Action points based on findings

• Ensure autonomy of services through the allocation of sufficient national resources.
• Promote survivors and their representative organizations’ participation in coordination and planning of disability-related initiative. 

Victim assistance commitments 

The Republic of Peru is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines, including survivors of victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and explosive remnants of war (ERW), who are in need. Peru has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty, Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, and the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Peru ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 30 January 2008.

Casualties Overview

In 2014, there were three new casualties identified in Peru, which represent an increase compared with 2013, when no casualties were reported. [1] Two of the casualties were children, a young man (17-years-old) and a girl (eight-years-old). The adolescent was injured, and the girl was killed in the explosion. The victims found the explosive item in Cruz del Hueso in the area of San Bartolo, reported to be a former military training zone in the 1990s. They brought the device home, where the explosion occurred. [2] The third casualty was a 37-year-old officer in the Peruvian Army. The man was wounded by a landmine while undertaking clearance work near the border with Ecuador in the Cordillera del Condor area of the Amazonas region. [3] 

Previous to 2014, the last recorded casualty occurred in 2012, in the region of the River Apurímac, River Ene valley, and Mantaro (VRAEM), where a victim-activated IED, also referred to as a “homemade mine,” caused four casualties in one single incident among soldiers from the antipersonnel mine deactivation unit of the Peruvian army. [4]

Since 2007, when the last previously confirmed casualty caused by factory-made mines was recorded, [5] most casualties identified have been caused by victim-activated IEDs, in areas of coca cultivation. [6]

The total number of mine/IED and ERW casualties identified in Peru since 1991 is 463 (63 people killed and 400 injured). [7]

Victim Assistance 

As of end of 2014, there were 400 mine/ERW survivors in Peru. [8]

Victim assistance in 2014

In 2014, the Peruvian government approved the provision of non ‐ contributory pensions for persons with severe disability and poverty, including victims of landmines. [9] Some efforts were also made to increase access to physical rehabilitation and to register mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities in government social programs, such as medical insurance and pensions. However, access to services remained difficult for survivors throughout the year because most were living in extremely remote and rural areas.

During the year, the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, CONTRAMINAS) continued visiting mine victims and providing medical assistance with support from the OAS’ Comprehensive Mine Action Program ( Programa de Acción Integral contra Minas Antipersonal, AICMA), which covers travel to health centers, housing, food, medical consultation, and orthopedic and orthodic equipment expenses. [10]

In December 2012, with the approval of the General Law on Persons with Disabilities, Peru started the adaptation of national legislation in line with the provisions of the CRPD. Implementing regulations of the disability law were passed in April 2014. [11]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2014, CONTRAMINAS maintained regular communication with landmine survivors and conducted workshops and discussions in order to verify and update information on mine/ERW survivors and their needs. During the year, CONTRAMINAS visited the regions of Junín and Huancavelica to update information about survivors already registered, to provide medical assistance, and to identify any other mine survivors who remained unregistered. [12]

Through 2014, the National Disability Council (Consejo Nacional para la Integración de la Persona con Discapacidad, CONADIS) was working on a national census specialized on disability. [13]

Victim assistance coordination [14]

CONTRAMINAS held several victim assistance coordination meetings with officers from the Integral Health System (Sistema Integral de Salud, SIS), CONADIS, and with representatives from civil society associations, to conduct inclusion and health projects for mine victims. [15]

In April 2014, CONTRAMINAS and CONADIS, with support from Mine Ban Treaty’s Implementation Support Unit and the European Union, held a national workshop on disability. The meeting’s objective was to lay the foundations of a new Plan for Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, in which mine victims’ perspective would be included. Ultimately, the resulting plan will stem from concerted efforts of the public sector, civil society organizations, and persons with disabilities [16] (see also Laws and Policies section below ). In 2013, a similar meeting had taken place in which mine victims and various representatives from all sectors of society had also participated. [17]

In 2014, CONTRAMINAS continued implementing Peru’s national victim assistance work plan, developed in 2010 in coordination with CONADIS, the INR, and civil society organizations. [18] However, the Polus Center could not continue its activities due to a lack of funding. [19] The plan’s objectives include providing individualized support for socio-economic reintegration for all registered survivors and strengthening local healthcare and rehabilitation facilities in mine affected areas. [20]

Peru provided updates on victim assistance and disability policy at the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, and information on progress in victim assistance through its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2014. [21]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Survivors and other persons with disabilities participated in the national meetings on victim assistance and disability in April 2013 and 2014, and in regional victim assistance meetings. [22] The Association of Victims and Survivors of Minefields (Asociación de Víctimas y Sobrevivientes de Campos Minados, AVISCAM) has been inactive since 2012. [23]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In 2014, CONADIS, with support from the Ministry of Finance, provided training to 40 municipalities in the diagnosis of urban accessibility and accessibility plan formulation, and in the establishment and functions of the Municipal Office for Attention to Persons with Disabilities (Oficina Municipal de Atención a la Persona con Discapacidad, OMAPED) with the objective of improving resource allocation to disability issues at the local level. [24]

As in previous years, medical facilities and the country’s main rehabilitation center were centralized in the capital, while most survivors were based in rural communities. The time and expense of traveling to these services prevented most survivors from accessing them. [25] The national Transportation Development Plan included consideration of the needs of persons with disabilities and actions to gradually address these needs. The National Rehabilitation Institute and other hospitals had begun implementing some actions from the plan as of early 2014. [26]

CONTRAMINAS, with support from the OAS, coordinated actions with the Integral Health System to assist survivors in securing medical assistance to civilian survivors. [27] Many survivors found the application process for national health insurance and pensions to be complicated and the coverage itself very limited. Military and national police survivors have access to their own health program and benefit from pensions. [28]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

In January 2013, the INR officially opened the newly built national rehabilitation center, offering comprehensive rehabilitation services, including prosthetics, occupational therapy, and psychological support. The construction of new facilities was financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a national contribution from Peru. The INR offers a comprehensive rehabilitation program including physical and psychological care. However, the new center located in Lima remained inaccessible to most survivors living in rural, remote areas. 

CONTRAMINAS, with support from the OAS continued working with the INR, the National Institute of Ophthalmology, and Hospital Daniel A. Carrión de Huancayo to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services, including physical and psychological support. As of May 2015, 30 mine survivors had benefited from these services. [29]

The ICRC SFD continued to support the training of staff at the INR to improve the quality of physical rehabilitation in Peru. It also sponsored two scholarships for Peruvian professionals for distance-learning course on prosthetics and orthotics provided by the University Don Bosco in El Salvador. Purchase and import restrictions in Peru made it difficult to reach self-sufficiency of rehabilitation centers, which required ICRC SFD to address the situation . [30] Due to budget cuts, ICRC SFD will no longer partner with the INR in 2015. [31]

Social and economic inclusion

In 2014, CONTRAMINAS continued coordinating with CONADIS for the inclusion of mine victims in the State’ social programs. [32]

Since 2012, CONADIS is operating “I Am Able,” a socio-economic inclusion program that provides specialized training and support in job placement for persons with disabilities. As of June 2014, 1,720 persons with disabilities had benefited from this program. Under this program a register of inclusive private and public institutions has also been created. [33]