Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline: 1 October 2017
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Clearance increased significantly in 2014, a result of increased national demining capacity.

Recommendations for action 

• Ecuador should ensure all reporting, especially on mined area released and remaining, is accurate and consistent.
• Ecuador should maintain, and if possible increase, its land release performance in 2014 in order to be able to release the remainder of its mined areas by 2017. 

Contamination

Ecuador’s contamination results from the 1995 border conflict with Peru. The most heavily mined section of the border is the Condor Mountain Range, which was at the center of the dispute.[1] As of April 2015, Ecuador had 14 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) containing antipersonnel mines covering some 200,000m² and a further eight suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering 7,910m².[2] It is also contaminated to a smaller extent with antivehicle mines and unexploded ordinance (UXO).

Three of 24 provinces in Ecuador still contain CHAs or SHAa, as set out in the table below. The provinces are located in the south of the country along the border with Peru. As of December 2014, Zamora Chinchipe was the most mine-affected province with seven CHAs covering almost 145,000m² (which represents 70% of Ecuador’s remaining mined areas). The extent of the contamination in Zamora Chinchipe has significantly increased compared with 2013 due to the addition of one task “La Media,” for which information was provided by Peru in January 2014. The mined area covers 68,000m² and is estimated to contain 448 mines.[3] 

Mine contamination by province as of end 2014[4]

Note: * Includes the “square kilometre of Tiwintza” area, the control of which Peru has ceded to Ecuador, although it is located in Peruvian territory; it covers 43,500m² and contains 881 antipersonnel mines.[5]

Ecuador’s contamination problem remains somewhat fluid due to a continued exchange of information with Peru regarding mined areas. Peru handed over the last of its mined areas in January 2014, but new areas may be found and exchanged between both states due to topography and terrain.[6]

In its 2008 Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request, Ecuador listed farming, mining production, and tourism as the main productive activities affected by mine contamination. It also outlined the severe socio-economic impacts on communities residing along the border.[7] 

Program Management

The national mine action program is managed by the National Centre for Humanitarian Demining (CENDESMI), an interministerial body chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while mine action operations are conducted by the army’s General Demining Command (CGD).

Until October 2013, the Organization of American States (OAS) provided technical oversight and quality assurance of clearance.[8] By October 2013, the OAS’s monitoring support structure at the military base in Morona Santiago province had been dismantled.[9] 

Under the Binational Cooperation Program (Programa Binacional de Cooperación) established in 2000, Ecuador and Peru in April 2013 adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining (Manual Binacional de Desminado Humanitario) to unify the demining procedures of both states in accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[10] In December 2013, the joint Ecuador-Peru Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit of 30 deminers conducted its first exercise in Morona Santiago during which 317m² were cleared, and 30 antipersonnel mines were found. A second exercise took place on the Peruvian side of the border in 2014, but the results were not publicly reported.[11]

Land Release 

The total amount of mined land released by clearance and technical survey in 2014 was 87,405m², compared with 12,331m² in 2013.[12] Seven mined areas were cancelled or released through clearance, and 4,181 antipersonnel mines were destroyed (see table below). In 2014, Ecuador’s clearance capacity consisted of 18 demining teams and one mechanical team.[13]

Land release in 2014[14]

Land release in Ecuador continues at a slow pace, although there was a significant increase in 2014 compared to previous years. This increase in the rate of release in 2014 can be attributed to the fact that more than half of the total area released was cancelled through survey, and to an increase in demining personnel.[15] 

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the eight-year extension granted by States Parties in 2008), Ecuador is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 October 2017. Ecuador is not on track to meet its extended deadline. 

In June 2014, Ecuador declared taking all the necessary measures and using all available resources to ensure clearance of its mined areas is completed within its deadline.[16] In May 2015, Ecuador believed that it was on track to meet its extended clearance deadline.[17] 

Ecuador has cleared less than 170,000m² of mined area in the last five years with the destruction of more than 5,200 antipersonnel mines (see table below). 

Land release in 2010–2014[18]

Ecuador’s latest extension request, submitted in March 2008, indicated bad weather, difficult terrain conditions, the bad state of communication networks, and the difficulty in accessing some mined areas as the main reasons for needing additional time.[19] The request included a work plan for 2009–2017 containing annual projections. It also estimated that more than US$9 million would be needed to carry out the remaining demining work. In granting the request, the Ninth Meeting of States Parties noted that based on the planned increase in funding and demining capacity Ecuador “may find itself in a situation wherein it could proceed with implementation faster than that suggested by the amount of time requested.”[20]

In its revised extension request summary, Ecuador indicated that its remaining contamination included 75 mined areas covering an estimated 500,000m². As of December 2014, the remaining contamination covered approximately 200,000m² across a total of 22 areas. Ecuador indicated that about three-quarters of the contaminated areas identified in its extension request had been released, and that 100,000m² of its initial challenge remains to be addressed.[21] 

Ecuador’s low clearance rate in recent years in combination with the possibility of identifying new suspected hazardous areas call into question its ability to clear its contaminated areas within its deadline. Ecuador also questioned its own ability to meet its deadline in 2012 when a Ministry of Defense brochure disseminated at the intersessional meetings in Geneva stated that Ecuador expected to complete clearance by 2023.[22] The increase in Ecuador’s land release rate in 2014 is encouraging, but continued efforts are needed in order to ensure compliance with its 2017 deadline.