Notes: EOD = explosive remnants of war.

Contamination

The Republic of Ecuador’s contamination results from its 1995 border conflict with Peru. The most heavily mined section of the border is the Condor mountain range (Cordillera del Condor) which was at the center of the dispute. As of the end of 2017, 97,469m² of contaminated area was reported to remain across five mined zones down from 132,976m² in 2016. Contamination was believed to include a total of 3,673 antipersonnel mines.[1]

Two of Ecuador’s 24 provinces still have mined areas, as set out in the table below. The two provinces are located in the south of the country along the border with Peru.

Mine contamination by province (at end 2017)[2]

However, in its 2017 Article 5 deadline extension request Ecuador reported 65,006m² of mined area remaining in Zamora Chinchipe and 35,490m² in Morona Santiago (Tiwinza).[3] In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2017 these numbers are revised to the figures given in the table above, but no clear explanation is given for the change in figures beyond a reported non-technical survey during 2017 in the Tiwinza square kilometer.[4]

Ecuador reported that mines impact local communities by restricting their movement across the border, limiting communication between groups and trade in traditional goods and services. The communities have become increasingly vulnerable to mine incidents in recent years as declining space for hunting and gathering has forced them deeper into the forests where there is greater mine contamination. Mines have also been displaced due to heavy rains, moving to areas where there is an increased chance that people will detonate them.[5]

Program Management

The national mine action program is managed by the National Center for Humanitarian Demining (CENDESMI). It is an interministerial body chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility and is made up of the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Army Corps of Engineers (CEE) through the Engineers Battalion No. 68 “COTOPAXI” and the General Command for Demining and EOD (CGDEOD).[6]

Strategic planning

In its 2017 Article 5 deadline extension request Ecuador included a National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2022, which provides information on techniques, resources, mitigating factors, opportunities, and risks, as well as annual clearance targets. The clearance plan is for the contamination in the Zamora Chinchipe province. The clearance plan given for the Tiwinza square kilometer states that the operations will be carried out by the Ecuador-Peru Binational Demining Unit.[7]

Planned mine clearance in Zamora Chinchipe in 2018–2022 (extension request)[8]

Ecuador’s Article 7 report for 2017 also includes a clearance plan for 2018–2022. Although it reports 89,874m² of area to be cleared in Zamora Chinchipe the plan is for a total of 65,006m². The clearance plan for the Tiwinza square kilometer is vague, noting only that there is one mined area of 7,594.61m² that will be cleared in the five-year period.[9]

Planned mine clearance in 2018–2022 (Article 7)[10]

Legislation and standards

CENDESMI was set up by Executive Decree. There is no other national mine action legislation.

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

Information management

Ecuador uses the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[11]

Operators

Demining operations are conducted by the Battalion of Engineers No. 68 “COTOPAXI” and the CGDEOD with a combined total of 140 trained deminers, including three women.[12] In the past, they have deployed 16 manual demining teams and two mechanical demining teams (using an MV-4 remotely controlled flail), as well as one mine detection dog (MDD) team.[13] However, in the additional information provided alongside its 2017 extension request, Ecuador stated that the remaining clearance will only be carried out by manual demining teams, due to the unsuitability of the terrain for the machine.[14]

In December 2013, the joint Ecuador-Peru Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit of 30 deminers conducted its first exercise in Morona Santiago. In October 2015, the unit began operations in a mined area estimated to extend over 43,500m² within the Tiwinza square kilometer (an area at the center of the conflict between the two nations).[15] In 2017, all survey and clearance within the Tiwinza square kilometer was performed by the unit. They conducted clearance of 6,495m² and destroyed 391 antipersonnel mines, cancelled 10,919m² through non-technical survey, and reduced 7,332m² through technical survey.[16]

Land Release

Ecuador released more than 33,000m² of mined area in 2017 in the two affected provinces, an increase in output from the less than 5,000m² of mined area released in 2016.

Survey in 2017

In 2017, 7,332m² was reduced by technical survey and 10,919m² was cancelled by non-technical survey in the Tiwinza square kilometer, covering a total of 18,251m².[17]

Clearance in 2017

A total of 15,476m² was released by clearance in 2017 across two provinces, with the destruction of 453 antipersonnel mines and five explosive remnants of war (ERW).[18] In 2016, no mined areas were released and clearance covered a meagre 1,410m², with the destruction of 565 antipersonnel mines and two ERW.

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted by States Parties in 2017), Ecuador 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 2022.[19] This is Ecuador’s third Article 5 deadline extension request.

In granting Ecuador’s 2008 extension request, the Ninth Meeting of States Parties had noted that based on planned increases 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] This proved not to be the case. In its presentation to the Article 5 Committee in May 2016, Ecuador, one of the co-chairs of the committee, announced that of the remaining 0.13km² of contamination, 0.08km² would be cleared in 2016 and the remaining 0.05km² in 2017 prior to October.[21] This did not occur.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017

On 28 November 2016, Ecuador unexpectedly submitted a second request to extend its mine clearance deadline. The request was granted at the Fifteenth Meeting of the States Parties and a new deadline set for 31 December 2017. In the letter it sent seeking the request, Ecuador stated that “the technical study and clearing in the Provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago (Tiwinza square kilometer) is about to conclude, pending the destruction of 5,478 antipersonnel mines in an area of 137,653 square meters.” The letter explained that the failure to meet the 1 October 2017 deadline was due to a serious earthquake on 16 April 2016, which required the diversion of the armed forces away from demining, as well as to the physical characteristics of the land and climate conditions in the areas requiring clearance.[22]

In granting the extension request, the Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties noted that Ecuador and the convention as a whole would benefit from a full extension request process taking place, and agreed to grant Ecuador a three-month extension until 31 December 2017. “In addition, the Meeting requested that Ecuador submit a detailed request, in accordance with the established process, by 31 March 2017, in order for Ecuador and the States Parties to benefit from a cooperative exchange on the request.”[23]

In its Article 7 transparency report for 2016, however, Ecuador without explanation determined that it would need a further five years to fulfil its Article 5 obligations. It submitted another Article 5 extension request in March 2017, which included annual clearance targets in 2018–2022 (see table above) and an annual demining budget. Ecuador has allocated a budget of $20,937,735.36 for humanitarian demining operations of which it has spent a total of $8,730,063.08.[24]

In addition to the 65,006m² (or 89,874m²) of mine contamination left in Zamora Chinchipe, there is also 7,595m² (or 35,490m²) to be cleared in San Juan Bosco district, Morona Santiago province (the Tiwinza square kilometer), which has yet to be included in the annual targets.[25] Clearance of this area will be carried out by the Ecuador-Peru Binational Demining Unit. In the additional information provided by Ecuador alongside its 2017 extension request, clearance of the 26 hazardous areas in the vicinity of the Tiwinza square kilometer is planned to be carried out in 2018–2020 amounting to a total of 122,880m² of clearance.[26] This is seemingly contradicted in Peru’s “Updated National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2024” where clearance in Tiwinza was planned for 2018 covering five mined areas totaling 70,100m².[27]

The amount of outstanding mine contamination in its Article 7 transparency report for 2017 differs from the Article 5 extension request. However, while the report includes the revised figure for the contamination in Tiwinza (7,595m²), the clearance plan for Zamora Chinchipe is based on the original figure of 65,006m² rather than the revised figure of 89,874m².[28]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.