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Key developments since March 1999: The treaty entered into force for Jordan on 1 May 1999. Jordan began its antipersonnel mine destruction program in September 1999 and has destroyed 20,552 antipersonnel mines (22% of its stockpile). Jordan is establishing a National Demining Committee. A nationwide mine awareness campaign has been carried out in 1999 and 2000. The Landmine Survivors Network opened a branch in Amman in April 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
Jordan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 11 August 1998 and ratified on 13 November 1998. The treaty entered into force for Jordan on 1 May 1999. Jordan's Law of Explosive Materials (1953) currently serves as the legal mechanism to enforce the treaty. It regulates all use, production, trading, and storage of explosives; the use of explosives for unlawful or terrorist acts is punishable with death.219 It is not known if the Jordanian Cabinet intends to pass new legislation to implement the treaty.
Jordan participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999 and served as the Vice President of the conference. In the opening ceremony, Her Majesty Queen Noor sent a message to the participants and urged all countries that have not signed the treaty to do so. Queen Noor also called upon state parties to assume their moral and legal obligations in assisting those who have been maimed or injured by landmines.220
Jordan has been an active participant in the treaty Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts meetings. It submitted its Article 7 report to the UN on 9 August 1999 covering the time period from 1 May 1999 to 1 September 1999. Jordan voted for the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty.
Jordan is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons having ratified Protocol I (nondetectable fragments) and Protocol III (incendiaries) on 19 September 1995. Jordan is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Production, Transfer, Use
According to the Commander of the Royal Engineer Corps, Jordan has never produced antipersonnel mines and the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) have not emplaced them since 1973.221 There is no evidence that Jordan has exported antipersonnel mines.
Stockpiling and Destruction
Jordan has declared a stockpile of 93,342 antipersonnel mines consisting of: 84,677 M14 (U.S.); 5,771 M18/M18A1 (U.S.); 413 M35 (Belgium); 268 No. 6 (UK); 1,000 OZM-72 (Soviet); 980 VS-50 with M14 detonator (Italy); 5 VS-59 (Italy); 51 "wooden" [Lot Number 10-24-58] (Syria); 4 "blasting" (Italian); 2 No. 5 (UK); and 171 other items.222
The Royal Corps of Engineers will retain 1,000 AP mines of this stockpile for research/development and training purposes including 800 M14, 100 M35, and 100 M18/M18A1 Claymore mines.223
On 6 September 1999, the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) began destroying their stockpile by burning 4,552 M14s at the Military Academy Training School east of Al Zarqa District.224 Another 8,000 AP mines were destroyed on 5 December 1999 and 8,000 more were destroyed on 10 May 2000.225 This brings the total number destroyed to 20,552. Destruction of the stockpile is accomplished by open burning and open detonation. Media and others are invited to witness the destruction. The cost of destruction is about $1 per mine.226 The safety measures observed during the destruction are described in the Article 7 Report.227
According to the schedule included in Jordan's Article 7 report, the destruction of the stockpile will be accomplished by April 2003.228 However, in May 2000, a Jordanian military officer said that "we will minimize the period by maximizing the amount of mines we will destroy each time, so we will complete the destruction of our stockpile by the end of year 2001."229
Landmine Problem
Jordan has declared that the following areas contain antipersonnel mines: 66,610 M14s in the "northern area" (Syrian border); 30,312 M14, M35, and No. 6 mines in the "northwestern area;" 10,629 M14, M35, and No. 6 mines in the "central area;" 2,538 M14s in the "southern area;" 65,530 No. 10 and M35 mines in "Israeli minefields." Additionally an unknown number of No. 10 and M35 mines are emplaced in the "military southern area."230
In the north the problem of landmines is still significant, most notably in Irbid and Balqa, and to a lesser extent in Mafrak. Nearly all of Jordan's landmine accidents in recent years occurred in these governorates.
According to a United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) assessment conducted in 1999, there are 354 minefields that were planted by the JAF (110 antipersonnel, 83 antitank, and 161 mixed AP-AT) in both the Jordan River Valley and on the northern border with Syria. The minefields in the Jordan River Valley are in the northwest region. One minefield is toward the northern end of the Valley, near Lake Tiberias, and another is near the northern banks of the Dead Sea. According to UNMAS, the JAF claims to know the location of the minefields, as they possess the maps, and the types and numbers of mines deployed. Jordan indicates that 138 minefields planted by the Israeli Armed Forces (ninety-nine AP, thirty-four AT and five "fragmentary") are located in the southwest region of the country in the Araba Valley and contain an estimated 73,853 AP and AT landmines.231
All minefields in Jordan are marked and fenced with short bars connected with a single layer of wires from the opposite side of the border, and long bars connected with three layers of wires from the other sides. Signs with the legend "Beware Mines" to alert civilians not to approach the area are supposed to be in place. JAF personnel apparently protect all minefields in Jordan.232
Mine Action Funding
Nations that have supported Jordan's demining program include Canada, Norway, the UK, and the U.S.233 The UK donated two Aardvark minesweeping vehicles to the JAF on 27 November 1999. The U.S. sponsored a meeting in November 1999 of potential donor countries (UK, Japan, and Canada) to discuss equipment requirements and other assistance for the Jordanian demining effort.
Jordan received $2.64 million in demining assistance from the U.S. in fiscal year 1999 and it is estimated that the U.S. will provide an additional $2.141 million in fiscal year 2000.234 In 1999-2000, US-provided training and equipment to the Royal Engineer Corps included: a one-year loan of two Enhanced Tele-operated Ordnance Disposal Systems (ETODS)235; funding for the procurement of helmets, face shields, protective clothing, special antimine boots, navigation equipment (GPS), six complete computer systems (scanners, digital and video cameras, high-end printers), one ruggedized laptop computer for field use, probes, VMH2 mine detectors, complete minefield marking kits, medical training kits, and ordnance recognition training aids;236 a seven week course by 25 U.S. military personnel on the use of new protective equipment, training about mine clearance technology and UN recognized minefield-marking techniques for 172 Jordanian engineers at the Royal Engineer Academy between October and December 1999;237 U.S. personnel also introduced a new mechanical minefield marking and clearance technique and began collaborating with the British Aardvark technicians to develop a training and clearance plan.238
Survey and Assessment
UNMAS conducted a survey mission in Jordan from 23-30 January 1999 at the request of the Jordanian Government. UNMAS noted that according to military sources, since 1948 nearly 300,000 landmines had been planted in 492 minefields, covering over 15,000 acres of land.239 According to one report, the minefields contain a ratio of two-thirds AP mines to one-third AT mines.240
Mine Clearance
The Royal Engineer Corps conducts all demining operations, and in 1999 and 2000 these continued in border regions. Factors impacting mine clearance operations include high temperature, heavy vegetation, and seasonal flooding. According to General Majali, "The JAF has, since 1993, been able to clear approximately 81,000 mines, of all types, from an estimated number of 300,000."241 A joint operation in 1995 between the JAF and the Israeli Armed Forces cleared portions of the Wadi Araba area in the south of the country.242
The Baptism site visited by Pope John Paul II in March 2000 is an example to how cleared areas can reflect very positively on Jordan. The site and its access paths had been mined but are now fully cleared and constitute an agriculturally productive area qualified to host Christian pilgrims.243 The site was opened to the public shortly before the Pope's visit.
Planning of Mine Action
On 1 March 2000 the King announced that Jordan would establish a civilian-led demining organization that would include a National Demining Committee.244 Prior to this change, "the planning of mine clearance [wa]s composed of three phases, based on geographical, economical, and community safety planning, which have been discussed with the concerned ministries to determine priorities" under the leadership of the military.245
The National Demining Committee will meet quarterly and consists of representatives from government ministries to insure that the program is implemented according to national policies and priorities. The committee will also conduct negotiations with the international donor community.246
Mine Awareness Education.
His Royal Highness Prince Ra'd Bin Zeid has stated that he is willing to "act as a catalyst" and assist with mine awareness education.247 The Hashemite Society for Soldiers with Special Needs, also headed by Prince Ra'd, has indicated its willingness to work with the UN in developing special mine awareness strategies, disseminating this information through its network, and gathering data on civilian casualties of mine accidents.248
The ICRC, Jordan Red Crescent, Royal Engineer Corps, and other non-governmental organizations have supported a nationwide mine awareness campaign over the past year. Two Jordan Red Crescent members attended a mine awareness workshop in Yemen in November 1999 and received training on how to initiate child-to-child mine awareness programs. In 2000, with the cooperation of Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) a program for creating "awareness units" in mine-affected areas will begin with the training of twenty-five children as part of a larger child-to-child awareness program.
Landmine Casualties
The civilian part of the Jordanian health system does not register landmine accidents, and Jordanian hospitals either do not classify mine victims or have begun to do so only in recent years. According to military figures, Jordan has had a total of 452 landmine victims from 1968 through 1999, 62% of which were military personnel.249 The majority of the rest of the victims are farmers. Apparently most mine related incidents occurred during the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated in Jordan. Incidents again rose in the early 1990s due to heavy rains and floods that shifted landmines from their originally marked areas and mapped fields into unrecorded areas.250
The frequency of landmine incidents is much higher in the northern region of Jordan than in the south. In the southern governorates of Aqaba, Tafila, and Kerak, the number of landmine victims is very small due to the fact that the minefields in these regions are located in a very sparsely populated desert area. Nearly all of Jordan's landmine accidents in recent years occurred in the northern governorates of Irbid and Balqa, and to a lesser extent Mafrak.
Four mine accidents have been reported in the Jordanian press in the past year:251
· A 21-year-old farmer was killed in the Al Mafrak district in June 1999.
· An 8-year-old boy was killed while playing with his friends in Zarqa City in July 1999.
· Two men were injured after their tractor hit an antitank mine in Jordan Valley in October 1999.
· Mr. Radwan Al Wawi, a 40-year-old man, lost both hands on 21 April 2000. The accident occurred in the Al-Kafrain Dam area, which is the same area on 26 April 1999, the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, William Burns, joined the previous Joint Chief of Staff Abdul Hafeth Kaabneh, for a demonstration of the Enhanced Tele-Operated Ordnance Disposal System (ETODS).
Provision of Assistance
The government health care system and providers for landmine victims have remained unchanged since the publishing of Landmine Monitor Report 1999.
The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, located in Salt City, west of Amman, offered to help those who through landmine incidents have lost all or part of their hearing. The Institute will perform assessments and diagnoses free of charge, but will be in need of financial assistance when it comes to medical intervention or the provision of hearing aids. Also in 1999, the ICRC delegation in Jordan sent five landmine victims to make new prosthetics at the workshop in Damascus, Syria.
Disability Policy and Practice
A law for the "Welfare of Disabled Persons" was adopted by the Jordanian Parliament in April 1993, which represented a significant measure of formalization of disability rights in Jordan. Among other things this law entitles the disabled to health care, education, vocational training, rehabilitation, employment, sports, and participation in decision making. With a network of 326 health centers, 274 secondary health centers, 316 maternal child health centers, 42 comprehensive health centers, and 203 dental clinics, this goal has more or less been achieved.252
Unfortunately, most health centers cannot offer more advanced services to mine victims. Health centers usually refer patients with need of prosthetic care and rehabilitation to the main hospitals in the governorates. For the prosthetic device itself, and for maintenance and training, patients are referred to the more advanced regional hospitals in the regional centers. Also, as the number of Jordanian amputees grows (including victims of landmines as well as victims of car accidents and diabetic amputees), public institutions that render services to amputees are over-run and lack equipment.253
The Landmine Survivors Network opened a branch in Amman in April 1999. According to its founder Jerry White, "LSN is completing an overview of the prosthetic and rehabilitation centers in the country." He added that this list would be published soon as the first national rehabilitation services directory.254
Key developments since March 1999: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Qatar on 1 April 1999. Landmine Monitor has discovered that the United States has antipersonnel mines stockpiled in Qatar, and has plans to add to that stockpile.
Mine Ban Policy
Qatar signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 13 October 1998. The treaty entered into force for Qatar on 1 April 1999. It is not known if Qatar has enacted national legislation implementing the treaty. Qatar was one of the 139 countries to vote in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B supporting the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 December 1999.
Qatar did not attend the First Meeting of States Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo in May 1999. Qatar did not participate in any of the treaty's intersessional meetings in 1999 and 2000. Qatar has not submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency measures to the UN Secretary General, which was due by 27 September 1999. Qatari diplomats offered no explanation for this inaction.255
Qatar is not a party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but did attend the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) in December 1999 in Geneva. Qatar is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Production, Stockpile, Transfer, and Use
Qatar is not believed to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines. The Qatari Armed Forces are not known have ever imported, stockpiled, or used AP mines. Qatari military engineers do train for tactical demining operations but this is conducted in France, Jordan, and the United Kingdom.0 No Qatari soldiers suffered mine injuries during the liberation of Kuwait in 1991.1
Landmine Monitor has discovered that the United States is stockpiling 216 ADAM projectiles containing 7,776 antipersonnel mines at the Al Karana area in Doha, Qatar as part of U.S. Army Pre-Positioned Stocks Five (APS-5).2
Additionally, based on U.S. Air Force plans for its war reserve ammunition stockpiles in the Persian Gulf region, U.S. Gator antipersonnel mines, as well as Claymore mines, may be introduced and stockpiled at the Al Udeid area in Qatar in the near future. U.S. Air Force documents indicate that the Al Udeid storage facility will eventually contain 142 CBU-89 Gator mine systems, each with twenty-two antipersonnel mines, and 141 M18/M18A1 Claymore mines.3
Qatari diplomats stated that the "mine issue has not been discussed between Qatar and the USA."4 It is not known if the government of Qatar regards the U.S. equipment stored on its territory as being under Qatari jurisdiction and control. It is also not known if any bilateral arrangement exists between Qatar and the U.S. such as a basing agreement or status of forces agreement. The equipment is stored on territory that is leased by the U.S.5 It is also not known if Qatari nationals are involved in the operation or maintenance of the storage facilities hosting the U.S. equipment as employees of joint venture companies formed with the U.S. company that won the Air Force contract, DynCorp Technical Services of Fort Worth, Texas.
Mine Action
Qatar is not mine-affected. Qatar donated $200,000 to the (Slovenia) International Trust Fund for Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1999.6 It is not known if there have been additional donations or any in-kind contributions for mine action.
Key developments since March 1999: Tunisia ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 9 July 1999 and it entered into force for Tunisia on 1 January 2000. Tunisia reportedly began destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile in July 1999.
Tunisia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and officially deposited its instrument of ratification on 9 July 1999. At the UN in November 1999, the representative of Tunisia stated that the treaty "attested to the will of the international community to end the suffering of so many."7 On 1 December 1999 Tunisia joined 138 other nations in voting in favor of UN General Assembly resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Tunisia did not attend the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) held in Maputo in May 1999. It attended the two Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts on Technologies for Mine Action meetings in Geneva in December 1999 and May 2000, but none of the other SCE meetings. The treaty entered into force for Tunisia on 1 January 2000. The deadline for Tunisia's Article 7 report was 28 June 2000 but it has not provided it to the UN .
Tunisia is a party to CCW, but has not ratified Amended Protocol II. Tunisia attended the First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) in December 1999 in Geneva. Tunisia became a member of the Conference on Disarmament in 1999.
Tunisia is not known to have produced or exported landmines. In the past, Tunisia imported landmines from Italy, France, Yugoslavia, and Great Britain.8 Details on its stockpile will be available once Tunisia publishes its Article 7 report. On 6 July 1999, the Tunisian Army began the destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile.9 The types and numbers of mines destroyed are not available.
No comprehensive assessment of the landmine problem in Tunisia has been conducted to date. It is known, however, that there is residual landmine and UXO contamination in Tunisia from World War II. In a September 1999 letter to the ICBL, a Tunisian diplomat stated that the Tunisian Army "has destroyed 1,000 mines which have been lying on national territory since the Second World War." He added, "Over ten years, the Army has discovered and destroyed approximately 6,000 explosive devices scattered over the whole of the Tunisian territory."10
Landmine Monitor Report 1999 stated that the Tunisian Army had begun marking zones likely to contain mines, that the army was developing an educational program focusing on the landmine problem in northern Tunisia, and that the Arab Institute For Human Rights, an NGO based in Tunis, planned to train instructors for a mine awareness program.11 It is not known if there has been any progress in these activities.
Key developments since March 1999: The Level One Survey, the first comprehensive survey of its kind to be conducted in any landmine-affected country in the world, began in January 2000. The Mine Clearance Unit of the National Demining Program conducted its first operation and handed over the cleared field to villagers in December 1999. Yemen began destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile in February 2000. An additional 20,000 AP mines were found after submission of its Article 7 report. Yemen has served as the co-chair of the Standing Committee of Experts on Technologies for Mine Action. The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for Yemen on 1 March 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 1 September 1998. It entered into force for Yemen on 1 March 1999. There is no domestic law implementing the treaty. A Yemeni official told Landmine Monitor that if a request is made to the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs about such a law, he has committed to put it forward to the Minister of Justice.12
Yemen submitted its first Article 7 report in November 1999. Yemen was four months late with its report because a helicopter crash claimed the lives of several high ranking officers from the Ministry of Defense who had collected information for the report.13
Yemen participated in the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999 with a delegation headed by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Dr. Mutahar Al Saidi. Yemen was named co-chair of the Intersessional Standing Committee of Experts on Technologies for Mine Action and participated in the nearly all of the intersessional meetings in Geneva.
Yemen voted for the December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had on similar resolutions in the past. Yemen is a state party to the original Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but has not ratified Amended Protocol II. An official has said that ratifying the amended protocol would "diminish" the role of the Mine Ban Treaty, which is much more comprehensive.14 Yemen took part in the Amended Protocol II conference in Geneva in December 1999.
Minister Al Saidi welcomed the ICBL's establishment of its Resource Center in Sana'a.15 The Yemeni National Demining Committee, with the support of Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) and the Yemen Mine Awareness Association (YMAA), translated the Landmine Monitor 1999 country report on Yemen into Arabic and distributed 2,000 copies nationally and regionally.
Production, Transfer, and Use
According to the government, Yemen has never manufactured or exported AP mines.16 For many years Yemen imported landmines from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Italy.17 The are no reports of new landmine use in Yemen. The last reported use of mines was in 1994. Mine use was a feature of the numerous internal conflicts in Yemen. Egypt also used mines in Yemen during its intervention in the Royalist-Republican war. Yemen is not currently involved in any armed internal or external conflict and has no non-state actors operating in the country.18
Stockpiling and Destruction
In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, covering the period 4 December 1997 to 30 November 1999, Yemen stated that there were 59,000 antipersonnel mines stockpiled, including POM-2 (44,500), PP-Mi-Sr-2 (11,000), PMN (2,000), and PMD-6 (1,500).19 Since the submission of that report, the military has "discovered" about 20,000 more antipersonnel mines. The exact number, types, and locations of these newly discovered mines have not been confirmed.20 The locations of stockpiled mines were not contained in the Article 7 report, but Landmine Monitor has been told that 42,000 POMZ-2 and POMZ mines are kept in stores in Aden, specifically at Ras Abas and Dar Saad.21
Yemen retains a stockpile of 4,000 AP mines for demining training purposes. This stockpile consists of 1,000 of each of the following types: PP-Mi-Sr-2, PMD-6, POM-2, and PMN. The mines are retained by the Military Engineering Department and will be located at five different military training camps.22
Yemen began the destruction of its AP mine stockpile on 14 February 2000, when 5,050 PMD-6 and PP-Mi-Sr-2 were destroyed at two separate places. The first destruction was arranged as an international celebration near the Jaolah minefield (B-12) with fifty PMD-6 detonated by the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Head of the National Demining Committee, Dr. Mutahar Al Saidi. The second destruction of 5,000 PP-Mi-Sr-2 took place at Al Whed outside Little Aden where the majority of stockpile destruction will occur. Mines are destroyed by open detonation in consultation with the Yemen Environmental Protection Council and according to the UN's international standards for disposal of unexploded ordnance. The cost has not been estimated yet, but a non-confirmed figure of $15,000-20,000 has been mentioned.23 Yemen has not received any assistance from other governments for stockpile destruction costs, but has indicated that it can destroy its entire stockpile within a year if a donor country would fund it.24
The Landmine Problem
Yemen's Article 7 report designated 889 places as mine-affected. As of February 2000, 1,207 mine-affected communities in 274 districts in 18 of 19 governorates had been identified. Most of the minefields in Yemen are located either in agriculture and grazing areas, close to water sources, or close to electricity sources in such places as Aden, Abyan and Lahej. There are minefields in populated areas in Al Dhala, Ibb, Aden, Lahej, and Hadhramout (often on the roadsides) and in desert areas in Shabwa and Hadhramout.25 Only the Al Mahweet governorate has been declared mine-free. Fences and warning signs are missing around many of the minefields known by the military. Funds from the U.S. will cover the cost of some of the fences and signs that will be put up.26
Survey and Assessment
UNMAS selected Yemen as the first mine-affected country to have the Level One Survey "Landmine Impact General Survey" (Level One Survey) with the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA).27 Canada is funding the survey with $1.1 million and Japan has donated $450,000. The total budget for the survey is $1.8 million.
Three offices have been set up in Sana'a, Aden, and Mukalla. National staff have been recruited; twenty-eight personnel have been trained as supervisors/editors and three as data processors. The first training of field supervisors/editors was conducted 4-21 September 1999.28
The first test of the survey questionnaire was conducted 25-29 September 1999 in twenty-seven villages in fourteen governorates. The questionnaire, which had been translated into Arabic, worked well in general, but a retraining of the supervisors was needed to reinforce their skills.29 The second test was conducted in special districts in the governorates of Sana'a, Ibb, Aden, Abyan and Hadramouth between 3 November and 2 December 1999. Twenty-two field supervisors/editors were involved and a total of eighty-five communities were surveyed.30 The training of field survey enumerators was conducted in Aden between 6-30 November 1999.
The survey started after Ramadan in January 2000, simultaneously in fourteen governorates. After an announcement on television and radio regarding the Level One Survey, over sixty new mine suspected communities responded.31 It is estimated that the survey will be finished by July 2000. After all the village level data has been collated and reviewed, a Survey Certification Committee will review the survey methodology and data collected before the aggregated results are released to the public.32 The results of the survey will be available at the National Mine Action Center.33
Mine Action Funding
The government of Yemen spent an estimated $1.7 million in 1999 to support its National Mine Action Program, including salaries, allowances, health care, and transportation for the approximately 400 national staff involved, as well as barracks for the deminers, the training facility in Dar Saad in Aden, and the building where the National Mine Action Center in Sana'a is located.34 The Yemen government's expenditures are budgeted at $3,250,000 for the period 10 May 1999 to 30 April 2001 in the United Nations Development Program's Project Document regarding support to the National Mine Action Program.
Yemeni businessmen have provided in-kind contributions for printing of mine awareness education material, provision of medical treatments, food and water tanks for the deminers in the field. This contribution is estimated to $10,000.35 Members of the Yemen Mine Awareness Association have voluntarily provided in-kind contribution regarding mine awareness education.
Yemen has received (or will receive based upon commitments made to date) nearly $7.3 million from international donors for the national mine action program for the period October 1998 to September 2000. The National Demining Committee asks all donors who want to contribute to Yemen's Mine Action Program to go through the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and conclude an agreement before starting activities. This procedure is in place to make sure that actions are performed according to the international UN standards and guidelines and to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs.36 The UNDP has taken on the role of coordinating the funds from international donors.37
U.S. funds are partly channeled through the Ministry of Defense while the Ministry of Finance handles UN and other bilateral assistance. Prior to dispersal, the Ministry of Finance first needs approval from the National Demining Committee and the signature of its head, the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs. This has led to a delay due to the fact that the national demining budget is outside the normal state procedures because the national mine action program was formed with a resolution by the Prime Minister and not as a ministerial decree.38
International Contributions to Yemen's Mine Action Program | ||||
Source |
Amount (in US$) |
Recipient |
Purpose |
Duration |
UNDP Yemen39 |
500,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Technical assistance |
6/99-6/01 |
British Council to Victim Assistance40 |
48,300 |
Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) |
Victims assistance programs |
1999 |
Canada41 |
67,746 |
ADRA |
Protective equipment for deminers |
In-kind |
Canada42 |
250,000 |
ADRA |
Victims assistance programs |
2000-2001 |
Canadian CIDA43 |
114,067 |
ADRA |
Victims assistance programs |
1999 |
Canadian Voluntary Trust Fund44 |
1,100,000 |
UNMAS (MCPA) |
Level One Survey |
7/99-7/00 |
Germany45 |
100,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Assignment of an advisor to national mine action center |
In-kind |
Japan (through UNDP) 46 |
500,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Mine awareness education and mine victim assistance |
2000 |
Japan47 |
450,000 |
UNMAS (MCPA) |
Level One Survey |
2000 |
Norway (through UNDP)48 |
278,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Technical assistance |
2000 |
Norway49 |
31,000 |
Yemen Mine Awareness Association |
Mine awareness projects and advocacy |
2000-2001 |
Rädda Barnen, (Save the Children Sweden) 50 |
6,100 |
Yemen Mine Awareness Association, National Mine Action Center |
Mine awareness education and advocacy |
1999 |
Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden) 51 |
25,000 |
Yemen Mine Awareness Association, National Mine Action Center, ICBL Resource Center |
Mine awareness education and advocacy |
2000 |
Switzerland |
100,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Assignment of an advisor to national mine action center |
2000 |
U.S52 |
3,806,000 |
National Mine Action Program |
Program assistance (see text) |
10/98-8/00 |
Total |
7,348313 |
|||
Assistance from the U.S. has been used for establishing the national and regional Mine Action Centers and training their staff in Sana'a and Aden. Apart from the training equipment for the mine clearance program, funds from the U.S. have been used to buy uniforms, tents, books, kitchens, sixty mine detectors, explosives, seventeen vehicles, computers, renovation of offices and the training facility, and renting of apartments and an office.53 During 1999 around forty-five trainers from the U.S. have alternatively, in short assignments, been training the Mine Action Centers' staff. Additionally, the U.S. has donated $290,000 to UNDP's cost-sharing fund for the National Mine Action Program.54
Mine Clearance
A unit of the Engineering Department of the Ministry Defense and a separate body, the Mine Clearance Unit of the Regional Mine Action Center, undertake mine clearance in Yemen. The deminers from the Engineering Department work on an on-call basis and are hampered by outdated equipment and techniques.55 The Mine Clearance Unit consists of two companies (a total of 180 staff), trained and equipped by the U.S. These deminers are seconded from the military to the National Demining Program.56 A third company of deminers is scheduled to be trained in April 2000 and two more companies in 2001.
The first operation by the Mine Clearance Unit occurred in June 1999 at minefield C6 outside Aden. The Ministry of Defense has cleared this field twice before but there were still mines left. UXO and four antitank mines were found and destroyed in situ.57 The cleared field, which will be used for grazing, was handed over to the villagers at a small celebration ceremony in early December 1999.
The National Demining Committee has designated the governorate of Aden and the Lahej corridor as the focus of its initial clearance effort. This area has been divided into four zones and will begin with twenty-one minefields in Zone B.58 Field A1, in the Al Habil area, where the Yemen Mine Awareness Association (YMAA) and Rädda Barnen have had one of their community based mine awareness education pilot projects, has been chosen on a special request from the President to be one of the very first new areas to be cleared. This will constitute a complete mine action operation in this location, starting with mine awareness education, followed by a victim survey, a Level Two Survey, and mine clearance.
A problem regarding allowances for the demining staff in the field has been reported. Most of the deminers in the Mine Clearance Unit of the National Demining Program originally came from the Engineering Department of the Ministry of Defense. Since this secondment, they have not received special field allowances. The National Demining Committee does not have funding at the moment for this purpose nor for any life insurance. International donors are not willing to pay salaries or allowances to government employees. There is a hope however that an agreement can be reached between the Ministry of Defense and the National Demining Committee to solve the matter.59 As a step forward an agreement was reached in March 2000 between UNMAS, UNDP, and the National Demining Committee stating that the deminers will be given free meals (funded by the UNDP) when they are in the field.60
Coordination of Mine Action
The Yemeni National Mine Action Program was established on 17 June 1998. It is the overall policy and decision-making body concerning all mine action in Yemen and is headed by the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs. Other members include the Director of the Military Engineering Department, the Deputy Minister of Public Health, the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs, the Deputy Minister of Interior, the Deputy Minister of Information, the Deputy Minister of Education, the Director of Work and Administration at the Prime Minister's Office, a representative from the Ministry of Planning, a representative from the Environment Protection Council, and a representative from the Yemen Mine Awareness Association. There is also a corresponding Regional Demining Committee, chaired by the Governor of Aden. The composition of the committees reflects an understanding that humanitarian demining involves the civil society and all concerned ministries and not only the Ministry of Defense.
Different advisory groups, such as the Victim Assistance Advisory Group and the Mine Awareness Education Advisory Group, have been formed. They meet once a month to coordinate the work between the different donors, NGOs, the staff at the National Mine Action Program, specially appointed coordinators from some ministries and the Yemen Mine Awareness Association. Donors, together with staff from the National Demining Committee, have formed a group called "Friends of Demining."61 Special working groups have also regularly met within the Victims/Survivors Assistance and Mine Awareness Education Advisory Groups, to draw up plans for future mutual work.
All major decisions regarding mine action are taken by the National Demining Committee on advice from the national and international staff in the National Mine Action Program. The National Mine Action Center (also called NTEU, National Technical Executive Unit) in Sana'a and the Regional Mine Action Center (RTEU, Regional Technical Executive Unit) in Aden are the operating units for the National Mine Action Program.
The National Demining Committee has delegated to the National Technical Executive Unit the responsibility for planning different strategies and mine action policies. The National Demining Committee decides on these plans and the Mine Action Centers implement them together with their different partners like national and international agencies, communities and concerned ministries.62
Mine Awareness Education
The mine awareness education national staff at the National Mine Action Program, in coordination with the Mine Awareness Education Advisory Group, has responsibility for producing national guidelines conforming to UN standards, a strategy paper and a work plan for 2000. The YMAA and Rädda Barnen are members of the Mine Awareness Education Advisory Group and Rädda Barnen has been appointed the lead agency among the international donors for Mine Awareness Education.
The Ministry of Information has promised to regularly broadcast on television and radio, and to publish in the newspapers, mine action progress in Yemen, international landmine issues, accidents caused by mines or UXOs, and mine survivors' plight and achievements.63 A television program was produced detailing Yemen's stand on the Mine Ban Treaty and mine action activities and was broadcast in December 1999 and March 2000 on anniversary dates of the treaty.
The Mine Awareness Department (staff of six) at the Regional Mine Action Center in Aden concentrates on raising awareness of different target groups living in the villages close to the minefields and to supporting the work of the deminers. The department has reached around 6,000 persons as of February 2000.
The YMAA and the Mine Awareness Education Department are designing new posters on mines and UXO in different parts of Yemen at the Regional Mine Action Center in Aden. A team with staff from the RMAC and members of YMAA has started community-based mine awareness education projects in the villages around minefield B12 in the Jaolah area.64
The YMAA has been granted $31,000 for community-based mine awareness education and for advocacy work around the Mine Ban Treaty. This funding will go toward producing new mine awareness education material, especially for children, and a quarterly newsletter. The YMAA together with Rädda Barnen continued community-based mine awareness education projects in Al Habil (Lahej governorate), Masabeen and Imran (Aden governorate) and Al Kood (Abyan governorate). Four schools and 2,904 school children in Al Kood, Al Habeel, Masabeen, and Imran have received training using the child-to-child approach. Four teams of educators are active in the villages. An evaluation of the project has been carried out in March 2000, but is still not compiled in a report.65
A regional Mine Awareness Education workshop organized by Rädda Barnen was held in Aden between 27 November and 3 December 1999. Participants from Sudan, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen took part in the weeklong workshop.66
Landmine Casualties
There are still no accurate records of mine victims. The Level One Survey will provide nationwide information, but it will only record information on victims that have had landmine accidents during the past year.
The results of a mine/UXO survivor survey carried out by the YMAA and Rädda Barnen together with community members in Al Habil, Masabeen, Imran, and in Al Kood were released in 1999.67 The survey showed that herding and playing are the most commonly performed activities resulting in landmine accidents, and the most common victim is the male child.68
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) completed a landmine accident survivor survey in three districts: Hais, Jabal Ras, and Al Khokha. The survey was extended to a fourth bordering area, Shameer in the Taez governorate. In the survey, 1,326 people with disabilities were identified, including 51 mine victims. Most of the mine victims were middle aged and in great need of financial resources. Most victims that lost limbs did not have any prosthetic device or artificial limb.69
The only known records kept of mine injuries in 1999 are with the communities in the four pilot areas in which the Yemen Mine Awareness Association and Rädda Barnen have supported community-based mine awareness education. Key people in the villages have been supplied with record books, in which they have been asked to register all mine/UXO casualties that have occurred in the area. Al Habeel registered a mine accident in August 1999 when a mine explosion injured two shepherd boys.
Survivor Assistance
In general, health facilities in Yemen are inadequate in most regions, and only the main cities have hospitals. There have, however, been several recent developments in the provision of assistance.
In October 1999 a Rehabilitation Department was established within the Ministry of Public Health, in part to analyze the needs of people with disabilities and to coordinate at the national level.
The Victim Assistance Advisory Group has representatives from the Ministries of Public Health, Social Affairs and Education, as well as Rädda Barnen, Handicap International, Movimondo and ADRA, together with national and international staff from the National Mine Action Program. The advisory group has agreed to translate the ICBL's "Guidelines for the Care and Rehabilitation of Survivors" into Arabic, and to add a special page on Yemeni conditions. The UNDP and Rädda Barnen are funding this guide, and it will be widely distributed to all mine-affected areas of the country.
In January 2000 Handicap International (HI) began training staff at a new rehabilitation center in Aden together with the Ministries of Health and Social Affairs. This center is meant to serve landmine survivors and others in need of orthopedic devices from the governorates of Aden, Abyan, Shabwa, Lahej, and Dhale. The building and the equipment is provided by GAVTT (General Authority for Vocational and Technical Training, which is funded by the World Bank and Germany), and HI receives funding from ECHO (European Community Humanitarian Office) as well.
ADRA has started a project that assists mine survivors, which is funded by the Canadian government and the British Council.70 It has also signed an agreement with the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs, the Minister of Health and the National Demining Committee to support a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) program for adults. This program is located in the same mine-affected areas in which Rädda Barnen is supporting the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs community-based rehabilitation program for children.71
A team of Italian doctors has begun training Yemeni surgeons on mine victim operations in Al Thowra hospital in Taez, that will also serve as the national referral hospital for mine victims.
For two weeks in September 1999 a four-person U.S. medical team specializing in eye injuries was brought in for consultation and training of staff at the Regional Mine Action Center and Aden Hospital. Mine victims with eye injuries were brought in for check-ups and treatments. A total of 150 mine victims were examined, thirty-eight of whom were treated, including eight surgical operations.72
Disability Policy and Practice
The Yemeni government has not segregated mine victims from other people with disabilities. Apparently there exists a firm belief among the decision-makers and donors to the Yemeni National Mine Action Program that health service structures for mine victims should not be separated from the already existing structures for people with disabilities. However, there is a serious intention to improve the structures already in place.73
The draft for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled Act that was mentioned in Landmine Monitor Report 1999 is still being reviewed by the Parliament.
219 Jordan Article 7 Report, submitted 9 August 1999.
220 "Maputo Declaration seeks `Zero Victims' under Ottawa Landmine Ban Treaty," The Jordan Times Daily, 10 May 1999.
221 Interview with Brigadier General Naser Majali, Commander of the Royal Corps of Engineers, Amman, Jordan, 25 January 2000.
224 Noura Wazani, "Jordan Destroys 4,500 Anti-Personnel Mines," The Arab Daily, 7 September 1999, p.2.
225 "Jordan Destroys Another 8,000 Anti-personnel Mines" AFP (Amman, Jordan) 5 December 1999; Al Rai Daily # 10837, 11 May 2000, p. 8; Al Dostour Daily # 11767, 11 May 2000, p. 3.
226 Statement by Brigadier General Al-Dwari to the Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 22 May 2000. He confirmed the 20,552 figure. According to the plan described in the Article 7 report, all mines destroyed thus far are M14s.
229 Statement by Brigadier General Al-Dwari to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 22 May 2000.
231 UNMAS, "Joint Assessment Mission Report: Jordan," 7 June 1999, p. 6. The mission was carried out from 23-30 January 1999.
233 Interview with General Majali, 25 January 2000.
234 "Demining Program Financing History" provided by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political Military Affaris, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, 5 May 2000.
235 "Queen Noor honored for LM Campaign," Jordan Times Daily, 5 June 1999.
236 "New Demining Robot Gets Down to Business in the Jordan Valley," The Arab Daily, 27 April 1999. Also interviews and information from U.S. military personnel gathered by Landmine Monitor/Jordan in Amman, Jordan, February 2000.
237 Descriptive Summaries of Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Programs provided to Landmine Monitor/U.S. by Demining Policy Officers from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance, 10 May 2000.
238 Interview with U.S. military personnel, Amman, Jordan, February 2000.
239 UNMAS Joint Assessment Mission Report, 7 June 1999, p. 6.
240 Al Dostour Daily, 7 September 1999.
241 Interview with Gen. Naser Majali, 25 January 2000.
242 U.S. Central Command, "Humanitarian Demining Country Plan for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," 13 July 1999.
..." 13 July 1999.
243 "U.K. grants JAF 2 Minesweeping Vehicles," Jordan Times Daily, 28 November 1999.
244 U.S. Central Command, "Humanitarian Demining Country Plan...," 13 July 1999.
245 Interview with Gen. Naser Majali, 25 January 2000.
246 U.S. Central Command, "Humanitarian Demining Country Plan...," 13 July 1999.
247 UNMAS Joint Assessment Mission Report, 7 June 1999.
248 Interview with His Royal Highness Prince Ra'd, Amman, 28 January 2000.
249 Interview with Gen. Naser Majali, 25 January 2000.
251 All incident data from: Al Arab Yom Daily, 9 July 1999; Al Arab Yom Daily, 19 June 1999; Hawadeth Al Sa'a Weekly # 272, 3 May 2000, p. 19; Sheehan Weekly # 811, 6 May 2000.
252 Jordanian Ministry of Health, Annual Report 1996-97, 1997.
253 Dana Charkasi, "Army Investigates," Jordan Times Daily, 10 October 1999.
254 "Landmine Survivors Network Opens Branch in Jordan," Jordan Times Daily, 14 April 1999.
255 Interview with Minister Khalifa Ahmed Al-Sowaidi, Chargé D'Affaires and Brigadier General Hamad A. Hinzb Al-Marri, Military Attaché, Embassy of the State of Qatar to the U.S., Washington, DC, 16 February 2000.
0 Interview with Minister Al-Sowaidi and Brigadier General Al-Marri, 16 February 2000.
2 U.S. Army Operations Support Command, Solicitation DAAA09-99-R-0118: "Maintenance and Supply/Service for Army Pre-Positioned Stocks (APS-5) Equipment in Doha, Qatar," 21 January 2000. Exhibit N, Technical Exhibit #11 of this solicitation titled "Ammunition in Qatar" shows the presence of 72 M691 ADAM projectiles (forty-eight hour self-destruct time) and 189 M731 ADAM projectiles (four hour self-destruct time). Each ADAM projectile contains thirty-six antipersonnel mines.
3 U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command, Solicitation F44650-99-R0007: "Operation, Maintenance, and Support of Pre-Positioned War Reserve Materiel in Southwest Asia" 9 August 1999. Section E, Appendix 1, Enclosure 5 of this solicitation shows the planned on-hand balances of munitions stored at the Al Udeid facility to include 142 CBU-89 Gator units (with a total of 3,124 AP mines) and 141 M18/M18A1 Claymore mines.
4 Interview with Minister Al-Sowaidi and Brigadier General Al-Marri, 16 February 2000.
6 Letter to Landmine Monitor from Ambassador Saad Mohamed Al-Kobaisi, Qatari Ambassador to the U.S., 9 September 1999.
7 Representative of Tunisia, First Committee of the UN General Assembly, 18 October 1999, GA/DIS/3147.
8 Osservatario sul commercio delle arme, IRES, Toscana, 12 March 1997.
9 "Tunisia Begins Destruction of Antuipersonnel Landmines," Tunisia Online, 6 July 1999.
10 Letter to ICBL from Tarek Ben Youssef, Councilor to the Tunisian Ambassador to Canada, 13 September 1999.
11 Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 874.
12 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, Secretary of the National Demining Committee, Sana'a, 12 February 2000.
13 Interview with Mansour El-Azzi, the Executive Officer and General Coordinator of the National Mine Action Program, Sana'a, 22 November 1999.
14 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, National Demining Committee, 10 April 2000.
15 Interview with Dalma Foeldes, coordinator of the ICBL resource center in Sana'a, January 2000.
16 Interview with Colonel Al Sheibani, Director of the Technical Unit of the National Demining Center, Sana'a, 23 January 1999.
17 UNMAS, "Joint Assessment Mission Report: Yemen," 21 September 1998.
18 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, National Demining Committee, 25 April 2000.
19 Yemen's Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, submitted 30 November 1999. Although the designation POM-2 is used in the report, this mine is usually referred to as the POMZ-2.
20 Interview with General Al Dhahab, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Ministry of Defense, Sana'a, 19 February 2000.
21 Interview with Fadhle Mohammed Obaid Garama, Head of the Mine Clearance Department at the Regional Mine Action Center in Aden, Aden, 29 November 1999.
22 Interview with General Al Dhahab, 19 February 2000.
23 Interview with Phil Lewis, Chief Technical Advisor for the National Mine Action Program, Sana'a 19 February 2000.
24 Ibid.; Interview with General Al Dhahab, 19 February 2000.
25 Interview with Colonel Al Sheibani, Technical Unit of the National Demining Center, 22 November 1999.
27 Qadeem Tariq, MCPA, "Global Landmine Impact General Survey, Republic of Yemen," November 1999, p. 5.
28 Interview with Qadeem Tariq, MCPA team leader, 22 November 1999.
30 Interview with Qadeem Tariq, 26 January 2000.
31 Interview with Qadeem Tariq and Justin Brady, the UN Level One Survey Quality Assurance Monitor, Sana'a, 17 February 2000.
33 Qadeem Tariq, "Global Landmine Impact General Survey, Republic of Yemen," November 1999, p. 7.
34 Interview with Phil Lewis, National Mine Action Program, 22 November 1999.
35 Interview with Colonel Al Sheibani, Technical Unit of the National Demining Center, 22 November 1999.
36 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, National Demining Committee, 23 November 1999.
37 Interview with Mr. Mutahar Al Huthi, officer in charge of the UNDP Mine Action Program, Sana'a, 24 November 1999.
38 Interview with Colonel Al Sheibani, Technical Unit of the National Demining Center, 22 November 1999.
39 Interview with Al Huthi, UNDP Mine Action Program, Sana'a, 24 November 1999.
40 Interview with Sheryl McWilliams, Director for the ADRA Victim Assistance Project in Yemen, Sana'a, 17 February 2000.
41 Interview with Colonel Al Sheibani, Technical Unit of the National Demining Center, 23 November 1999.
42 Interview with Nicolas Drouin, Program Officer at the Mine Action Unit, CIDA, Geneva, 30 March 2000.
43 Interview with Sheryl McWilliams, ADRA, 17 February 2000.
44 Interview with Mr. Al Huthi, 24 November 1999.
45 UNDP, "Project Document for Support to the Yemen National Mine Action Program," p.1.
46 Interview with Phil Lewis, National Mine Action Program, 25 January 2000.
47 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, 10 April 2000.
48 Interview with Leif Trana, Second Secretary at the Norwegian Embassy in Riyadh, Sana'a, 4 December 1999.
50 Interview with Abdul Karim Ahmed, Head of the Rädda Barnen suboffice in Aden, Aden, 14 February 2000.
51 Interview with Tryggve Nelke, Regional Representative for Rädda Barnen, the Middle East Program, Beirut, 23 February 2000.
52 UNDP, "Project Document for Support to the Yemen National Mine Action Program," p.1.
53 Interview with Major Elzie, outgoing head of the U.S. assistance team to Yemen's Mine Action Program, Sana'a, 25 November 1999.
54 Interview with Mr. Al Huthi, 24 November 1999.
55 Interview with General Al Dhahab, 19 February 2000.
56 Interview with Major Elzie, 26 November 1999.
57 Landmine Monitor Researcher's field visit to the C6 minefield accompanied by Aysha Saed, Program Officer and Chair of the Yemen Mine Awareness Association, Shafika Saed and Agmal, members of the Yemen Mine Awareness Association, 4 October 1999.
58 Interview with Major Elzie, 26 November 1999.
60 Interview with Mr. Ian Mansfield, Mine Action Team Leader, UNDP head office in New York, Geneva, 28 March 2000.
61 Interview with Phil Lewis, Mine Action Program, Sana'a, 24 November 1999.
62 Interview with Rashida Al Hamdani, National Demining Committee, 10 April 2000.
63 National Mine Awareness Education Advisory Group meeting, Speech by Deputy Minister of Information, Sana'a, 28 October 1999.
64 Interview with Aysha Saed, Program Officer Rädda Barnen and Chair of the Yemen Mine Awareness Association, Aden, 15 February 2000.
67 For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p 867.
68 Yemen Mine Awareness Association and Rädda Barnen, "Landmine UXO Survivor Survey within Three Governorates in the Republic of Yemen," December 1998.
69 ADRA, "Report from a Survey on Landmine Accident-Survivors in Al Hodeida Governorate," 1999; Interview with Sheryl McWilliams, ADRA, 17 February 2000.
70 Interview with Sheryl McWilliams, ADRA, 17 February 2000.
72 Interview with Jane Brouillette, Rädda Barnen, 17 February 2000.
73 Interview with Jane Brouillette, 22 November 1999.