Summary: State Party Peru ratified the convention on 26 September 2012. It has participated in most of the convention’s meetings and has condemned new use of cluster munitions, including in Syria, South Sudan, and Ukraine. Peru voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the convention in December 2016.

Peru has not used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported them and reported a stockpile of 2,005 cluster munitions and 152,982 submunitions. Peru is preparing to destroy these cluster munitions and says it does not intend to not retain any for research or training.

Policy

The Republic of Peru signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 26 September 2012, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 March 2013.

Peru lists its 2012 ratification law and decree under national implementation measures as well as directives standardizing weapons disposal procedures.[1] Peru has not indicated if it will prepare additional legislative measures to enforce the convention’s provisions.

Peru submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 August 2013 and it has provided annual updated reports since then, most recently in June 2017.[2]

As one of the small core group of nations that took responsibility for the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Peru hosted an international conference on cluster munitions in Lima in May 2007.[3]

Peru engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which it described in October 2015 as a “complete priority.”[4] At the Sixth Meeting of States Parties held in Geneva in September 2016, Peru reaffirmed its commitment to the principles and objectives of the convention and its willingness to coordinate with states and civil society to achieve universalization.[5]

Peru has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties as well as the First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in September 2015 and intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011–2015. It has attended regional workshops on cluster munitions, most recently in Rakitje, Croatia, in June 2017.[6]

In December 2016, Peru voted in favor of a UNGA resolution promoting implementation of the convention.[7]

Peru has condemned the “horrendous” use of cluster munitions in Syria and other countries, which it has called “alarming.”[8] It has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[9]

Peru has not elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on transit, the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions, the prohibition on foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions, and prohibition on investment in production of cluster munitions.

Peru is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Peru is not known to have ever used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. It has imported cluster munitions and possesses a stockpile.

Stockpiling

Peru has declared a stockpile of 2,005 cluster munitions and 152,982 submunitions, as listed in the following table.

Cluster munitions stockpiled by Peru (December 2016)[10]

In its initial report submitted in August 2013, Peru reported a stockpile of 676 cluster munitions of three types and 86,280 submunitions.[11] In its report covering the year 2015, Peru reported an additional 1,331 cluster munitions of three types and another 66,894 submunitions.[12] Two cluster munitions containing a total of 192 submunitions were destroyed during 2016 in the process of researching how to destroy the stocks.[13]

During the Oslo Process, in May 2007, Peru’s Minister of Defense first publicly disclosed that the Peruvian air force possesses stocks of BME-330 cluster bombs from Spain and RBK-500 cluster bombs of Russian/Soviet origin as well as CB-470 cluster bombs of South African origin.[14]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Peru is required to declare and destroy all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible but not later than 1 March 2021.

At the First Review Conference in September 2015, Peru reiterated that it expects to complete destruction before the 2021 deadline.[15]

The Peruvian Air Force is responsible for destroying the stockpiled cluster munitions, which are held at Puntos Lobos Base in the Pucusana district, south of Lima.[16] Since 2014, the humanitarian mine clearance organization Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has provided technical support and training to Peru for its stockpile destruction. In May 2015, NPA experts demonstrated disassembly and destruction techniques for the cluster munitions stockpile.[17] In May 2016, Peru completed a “preparation and testing” phase for the stockpile destruction.[18] In a presentation to a regional meeting in June 2017, Peru said that the NPA experts are scheduled to visit the country in August 2017 to provide a training on how to safely destroy the stocks.[19]

Retention

Since 2013, Peru has reported that it will not retain any cluster munitions or submunitions for research or training in detection, clearance, and destruction techniques.[20] Before 2013, Peru expressed its intent to retain cluster munitions for training.[21]

Contaminated by: landmines (light contamination)

Article 5 deadline: 31 December 2024
(On track to meet deadline)

The Republic of Peru’s clearance output decreased in 2016 to 18,317m², compared to 76,355m² in 2015.

Recommendations for action

• Peru should increase the use of mine detection dogs (MDDs) to both identify mined areas and to release land. If necessary, Peru should seek international assistance for this.
• Peru should provide consistent figures for its remaining contamination challenge, and distinguish between suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) and confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs).

Contamination

Mine contamination in Peru results from a 1995 border conflict with Ecuador. The mined section of the border was predominantly in the Condor mountain range that was at the center of the dispute.

Peru has provided inconsistent figures for its remaining contamination. As of early August 2016, 140 SHAs covering a total of 479,994m² remained in the districts of Achuime, Cenepa, Santiago, and the square kilometer of Tiwinza.[1] Peru variously stated in its latest Article 7 transparency report that as of March 2017, remaining mine contamination totaled 475,174m² across 140 confirmed hazardous areas, but in the same report it claimed that as of the end of 2016, 426,325m² remained across 134 CHAs.[2] In its second extension request however, Peru planned for clearance beginning in January 2017 of 128 areas covering only 411,694m².[3]

The size and extent of mined areas varies widely, with one such area only 5m² in size while the largest, by far, is estimated to extend over 160,000m². In fact, most of this large area should be released by survey, without the need for recourse to full clearance.[4] The true amount of contaminated land is probably no more than 100,000m² as Peru does not use polygons to delineate hazardous areas, despite having detailed mine maps of almost all the affected areas.[5]

Program Management

The national mine action program is managed by the Interministerial Executive Council of the Peruvian Mine Action Center (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonal, CONTRAMINAS), which is chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CONTRAMINAS is responsible for setting strategy and priorities and for overall coordination of mine action activities.

Mine clearance in the Condor mountain range is conducted by the Peruvian military and the Security Division of CONTRAMINAS (División de Seguridad, DIVSECOM) in the Peruvian National Police (PNP).

Strategic planning

According to Peru’s strategic demining plan, which was annexed to its 2016 extension request, remaining suspected mine contamination of some 0.41km², spread across 128 SHAs, will be released by 31 December 2024.[6] Peru expected to clear 6,318 mines from the hazardous areas.[7] The plan for the eight years beginning 1 January 2017 is as follows:

Plans for clearance in 2017–2024[8]

Note: AP = antipersonnel.

Standards

In April 2013, under the Binational Cooperation Program (Programa Binacional de Cooperación) established in 2000, Ecuador and Peru adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining to unify the demining procedures of both states in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).

Information management

In 2016, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) was providing support to CONTRAMINAS for the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.

Quality management

Quality management is assured through the Peruvian Army’s Directorate General for Humanitarian Demining (DIGEDEHUME), headquartered in Lima.[9]

Land Release

The total mined area reportedly released in 2016 was 48,849m², less than the 68,300m² target set in its second extension request.[10] Release by clearance amounted to only 18,317m², compared with clearance in 2015 of 76,335m². A further 4,784m² was canceled by non-technical survey while 25,748m² was reduced by technical survey in 2016. Land release operations in April 2016 through March 2017 included the destruction of 1,886 antipersonnel mines.[11]

In 2015, Peru started to use MDDs to identify mines for the first time.[12] In its revised Second Article 5 deadline extension request, Peru announced that it would be using both machines and MDDs for demining.[13]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the seven years and 10 months’ extension granted by States Parties in 2016), Peru is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 31 December 2024. This is Peru’s second Article 5 extension.

Since 2012, though, Peru has reported clearing a total of only some 140,000m² of mined area with the destruction of about 9,500 mines (see table below).

Mine clearance in 2011–2015[14]

Note: * Covers the period April 2016 to March 2017.

In its revised second extension request, submitted in August 2016, Peru estimated that US$38.6 million would be needed to finish the job, all of which was due to be funded by the Peruvian government.[15]

In granting Peru’s extension request, the Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties called on Peru to provide, by 30 April 2018, an updated workplan for the remaining period covered by the extension detailing the results of the activities to meet its strategic objectives, an updated list of all areas known or suspected to contain antipersonnel mines, annual projections of which areas would be dealt with during the remaining period covered by the request and by which organization, and an updated budget.[16]

In 2016, international funding toward mine action in the Republic of Peru remained very low, with just one contribution reported from Norway totaling some US$100,000.[1]

The government of Peru provided $1.4 million in 2015 to its mine action program.[2] In 2012–2015, Peru contributed three-quarters of its total mine action budget ($6.6 million). No information on any national contribution was available for 2016.

Since 2012, international support toward mine action activities in Tajikistan has totaled some $2.3 million, and dropped by more than 95%.

In its second extension request, Peru estimated that a budget of $39 million would be needed to support its mine action program from 2017 to 2024.[3]

Summary of contributions: 2012–2016[4]

Note: N/R = not reported.

No mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were recorded in 2016 in the Republic of Peru.[1] The last reported casualties occurred in 2014, when three casualties were identified.[2]

Three Peruvian citizens, however, became antipersonnel mine casualties in incidents in Chile near the border with Peru, in February and September 2016.[3] In recent years, the majority of casualties in Chile and Peru occurred in the border area between the two countries.

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

Since 2007, when the last confirmed casualty caused by factory-made mines was recorded,[5] most casualties identified have been caused by victim-activated improvised explosive devices (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]

Peru has reported that it has registered 345 people as victims of antipersonnel mines, 150 of civilian origin, 119 military, and 76 national police.[8]

Action points based on findings

• Ensure sustainability of services with adequate allocation of resources following the exit of the Organization of American States (OAS), Polus Center, and the ICRC.
• Promote survivors and their representative organizations’ participation in coordination and planning of disability related initiative.
• Enable the adoption of the Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disability 2009–2018 by the different ministries involved. 

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 a commitment 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

No mine/ERW casualties were recorded in 2015 in Peru.[1] This represents a decrease compared to 2014, when three casualties were identified.[2] 

Two Peruvian citizens, however, became antipersonnel mine casualties in incidents in Chile near the border with Peru, in March 2015 and February 2016. The casualty in 2015 lost a foot in the Gallinazo area,[3] while the casualty in 2016 occurred in the Pampa Concordia area and died after having been taken back to Peru for medical attention.[4] In the last years, the majority of casualties in Chile and Peru occurred in the border area between the two countries.

Previous to 2014, the last recorded casualty occurred in 2012, in the region of the River Apurímac, River Ene valley, and Mantaro (VRAEM), where there was one incident involving a victim-activated IED, also referred to as a “homemade mine,” that caused four casualties among the soldiers from the antipersonnel mine deactivation unit of the Peruvian army.[5]

Since 2007, when the last confirmed casualty caused by factory-made mines was recorded,[6] most casualties identified have been caused by victim-activated IEDs in areas of coca cultivation.[7]

The total number of mine/IED and ERW casualties identified in Peru since 1991 is 463 (63 people killed and 400 injured).[8]

Victim Assistance

As of the end of 2015, there were 463 mine/ERW survivors in Peru.[9]

Victim assistance in 2015 

The Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, CONTRAMINAS) is the focal point for victim assistance in Peru.

In 2015, efforts were also made to register mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities in government social programs, such as medical insurance and pensions. Victim assistance in 2015 was reported to be more sensitive to vulnerable groups. However, access to services remained difficult for civilian survivors throughout the year because most were living in remote and rural areas and in conditions of extreme poverty with very limited employment opportunities.[10] 

In April 2015, the OAS’ Comprehensive Mine Action Program (Programa de Acción Integral contra Minas Antipersonal, AICMA) closed its program in Peru. For many years it had supported victim assistance activities by covering travel to health centers, housing, food, medical consultation, and orthopedic and orthotic equipment expenses.[11] 

Peru’s General Law on Persons with Disabilities, approved in 2012, regulates the adaptation of national legislation in line with the provisions of the CRPD. Under the coordination of CONADIS, a draft Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disability 2009–2018 was being reviewed by relevant ministries into early 2016. 

Assessing victim assistance needs 

In 2015, CONTRAMINAS continued identifying victims from landmine incidents that occurred in the past, while improving the general knowledge on their situation, including their socio-economic condition, needs, and expectations. CONTRAMINAS was also in permanent contact with representatives of civilian, police, and military survivors. These surveying works established that, of the registered landmine survivors, 62% are affected by some kind of disability as a result of the accident.[12] During the year, CONTRAMINAS reported visits to landmine survivors and a survivors’ association twice a month.[13] However, survivors reported that no visits were made and no direct assistance, physical or psychological, was provided during the year.[14]

At the beginning of 2016, CONADIS launched both a Statistical Yearbook 2000–2014 (Anuario Estadístico) and the National Observatory on Disability. Both initiatives aim at providing detailed information on policies and norms implementation process and on persons with disability (gender, location, etc.) in order to facilitate research, public policy design, and programs and projects that promote the rights of persons with disabilities.[15] In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of Child recommended that Peru take measures to strengthen identification of children with disability, as 90% of them did not have a disability certificate, which limits their access to basic medical services.[16]

Victim assistance coordination[17]

In 2015, as a result of the coordination work by CONTRAMINAS, the Comprehensive Health Insurance (Seguro Integral de Salud, SIS), which provides orthopedic services as well as reconstructive surgery and transplants incorporated the automatic inclusion of civilian mine/ERW survivors into its mandate.[18] In 2014, SIS had announced that it would cover the cost of prosthesis and other orthopedic devices.[19]

In 2015, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, through CONADIS, contributed to a draft of the Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disability (originally for the period 2009–2018) that incorporates inputs from civil society, including persons with disabilities.[20] The plan’s fundamental principles had been discussed previously in 2014 during a national workshop on disability led by CONTRAMINAS and CONADIS, with support from Mine Ban Treaty’s Implementation Support Unit, at which mine survivors were included.[21] In 2013, a similar meeting took place in which mine survivors and various representatives from all sectors of society also participated.[22]

In 2015, CONTRAMINAS, under the direction of the Ministry of External Relations, continued implementing Peru’s national victim assistance workplan developed in 2010, in coordination with CONADIS and the National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, INR).[23] 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.[24] However, survivors reported that no monitoring of the plan was carried out in 2015.[25] In 2014, the Polus Center concluded its activities, including support to the INR, due to a lack of funding.[26]

In December 2015, the INR led a workshop on multidisciplinary research on disability issues, with the objective of laying the foundations for strategy and policy design to improve life conditions of persons with disabilities. Among other participants were the Ministry of Health, CONADIS, the National Health Institute and universities.[27]

In its Article 7 report of the Mine Ban Treaty for 2015, Peru did not provide information on victim assistance and disability policy, only stating the number of casualties occurred during the year.[28] It did provide information at the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings in June 2015 and at the Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of the States Parties in December 2015.[29]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance 

Survivors and their representative organizations were included in the planning and coordination of victim assistance activities with CONTRAMINAS. CONADIS also made efforts to include survivors and their representative organizations in the planning of activities addressing disability.[30] However, according to civil society organizations and survivors, although CONTRAMINAS used to include survivors in the planning and coordination of victim assistance, in 2015, there was no participation in any meeting or event, national or international.[31]

In 2015, civil association ASISTEPOL, which represents retired police members who with disabilities resulting from the conflict in the 1980s, including landmines survivors, submitted a project to offer property to mine victims. The request was yet to be approved by CONTRAMINAS as of April 2016.[32] 

Service accessibility and effectiveness 

The SIS agreed to automatically register all civilian landmine survivors as beneficiaries, providing them with coverage for prosthesis and medical assistance. Other costs, such as funeral expenses and transportation are also included in this coverage.[33] Military and national police survivors have access to their own health program through their institutions’ hospitals, and benefit from pensions.[34] CONTRAMINAS reported that both the civilian and military insurance systems also benefit direct family members.[35] However, survivors reported that no services were available for their families.[36]

In 2015, resources were allocated to improve accessible transportation and access to services in 210 municipalities as a result of CONADIS coordinating with the Ministry of Finance.[37]

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 and live in conditions of extreme poverty, making access to care difficult.[38] 

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

The INR rehabilitation program includes physical and psychological care. In May 2015, the INR signed an agreement with the SIS, guaranteeing free rehabilitation services to the most vulnerable populations and people without health insurance. The agreement was implemented in June of the same year.[39] Later in the year, the institution also signed an agreement with the health faculty at San Juan Bautista University in Lima to improve the quality of rehabilitation training.[40] Due to the distance to the capital, the center remained inaccessible to most survivors living in rural, remote areas. Rehabilitation services for children, especially in remote and rural areas, were also largely inaccessible, partly due to the limited coverage provided.[41] In 2015, construction was undertaken to increase the services offered.[42]

CONTRAMINAS, with support from the OAS through the AICMA program, continued to offer physical and psychological support through partners in the first months of 2015. (The partners were the INR, the National Institute of Ophtalmology and Hospital Daniel A. Carrión de Huancayo.[43]) In April 2015, the OAS stopped providing victim assistance support in the country.[44]

Due to budget cuts, the ICRC SFD no longer partnered with the INR in 2015. However, the SFD continued to monitor the situation to ensure that people were receiving services, including prosthetics.[45] The SFD also sponsored a distance-learning course for two Peruvian rehabilitation technicians at Don Bosco University.[46]

Import restrictions in Peru made it difficult to reach self-sufficiency for rehabilitation centers.[47] To facilitate the process of importing rehabilitation materials, in 2015 the ICRC SFD held meetings with the INR, CONADIS, the Ministry of Health, and the SIS.[48]

Social and economic inclusion 

In 2014, the Ministry of Work and Employment included a disability component in its surveys and approved guidelines for provision of employment services for persons with disabilities. An “Action Plan for the Improvement of Employability of Persons with Disability through Employment Centers” was also approved, which aims at training and employing persons with disabilities in nine regions of the country.[49] In collaboration with the INR’s vocational rehabilitation program, the Ministry of Work and Employment offered workshops to persons with disabilities to strengthen their job searching skills in 2015.[50]

From 2012 to June 2014, 1,720 persons with disabilities had benefited from a socio-economic inclusion program operated by CONADIS, entitled, I Am Able (Soy Capaz). The program also developed a registry of inclusive institutions.[51]

A pilot program called Tumbes Accessible, launched by CONADIS in 2012, aimed to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in regions outside the capital and remote areas.[52] In 2014 and through 2015, replications of the program were initiated in the regions of Huanuco and Piura.[53]

Access to inclusive education was still very limited for children with disabilities, in particular in remote and rural areas.[54] However, the Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disability, under ministerial review in early 2016, addresses inclusive education.[55]

Laws and policies 

In 2009, after a broad national consultation, Peru launched its Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disability 2009–2018 under the general coordination of CONADIS to protect and promote the full and equal enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities with concrete actions in the health, education, social development, and employment sectors.[56] As of March 2016, the plan was still under government review and awaiting approval for it to become the operating framework for the National Roadmap for Integration System of People with Disabilities (Sistema Nacional para la Integración de las Personas con Discapacidad, SINAPEDIS).[57]

The regulations for implementing the national Law for Persons with Disabilities were approved in April 2014.[58] The law establishes budgetary requirements and quotas for various government ministries and the private sector to ensure the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities.[59] In 2014, the government approved the provision of non‐contributory pensions for people with severe disability and poverty, including mine/ERW survivors.[60] 

Legislation prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities and provides for their protection, care, rehabilitation, security, and social inclusion. The law mandates that all public spaces must be accessible and provides for the appointment of a disability rights specialist in the Ombudsman’s Office and establishes employment quotas for persons with disabilities. State resources for enforcement of the law and training on disability issues were limited and many persons with disabilities remained economically and socially marginalized.[61] The national Transportation Development Plan included objectives to gradually address the needs of persons with disabilities.[62] Overall, little effort was made to improve accessibility to public buildings.[63]

In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that widespread discrimination and violence against children with disabilities continued.[64]