Ecuador

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 29 July 2015

Five-Year Review: State Party Ecuador ratified the convention in May 2010 and amended its penal code later that month to enforce the convention’s provisions. Ecuador has participated in nearly all the convention’s meetings and has served as the convention’s co-coordinator on universalization since September 2014. It has condemned new use of cluster munitions, including in Syria.

Ecuador has not used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. In its initial transparency report provided in 2011, Ecuador declared the destruction of a stockpile of 117 cluster bombs in 2004 and confirmed it no longer possesses cluster munitions, including for training or research purposes.

Policy

The Republic of Ecuador signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 11 May 2010, and the convention entered into force for the country on 1 November 2010.

Ecuador amended its penal code on 19 May 2010 to enforce the Convention on Cluster Munitions with penal sanctions of up to 16 years imprisonment for activities relating to cluster munitions.[1]

Ecuador submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the convention on 23 June 2011 and provided an updated annual report on 30 April 2013.[2] In September 2014, Ecuador committed to provide the annual updated report due by 30 April 2014 “as soon as possible.”[3]

Ecuador participated fully in the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions and hosted a regional meeting in Quito in November 2008 to promote signature.[4]

Ecuador engages proactively in the work of the convention. It has participated in all but one of the convention’s Meeting of States Parties, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San Jose, Costa Rica in September 2014, where it made several statements.[5] Ecuador has attended every intersessional meeting of the convention in Geneva since 2012, most recently in June 2015.

Ecuador participated in a regional workshop on cluster munitions held in Santiago, Chile in December 2013.

At the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in October 2014, Ecuador reiterated its commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6]

Ecuador has condemned any use of any prohibited weapons, including the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]

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

Interpretive issues

In November 2008, Ecuador provided a detailed statement elaborating its views on several key issues relating to its interpretation and implementation of the convention. Ecuador stated that transit of cluster munitions should be prohibited; the number of units retained for training should not be greater than 1,000 and should reduce with time; Article 21 (on interoperability) should never be used to justify any derogation from the convention’s core prohibitions; and the article should not be interpreted as suspending other obligations under the convention. It stated the spirit of Article 21 is to promote universalization of the convention.[8]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Ecuador has stated several times that it has not used, produced, or transferred cluster munitions.[9]

In its Article 7 report, Ecuador declared that it destroyed a stockpile of 117 BL-755 cluster bombs in October 2004 and has possessed no cluster munitions since then.[10]

It is not retaining any cluster munitions for training or research purposes.[11]



[1] See 2012 ban policy entry on Ecuador for full analysis of the law. Law Amending the Penal Code to the Definition of Crimes Committed in the Military and Police (Ley Reformatoria al Código Penal y Código de Pr ocedimientos Penal para la Tipificación y Juzgamiento de los Delitos Cometidos en el Servicio Militar y Policial), adopted 19 May 2010. Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011. Ecuador’s initial Article 7 report made no mention of the penal code amendment, stating “no aplica” under national implementation measures. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 23 June 2011.

[2] The inital report covers the period from 1 January 2010 to 30 April 2011, while the 30 April 2013 report is for the period from 30 April 2011 to 30 April 2012.

[3] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San Jose, 2 September 2014.

[4] For details on Ecuador’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 71–72.

[5] Ecuador did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012.

[6] Statement of Ecuador, UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, New York, 23 October 2014.

[7] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 16 April 2013.

[8] Presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008. It also stated that it would have preferred a ban on all cluster munitions without exceptions; the establishment of the principle of retroactivity is key; the definition of victim assistance is a pillar of the convention; and international cooperation is fundamental.

[9] Statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 15 September 2011; statement of Ecuador, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010. Notes by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV); statement of Ecuador, International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Santiago, 8 June 2010. Notes by AOAV; and presentation of Ecuador, “Interpretive Statement,” Quito Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, 6 November 2008.

[10] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 23 June 2011. In November 2010, a government representative informed the Monitor that Ecuador destroyed a stockpile of 200 BL-755 bombs in 2004 that it acquired from the United Kingdom in 1978. “Bomba Cluster BL755 en el Ecuador” (“BL755 Cluster Bomb in Ecuador”), undated document provided to the CMC by the Ecuadorian delegation, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 10 November 2010.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 07 December 2012

Policy

Ecuador signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 29 April 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 October 1999.  Ecuador initiated a process in 2008 to adopt national implementation measures, including penal sanctions as required by Article 9.[1]

Ecuador submitted its 16th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 29 June 2011.

Ecuador attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, as well as the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2011.

Ecuador is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, but has not submitted an Article 13 report for Amended Protocol II since 2008.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Ecuador did not produce or export antipersonnel mines in the past. Ecuador completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines in January 2002, destroying a total of 260,302 mines.[2]

According to its June 2011 Article 7 report, Ecuador has a total of 910 mines retained for training, after destroying 90 mines during training in 2010.[3] Ecuador reported that the mines it retains under Article 3 are used for “training and research” but did not provide further details about their purpose.

Use

The Monitor knows of no government use of antipersonnel mines in Ecuador since the Cenepa border war with Peru concluded in 1998.[4] 

 



[1] In April and May 2008, Ecuador stated that the National Humanitarian Demining Center (Centro National de Desminado Humanitario, CENDESMI), the National Commission for Human Rights, the National Congress Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights, and the ICRC had prepared a reform of the penal code for antipersonnel mines.  Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 25 April 2008; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Bolívar Torres Cevallos, President, CENDESMI, 6 May 2008, p. 1.

[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 30 April 2009. Ecuador revised this total several times.  See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 402.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D and Form G2.  Ecuador said in 2000 it would retain 16,000 mines, then said in 2001 it would only keep 4,000, a number later revised to 3,970. It then destroyed 1,970 retained mines on 11 August 2004 and another 1,001 on 4 August 2007. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 30 April 2009; Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 333; and Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 402–403. June 2011. This includes 750 TAB-1, 126 VS-50, 22 P-4B, six PRB-M35, and six PMD-6M mines.

[4] Ecuador’s reporting on mined areas laid from 1995-1998 indicates that the country used antipersonnel mines after signing the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997, but prior to entry into force in 1999. See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 401.


Mine Action

Last updated: 07 November 2018

Treaty status

Mine Ban Treaty

State Party
Article 5 deadline: 31 December 2022
Unclear whether on track

Mine action management

National mine action management actors

National Center for Humanitarian Demining (CENDESMI)

Mine action strategic plan

National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2022 for the contamination in the Zamora Chinchipe province
The clearance plan given for the Tiwinza square kilometer states that operations will be carried out by the Ecuador-Peru Binational Demining Unit

Mine action standards

Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining, adopted with Peru in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS)

Operators in 2017

Battalion of Engineers No. 68 “COTOPAXI”
General Command for Demining and EOD (CGDEOD)

Extent of contamination as of March 2018

Landmines

1.0km2

Cluster munition remnants

None

Land release in 2017

Landmines

33,727mreleased. 15,476m2 was cleared, 7,332m2 was reduced by technical survey and 10,919m2 was cancelled by non-technical survey

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, 97,469mof contaminated area was reported to remain across five mined zones down from 132,976min 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]

Province

Contaminated zones

Area (m2)

Morona Santiago (Tiwinza)

1

7,595

Zamora Chinchipe

4

89,874

Total

5

97,469

 

However, in its 2017 Article 5 deadline extension request Ecuador reported 65,006mof 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]

Year

District

Mined areas

Mined area (m2)

2018

Gualaquiza

2

31,215

2019

Gualaquiza

9

9,590

2020

Miazi

12

14,734

2021

Chinapintza

10

1,946

2022

Condor Mirador, Machinaza Alto, Miazi, and Paquisha

26

7,521

Total

 

59

65,006

 

Ecuador’s Article 7 report for 2017 also includes a clearance plan for 2018–2022. Although it reports 89,874mof 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]

Year

Province

Mined areas

Mined area (m2)

2018

Zamora Chinchipe

2

26,159

2019

Zamora Chinchipe

9

12,555

2020

Zamora Chinchipe

12

8,431

2021

Zamora Chinchipe

10

10,340

2022

Zamora Chinchipe

26

7,521

Total

 

59

65,006

 

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 43,500mwithin 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 6,495mand destroyed 391 antipersonnel mines, cancelled 10,919mthrough non-technical survey, and reduced 7,332mthrough technical survey.[16]

Land Release

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

Survey in 2017

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

Clearance in 2017

A total of 15,476mwas 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 0.13kmof contamination, 0.08kmwould be cleared in 2016 and the remaining 0.05kmin 2017 prior to October.[21] This did not occur.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017

Year

Area cleared (m2)

2017

15,476

2016

1,410

2015

66,414

2014

39,660

2013

12,331

Total

135,291

 

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 65,006m(or 89,874m2) of mine contamination left in Zamora Chinchipe, there is also 7,595m(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 65,006mrather 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.

 



[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form D.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2017, p. 45.

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form D.

[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2017, p. 52.

[6] Ibid., Annex 1.

[7] Ibid., p. 45.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form D.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., p. 25.

[12] Ibid., pp. 39–40.

[13] Statement of Ecuador, Mine Ban Treaty 14th Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 1 December 2015.

[14] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Additional Information, 8 September 2017, p. 1.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form D.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2017.

[20] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Decision, 28 November 2008.

[21] Statement of Ecuador, Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 19 May 2016.

[22] Letter from Efraín Baus Palacios, Director of Neighborhood Relations and Sovereignty for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, President of the National Humanitarian Demining Center of Ecuador, to Amb. Patricia O’Brian, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN in Geneva, and Chair of the Article 5 Committee, Note No. 14839-DRVS/CENDESMI, Quito, 26 November 2016.

[23] Decisions on the request submitted by Ecuador for an extension of the deadline for completing the destruction of antipersonnel mines in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention, 1 December 2016, para. d.

[24] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2017, p. 95.

[25] Ibid., p. 45.

[26] Ibid., Additional Information, 8 September 2017, p. 10.

[27] Updated National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2024, May 2018, p. 17.

[28] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form D.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 05 October 2015

In 2014, the Republic of Ecuador reported contributing US$5.5 million to its own mine action program, and declared it would provide $11.5 million from 2015–2017.[1]

Ecuador did not receive international support in 2014. In 2013, Belgium and Italy reported contributing $153,192 through the Organization of American States (OAS) for mine clearance at the Ecuador-Peru border.[2]

Ecuador’s extension request, submitted in March 2008, estimated that more than $9 million would be necessary to implement its mine action plan 2009–2017, however this estimation does not take into account new areas identified at the border with Peru since then. 

As of mid-2015, Ecuador’s remaining mine contamination consisted of 200,000m2(0.2km2) of confirmed mined areas and 7,910m2 of suspected mined areas.[3] In May 2015, a representative from Ecuador indicated that the “National Demining Plan is financed properly,” allowing the demining operations to “continue normally.”[4]

Since 2010, Ecuador has contributed just more than $12 million or 83% of its total mine action budget.

Summary of contributions: 2010–2014[5]

Year

National contributions ($)

International contributions ($)

Total contributions

($)

2014

5,500,000

0

5,500,000

2013

N/R

153,192

153,192

2012

2,000,000

332,827

2,332,827

2011

2,000,000

796,894

2,796,894

2010

2,690,000

1,159,803

3,849,803

Total

12,190,000

2,442,716

14,632,716

Note: N/R = not reported

 



[1] Statement of Ecuador, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Matters Related to the Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 25 June 2015. Notes by the Monitor.

[2] Email from Carl Case, General Coordinator, Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Mines and Assistance for Control of Arms and Ammunition, OAS, 10 July 2014.

[3] Ecuador’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form C, 22 April 2015.

[4] Email to Norwegian People’s Aid from León Aviles, Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the UN in Geneva, 12 May 2015.

[5] See previous Monitor reports.


Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 26 December 2016

In the Republic of Ecuador in 2015, five military demining personnel were injured in an accident with a PMD-6 antipersonnel mine during clearance operations in the province of Morona Santiago, bordering Peru.[1]

Prior to the casualties in 2015, the last recorded incident was reported in 2004, when an antipersonnel mine incident caused seven casualties (two killed and five injured).[2]

Between 1999 and 2015, Landmine Monitor identified 18 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties (five killed and 13 injured) in Ecuador.

While it operated, the Organization of American States (OAS) Program for Integrated Action against Antipersonnel Mines (Programa de Asistencia a la Acción Integral Contra las Minas Antipersonal, AICMA) database had information on 69 landmine casualties in Ecuador to the end of 2008, of which 19 were civilian and 50 were military.[3] Prior to mid-2001, there was no systematic data collection mechanism for mine incidents.[4] The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Ecuador is not known.



[1]Ecuador: 5 militares heridos por mina antipersonal en frontera con Perú” (“Ecuador: 5 soldiers wounded by landmine at the border with Peru”), Mundo, 9 December 2015. [Note, a correction was made on 30 November 2018, replacing the typo PMN with correct PMD to indicate mine type.]

[2] See, Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 329.

[3] Response to Landmine Monitor questionnaire by Sergio Ugarte Argüello, National Coordinator, OAS AICMA, 29 April 2009.

[4] Interview with Capt. Carlos Navarrete, Comando General de Desminado (CGD), and Col. Wilson Navas, Ministry of Defense, in Managua, 26 February 2009.