Peru

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 26 December 2016

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

All known casualties by end 2015

463 (63 killed; 400 injured)

Casualties in 2015

0 (2014: 3)

2015 casualties by outcome

0 (2014: 1 killed; 2 injured)

2015 casualties by device type

0 (2014: 1 antipersonnel mine; 2 ERW)

 

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]

Government coordinating body/focal point

CONTRAMINAS

Coordinating mechanism

Victim Assistance Consultative Committee: led by CONTRAMINAS, including representatives from CONADIS, National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, INR, NGOs, and survivor associations

Plan

National victim assistance workplan

 

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]



[1] Monitor analysis of media reports 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015; and email from Carlos Lujan, Volunteer Researcher for ICBL, 9 February 2016.

[2]Bomba que mató a una niña salió de antigua zona militar” (“The bomb that killed a girl was taken from former military zone”), El Comercio, 21 January 2014; “Militar pierde ambas piernas al estallar mina antipersonal” (“Military officer loses both legs following explosion of antipersonnel mine”), La República, 16 October 2014. See Peru’s 2015 Country Profile on the Monitor website.

[3]Ciudadano peruano sufre la amputación de su pie por mina antipersonal en Chile” (“Peruvian citizen has his foot amputated following an antipersonnel mine explosion”), 24Horas, 1 June 2015.

[4]Un hombre murió trás pisar una mina cuando cruzaba de forma ilegal a Chile” (“A man died after stepping on a landmine while crossing the border illegally to Chile”), Soy Chile, 8 February 2016.

[5] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Wilyam Lúcar, Coordinator, and Javier Santillán, Victim Assistance Officer, Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, CONTRAMINAS), 17 April 2013; and María Elena Hidalgo, “Éstas son las minas caseras con las que Sendero mata a oficiales” (“These are the homemade mines with which the Shining Path kill officials”), Diario la República, 16 June 2012.

[6] Monitor analysis of media reports in 2007; interviews with Carlos Estrada, President, and Bruno Celiz, Secretary, Association of Victims and Survivors of Minefields (Asociación de Víctimas y Sobrevivientes de Campos Minados, AVISCAM), Lima, 6 and 19 March 2007; emails from Jorge Liza, Coordinator, Security Division (División de Seguridad, DIVSECOM), 3 March 2007; and from Carlos Estrada, AVISCAM, 6 March 2007; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Reports, Form J, April 2007, and April 2008; response to Monitor questionnaire by Jorge Liza, DIVSECOM, 31 March 2008; and “Lanzan campaña para prevención de minas artesanales” (“Launch of campaign to warn against homemade mines”), Info Región (Lima), 6 December 2007.

[7] See previous editions of the Monitor on the Monitor website.

[8] This total includes 341 mine casualties recorded through 2015 by CONTRAMINAS (of which 147 are civilians, 119 military, and 75 national police officers; 15 female and 327 male) in response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016; 109 ERW casualties were identified through 2014, 14 casualties caused by IEDs were identified between 2009 and 2013 along with one mine casualty in 2014 by the Monitor through media monitoring. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016; and Monitor analysis of media reports January 2009 to December 2015.

[9] This figure includes 284 survivors of landmines through 2015 reported by CONTRAMINAS, 107 survivors of ERW as reported in June 2008, one survivor of ERW in 2014, and seven IED survivors reported in the media from 2009–2013. It was not known if any of the 109 survivors of ERW had since died from natural causes as of the end of 2016. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS 7 March 2016; presentation by Dr. Juan Daniel Guillén Cabrejos, INR, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 3 June 2008; and Monitor analysis of media reports January 2009 to December 2015.

[10] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[11] Email from Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 16 March 2016.

[12] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillaán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[13] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[14] Email from Sixto Beizaga Venegas, President, AVISCAM, 12 March 2016.

[15] CONADIS, “CONADIS presentó Observatorio Nacional de Discapacidad y Anuario Estadístico del Registro Nacional” (“CONADIS presented Nacional Observatory on Disability and Statistical Yearbook of the National Registry”), 17 February 2016.

[16]Concluding observations (2016) CRC/C/PER/CO/4-5,” Committee on the Rights of Child, 29 January 2016, p.12.

[17] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Wilyam Lúcar, and Javier Santillán, CONTRAMINAS, 17 April 2013.

[18] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[19] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 25–26 June 2015.

[20] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[21] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (from April 2014 to March 2015), Form J, 18 May 2015; and statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 25–26 June 2015.

[22] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 14 February 2014; and ICBL, “ICBL Participates in Peru Victim Assistance Meeting,” 25 April 2013.

[23] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[24] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Carola Hunter, Polus Center, 24 March 2011; and Theresa E. Kane, “Victim Assistance in Peru,” The Journal of ERW and Mine Action, Issue 15.1, Summer 2011.

[25] Email from Sixto Beizaga Venegas, AVISCAM, 12 March 2016.

[26] Email from Micheal Lundquist, Chief Executive Officer, Polus Center, 26 February 2016.

[27] INR, “Profesionales de la salud participan en Taller de Líneas de Investigación en Discapacidad y Rehabilitación 2015-2021” (“Health professionals participate in Research on Disability and Rehabilitation 2015–2021 Workshop”), Press release No. 170, 11 December 2015.

[28] Peru Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J, submitted in April 2016.

[29] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (From April 2014 to March 2015), Form J, 18 May 2015; statement of Peru, Victim Assistance Committee, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 25–26 June 2015; and statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[30] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[31] Email from Ana María Watson, Director, Institute of Human Security and Human Rights (ISHDH), 14 March 2016.

[32] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[33] Ibid.; and statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[34] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 25–26 June 2015; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[35] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[36] Email from Sixto Beizaga Venegas, AVISCAM, 12 March 2016.

[37] CONADIS, “Municipalidades recibirán incentivos económicos por la implementación de accesibilidad para personas con discapacidad” (“Municipalities will receive financial incentives for the implementation of accessibility measure for persons with disability”), 28 January 2016.

[38] Email from Ana María Watson, ISHDH, 14 March 2016.

[39] INR, “INR firma convenio con Seguro Integral de Salud” (“INR signs agreement with Comprehensive Health Insurance”), Press release No. 063, 5 June 2015.

[40] INR, “INR firma convenio con la Universidad San Juan Bautista” (“INR signs agreement with San Juan Bautista University”), Press release No. 133, 23 October 2015.

[41]Concluding observations (2016) CRC/C/PER/CO/4-5,” Committee on the Rights of Child, 29 January 2016, p. 12.

[42] INR, “Se incrementará la cobertura de atención a personas con discapacidad” (“Coverage of persons with disabilities will increase”), Press release No. 087, 13 July 2015.

[43] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of the States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[44] Email from Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 16 March 2016.

[45] ICRC SFD, “Mid-term Report 2014, The Americas,” October 2014, pp. 35–36; and ICRC SFD, “Mid-term Report 2015, The Americas,” October 2015, p. 33.

[46] ICRC SFD, “Annual Report 2015, The Americas,” June 2015, p. 37.

[47] ICRC SFD, “Mid-term Report 2014, The Americas,” October 2014, pp. 35–36.

[48] ICRC SFD, “Mid-term Report 2015, The Americas,” October 2015, p. 33.

[49] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[50] INR, “Pacientes del INR fortalecen sus competencias laborales” (“INR patients strengthen their professional competencies”), Press release No. 090, 17 July 2015.

[51] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (From April 2014 to March 2015), Form J, 18 May 2015.

[52] CONADIS, “Programa Piloto en Discapacidad Tumbes Accesible” (“Pilot program in disability Tumbes Accessible”), 15 February 2016.

[53]Piura avanza en reconocimiento de los derechos de las personas con discapacidad” (“Piura takes steps forward in the recognition of the rights of persons with disability”), Piura Region government website, 27 August 2015; and “Se da inicio al programa Región Huanuco Accesible” (“Initiate Regional Program Huanuco Accessible”) CONADIS Región Huánuco Facebook page, 27 February 2014.

[54]Concluding observations (2016) CRC/C/PER/CO/4-5,” Committee on the Rights of Child, 29 January 2016, p. 12.

[55] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[56] CONADIS-MIMDES, “Plan de Igualdad de Oportunidades para las Personas con Discapacidades” (“Plan for Equality of Opportunity for Persons with Disabilities”), 2009.

[57] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014; and response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Egdar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 7 March 2016.

[58] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[59] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 29 May 2013.

[60] Statement of Peru, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[61] United States (US) Department of State, “Report on Human Practices in Peru 2015,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.

[62] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Javier Edgar Santillán Galdós, CONTRAMINAS, 14 February 2014.

[63] US Department of State, “Report on Human Practices in Peru 2015,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.

[64]Concluding observations (2016) CRC/C/PER/CO/4-5,” Committee on the Rights of Child, 29 January 2016, p. 12.