which represents 6.76% of total funds for demining in Croatia. This amount was allocated from the state budget. An additional KN 3,306,046 ($404,806) was spent on fixed assets such as vehicles, technical equipment, and furniture. It has a staff of sixty-seven.¹⁴¹

The government issues an annual "Plan for Demining of Croatian State Territory" that seeks to reconcile priorities such as the repatriation of refugees and reconstruction of residential and public facilities. Needs considerably exceed the activities included in the annual plans, due to the large areas still requiring survey and mine clearance. The official view is that Croatia cannot solve the problem of mined areas in a short period of time.¹⁴²

However, the annual plans are implemented and even exceeded.¹⁴³ The 1999 plan envisaged that a total area of 19,316,029 square meters would be surveyed and demined, but instead, owing to reduction in the areas suspected of being mined, a total of 23,590,431 square meters was demined or declared mine-free.¹⁴⁴ Records of demined areas are publicly available.¹⁴⁵

Minefield Marking, Surveying and Clearance

Minefield records from the war are often incomplete, with wrong coordinates and are generally considered useless for demining operations. CROMAC began a survey to determine mined areas and those suspected of being mined. Its Department of Central Records maintains a database on mine-polluted areas that is updated, controlled and amended on a regular basis. Maps of mined areas are designed and scanned; however, this is a slow process.

On the basis of a Level I survey, previous estimates of the extent of suspected mined areas in Croatia (6,000 km²) has been revised to 4,500 km² of land. CROMAC states that the suspected area will be further reduced as a result of additional activities planned in 2000.¹⁴⁶

Mined areas are usually marked with plastic tape, which is easily blown away or damaged by rain and wind. Where there are metal signs, it has been observed that local people and even tourists sometimes remove them as souvenirs.¹⁴⁷ There is rarely enough money to refurbish the signs, and minefields are often left unmarked and accessible for lengthy periods. Some minefields have never been marked, and fencing them off is rare. Signs are usually repaired or replaced only when there has been a mine incident with casualties.¹⁴⁸ Local people occasionally set up improvised warning signs. In Slavonia only about 10-20% of mine-affected and suspected areas are marked. Some were marked with standard metal triangles or plastic ribbons, but most have been destroyed in recent years by weather and vegetation. CROMAC has started systematic marking of mine-affected areas, and plans to mark 400 kilometers (linear) throughout Croatia in 2000 including the main tourist roads. ¹⁴⁹

Mine Clearance

Mine clearance is performed both manually and mechanically, and with the assistance of specially trained dogs. Local companies employ mainly Croatian citizens and foreign companies are staffed by foreigners. Some companies employ women for demining jobs. Several cases of deaths or injuries of deminers have been registered so far. In order to obtain permission for demining, all companies must meet certain conditions and procedures required by the Law on Demining and the Rules on Procedures of Performing Demining Activities. CROMAC is not satisfied with the safety conditions, and has suggested amendments.¹⁵⁰

A total of 23,590,432 square meters (23.59 square kilometers) was examined and cleared of mines in 1999, of which 14,330,862 square meters was cleared and the remainder (9,259,569 square meters) was "reduced upon pyrotechnical survey" (i.e. discovered not to contain mines).¹⁵¹ The CROMAC report gives data for areas cleared of mines or "reduced" in eleven of the fourteen mine-affected counties, as shown in Table 7. Arable land and infrastructure (roads, powerlines, waterworks, etc.) account for the highest percentage of cleared areas.

Table 4. Areas cleared of mines or reduced upon survey in eleven counties in 1999¹⁵²

Reconstruction and Development of Mine-Cleared Areas

Once cleared of mines, an area is made available to its pre-war owners.¹⁵³ Although arable land and infrastructure are the highest percentage of cleared areas, there is still a shortage of arable land due to mine pollution, so farmers often work on the uncleared and/or suspect land at their own risk. Local communities, mainly returnees, also stress that, apart from speeding up the demining processes (which in their opinion is too slow), it is also necessary to stimulate farming, improve living standards and fully revive these areas (through communications, social and cultural programs, etc.).¹⁵⁴

In many villages inhabitants who fled during the war have returned. Yards and village streets have been priority areas for mine clearance. But their fields are still mine-affected, and some villagers who relied on agriculture before the war (as in Slavonia to a large extent) are now struggling to survive economically, and many exist on state benefits. Mines complicate and worsen the situation in many ways. When irrigation canals are mined, they are not cleaned and water-flow slows or stops eventually. Then in spring and whenever there is heavy rain, fields are flooded. Some agricultural land has now been out of use for several years. Mine-affected land is sometimes the reason why people do not return to their homes, especially young people who should ideally be leaders of change and development of their communities.

Mine Awareness

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Croatian Red Cross (HCK) organized mine awareness programs in 1999 in all fourteen of the mine-polluted counties, involving forty-five local Red Cross organizations, many civilian associations and initiatives by local communities. These programs are financed mainly by the ICRC, although local volunteers contribute substantial amounts of time. Similar programs were also launched by the Ministry of Education and Sport in collaboration with UNICEF, and other NGOs initiated numerous programs.

Mine awareness programs include presentations and training of instructors in mine awareness. Local media and specialized radio broadcasts, fliers, brochures and posters, notebooks and calendars with educational messages are all used. The ICRC and HCK support programs initiated and conducted by local communities, such as stage performances that carry educational messages, exhibitions of pictures and photographs, rock concerts and sporting events in honor of mine victims and a great many similar multimedia events. Each program is accompanied with specific materials adjusted to a particular local community and is based on experience acquired through fieldwork. Materials are designed in collaboration with the volunteers from local communities.

From the beginning of January 1996 through 7 December 1999, 158 instructors were trained to conduct mine awareness programs, twenty-eight of them in 1999. At present there are seventy-five trained instructors still involved in mine awareness programs. The approach of the ICRC and HCK is that instructors should not just give lectures, but should also represent "the eyes of community," i.e. actively participate in finding solutions to mine-related problems and educating local communities in a wider sense.

Between 1 January 1999 and 7 December 1999, some 3,165 presentations were attended by 66,612 residents; since beginning the program in 1996, a total of 171,605 individuals have been reached through 7,974 presentations. Twenty-seven ten-day long exhibitions were set up, which were visited by 30,000 people. One single soccer tournament dedicated to the mine problem, held in the summer of 1999 in Vukovar, attracted 18,000 people. One of the stage performances that carries mine awareness messages got into the regular repertory in the theater of Karlovac and can be seen every day. Roundtables have been organized on mine issues in local communities with participation of ICRC representatives. The ICRC has given strong support to local NGOs involved in mine problems (such as Strata Research, NONA, Studeni, A3) and has taken part in numerous similar events related to mine awareness.¹⁵⁵

The mine awareness program conducted by the Ministry of Education and Sport and UNICEF started in 1996. This program, initiated by UNICEF, is intended to reach all children in Croatian schools and day-care centers, and includes seminars, publications and advertising materials. In the last three years UNICEF has provided schools with 150 TV sets and video systems. The program is wholly financed by UNICEF, with a contribution from the Norwegian Government.

According to the Ministry, since 1996, 1,600 persons have been trained and qualified as program coordinators in schools and day-care centers. As of 1998 the project encompassed secondary to and apart from the coordinators, 2,500 teachers and parents and 900,000 children in day-care centers, primary and secondary schools attended seminars on mine awareness. In addition, the Ministry of Education and Sport points out that the programs were attended by three million people, school children's family members, and that 950,000 fliers were distributed to children and their parents, 1,500 educational packages containing brochures, posters and video cassettes were delivered to schools, with an extra 150 packages in Serbian language and another forty in Hungarian, for members of these minority communities.¹⁵⁶

The mine awareness program is incorporated in the school curriculum and efforts are made to make it a part of all extracurricular activities that can be related to the mine problem. The Ministry estimates that children have become more aware of mine danger, based on the "changed behavior of children in the outdoors and in threatening situations and also on the reduced number of victims."¹⁵⁷ CROMAC's annual report, however, states that the program has not been systematically conducted, that teachers had not been trained to implement the program and that certain elements of the program are not adequately adjusted to age groups (for example, too many technical terms).¹⁵⁸

Nongovernmental organizations carrying out mine awareness programs include the NONA association, which produced an educational video. The multimedia association Studeni organized a humanitarian concert in Nova Gradiska, dedicated to mine victims. Strata Research published an educational CD-ROM. A theater in Karlovac gave a mine-related performance. The association A3 designed and showed educational slides. Info-clubs in Slavonia organized exhibitions and film projections, and six soccer tournaments were organized in eastern Slavonia. As of February 2000, national TV and radio started broadcasting (free of charge) video clips and radio jingles on mine awareness, which were designed in collaboration with the ICRC, HCK, UNMAAP and CROMAC.¹⁵⁹ A survey of a national sample to investigate what the residents of affected regions think of and know about mines is being prepared by Strata Research, to give a clearer picture of the extent and impact of mine awareness among mine-endangered populations.

Mine Casualties

There is no central database of mine incidents and casualties publicly accessible in Croatia. The Croatian Alliance of Physically Disabled Persons' Associations (HSUTI) estimates that the total number of mine casualties (both military and civilian) since the start of the war is about 1,200, of whom 500 victims were severely disabled. The population of Croatia is approximately 4.5 million. Casualties are higher among men (about 75%), and child victims are relatively few (about 3%). Civilians usually get hurt while logging in the woods, working in the fields, during hunting, fishing and picnics. Immediately after the war, many returnees were killed or wounded in their own yards and houses, as a result of booby traps.¹⁶⁰

The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) estimates that in 1999 there were thirty mine incidents in ten of Croatia's twenty-one counties, causing fifty-one casualties, mostly male civilians. Compared with the estimate for 1998 of seventy-seven casualties, this suggests a reduction in mine casualties of 33%. Of the fifty-one casualties in 1999, twenty-one were killed, thirteen wounded severely and seventeen lightly. Of those killed, nineteen were men and two were women; nineteen of them were civilians. Of those wounded, twenty-six were men, one woman and three children; twenty-six were civilians.¹⁶¹

Victim Assistance and Disability Policy

The Croatian healthcare system is based on the Law on Health Care and the Law on Health Insurance ("NN" 1/97 - final version). These laws ensure thorough, specific and available healthcare for the entire Croatian population, including disabled persons. The country has 120 health centers, twenty-three general hospitals and many other health facilities, which are evenly distributed over the country.

Medical rehabilitation of disabled persons is conducted in specialized hospitals, and a special program of "active rest" is provided for disabled persons during summer months in the orthopedic hospital in Rovinj. In 1991 the Rehabilitation Board was established as part of the Ministry of Health to monitor implementation of rehabilitation programs, and in 1997 the Commission for Disabled People was established to coordinate the activities of the Ministry, other government agencies and NGOs related to the problems of disabled persons, provide expert opinion and monitor implementation.¹⁶²

The Law on Croatian War Veterans regulates disability rights and benefits. All Croatian citizens are entitled to primary medical care by law, and to hospital rehabilitation once a year provided that their illness is listed in the regulations, that they have functional disorders and that ambulatory rehabilitation is unavailable. Disabled people using orthopedic and other aids are exempt from payment for medical services if their monthly earnings are less than three average monthly salaries. Supplemental allowances for assistance and care are available to disabled people on certain conditions, and reduced taxation and housing costs. Disabled survivors of the war (military and civilian) who are more than 80% disabled are entitled to an apartment free of charge; people not disabled in the war are entitled to only 20% discount, provided they are in wheelchairs. There are widespread transport privileges, but the law on access to buildings for disabled people is generally disrespected.¹⁶³

However, no specialized rehabilitation institute for mine victims exists in Croatia. As a result, amputees often are not provided with proper care during rehabilitation and their stumps tend to become atrophied. This renders normal usage of orthopedic aids impossible, so that many disabled persons use their crutches or remain in wheelchairs, although they could have become capable of walking on their own had there been better rehabilitation programs. The standard orthopedic aids supplied by the government tend not to fully meet the needs of the disabled. Special orthopedic aids are sometimes four times more costly, and the difference in price is not covered by the government.¹⁶⁴

Many amputees travel to Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has a center with specialized rehabilitation program for amputees. Also according to HSUTI, there are no programs of psychological/social rehabilitation for mine victims, although the Ministry of Health claims that an initiative has been launched to establish an integral specialized center for disabled persons, following the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

At the start of 1996 the Center for Rehabilitation and Adjustment to the Community was founded in Zagreb, to bring together experts in various fields and assist disabled persons in finding solutions to their health, social, legal and other problems. The Center is supported by the government body that provides assistance to the survivors of the Croatian War of Independence, by the Ministry of Health and WHO. Similar centers are being set up in Split and Osijek.

HSUTI established a mine victim section on 31 May 1999. Its operation includes research on the number and status of victims, assistance to its members, organization of meetings, education (optimization of self-help), seminars, and cooperation with other NGOs in Croatia and elsewhere. HSUTI has been active for more than twenty years and has centers in thirty-six cities all over the country. There are forty member-organizations, members of which acquire certain privileges, such as half-price telephone subscription and one hundred free phone units per month, half-price television subscription, free transportation in Zagreb and entrance to some cinemas, theaters and sporting events.¹⁶⁵

Although Croatia has extensive legal provisions for the rights and entitlements of disabled persons, which include mine victims, many are not fully implemented, partly because mine victims and other disabled persons have poor knowledge of their rights. Research conducted among mine victims revealed that one third (100 out of 300 respondents) are not familiar with benefits available to them. Mine victims have to pay for medicines not on the list of the Croatian Health Insurance Bureau, and for everything that exceeds the limits determined by national standards. Nationally, there is the Operational Headquarters for the victims of the Croatian War of Independence and the governmental Board for Persons with Impairments. However, there is no specific body to focus on issues related to mine victims.¹⁶⁶

CZECH REPUBLIC

Key developments since March 1999: The Czech Republic ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 26 October 1999 and it entered into force on 1 April 2000. National implementation legislation was passed on 18 November 1999 and entered into force on 3 December 1999. The original timeline of 20 June 2001 to complete mine/UXO clearance will likely slip to the end of 2001. By the end of 1999, a total of 9,972 hectares of land and 2,022 buildings had been cleared in and around the two main former Soviet bases.

Mine Ban Policy

The Czech Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, and ratified it on 26 October 1999. The treaty entered into force for the Czech Republic on 1 April 2000.

National implementation legislation was passed on 18 November 1999 and entered into force on 3 December.¹⁶⁷ Additionally, the criminal code was amended to impose imprisonment of one to five years for violations of the law.¹⁶⁸ Relevant sections of the treaty have been incorporated in military regulations with a view to preventing possible violations, and are taught at military colleges and universities.¹⁶⁹

The government participated in the First Meeting of State Parties in Mozambique in May 1999, with a delegation headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Palous.¹⁷⁰ The government has participated in all the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty.

In a statement at the General Assembly on 22 September 1999, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kavan stated, "We support all efforts towards achieving a universal applicability to this Convention."¹⁷¹ The government voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolutions supporting a ban on landmines in 1996, 1997, 1998 and in December 1999.

The country is a party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and submitted its national annual report required under Article 13 on 25 October 1999.¹⁷² The Czech Republic attended the First Conference of State Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 1999. At the Conference, the Secretary-General at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zdenek Matejka noted that, among the steps taken to ensure national implementation, the CCW and Amended Protocol II have been incorporated in national legislation, and "the relevant provisions are integrated in military instructions and operating procedures."¹⁷³

In his comments at the CCW Conference, Secretary-General Matejka also noted that the Czech Republic continues to support all other fora, in particular the Conference on Disarmament, aiming toward a universalization of Protocol II and the Mine Ban Treaty.¹⁷⁴

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Martin Palous, head of the Czech Delegation, had also stated this view at the FMSP in Maputo, where he said that "the Czech Republic has given lasting support to all other fora, in particular the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, that strive to involve all mine-producing States in the efforts to eliminate these lethal weapons. We are aware that such states may be able to cite sensible reasons for non-compliance; however, we are firm believers in the ability of the political process to overcome these obstacles in the near future, so that the Convention may become truly universal."¹⁷⁵

Declaration on Joint Operations with Non-Signatories of the MBT

With its ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, the government deposited a declaration with which it seeks to protect its troops from prosecution for the "mere participation in the planning or execution of operations, exercises or other military activity," where non-signatories use AP mines.¹⁷⁶ There is concern that the language of the declaration is so broad as to be inconsistent with the Mine Ban Treaty.¹⁷⁷

Production

The former Czechoslovakia was a significant producer and exporter of antipersonnel mines, and the Czech Republic inherited the AP mine production facilities when the country divided into the Czech and Slovak Republics. According to the Czech government, production of antipersonnel mines was halted in 1990. The types of AP mines produced by Czechoslovak state factories and some of the countries to which they were exported are noted in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999.¹⁷⁸

Two former producers of antipersonnel mines, POS Policka and Zeveta Bojkovice, both located in the province of Moravia, have now been converted to other types of production. POS Policka, near Uhersky Brod in southern Moravia, produced AP mines until 1989. About forty percent of its military production capacity has been converted to non-military programs (handles for petrol pumps), but it continues the production of antitank mines. Zeveta Bojkovice, near Usti nad Orlici in eastern Bohemia, also ceased production of antipersonnel mines in 1989. Sixty per cent of its military production capacity has been converted to non-military programs (spare parts for cars and other engineering production) while the rest of its capacity has been retained for the production of ammunition for small arms and light weapons.¹⁷⁹

Regarding production of antivehicle mines with antihandling devices and other munitions that might function like antipersonnel mines, the Czech Foreign Ministry has made the following statement: "Under the terms of Article 2 of the Convention, Czech manufacturers produce and supply to the Army of the Czech Republic cargo projectiles with remotely-delivered antitank mines equipped with electronic anti-disturbance devices. There is no production of any other anti-handling devices or mines delivered by cargo projectiles."¹⁸⁰ Despite the above disclaimer, Czech stockpiles contain antivehicle mines of concern to the ICBL. (See below).

Transfer

The former Czechoslovakia was a significant exporter of AP mines. The Czech Republic imposed a moratorium on exports in October 1994, which was made indefinite in November 1997,¹⁸¹ then was superseded by the Mine Ban Treaty.

Asked to clarify its position on the legality of another country transiting AP mines across Czech territory, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the ban on transfers would apply also in the case of joint operations with countries which are not party to the Mine Ban Treaty, for example within NATO. However, it was noted by Mr Tuma that the Czech Republic also has to meet its obligations to the Washington Treaty as a member of NATO.¹⁸² There appears to be ambiguity in the government's position.

Stockpiling and Destruction

By December 1997 the Czech Republic had destroyed all 44,353 non-detectable AP mines in its stocks that did not comply with Amended Protocol II.¹⁸³ These type PP-Mi-Na mines were destroyed at Týniste nad Orlicí.

On 23 May 1998, the Minister of Defense approved a stockpile elimination plan calling for completion of destruction by 30 June 2001.¹⁸⁴ Between January 1998 and May 2000 a total of 1,222 PP-Mi-Sr II APMs were destroyed, including 18 mines destroyed during testing of new equipment, 1,150 mines destroyed during testing of the AP mine dismantling facility and 54 mines destroyed during bomb disposal training courses. Due to technical and financial problems with the mine dismantling line the original timeline of 20 June 2001 to destroy the remaining 329,100 AP mines will be reconsidered, though not beyond the deadline of 1 April 2004 as required by Article 4 of the MBT.¹⁸⁵

Due to the technical problems, AP mine destruction has been transferred to a small military facility in Bohuslavice nad Vlàrí near Slavicín in southern Moravia. The destruction of 329,000 PP-Mi-Sr and PP-Mi-Sr II metallic cased fragmentation mines started on 2 May 2000, with an anticipated rate of 600 mines per day. The mines are destroyed by disassembling and recycling some materials, such as scrap metal and TNT components.¹⁸⁶

The Ministry of Defense plans to retain 4,900 antipersonnel mines for testing new demining technologies and for training bomb disposal experts of the Czech Army, as permitted under the treaty.¹⁸⁷ These mines are two types of metallic fragmentation mines: PP-Mi-Sr (1,400 to be retained) and PP-Mi-Sr II (3,500).

Regarding antivehicle mines, the Czech Army has PD-Mi-PK, PT-Mi-PK, PT-Mi-Ba III, PT-Mi-U, PT-Mi with tilt-rod fuse, PT-Mi-K, and PT-Mi-P mines in stock.¹⁸⁸

The Mine Ban Treaty prohibits antivehicle mines with antihandling devices that will explode as the result of an unintentional act of a person, and antivehicle mines with sensitive fuse mechanisms that cause them to function as antipersonnel mines. Tilt rod fuses cause an antivehicle mine to function as an antipersonnel mine.¹⁸⁹ While some Czech authorities state that only the PT-Mi is used with a tilt-rod fuse, independent sources indicate that the PT-Mi-P and PT-Mi-U mines are also used with a tilt rod fuse. ¹⁹⁰ Other Czech authorities have stated that none of the antivehicle and antitank mines listed above are fitted with any antihandling device,¹⁹¹ and that: "[t]he only mechanical anti-handling device ever produced in the Czech Republic was the anti-handling fuse Ro-10. The production was discontinued in 1990."¹⁹²

There is similar uncertainty on the question of whether any of these mines could be victim-activated by tripwire, a mode that is prohibited under the MBT. The Czech authorities interviewed could not assure that steps have been taken so that the listed mines cannot be used with a tripwire.¹⁹³ According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the PD-Mi-PK antivehicle mine can be fired "electro-mechanically by a contact cable, by command detonation or mechanically by a tripwire."¹⁹⁴ The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs states: "The mine (PD-Mi-PK)...is actuated by pressure of vehicles - by a contact cable, by a tripwire or command detonated. Like anti-tank mines, PD-Mi-PK is a directional mine designed to attack vehicle body, usually from the side. The Czech Republic does not classify PD-Mi-PK as an APM under Article 2 of the Convention."¹⁹⁵ From this information it is not clear that these mines would not be tripwire activated by "the presence, proximity or contact of a person" and therefore illegal under the MBT if used with a tripwire.

Landmine Problem

The country has long borders that were lines of confrontation between the Warsaw Pact and NATO during the Cold War. The present-day Czech authorities state that during the Cold War the former Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic did not deploy live mines on its borders with former Federal Republic of Germany and Austria. There were only inert mines, arranged to look like live mines in order to deter intruders. These inert mines, together with booby traps and tetrahedrons, were removed after the `Velvet Revolution' in 1989.¹⁹⁶

The government reported in 1995 that troops from the former Soviet Union had left approximately two tons of mines in waste dumps, in weapons pits, and in the ground near the Ralsko and Mladá military bases which were occupied by Soviet troops from 1968 to 1991. Army demining units have been clearing these bases of mines and UXO. The original plan to complete clearance by the end of 1999 could not be achieved.

Czech Army demining units will complete clearing mines and unexploded ordnance at Mladá by 30 June 2000, while clearing of the Ralsko base will take until the end of 2001.¹⁹⁷ By the end of 1999 at Mladá, some 1,301 buildings and 4,600 hectares of land had been cleared. At Ralsko, 721 buildings and 5,372 hectares of land had been cleared by the end of 1999.¹⁹⁸

Mine Action

The Czech Republic has contributed to humanitarian mine action. In 1998, $22,500 was donated to the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance and $3,500 to the ICRC to help mine victims. In 1999, $107,000 was donated to the Slovenian International Trust Fund (ITF) for Demining, Mine Clearance and Assistance to Mine Victims, mainly for mine victim assistance. The Czech Ambassador to Slovenia Jana Hybaskova chaired the ITF Board of Advisors in 1999.¹⁹⁹ Czech SFOR (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and KFOR (FRY-Kosovo) units are engaged in mine clearance in their areas of responsibility.

In 1998 the Czech government said that "health facilities in the Czech Republic are ready to admit for paid medical treatment a limited number of landmine victims, in particular children, and to ensure the supply of all necessary prostheses."²⁰⁰ This plan has now been altered: "In the light of the excellent results achieved by the Rehabilitation Institute in Llubljana which, inter alia, produces prostheses, the Czech Republic abandoned its original intention to admit mine victims to Czech medical facilities or to supply prostheses, and pay the costs from its ITF contribution." The donation to the ITF ($107,000) was used "to cover the costs associated with the short stay of Mr Jiri Hrabák, senior consultant at the prosthetic ward of the Teaching hospital in Plzen and Chairman of the Prosthetic Society, at the rehabilitation centres in Fojnica and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in September/October 1999."²⁰¹

DENMARK

Key developments since March 1999: Denmark completed destruction of its stockpile of 266,517 AP mines on 14 December 1999. From the beginning of 1999 through the end of May 2000, it contributed approximately $15.2 million for mine action programs. Denmark has established a humanitarian demining training center for NGOs.

Mine Ban Policy

Denmark was an active supporter of the "Ottawa Process" leading to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), which it signed on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 8 June 1998. With regard to additional implementing legislation, Denmark states, "No legal, administrative and other measures in addition to the legal, administrative and other measures already in force have been deemed necessary to comply with the Convention."²⁰²

The government participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in Maputo in May 1999. It has attended at least one meeting of each of the five intersessional Standing Committees of Experts.

Denmark voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54 promoting the MBT in December 1999, as it had with previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions. The government sees the MBT as the main instrument for achieving a mine-free world. The treaty provides a policy-framework for Danish contributions to mine action.

Denmark submitted its initial Article 7 report to the United Nations on 27 August 1999. It is comprehensive, with detailed information on mines in stockpiles, plans for their destruction and the situation on the mine-contaminated peninsula of Skallingen. The second Article 7 report, for the calendar year 1999, due by 30 April 2000, had not been submitted by the end of June 2000.

Denmark is a State Party to CCW Amended Protocol II (1996). It attended the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in December 1999, but had not submitted its report as required under Article 13 by that time. Denmark is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament, but "supports all efforts to ban anti-personnel landmines, including efforts in the Conference on Disarmament."²⁰³

Production and Transfer

The government of Denmark has stated that no antipersonnel mines have been produced since the1950s.²⁰⁴ Denmark has not exported AP mines in the past. It imported AP mines from the United States, Germany and perhaps other nations.²⁰⁵

Stockpile Destruction

According to Minister of Defense Hans Hækkerup, Denmark completed destruction of its 266,517 antipersonnel mines on 14 December 1999.²⁰⁶ The quantities of each type destroyed were reported as: 97,095 Type M/47; 102,372 Type M/56; 54,280 Type M/58; 12,770 Type M/66.²⁰⁷ The destruction was carried out at the Ammunition Arsenal, Elling, and at Entsorghungs-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Leipzig in Germany, by disassembling, burning and chemical destruction, following national, NATO and European Union safety and environmental standards.²⁰⁸

Denmark has retained a total of 4,991 AP mines for training purposes (60 Type M/56 and 4,931 Type M/58), which are under the control of the Chief of Defense, the Army Material and Operational Commands.²⁰⁹ Half of these AP mines will be used for development and testing of mine detection equipment, and half will be used for training in mine detection.²¹⁰ The Article 7 report does not include mention of 1,000 Claymore-type M18A1 mines acknowledged to be in stocks, which the government states have been modified for use only in command-detonated mode.²¹¹

Landmine Problem

Denmark is slightly mine-affected, but this is limited to the Skallingen peninsula on western Jutland, dating from World War II. The area is marked, and there are no reports of accidents caused by the mines there in recent years. Skallingen is a protected natural reserve, and the Danish government has gradually acquired almost all of the mine-infested territory. The area is currently being mapped, and a plan to clear the area will be developed. Denmark has reported, "According to the judgement of the Danish Ministry of Defense most of the mines are ineffective today, but there still is a small risk of some being effective."²¹²

Mine Action Funding

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for funding mine action programs. Denmark is a member of the Mine Action Support Group, a group of major mine action donors that meets in New York to coordinate their support for such programs.

Denmark has contributed a total of DKK 189,836,797 (US$24 million) to a broad range of mine action programs from 1996 to 1999.²¹³ It provided DKK 49.9 (US$7 million) in 1999, and a total of DKK 64.9 (US$8.2 million) from January-May 2000. Funding totalled DKK 57 in 1996, DKK 38.6 in 1997, and DKK 44.3 in 1998.

In its draft strategy document for international assistance, Denmark states that the eradication of AP mines is a political, humanitarian and development task, and has to be worked on from all three approaches.²¹⁴ According to the Danish International Development Agency, mine clearance will continue to have high priority in the years to come.²¹⁵ The government has used the MBT as a framework for governing allocations for mine action, aiming at supporting countries that are members of the MBT. Denmark is reviewing its support for mine action programs in Angola, due to the new use of AP mines by the government. However, support is also given to non-MBT parties such as Laos and to programs in areas that cannot be state parties, such as Chechnya and Kosovo.

A new development in Denmark is the establishment of a training center for non-governmental organizations in humanitarian demining, aimed at reinforcing the capacity for humanitarian mine clearance. The first course started on 25 April 2000, with sixteen participants. This is also funded by a mine action grant.²¹⁶

Table 1. Governmental donations to mine action in calendar year 1999²¹⁷

Agency	Country	Activity	Amount (DKK)	US$
Norwegian People's Aid (NPA)	Angola	Training program and information campaign in Toco north of Lubango	4,000,000	508,015
UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)	Kosovo	UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action in Kosovo	1,500,000	190,505
Danish Refugee Council	Angola	Information campaign etc.	5,000,000	635,019
UNOCHA	Afghanistan	Mine clearance program etc.	2,500,000	317,509
DanChurchAid	Kosovo	Mine education (total grant 1999-2000: 17.4 million)	11,900,000	1,511,346
NPA	Mozambique	Mine clearance program etc.	5,000,000	635,019
ADP/UNDP	Mozambique	Mine clearance program etc.	14,500,000	1,841,556
Mines Advisory Group	Vietnam	Bomb and mine clearance in Quang Tri Province (total grant 1998-1999)	7,100,000	901,727
OHR / DEMEX	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Identification of areas in Brcko where mine clearance is needed (Total grant 98-99)	460,000	58,421
DEMEX	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Mine clearance in Brcko (total grant 1998-1999)	1,720,000	218,446
Slovenian Trust Fund	Bosnia & Herzegovina	Demining (total grant 1998-1999)	700,000	88,902
Danish Demining Group	Somalia	Mine clearance (MIKA)	540,000	68,582
1999 IN TOTAL			54,920,000	6,975,047

Table 2. Governmental contributions to mine action in 1 January - 29 May 2000²¹⁸

Agency	Country	Activity	Amount (DKK)	US$
UNMAS	Mozambique	Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action in Mozambique	1,000,000	126,742
DFH /ASF	Chechnya	Mine awareness etc.	300,000	38,023
IPPNW	General	Support to mine campaigns	1,000,000	126,742
ICBL	International	Landmine Monitor initiative	350,000	44,360
DanChurchAid	Kosovo	Mine clearance program etc. (2nd instalment of total grant 1999: 17.4 million)	5,500,000	697,085
DanChurchAid	Kosovo	Mine clearance program etc.	7,000,000	889,020
DanChurchAid	Chechnya	Mine clearance in Chechnya (3rd instalment of 9.3 million)	2,300,000	291,508
UNDP	Laos	Bomb clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)	19,500,000	2,471,482
Nicaraguan Government	Nicaragua	Mine clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)	8,000,000	1,013,941
OAS	Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica	Mine clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)	15,000,000	1,901,140
IND/UNOPS	Mozambique	Technical assistance to National Demining Institute	2,972,700	376,768
Dandec	General	Grant to education in mine clearance	2,000,000	253,485
2000 (January-May) IN TOTAL			64,922,700	8,230,296

An additional DKK 5,000,000 is granted for the UNDP/CMAC mine clearance program in Cambodia, but not yet allocated, due to Danish dissatisfaction with Cambodia Mine Action Center management. Denmark will not disburse this grant until adequate guarantees for changes at CMAC are received.²¹⁹

Research and Development (R&D)

The main R&D initiative is the Nordic Demining Research Forum (NDRF).²²⁰ The Danish machine manufacturer Hydrema has produced a civilian version of its mine clearance vehicle Hydrema MCV 910, which is used by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) in Angola and by DanChurchAid in Kosovo. Hydrema cooperates with these agencies to improve the design based on field experience.

Non-Governmental Organizations

Two NGOs in Denmark are involved in humanitarian mine action programs: DanChurchAid,²²¹ a humanitarian NGO connected to the Danish Church, and Danish Demining Group,²²² a cooperative agency involving the Danish Refugee Council and Danish People's Aid. DanChurchAid is also the focal point for mine action in Action by Churches Together, a global cooperation of church organizations involved in humanitarian work. Both these NGOs receive a major part of official Danish mine action funds. A new NGO, Fonden Danmark mod Landminer, advocating the need to support mine action and the ban, is in the process of being established.²²³

Landmine Casualties

Although some Danish peacekeepers have been injured by mines, it has not been possible to establish the exact number. Denmark has all modern medical and rehabilitation facilities.

FRANCE

Key developments since March 1999: France completed destruction of its nearly 1.1 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines in December 1999. France served as co-chair of the SCE on Technologies for Mine Action. The national commission to monitor ban treaty implementation became operational in June 1999. France contributed about US$2.7 million to mine action programs in 1999, including donations to the EU.

Mine Ban Policy

France signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 25 June 1998. Domestic implementation legislation was enacted on 8 July 1998. Since then France has made rapid progress on implementation of the MBT.

In a December 1999 letter, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin noted, "Since the Convention's ratification and the adoption of the national law, France has defended the Mine Ban cause, victim assistance and mine clearance, in the framework of international fora as well as in numerous bilateral contacts. It seems to me that this determined diplomatic action has to remain the French Government's main contribution to the universalization of the Ottawa Convention."²²⁴

Toward that end, the government created the Commission Nationale pour l'Elimination des Mines Anti-personnel (CNEMA, the National Commission for the Elimination of Antipersonnel Mines). Its mission is to ensure monitoring and enforcement of the MBT and of international actions by France to help landmine victims and to aid in mine clearance.²²⁵ The Prime Minister attended the first meeting in June 1999; there have been five meetings since then. CNEMA is noteworthy for including nongovernmental organizations such as Handicap International. CNEMA representatives have attended the ban treaty intersessional Standing Committee of Experts (SCE) meetings as part of the French delegation, and witnessed stockpile destruction. The CNEMA annual report, due to be presented to the Prime Minister in July 2000, includes an account of French implementation measures and also recommendations which have been the result of discussions among different components of the CNEMA.

The government participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999, where it agreed to serve as co-chair of the newly established SCE on Technologies for Mine Action. France has attended meetings of all the Standing Committees of Experts. The Ministry of Defense made a presentation at the Stockpile Destruction SCE on 22 May 2000.²²⁶

France submitted its first Article 7 report on 26 August 1999, covering the period 1 March 1999 to 31 July 1999. Some information was considered unclear by the Observatoire des Transferts d'Armements that led to discussion in the CNEMA. These questions were resolved in the second report, submitted on 3 May 2000, covering the period 1 August 1999 to 31 March 2000.

France has taken other initiatives in favor of universalization and implementation of the MBT. When French mine stockpiles were destroyed at the end of 1999, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a press release to all embassies with the instruction to present this information to local authorities and raise the landmine issue with them.²²⁷ In 1999 the ICBL contacted all of the Francophonie Heads of States about universalisation and implementation of the MBT. After the Francophonie summit, Jacques Chirac informed Handicap International that "the issue had effectively been debated among Heads of States and governments in Moncton.... The Action Plan we adopted includes this commitment and the expression of our willingness to contribute to the implementation of the provisions of this fundamental text."²²⁸ A new resolution was adopted during the Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly, which was held in Yaounde in Cameroon in July 2000.

A few days before the first anniversary of the entry into force of the MBT on 1 March 2000, France confirmed its intention to organize, jointly with Canada, a regional seminar in Africa to "promote universality and comprehensive implementation of the Ottawa Convention."²²⁹ It is planned to take place in the beginning of 2001.

France ratified Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 4 March 1998, and attended the First Conference of States Parties to the protocol in December 1999, having submitted its report as required under Article 13. France supports the European Union initiative to have an AP mine transfer ban apply to countries which are not MBT signatories, but regrets the lack of commitment by other States on this issue.²³⁰

During the United Nations General Assembly in September 1999 France tried unsuccessfully to propose a resolution supporting mine ban deliberations in all relevant fora, including the Conference on Disarmament (CD). It was withdrawn after strong opposition and, the government fully supported the UNGA resolution 54/54B in December 1999.

Production

A moratorium on AP mine production was announced in September 1995, later superseded by the national legislation of 8 July 1998 implementing the MBT in France.²³¹ Additionally, the Ministry of Defense stated that the interministerial commission responsible for war material export authorizations would refuse any request concerning components which could be used in the production of AP mines.²³²

Companies which were previously involved in this industry are still not transparent on what has happened to AP mine-production facilities. In a letter responding to the President of the CNEMA, SAE Alsetex stated that since 1995 it has converted its former production facilities, has not produced AP mines since 1982, and never licensed production of either AP mines or their components. Surprisingly, Giat Industries stated that it has never developed, produced nor sold any AP mines, components or disseminating system, does not possess AP mine-production facilities, and has not licensed production of AP mines or their components.²³³ Yet Giat has long been identified as one of the two major landmine producers in France, after the company bought Poudres Réunies de Belgique in 1990.²³⁴

Presented with inquiries regarding some French antivehicle mines with antihandling devices that may function as AP mines, and if so, would therefore be banned by the MBT,²³⁵ the Ministry of Defense responded as indicated in the list below.²³⁶ Further investigations of mines stated as "currently stockpiled" will be carried out by NGOs.

1. Mines that, according the Ministry of Defense, have been studied but never produced: 

· APILAS (inherent anti-disturbance features)

· APILAS-APA (break wire sensor package)

· HPD 1-A (inherent anti-disturbance features)

· HPD 2 (inherent anti-disturbance features, cocked striker mechanism in firing chain)

· HPD 3 (inherent anti-disturbance features)

· ACPM (contains secondary fuze wells for antihandling device)

· HPD (seismic sensor and magnetic influence fuze),

· M AZ AC Wide Area Mine (acoustic sensors),

· MI AC PM E (pressure plate, unknown sensitivity)

· MI AC DISP (unknown antihandling capability),

· MITRAL (item in development, unknown sensitivity of pressure fuze)

2. Mines that are currently stockpiled, according to the Ministry of Defense:

· HPD F 2 (inherent anti-disturbance features)

· MIACAH F1 (break wire fuze)

· MI AC Disp F1 (magnetic influence fuze)

3. Mines that have been destroyed, according to the Ministry of Defense:

· MI AC M CC MLE 56 (also designated Model 1956, tilt rod fuze)

· Model 48/55 (can be used with M1954 tilt rod fuze)

· Type 1954 (tilt rod fuze)

· Model 1947 (provisions for one or two booby trap fuzes)

· Model 1948 (Model 1952 Pressure/Pressure Release fuze provides an anti-withdrawal feature)

· Model 1948 T (including tilt rod variant)

· Model 1951 -- including all metallic, nonmetallic, tilt rod, and shaped charge variants -- (contains secondary fuze wells for antihandling device, such as M1951 fuze)

· Model 1951 Grille (contains secondary fuze wells for antihandling device, cocked striker mechanism in firing chain)

· Model 1952 -- including all metallic, nonmetallic, tilt rod, and shaped charge variants -- (contains secondary fuze wells for antihandling device, such as M1951 fuze)

· Type 542-L (contains secondary fuze wells for antihandling device)

· Type 1953 (uses unknown mine as initiating charge, other fuzing unknown)

· In addition, HPD F 1 (inherent anti-disturbance features) is awaiting destruction.

4. Mines which are unknown to the Ministry of Defense:

· L14A1 (variant produced for UK contains break wire)

· ACL 89 (item in development, seismic and IR sensors)

· ATM Heavy (unknown nomenclature, motion sensitive fuze)

· ATM Light (unknown nomenclature, motion sensitive fuze)

· GIAT Lance (magnetic influence fuze)

· MACIPE (unknown antihandling capability)

· MI AC PR F2 (pressure plate, unknown sensitivity)

· MI AS DISP (unknown antihandling capability)

5. Mines for which France stopped its participation in research and development:

· MI AC PED GIAT (item in development, break wire sensor)

· MI AC PED ARGES (in development with GE and UK, IR sensor)

In the lists above, the descriptions are taken from a Human Rights Watch document outlining antivehicle mines with antihandling devices of concern.²³⁷

Transfer

France was an exporter of landmines in the past.²³⁸ Questioned about France's interpretation of the MBT prohibition on "assist" with respect to transfer and transit, the Ministry of Defense stated that any transfer or transit operation for another purpose than the ones authorized under Article 3 of the Convention would be considered as illicit.²³⁹

Stockpile and Destruction

On 20 December 1999, France destroyed its last AP mines in the presence of Alain Richard, Minister of Defense, three years ahead of the MBT deadline. In its second Article 7 report, France gives significant details about its stockpile, including names, quantities, lot numbers, status and location of destruction (either within the country or overseas), and bodies responsible for the destruction (either the Army or private companies). Seven different types of fuzes have also been destroyed.

Table 1. Mines which have been destroyed overseas by the French Army²⁴⁰

Date	Location	Number of Mines
6 and 7 September 1999	French Guyana	368
28 September 1999	Ivory Coast	120
11 and 12 October 1999	New Caledonia	1074
2,3 & 4 November 1999	Djibouti	2444
TOTAL		4006

Between 17 June 1996 and 20 December 1999 a total of 1,098,281 mines, 192,439 fuzes and 132,786 components have been destroyed, as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2. Progress of AP Mine destruction 1996-1999²⁴¹

	Destroyed since 1996 by DCMAT*	Destroyed since 1997 by other Army bodies	Destroyed in 1998 by private companies	Destroyed in 1999 by private companies	Destroyed overseas by Army	Total	Total retained
APMs	88,348	4,006	706,865	295,056	4,006	1,098,281	3,873
Fuzes	4,351	683	169,321	18,068	16	192,439	0

*Direction Centrale du Matériel de l'Armée de Terre (DCMAT)

In addition to the above, the private company Formetal destroyed 132,786 components, and 2,996 exercise AP mines were destroyed by Formetal and AF Demil in 1998 and 1999. Greater detail of the destruction of French stockpile, including a breakdown by year, type of mines, numbers, date, site of and the entity responsible for destruction is given in the CNEMA report.²⁴²

The second Article 7 report gives the actual total of French mines retained for training purposes, as permitted under the MBT, as 3,873 and details its composition, plus 641 foreign AP mines, totalling 4,514.²⁴³ This stock can be renewed. NGOs have encouraged France to include in its Article 7 reports not only the composition but also the use of this stock. This issue is also of concern to the CNEMA, as stated in its first annual report.²⁴⁴

In its second Article 7 report, France also mentioned a suspected mined area in the military storage area of La Doudah, a French military zone on the territory of Djibouti. This situation seemed to have occurred after torrential rains prevented the total clearance of this minefield. France reported that this area being inside a military zone is not accessible to the public, does not pose any danger to people and is properly marked and posted with warning signs.

Use

During parliamentary debates in June 1998, the Minister of Defense said that France had already declared before the Atlantic Alliance that "it would unreservedly enforce the Ottawa Treaty. France will prohibit the planned or actual use of antipersonnel mines in any military operation whatsoever by its military personnel. Furthermore, France will refuse to agree to rules of engagement in any military operation calling for the use of antipersonnel mines."²⁴⁵ This was made effective in a directive sent out by the Joint Chief of Staff in November 1998.

During the NATO air operation in Kosovo in early 1999, some parliamentarians questioned the government on this issue, and the government answered that "during the conflict in Kosovo, France did not use either antipersonnel landmines or submunitions...."²⁴⁶

The ICBL has called on all NATO members to adopt a NATO-wide policy of non-use of AP mines in joint operations. In October 1999 Hubert Védrine, Minister of Foreign Affairs, recalled the directives officially stated by the Chief of Staff in November 1998, which forbid any French military personnel to use APMs, participate in planning operations employing use of APMs, or give an agreement to any document mentioning a possible use. These elements were presented in the framework of a NATO military working group in May 1998. The Minister added that if France cannot determine the rules that the army of another State has to obey, it recommends in case of joint operation the use of means in accordance with the MBT. France will make sure that rules adopted by its partners will not put it in a position which would contradict its international commitment.²⁴⁷

Mine Action Funding

In 1999, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs created a new "Fund for Aid for Cooperation" (FAC) for mine action programs, which will be endowed with FF 20 million (US$2.85 million) for a period of three years. While signalling its interest in mine action, the amount is small to cover all activities related to mine action, including victim assistance. (Funds from the FAC will not be used for research and development in demining technology.) Both French NGOs and CNEMA have encouraged the government to increase this endowment rapidly.

Projects funded from the FAC will have to be implemented in a country either signatory or State Party to the MBT, with an exception for humanitarian considerations. This policy helps promote the MBT and follows existing European Union policy. The beneficiary country must also be identified as a priority in the French Co-operation policy. FAC funds will be able to be used via UN agencies in a specific country.

France also wants to pay special attention to other sponsors of a project, in order to maximize coordination and the effectiveness of projects. However, French implementing agencies (whether NGOs or not), which are not numerous in this field, are still favored in funding decisions. This can inhibit the work of French and international NGOs attempting to coordinate projects together and limits the ability to respond to needs in the field.²⁴⁸ By changing this policy, France could have a presence in countries where no French agencies are operating but which are a high priority for the French government.

The total French contribution to mine action programs in 1999 was about US$2.74 million, including bilateral and multilateral programs, as well as its share of EU contributions to mine action.

Table 3. French involvement in mine action programs in 1999:

A. bilateral aid

Country	Amount in Francs	Beneficiary	Allocation
Kosovo	1 million ($160,000)	Handicap International	Mine Clearance
Senegal	1 million ($160,000)	Handicap International	Mine Awareness

B. multilateral aid

Country	Amount in Francs	Beneficiary	Allocation
Kosovo	600,000 ($98,000)	International Trust Fund	Mine Clearance
	2 million ($330,000)	UN Mine Action Service
	Non evaluated	KFOR/demining activities	113 military personnel249
Croatia	1 million ($160,000)	CROMAC
	Non Evaluated	WEU	Secondment of one person

France has also supported mine action through its contributions to the European Union. Its share represents 17.2 percent of the total, which means for 1999 a contribution equivalent to 1,938,268 Euros.

Table 4. European Union funding of mine action 1998 and (provisional estimates) 1999

Year	1998 (amount in ECUs)	1999 (amount in Euros)
Mine action	15,782,423	11,179,476
General250	8,000,000	89,522
Research and development	8,370,000	8,550,095
Overall total	32,153,413	19,839,093
French share of the total	5,530,387	3,412,324
French share of EU contribution to mine action (excluding R&D)	4,090,576	1,938,268

Due to the complex European system regarding mine action funding, it is extremely difficult to get a comprehensive picture (and figures) of what has actually been done. However, it is noticeable that the difference between the two years is mainly due to specific support dedicated to the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1998 for victim assistance in the context of a joint action adopted by EU member states in 1997.

The data for 1999 is of more interest, as it shows a reduction in the amount dedicated to mine action but consistently high support for research and development (which is not always immediately useful for the poorest mine-affected communities). Claiming to be one of the major contributors to mine action, the European Union and its member States have already been encouraged by NGOs to improve the transparency of their actual involvement in mine action.

France is often unclear regarding mine action undertaken by French soldiers in multilateral peacekeeping operations, such as in Kosovo. What the Army considers as operational demining is often blurred with French support for humanitarian demining. For instance, in his answer to one Member of Parliament, the Minister of Defense stated, "In Kosovo, the Leclerc Brigade has undertaken many actions since its installation in the Mitrovica region: mine awareness for local population, survey, marking and demining, notably to secure the work of International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia officers, inventory of munitions and control of military storage."²⁵¹

But other sources indicate the difference: "In Kosovo, the French Armies do not participate directly to humanitarian demining but support mine action undertaken by NGOs or Governmental organisations, notably with mine awareness operation for local populations.... The mine awareness team is not trained nor qualified to execute neither operational demining nor any humanitarian demining missions."²⁵² While the military plays a valuable role in this situation, their mandate is to secure the area under their responsibility. French forces do not have a mandate to respond to civilian requests for mine clearance. France provides some support for humanitarian demining through the secondment of qualified personnel to UN mine action centers for example, as it has in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, French NGOs (especially Handicap International, the only French organization implementing mine action programs) have asked the French government to be more involved in humanitarian demining, either through a broader funding policy or the secondment of deminers from the Civil Security to NGOs and international organizations.

Research and Development (R&D)

Significant funds have been invested since 1993 in the research and development of mine clearance technologies, mainly into countermine techniques with few possible applications for humanitarian demining.²⁵³ The CNEMA has pointed out that minefield breaching does not correspond to today's humanitarian mine clearance needs, and even the French Army has to buy mine clearance technology abroad. CNEMA also underlined the absence of dynamic French companies in this field, as compared with the United States, Germany and Sweden, as well as an apparent lack of understanding of the differences between demining for military and for civilian purposes.²⁵⁴

Research programs in France are mainly in the fields of mine-affected area identification, mine detection, mine clearance and management in the framework of military operations. Private companies involved include Thomson CSF and SAGEM for detection systems, Giat Industries, Matra Baé, DCN/ Saint Nicolas and ITS for demining systems. Different governmental bodies, mainly attached to the Ministry of Defense, also develop their own research, mainly the Etablissements Techniques de Bourges et d'Angers. For test purposes, a minefield will be set up in Bourges during 2000, under the supervision of the Armament General Directorate (DGA) of the Ministry of Defense.

Table 5. French investment (in millions of Francs) in research and development 1993-2003 (amounts for 2000 to 2003 are estimated)

Year	Detection	Clearance	Decoys	Counter-Mining	Total (US$ million)*
1993-1998	36.4	2.3	2	5.5	46.2 ($8.385)
1998	1.4	0	0	0.4	1.8 ($0.305)
1999	22.5	1.9	0	1	25.4 ($4.127)
2000	26.2	7	5	4	42.2 ($6.432)
2001	25.2	4.6	6	0	35.8 ($5.457)
2002	8	3	4	0	15 ($2.286)
2003	0	4	15	0	19 ($2.896)

*dollar equivalents are calculated at the average for each time-period

In addition to this investment in R&D, the French Army has also been authorized by the Parliament to spend approximately FF 1,803 million on new detection and countermining systems between 2001 and 2015.²⁵⁵

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance does not appear to be a priority for the French government. No specific budget for victim assistance appears in information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. There seems to be a confusion for the French government between what can be considered as direct and immediate assistance to a mine victim and what is required from States Parties as legal obligations under the MBT. In many written answers to Members of Parliament, the government explained at length its policy on the mine ban or mine clearance, but gave only a couple of lines to victim assistance.

In February 1999 Handicap International (HI), which is the major French NGO in the field of victim assistance, called on the government to become involved in comprehensive and long-term cooperation with other States Parties which are developing policies for support for work with the disabled, including mine victim assistance. HI also has begun to work on the rights of mine victims, as part of its continuing efforts (with other French NGOs) to promote the MBT and its full implementation by State Parties. In 1999 HI dedicated its campaign to the rights of the mine victims, culminating with the organization of a shoe pyramid and a day of national mobilization against landmines. The most recent event in September 1999 took place in 19 cities and was attended by over 40,000 people. On 1 March 2000, the second anniversary of the entry into force of the MBT, HI organized a postcard campaign to Members of Parliament, the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to question the low level of France's commitment to victim assistance and mine clearance, and ask the French government to lead the battle for the rights of mine victims. The official response was non-committal, and HI intends to develop this important issue in the coming months.

GERMANY

Key developments since March 1999: In 1999, Germany contributed about US$18.1 million to humanitarian mine action programs, including its share of EU mine action spending. Germany served as the co-rapporteur for the SCE on Technologies for Mine Action.

Mine Ban Policy

Germany signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) in Ottawa on 3 December 1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 July 1998. Domestic implementation legislation was enacted on 9 July 1998. Germany was an early supporter of a ban on AP mines. It adopted an export moratorium in 1994, banned use of the weapon in 1996, and completed destruction of its stockpile in December 1997.

Germany participated in the First Meeting of State Parties to the MBT in Maputo, Mozambique in May 1999, where the State Minister of the German Foreign Office Dr. Ludger Volmer spoke on behalf of the presidency of the European Union (EU). In his statement, he reconfirmed the commitment of the European Union to the goal of the total elimination of antipersonnel mines.⁰ It has served as co-rapporteur (with Yemen) of the MBT's intersessional Standing Committee of Experts on Technologies for Mine Action; it has also participated in all the meetings of the other four SCEs in 1999 and 2000. In December 1999, it voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B calling for universalization and full implementation of the MBT, as it had with the previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions.

The government submitted its first MBT Article 7 report on 31 August 1999, followed by the second report on 30 April 2000.¹

On 12 April 2000, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs submitted its 1999 report on disarmament to Parliament in which it outlined the government's clear steps toward the prohibition of AP mines and reconfirmed its commitment to the disarmament as well as the humanitarian obligations of the MBT. ² The report states that Germany "regrets the absence of important states like China, Russia and the USA. Their joining would be very important for the desirable universalization of the Ottawa Convention."³

With respect to the issue of joint military operations with a non-signatory to the MBT who uses AP mines, German legislation definitively forbids under any circumstance involvement in AP mine-laying operations whether in Germany or elsewhere.⁴ While the government does not want to interfere in the military strategy of another state, it must ensure that German soldiers do not violate the law. The Ministry of Defense says, "[A]s far as joint and combined operations are concerned German soldiers will be in full compliance with the Ottawa Convention and national laws."⁵ How German soldiers would avoid violations if a non-MBT ally were to use AP mines in joint operations has not been explained.

Germany is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified the Amended Protocol II on 2 May 1997. It participated in the May 1999 preparatory meeting for the Conference on Protocol II, submitted its report as required under Article 13 and participated in the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Protocol II in December 1999. The German Initiative to Ban Landmines (GIBL) took particular note of the government's position in the CCW on AT mines, since this international forum deals also with antitank (antivehicle) mines which cause in the view of the GIBL a similar humanitarian impact to antipersonnel mines. As the German delegation to the Conference stated: "[A] special value of the Amended Protocol II, in our view, is that it addresses problems of weapons not covered by the Ottawa Convention, in particular anti-vehicle mines."⁶ Germany called for technical restrictions in order "to minimize the dangers resulting from long-lived or non-detectable mines."⁷ The GIBL considers it doubtful that technical restrictions can significantly reduce the effects of antitank mines on civilians.⁸

The German government has also consistently stated that any developments on the AP mine issue in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) must not "fall behind the achievements of the Ottawa Convention" and that it views the Mine Ban Treaty as "the comprehensive legal instrument on the subject of anti-personnel mines which should gain universal acceptance. The CD could contribute to this objective by negotiating solutions to specific areas...."⁹

Production

As reported in the Landmine MonitorReport 1999, Germany no longer produces AP mines.¹⁰ Germany continues to produce and to develop antitank mines¹¹ and other mine related technology.¹² The government, in a report to Parliament, argues that AT mines enable the military to reduce its personnel costs. It declares that the threat of these mines to civilians is reduced by self-neutralization mechanisms, which are designed to deactivate the mines after a certain time (at the longest, after forty days). ¹³ However, in the view of the GIBL, since the self-neutralization mechanisms are not one hundred percent reliable, the threat of AT mines to civilians remains.¹⁴

The ICBL, GIBL, and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have expressed concerns about antivehicle mines with antihandling devices or sensitive fuzes that might function like AP mines -- explode from the unintentional act of a person -- and therefore are banned under the MBT. In its argument for AT mines, the government makes no mention of these particular mines. The GIBL has identified the following mines as those which may be in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty or Amended Protocol II: AT1 because of its built-in antihandling/antidisturbance device; DM1233/AT2 because of its built-in antihandling/antidisturbance device and magnetic fuze; DM-12/PARM-1 because of its built-in breakwire sensor; DM-21 because of its built-in tilt rod; DM 31/FFV 028 SD and MIFF because of their built-in antihandling/antidisturbance-device and magnetic fuze; MUSPA, PM-60/K-1 (ex-GDR), TM-62P3 (ex-GDR) because of their built-in antihandling/antidisturbance-device; COBRA because of its built-in antihandling/antidisturbance device and its penetration warhead; SMART155(AM) because of its fragmentation warhead.¹⁵

Member organizations of the GIBL published an open letter to German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder detailing these concerns,¹⁶ which was widely taken up by the media.¹⁷ The Ministry of Defense responded to assure that the government adheres to the MBT and disputed that the MUSPA targets people, stating that it is not a prohibited weapon.¹⁸ It is interesting to note, however, that in its recent Article 7 report, Italy lists the MUSPA (and the MIFF) as AP mines or weapons that can function like an AP mine.¹⁹

In November 1999, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that it planned to export 36,000 AT-2 antitank mines to Greece.²⁰ The AT-2 is an antivehicle mine of concern because of its antihandling features, which might make it act as an AP mine. The government takes the view that the AT-2 mine cannot be detonated by the unintentional act of a person.²¹

Stockpiling and Destruction

Germany states that in December 1997 the destruction of all AP mines of the German Armed Forces including those of the former German Democratic Republic was completed, with the exception of approximately 3,000 AP mines retained for training and technical tests, as permitted under the MBT.²² In May 2000, the Ministry of Defense clarified that the DM 39, a weapon that seems to be able to serve as either an antihandling device or as an AP mine, is no longer in use, and destruction of stocks should be finished within the year 2000.²³

While there is no clear requirement under the MBT to report on stockpiles destroyed before entry into force of the treaty, it would be desirable, in the interests of full transparency, for Germany to report on the dismantling methods and types and quantities of AP mines destroyed, as well as information on the conversion of former AP mine production facilities (especially facilities of the Former German Democratic Republic).²⁴

The United States has more than 112,000 AP mines stockpiled in Germany, according to Human Rights Watch, including approximately 75,000 U.S. Army ADAM, 16,000 Army GEMSS, 14,000 Air Force Gator, 6,000 Volcano and 1,000 MOPMS AP mines.²⁵ Germany's Article 7 reports fail to mention stockpiles of U.S. AP mines in Germany. The government's position is that under the Status on Foreign Forces Agreement, weapons of foreign forces within Germany are not under German jurisdiction or control,²⁶ and thus Germany is not obligated to destroy those mines, or to request the U.S. to remove them. This understanding was reiterated by representatives of the Ministry of Defense in March 2000.²⁷ This position accords with the Memorandum of Understanding issued in January 1998, at the time of Germany's ratification of the MBT.²⁸

Transfer

In 1994 the government declared a unilateral export moratorium on AP mines, which was prolonged indefinitely in 1996 and then superceded with the total ban under the MBT.²⁹

On the related issue of transit - movement of a foreign force's AP mines across the territory of a state party -- the government has said, "According to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), storage and transport of APM for the purpose of stationed forces is legally permitted, as these weapons do not come under German sovereignty or control."³⁰

Mine Action Funding³¹

At the FMSP in May 1999, the State Minister, in speaking on behalf of the presidency of the European Union (EU), highlighted three main points regarding mine action. First, he stressed that "in 1998, total funding by the European Commission and Member States in landmine-related activities amounted to approximately US$95 million," making the EU "the world's major donor in these areas." Second, he emphasized that "the EU will focus its efforts on State Parties, and on signatories who fully observe in practice the principles and objectives laid down in the Convention." Third was the principle that "mine clearance cannot be disconnected from the general development strategy of a state. This raises automatically the questions, which area should be cleared at first, and what should happen with it afterwards." ³²

The GIBL points out that efforts to concretely describe the relationship between mine clearance and development have primarily come from the NGO community. The fundamental principle is that humanitarian mine action and development require the combination of mine clearance, mine awareness, and mine victim rehabilitation with reconstruction, reconciliation, and peacekeeping/building activities, as laid out comprehensively in NGO-developed guidelines known as the "Bad Honnef Framework."³³ The GIBL continues to press the government to make all of its funding decisions in such a framework.

In 1999, Germany contributed DM 21.7 million (US$11.4 million) to humanitarian mine action programs, plus another $6.7 million as its share of EU mine action spending. The GIBL commends the German government for its continued spending in this area, even if this was not an increase from the level of 1998.³⁴

From 1993-1999, German contributions to humanitarian mine action totaled DM 108 million ($57 million). Programs are funded primarily by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 1999, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent DM 19.67 million ($10.35 million) on mine action programs, as detailed in Table 1.

Table 1. Funding of humanitarian mine action by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999³⁵

COUNTRY	TYPE OF ASSISTANCE	DM	US$ EQUIVALENT
Angola	Support of mine clearance projects of NGO Menschen gegen Minen in Bengo Province; support of mine clearance projects of the NGO Stiftung Sankt Barbara in Cunene Province	2,210,000	1,163,158
Guinea-Bissau	Delivery of mine detectors	50,000	26,316
Chad	Delivery of mine detectors	110,000	57,895
Zimbabwe	Support of the UN assessment mission	20,000	10,526
Mozambique	Provision of a German technical advisor, physician and equipment for national mine clearance agency CND; support of a mine clearance project of NGO Phoenix; support for testing of airborne multisensor mine detector	1,050,000	552,632
Somalia	Support of an level II-survey	200,000	105,263
Afghanistan	Support of UN emergency aid program; support of Afghan NGO Mine Dog Center for education and use of mine tracker dogs; support through experts, provision of 75 detection tools to UNOCHA; support of "Female & Children Mine Awareness'" program and mechanical mine clearance program of Afghan NGO OMAR	5,430,000	2,857,895
Tadjikistan	Provision of detection tools for increase national mine clearance capacity	80,000	42,105
Yemen	Provision of personnel to UN mine clearance program	80,000	42,105
Vietnam	Support of mine clearance project of NGO Solidaritätsdienst International within resettlement program; support of NGO Potsdam Kommunikation for UXO survey in Hue Province	950,000	500,000
Laos	Support of a project to clear mines and UXOs (with German supervisor of Laos demining teams)	2,170,000	1,142,105
Cambodia	Support of mine clearance project in Siem Reap Province; field testing and operation of Rhino mine clearance technology with Cambodia Mine Action Center	2,550,000	1,342,105
Kosovo	Support of mine/UXO clearance project of HELP; support of UXO clearance project of Potsdam Kommunikation; support of UXO clearance project of Halo Trust; provision of German military experts to MACC; support of the mine awareness project of Handicap International	1,570,000	826,316
Kosovo	Provision of DM 1.2 million to Slovenia's International Trust Fund (ITF) for continuation of projects in 2000	1,200,000	631,579
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Support of mine clearance project of HELP in the frame of reconstruction of Stup and Filipovic villages; support of mine clearance project of NGO Köln Franziskaner in the frame of the reconstruction of Kosici village; provision of military mine clearance experts to BHMAC in Banja Luka; support of clearance project of Entity Army through provision of tools and aid for the mine victim fund; integrated mine clearance project of NGO Weltentminungsdienst in Vidovice region	1,070,000	563,158
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Provision of DM 0.8 million to the ITF for continuation of projects in 2000	800,000	421,053
Croatia	Provision of detection tools to CROMAC; provision of military mine clearance experts to WEU mission; support of mine clearance project of Weltentminungsdienst within reconstruction of Pakrac village	130,000	68,421
TOTAL		19,670,000	10,352,632

From 1993 to 1999, the total allocated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for humanitarian mine action was DM 73,905,797 ($38,897,788). The GIBL finds that of this amount only about 8.4% (DM 6.2 million/$3.25 million) went to mine clearance related to development measures, while approximately 89% (DM 65.6 million/$45.5 million) was allocated specifically for mine clearance/mine awareness activities.

Of the DM 73.9 million, 13 % (DM 9.75 million or $5.13 million) was allocated mainly to field-test mine clearance technology in Mozambique, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Cambodia.³⁶ In 1999 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent DM 2.55 million ($1.34 million) on a field-test of the Rhino mine clearance machine developed by MAK; this expenditure represents thirteen percent of the 1999 budget for humanitarian mine clearance. The Bad Honnef framework acknowledges the necessity of research and development in mine clearance technology, but stresses that this should "be based on end-user requirements and existing technologies." The GIBL believes it is doubtful if the technologies promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meet these requirements. An example is the Minebreaker 2000, which has been widely criticized as too costly and inappropriate for many mine affected countries.³⁷

Germany contributed DM 129 million ($67.89 million) to the European Commission between 1992-1999, which allocated a total of approximately $236 million to humanitarian mine action in that period.³⁸

Mine victim assistance and rehabilitation is the responsibility of the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development. In the period 1993-99 a total of DM 34.2 million (around $18 million) was allocated to mine clearance/mine awareness or victim assistance activities (see Table 2) and, in 1999 a total of DM 2.03 million ($1.05 million).³⁹ The Ministry finances mine-related activities only if they can be integrated as part of broader development projects.⁴⁰ The GIBL points out that this is an obstacle for mine action programs applying for funding if those programs are not in countries where Germany runs development projects, but it does ensure that all mine-related activities funded by the German Development Department are part of a broader development strategy - at least theoretically.

Most of these activities are actually implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ - German Company for Technical Co-operation) which follows the policies set out in its program handbook Development-oriented Emergency Aid - Integrated Demining. This handbook describes in detail mine clearance activities which involve mine-affected communities in the demining, but development measures like medical and social rehabilitation are supported only for activities such as collection of data on mine victims, and recommendations.⁴¹ The title - Emergency Aid - indicates that these programs are carried out in emergency situations, so longer-term development measures are left to follow-up programs, which are not part of GTZ mine action.

Table 2. Funding of development-oriented emergency aid (integrated demining) by the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development 1993-99⁴²

Total of Funding in the Period 1993-1999			DM	US$ equivalent
			34,228,233	18,014,859
Period	Supported country	Description of assistance	Resources in DM for mine clearance	US$ equivalent	Resources in DM for victim assistance	US$ equivalent
1994 - 2000	Angola	Technical cooperation/ survivor assistance for physical therapy and rehabilitation center in Luanda	-	-	13,187,000	6,940,526
1996 & 1998	Angola	Emergency aid/ survivor assistance for rehabilitation center in Luena/Moxico	250,000	131,579	2,512,000	1,322,105
Not specified	Mozambique	Technical and financial cooperation/ mine clearance: especially for reconstruction of national roads	2,374,000	1,249,474	-	-
Not specified	Mozambique	Emergency Aid: rural reconstruction program in Manica and Sofala provinces	1,000,000	526,316	-	-
Not specified	Mozambique	Community mine awareness	600,000	315,789	-	-
1996 & 1997	Cambodia	Technical and financial cooperation/ mine clearance: e.g. extension of rural paths	2,190,000	1,152,632	-	-
1993 & 1997	Cambodia	Technical and financial cooperation/ survivor assistance	-	-	942,000	495,789
1995 - 1997	Laos	Financing cooperation/ survivor assistance: reconstruction of the national road, clearing UXO, training demining personnel	773,233	406,965	-	-
1993 - 2000	Vietnam	Technical cooperation / survivor assistance: Center for Orthopedics	-	-	10,400,000	5,473,684
Subtotals			7,187,233	3,782,754	27,041,000	14,232,105
Percentage			21%		79%

Compared to its declared aim of integrating mine action into a broader development context, the GIBL notes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to favor a technical rather than a development-oriented approach. While promoting mine clearance technology, it does seem that most of the resources have been spent on enhancing the local capacities to carry out mine clearance. The slight increase in funding for development-oriented mine action programs in 1999 may be a sign of change in the funding policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Partly due to limits imposed by budgetary rules, partly due to overall policy decisions, there is a lack of coordination between German funding offices resulting in an inability to assist each other in concrete mine action operations. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funds mine-related activities (mostly with a technical approach) in Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Yemen, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development is not present in these areas to tackle mine-related development problems. In Angola, Mozambique, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam both ministries funded or still fund mine-related activities, but there is no coordination between them and no link between mine clearance operations funded by the Foreign Ministry and rehabilitation or reconstruction activities funded by the Development Ministry, at least as far as the GIBL could determine.

This lack of coordination, coupled with a strict division of support for mine clearance and development issues, results in funds not being readily available for those trying to turn the concept of an integrated approach into programmatic reality.⁴³ Different policy priorities, application formats, as well as reporting requirements make it nearly impossible to respond to the mine problem in a comprehensive way. Coordinated, long-term funding commitments are key to making a reality of development-oriented mine action.

NGO activities

There are many NGO initiatives to assist mine victims.⁴⁴ Their activities range from mine clearance and mine awareness projects to emergency aid, to physical, psychological and socio-economic rehabilitation of mine victims, their families and communities, in line with the Bad Honnef framework. Member organizations of the GIBL spent approximately DM 20.74 million ($10.91 million) on mine-related activities from 1995-1999.⁴⁵ (See Table 3.) Sixty-five percent of these funds were allocated to victim assistance embedded in socio-economic rehabilitation measures or in development/ food/ reconstruction/ resettlement/ peacekeeping activities or in integrated mine action programs which cover mine clearance, mine awareness, physical and psychosocial rehabilitation, socio-economic and cultural rehabilitation as well as political advocacy.⁴⁶

Table 3. NGO Funding of humanitarian mine action 1995-1999⁴⁷

YEAR	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	1995-99
Total amount in DM	1,095,301	1,181,483	3,886,554	4,140,544	10,440,501	20,744,383
Percentage	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Mine clearance & mine awareness activities	-	2,250	295,826	1,024,600	2,606,195	3,928,871
Percentage	0.00%	0.19%	7.61%	24.75%	24.96%	18.94%
Victim assistance (medical treatment, physical rehabilitation)	-	-	95,200	-	2,340,794	2,435,994
Percentage	0.00%	0.00%	2.45%	0.00%	22.42%	11.74%
Victim assistance (psychological + socio-economic rehabilitation)	972,125	1,069,586	2,719,550	868,760	1,590,224	7,220,245
Percentage	88.75%	90.53%	69.97%	20.98%	15.23%	34.81%
Victim assistance and development/food/ reconstruction/resettlement/peace-keeping activities	55,176	18,447	651,978	56,250	843,600	1,625,451
Percentage	5.04%	1.56%	16.78%	1.36%	8.08%	7.84%
Victim assistance (support of political advocacy)	68,000	91,200	124,000	246,934	457,071	987,205
In percentage	6.21%	7.72%	3.19%	5.96%	4.38%	4.76%
Integrated Mine Action Program (mine clearance, mine awareness, physical & psycho-social rehabilitation, socio-economic and cultural rehabilitation, political advocacy)	-	-	-	1,944,000	2,602,617	4,546,617
Percentage	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	46.95%	24.93%	21.92%

The GIBL is encouraged to see that some of these integrated programs are co-financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, yet the programs exist in the absence of a long-term funding commitment by the donors.

At the same time, it is of concern to the GIBL that the efforts to carry out integrated mine action programs decreased last year to twenty-five percent of the total spent on humanitarian mine action, while in 1998 it represented forty-seven percent. It is difficult to identify the reason for this decrease; it might be that the project departments of the NGOs involved are not aware enough of the integrated approach, or that the donor side restricts support to limited activities.

Landmine Problem and Mine Victims

On 5 December 1995, the German government announced that all mine-affected areas on the old east-west divide had been cleared and the last zone, near the Bavarian town of Hof, reopened to the public.⁴⁸ However incidents still do occasionally occur. On 16 March 2000, while walking two people found a strange little black box in the ground at the former frontier. As they were kicking it, one of them remembered the lessons he learned in the Army and realized this could be a landmine, which it was.⁴⁹ Twenty years after the military of the former German Democratic Republic demined the frontier, probably one of the best recorded minefields in the world, and ten years after private companies undertook a second mine clearance operation in this area,⁵⁰ this AP mine still remained in the ground.

German soldiers on peacekeeping operations are also at risk. On 22 September 1999 five German soldiers, part of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping forces, went into a minefield near the Albanian border. Three of them sustained minor injuries while two of them were seriously injured.⁵¹ According to one report, several German soldiers of the KFOR peacekeeping forces have been killed or injured by landmines since the KFOR operation started in Kosovo/Yugoslavia.⁵²

HOLY SEE

The Holy See signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 17 February 1998. At the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999, the Holy See was represented by Archbishop Juliusz Janusz who stated that "the Holy See intends to implement fully the provisions of the Convention by continuing to urge all States to become Parties to it. It will also continue to support efforts for effective and rapid mine clearance and for the adequate care for mine victims."⁵³ The Holy See has participated in meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees of Experts (SCE) of the MBT, including meetings on victim assistance, mine clearance, and treaty status and operation. It submitted its Article 7 report on 28 August 1999, in which it is stated that national legislation to implement the treaty is "under consideration."⁵⁴ The Holy See does not possess, produce, transfer, or use antipersonnel landmines and is not mine-affected.

The Holy See is a party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It participated in the First Conference of States Parties to the Amended Protocol in December 1999.

In a statement before the UN General Assembly, Archbishop Martino noted that "funding for mine clearance must become and remain an integral part of the aid and development programs of both donor and afflicted States."⁵⁵ As of September 1999 the Holy See has donated $4,000 to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.⁵⁶ During his trip to the Middle East, Pope John Paul II made a stop at Qasr el-Yahud, a religious site located in the occupied West Bank, in what was characterized as "a landmine-strewn Israeli military zone."⁵⁷ He did not directly address the landmine situation during his visit.

HUNGARY

Key developments since March 1999: Hungary completed destruction of the 356,884 AP mines in stockpile in June 1999. It has also destroyed 100,000 UKA-63 antivehicle mines with tilt-rod fuzes. Hungary served as the chair of the SCE on Stockpile Destruction.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Hungary signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997, and was the eighth country to ratify on 6 April 1998. On 24 February 1998, the Hungarian Parliament passed national legislation adopting the MBT, which came into effect on 7 March 1998.⁵⁸

Hungary attended the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT in May 1999. Since the FMSP, it has served as co-chair of the MBT's intersessional Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction, and has taken a lead role in promoting the importance of stockpile destruction internationally as preventive mine action. It also has participated in nearly all of the other SCE meetings. Hungary attended the regional landmine conferences in Zagreb in June 1999 and Ljubljana in June 2000.

The government submitted its initial Article 7 report on 1 October 1999, covering 1 March 1999 to 27 August 1999, and its second Article 7 report on 25 April 2000, covering 27 August 1999 to 25 April 2000.⁵⁹ The reports are minimalist, providing little supplemental information.

Hungary voted in favor of the December 1999 UNGA resolution supporting the treaty, as it has on the other pro-ban UN resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Hungary is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons. The government participated in the First Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol in December 1999, having submitted its report as required under Article 13. Hungary continues to support attempts to negotiate a transfer ban of AP mines in the Conference on Disarmament.

Production and Transfer

Hungary informed the United Nations in 1995 that it no longer produced or exported AP mines.⁶⁰ However, it had been a significant past producer and exporter of AP mines. Hungarian Mechanical Works (Magyar Mechanikai Muvek, MMM) was the sole producer for many decades.⁶¹ It produced M-49, M-62, GYATA-64 and POMZ-2 AP mines, as well as the UKA-63 antivehicle mine.⁶²

On 1 January 1998, MMM became Mechanical Works Special plc (Mechanikai Muvek Specialis RT., MWS). This company, owned by the Ministry of Defense, handles the destruction of all mines in Hungary. While MWS is still capable of producing antivehicle mines on a large scale, Hungary stated in its Article 7 report that conversion of AP mine production capabilities had been completed.⁶³

Stockpile and Destruction

Hungary completed destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile on 29 June 1999.⁶⁴ According to Hungary's initial Article 7 report, a total of 356,884 AP mines were destroyed in 1998 and 1999, including 207,198 GYATA-64 mines in the period 1 March 1999 to 27 August 1999.⁶⁵ According to MWS, all the mines that were destroyed in 1998 and 1999 were GYATA-64 mines.⁶⁶

In addition to the GYATA-64, the Ministry of Defense has acknowledged that prior to beginning destruction, Hungary also had in stock POMZ-2 AP mines and MON-50 Claymore-type directional fragmentation AP mines.⁶⁷ The Article 7 reports did not include information on these mines.

Apparently, all of the POMZ-2s were destroyed prior to entry into force of the MBT, including many in 1997.⁶⁸ It has been indicated that none of the stocks of MON-50s have been destroyed and there are no plans to do so.⁶⁹ The MON-50 is a directional fragmentation mine; use of tripwire operated directional fragmentation mines is not permitted by the MBT, but use of such mines in command detonated mode is allowed. A landmine expert from the Military College of Technology states that Hungary also has MON-100 and MON-200 directional fragmentation mines, and that all are equipped with electric percussion cap and cable and can be detonated only by remote control; there is no tripwire attached for victim-activation.⁷⁰ When such a modification might have been made is not known.

The Article 7 reports provide no information regarding the two other AP mines produced by Hungary in the past, types M-49 and M-62. The Ministry of Defense declined to provide requested information on these mines on at least two occasions.⁷¹ However, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official has indicated that these mines were produced shortly after World War II and had an expired shelf life; thus they were destroyed as part of the regular ammunition maintenance program some time ago.⁷²

It would be useful, in the interests of complete transparency, for information regarding POMZ-2s, MONs, M-49sand M-62s to be provided in the Article 7 report.⁷³

Hungary reported that 1,500 GYATA-64 mines would be retained for development of demining techniques, as permitted under Article 3 of the MBT.⁷⁴ In March 2000, a letter from the Ministry of Defense noted that the number retained was 2,000 mines.⁷⁵ However, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated in July 2000 that in fact Hungary had retained no AP mines, and that all had been destroyed.⁷⁶

In an interview in March 2000 with the deputy-director general of the MSW destruction facility, he revealed that some 100,000 UKA-63 type mines, representing half the stockpile, had been destroyed from September 1996 to March 2000, and that the remaining 100,000 units were scheduled to be destroyed by March 2002.⁷⁷

The destruction of the UKA-63 mines is of particular interest to the ICBL, as it is an antivehicle mine with a tilt rod fuze, which likely makes the mine act like an AP mine and therefore banned under the MBT.⁷⁸ The ICBL has pressed governments to report on such mines in the interest of transparency and to help establish which antivehicle mines with antihandling devices are prohibited under the treaty.

Hungary's Article 7 reports provides no detail about methods used for destroying the mines or about safety and environmental standards observed in their destruction. The reports state only that destruction is carried out by MWS at Törökbálint, by the "disassembly" method, according to "industrial standard."⁷⁹

MWS and Foreign Ministry officials indicate that stockpile destruction (carried out by the Ministry of Defense-owned MWS) takes place in the assembly plant on a specially developed production line that can process 200 kilograms in an eight-hour shift. There is a stand-by machine in case of failure of the production line. Dismantling takes place in three steps behind concrete protecting walls. Three mines are dismantled simultaneously, and workers have to account for every mine. All parts of the GYATA-64 and UKA-63 mines are recycled, except the detonator, which is destroyed by explosion. Explosives from the mines are used for excavating; steel plates are sent to furnaces. Explosive charges used in excavations are exported to the Scandinavian firms, Dinamo Nobel and Nitro Nobel, and to a German company, with a one to three years' guarantee, and cannot be converted to arms again. Other parts, such as non-decaying or slowly decaying plastic covers, are used in highway construction or destroyed in combustion furnaces. Mine dismantling has been performed without any casualties so far.⁸⁰

Hungary would like to establish a "regional mine-destruction center" at an established military base with good infrastructure, in the eastern part of the country near Nyíregyháza. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is financing this project. A profit-oriented Hungarian company owned by the Ministry of Defense has the contract to destroy mines in an environment-friendly way, utilizing plasma-burning technology developed in the United States. The glass-like end product would be used in highway and embankment construction. In the future, landmines from other regional states could be destroyed there, but the plant would be able to burn other kinds of hazardous refuse as well.⁸¹

Landmine Problem and Mine Clearance

The government reports that there are no mined areas in Hungary. While the country was demined after World War II, there are "mine and munitions contaminated areas" in Hungary today.⁸² The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that "[T]here is no official register" of underground objects.⁸³

Affected areas in Hungary come from three periods and sources: World War II, the Soviet Army 1944-1991, and the conflicts in Yugoslavia 1991-1995. There is only one such World War II mined area remaining, around 3,000-5,000 hectares of wooded area near the village of Nagybajom. Mine accidents were last recorded in this area in the 1950s, but each year one or two mines are found in the forest.⁸⁴

Soviet troops occupied 104 Hungarian settlements, from 1944 to June 1991. They stocked mines of unknown quantity and types in Hungary. From 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1999, the MH-HTAZ found 2,300 antitank mines on land formerly used by the Soviet Army. Mines of Soviet origin were found in shooting-ranges and drill grounds of Kunmadaras, Veszprém, Orgovány, Kecskemét, Debrecen and Esztergom (the latter was the most contaminated).⁸⁵

During the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, especially in the periods of the Serbian-Croatian war (1991-1992, 1994-1995), mine barriers were deployed on the Yugoslavian side of a sixty-six kilometer-long section of the border, starting at the junction of the river Dráva and the Danube. Mines were usually deployed within a few meters of the Hungarian border, some of them stretching into Hungarian territory from a few centimeters to three meters. Border guards and bomb-disposal experts of the Hungarian Army neutralized all mines found on Hungarian ground. The settlements of Erdõpuszta, Kölked, Udvar, Lippó, Ivándárda, Old, Alsószentmárton, Magyarboly, and Drávaszabolcs all had such mine deployments on their outskirts. According to the Hungarian Border Guard authority, they have installed one hundred warning boards in the Hungarian area facing the mined border line, and strongly advise local inhabitants to take these warnings seriously.⁸⁶

Mine Action

Hungarian troops have engaged in some demining as part of the IFOR/SFOR peacekeeping contingent in Croatia. Hungary has also stationed a 350-strong KFOR contingent in Kosovo at Pristina since summer 1999. There is a mine searcher, bomb-disposal team in this contingent, which so far has demined the road to the KFOR telecommunications center that they protect.⁸⁷

At the Budapest Regional Conference on Landmines in March 1998, then-Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs announced Hungary's "Agenda '98," consisting of six items with the purpose of banning and destroying antipersonnel landmines and lessening the damage caused by the weapon. Among other things he said that Hungary would establish a physio- and psychotherapeutic institution to help landmine victims, and would pursue a German-Hungarian demining initiative in the Eastern Slavonia region of Croatia.⁸⁸

In the two years since then, Hungary offered $3,000 for the Slovenian demining program in 1999 and another donation is expected in 2000, but further contributions to demining programs are uncertain. The German-Hungarian initiative has not been realized. Between ten and forty professional Hungarian deminers work in Croatia, employed by foreign, profit-oriented private companies.⁸⁹

The physio- and psychotherapeutic program to aid the recovery of landmine victims was to have been funded by Canada ($100,000) with a similar amount of Hungarian support in the form of buildings. But the project, managed by the Children for Children Foundation, did not gain support from any Hungarian Ministry up to July 1999, after which the Canadian Government ordered a revision of the project, to be completed by spring 2000.⁹⁰

ICELAND

Key developments since March 1999: Iceland ratified the MBT on 5 May 1999.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Iceland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 5 May 1999. The treaty entered into force for Iceland on 1 November 1999. National legislation to ensure implementation is being prepared.⁹¹ Iceland voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly pro-ban resolutions 1996-1998, and again in December 1999. It attended the First Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in May 1999. It has not submitted its Article 7 report, which was due by 29 April 2000. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Iceland views the Mine Ban Treaty as important, but does not play an active role in its implementation work.⁹²

Iceland has no military forces of its own, but is a member of NATO and has a bilateral defense agreement with the United States. This provides that the U.S. will carry out the defense of Iceland in accordance with its responsibilities under NATO and that Iceland will make all acquisitions of land and other arrangements required to permit use of defense facilities.⁹³ This leaves unclear the question of whether Iceland, as an MBT State Party, would permit a non-MBT party such as the U.S. to stockpile or transfer prohibited antipersonnel mines on or through Icelandic territory, or assist U.S. forces with mine-related activities prohibited under the MBT. However, when Iceland deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations it made no additional qualifying statement that would indicate that U.S. stockpiling or transfer of antipersonnel mines in Iceland, or other assistance, would be regarded as permissible.

Iceland does not produce, transfer or use landmines, and maintains no landmine stockpiles.⁹⁴ It is not landmine-affected, although sea mines from World War II occasionally wash up on its shores.⁹⁵

Iceland has stated that it will focus its contributions to mine action on victim assistance programs, and in 1997 granted US$1.3 million for mine victim assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to provide prostheses. By June 2000 just under US$1 million has been spent on this.⁹⁶

IRELAND

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Ireland has long been in the forefront of countries working toward the elimination of antipersonnel landmines. The Irish government was able to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) immediately upon signature on 3 December 1997, because it took as implementing legislation the Explosives (Land Mines) Order that had been approved by the Dail, the Irish parliament on 12 June 1996. This Order makes the manufacture, stockpiling, transfer and use of antipersonnel landmines a criminal offence in Ireland.⁹⁷ The tactical doctrine and training manuals of the Defence Forces have been amended to comply with the MBT.⁹⁸

David Andrews was one of the few Foreign Ministers to head a delegation to the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) to the MBT in Maputo in May 1999. Minister Andrews and officials from the political division, Irish Aid and UN sections of the Foreign Ministry visited minefields in Mozambique prior to the meeting. In his address to the FMSP he stated:

This process is unique in many ways. It follows from a coalition of governments from all quarters of the globe. It includes countries, many of which have contributed to the causes of the landmine crisis. A particular strength has been the initiative of the mine-affected countries themselves.... But the fundamental novelty of this process has been the unique partnership between governments and the peoples they represent. Without the direct action of non-governmental organizations which coalesced around the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), there would be no Convention.⁹⁹

Ireland's initial report under Article 7 of the MBT was deposited with the UN on 16 August 1999, and its second (annual) report was deposited on 14 April 2000.

Ireland has participated in the meetings of the treaty's Standing Committees of Experts. At the January 2000 SCE meeting on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Dr. Darach MacFhionnbhairr, Head of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke for the Irish government in reiterating that under the terms of the treaty, antivehicle mines (AVM) with antihandling devices which function like AP mines - which may explode from an unintentional act of a person -- are banned by MBT. He proposed the formation of an informal expert group to examine the AVM issue.¹⁰⁰

In December 1999 Ireland co-sponsored the UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B urging full implementation of the MBT and has voted in favor of all pro-ban resolutions at the United Nations.

Ireland is a state party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). The government participated in the First Annual Meeting on Protocol II in December 1999, having submitted its report as required by Article 13 of the Convention.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use

The two Article 7 reports¹⁰¹ of progress toward implementation of the MBT in Ireland state that Ireland has no stockpile of AP mines, no minefields and has no AP mine production facilities. Ireland has retained 129 antipersonnel landmines for research into mine clearance techniques (as permitted by Article 3.1 of the MBT). It is not known where or when this small quantity was obtained.

Commercial and homemade explosive devices have been widely used by paramilitaries in the Irish conflict for many years, but instances of the use of conventional antipersonnel mines are not known. The recent statement by the non-state paramilitary Irish Republican Army that it will put its arms "beyond use" further reduces the possibility of AP mines or other mines being used in Ireland.¹⁰² Irish Defence Forces have been trained to deal with landmines during their participation in many UN peacekeeping operations, and have routinely dealt with explosive devices in Ireland.

Mine Action Funding

Governmental funding of humanitarian mine action, including victim assistance, has increased recently from year to year. Since 1994 Ireland has contributed over IRP 3 million (US$2.6 million) to mine action programs.¹⁰³ Beneficiary countries since 1994 include Bosnia, Yugoslavia (Kosovo), Chechnya, Cambodia, Angola, Somalia and Mozambique. In 1999 the following organizations received support from the Irish government:¹⁰⁴

Country	Donation (IRP)	Project	Organisations
Angola	200,000 (US$ 175,000)	Fabrication of prosthetics	HI
Bosnia	150,000 (US$ 130,000)	Mine Action Program	MAC
Bosnia	150,000 (US$ 130,000)	Mine Action Program	HI
Bosnia	150,000 (US$ 130,000)	Mine Action Centre	UNDP
Bosnia	50,000 (US$ 44,000)	Demining	ITF
Cambodia	256,000 (US$ 230,000)	Demining	Halo Trust
Cambodia	95,000 (US$ 83,000)	Victim Assistance	Trocaire
Somalia	136,000 (US$ 118,000)	Services to the Disabled	HI
FYR (Kosovo)	247,000 (US$ 215,000)	Demining Team: Set up	Halo Trust
FYR (Kosovo)	282,000 (US$ 245,000)	Demining: Running Costs	Halo Trust
Total	1,716,000(US$ 1,500,000)

ITALY

Key developments since March 1999: Italy ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 April 1999 and it entered into force on 1 October 1999. From February 1999 through April 2000, Italy destroyed 2.05 million antipersonnel mines. Between May 1999 and March 2000, Italy pledged about US$ 7.33 million for mine action programs. The Senate approved the establishment of the Humanitarian Demining Trust Fund in October 1999, but it awaits further endorsement.

Mine Ban Policy

Italy signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 3 December 1997, and deposited its instrument of ratification with the United Nations on 23 April 1999. The treaty entered into force for Italy on 1 October 1999. Ratification seems to have marked the climax of Italian efforts to transform the country's reputation as one of the three major producers and exporters (with Russia and China) of landmines up to 1992.¹⁰⁵ The major role of nongovernmental organizations in this evolution of Italian policy was described in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999.¹⁰⁶ Even before the signing of the MBT, Italy was one of very few nations to have domestic legislation banning antipersonnel landmines,¹⁰⁷ and this Law 374/97 is still widely considered one of the most stringent legislative tools in the world.

Italy participated in the First Meeting of States Parties of the MBT in Maputo, Mozambique in May 1999, where State Secretary Rino Serri underlined Italy's preference for an effect-based definition of AP mines, which would appear to cover more weapons than the existing MBT definition.¹⁰⁸ The government has also participated in meetings of the MBT's intersessional Standing Committees of Experts. Italy voted in favor of the 1999 pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution, as it did with the prior three resolutions in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Italy submitted its first Article 7 report as required by the MBT on 29 March 2000, reporting on implementation measures up to 31 January 2000.¹⁰⁹

Italy's major mine ban policy statements tend to focus on the pivotal role of its national legislation, which highlights the government's efforts to eliminate the weapon. This effort marked quite a precedent in Italy's foreign and domestic policy, especially in terms of partnership between institutions and civil society.¹¹⁰ Italy's mine ban policy has become a frequent example of its new, more engaged, higher profile foreign policy. Given this emphasis, the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines (ItCBL) has called for more concrete attempts to influence governments that have not yet acceded to the Treaty and in responding to new deployments of landmines around the world.

Italy has taken other important domestic initiatives. On 22 February 1999 the Comitato Nazionale per l'Azione Umanitaria Contro le Mine (National Committee for Humanitarian Mine Action) was launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following a proposal put forward by the ItCBL.¹¹¹ The purpose was to create a permanent working group made up of those involved in the landmines issue: ministries, parliamentarians, NGOs, commercial demining companies, the military, the Red Cross, etc. The objective is to develop joint guidelines for Italian humanitarian action against landmines worldwide which are more caring for the people - mine victims in particular - and for the socio-economic development of the affected areas, rather than solely removal of mines from the ground.

The Comitato Nazionale, chaired by State Secretary Rino Serri, is divided into five working groups: (1) Political action and international relations chaired by the Political Department of the Ministry Foreign Affairs and mandated to produce a policy paper on Italian mine action;¹¹² (2) Operational training, chaired by the Ministry of Defense, to develop a standard curriculum for the training of civilian humanitarian deminers; (3) Operations, chaired by the Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to create a database for humanitarian mine action and a pool of experts capable of selecting programs to support humanitarian demining and victim assistance in the field; (4) Technological research, chaired by the Ministry of University and Scientific Research, to identify the most appropriate and sustainable end-user oriented technologies for mine clearance and humanitarian assistance to the mine-injured; and (5) Information and public awareness, chaired by the ItCBL, whose task is to promote Italy's commitment to mine action, increase public awareness through the media and various other grassroot activities.

In July 1999 the last plenary meeting of the Comitato was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and work was to shift from debate on the major principles to the beginning of an operational plan. The latter has not really taken off, with the exception of a big public initiative promoted by the ItCBL in December 1999 on behalf of the Comitato, to celebrate the second anniversary of the signing of the MBT. Lack of budgets, lack of structures, new priorities are all plausible explanations for the current deadlock in the Comitato.

A good opportunity to revive interest in the AP mine issue could be provided by the recent move to create a Humanitarian Demining Trust Fund. The Bill to establish this, promoted in Parliament by the Green Party,¹¹³ follows most of the guidelines set by the Comitato Nazionale. The Trust Fund would be granted L50 billion (US$25 million) annually, beginning in fiscal year 2000. In 2000 alone, an additional L20 billion (US$10 million) would be dedicated specifically to mine clearance in the Balkans. The Bill was approved by the Senate in October 1999 and in May 2000 was still waiting for endorsement by the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.¹¹⁴

Italy is a party to Amended Protocol II of the CCW and participated in the Amended Protocol II conference in December 1999. Its report as required under Article 13 was submitted.

Italy continues to be involved in efforts to deal with AP mines in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. On 4 March 1999 Italy was one of twenty-two countries to submit a "Working paper concerning CD action on an APL transfer ban."¹¹⁵

Production and Transfer

Italy's former role as a major producer and exporter of AP mines is described in detail in Landmine Monitor Report 1999, including the major manufacturers Valsella, Misar and Tecnovar, the mine-types they produced and countries to which they exported AP mines. ¹¹⁶

Italy's Article 7 report gave scant or incorrect information on Form E ("Status of programs for conversion or de-commissioning of AP mine production facilities"). Valsella, contrary to what is stated, has undergone a painstaking conversion program involving the municipality of Castenedolo, trade unions and civil society, the result being that Valsella Meccanotecnica's shares were handed over to the new companies VE&D srl and Prode srl, which manufactures ecological vehicles, in February 1998. No mention is made of Misar facilities; Misar produced AP mines and is currently owned by the Brescia-based Societa' Esplosivi Industriali (SEI), controlled since August 1998 by the French holding company, Societe' Anonyme d'Explosifs de Produit Chimique.

Stockpiling and Destruction

Italy began destruction of its AP mine stockpile in February 1999.¹¹⁷ Of the 6.5 million AP mines in stock, a total of nearly 1.7 million had been destroyed as of 31 January 2000,¹¹⁸ and 2.05 million as of 30 April 2000.¹¹⁹ The Italian government states that stockpile destruction will be completed by October 2002 as required by the national law. Currently, about 12,000 mine per day are destroyed, at a cost of about US$1.20 per mine.¹²⁰ The total cost for destruction of AP mines and their components is now estimated to be less than L16 billion (US$8 million), versus a previous estimate of L30 billion (US$15 million).

At the May 2000 meeting of the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, the Italian delegation stated that all U.S. antipersonnel mines stockpiled in Italy had been removed.¹²¹

Information on AP mine stockpiles in Italy has come from two interministerial reports in 1998 and 1999, the MBT Article 7 Report (with data as of 31 January 2000), and most recently a report to the SCE meeting on 22-23 May 2000. This information has some inconsistencies and leaves some unanswered questions. The first official information on Italian military and mine producer stockpiles of AP mines was required by the governmental decree on stockpile destruction approved by Parliament on 2 December 1998. The same information was given in the first interministerial report to Parliament on 28 May 1998 on the implementation status of Law 374/97, which requires such reporting every six months. The vagueness of these first figures raised a series of questions that were only partly clarified by the government.

The second report was released five months late on 30 April 1999. Article 6 of the Law required that a Registro delle Mine (Register of Mines),¹²² be attached to the report, but it was not. The ItCBL repeatedly asked the Defense General Staff for a copy of the Register, but there was no response until 29 October 1999 when it was finally provided. This first Register reported on stockpiles through 16 November 1998, about one year before its actual release. It contained detailed information on all mines and their components in stocks, divided into explosive and inert material, belonging both to Italian Armed Forces and Italian landmine producing companies. The materials reported as belonging to private companies have been delivered to the Italian Armed Forces in order to be destroyed. Data in the Register can be summarized as follows: