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.


Impact

Last updated: 19 November 2021

Jump to a specific section of the profile:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

Mine contamination in the Republic of Ecuador results from the border conflict with Peru, which culminated with the 1995 Cenepa War. After signing the 1998 Brasilia Peace Accords, ending the dispute, demining and humanitarian aid operations began in the border area.

The mined section of the border was predominantly in the Condor mountain range that was at the center of the dispute. Since the peace accord was signed, Ecuador and Peru have both emphasized bilateral cooperation, mutual trust, and transparency between their national mine action agencies, Ecuador’s National Center for Humanitarian Demining (Centro de Desminado del Ecuador, CENDESMI) and Peru’s Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonal, CONTRAMINAS), in order to resolve the landmine problem.[1]

Under the 2000 Binational Cooperation Program, Ecuador and Peru adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining in April 2013 to unify their demining procedures in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). A joint Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit (Unidad Binacional de Desminado Humanitario, UBDH) was created, and commenced operations in 2016. Risk education is also conducted as part of this binational cooperation program.[2]

The remaining landmine contamination in Ecuador is small, with 0.04km² (40,056m²) containing an estimated 2,941 mines, in the remote province of Zamora Chinchipe.[3] Ecuador’s National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2019–2022 was delayed, as no clearance operations took place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

No landmine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties have been reported since 2015, while Ecuador has no cluster munition remnants contamination in areas under its jurisdiction or control.[5]

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

Mine Ban Treaty

State Party (Entry into force: 1 October 1999)

Article 5 clearance deadline: 31 December 2022 (third extension)

Convention on Cluster Munitions

State Party (Entry into force: 1 November 2010)

Article 4 clearance deadline: not applicable

 

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

State Party

(Ratification: 3 April 2008)

 

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension request

Ecuador has requested, and been granted, three extensions to its Article 5 clearance deadline since becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999. Under the latest extension, Ecuador is required to clear and destroy all antipersonnel mines in contaminated areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 31 December 2022.[6]

Ecuador ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2010.[7] Ecuador has not reported any contamination in areas under its jurisdiction or control, and has not reported any victims.[8]

Management and Coordination

Mine action

Mine action management and coordination overview[9]

Mine action commenced

2000

National mine action management actors

CENDESMI

Army Corps of Engineers

Mine action legislation

Decree 1297, created CENDESMI on 22 September 1999

Mine action strategic and operational plans

National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2019–2022

Mine action standards

  • Manual of Humanitarian Demining Procedures of Ecuador
  • Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining
  • Humanitarian Demining Standard Operating Procedures
  • Protocol for Aeromedical Evacuation

 

Coordination

Ecuador’s national mine action program is managed by CENDESMI. It is an interministerial body chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, and is made up of the ministries of Defense and Health, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Battalion No. 68, known as “COTOPAXI,” and the General Command for Demining and Explosive Ordnance Disposal.[10]

Strategies and policies

In its 2017 Article 5 deadline extension request Ecuador included a National Plan for Humanitarian Demining 2018–2022, which detailed techniques, resources, mitigating factors, opportunities, and risks, as well as setting annual clearance targets and outlining an annual demining budget.[11]

An updated plan for 2019–2022 was submitted in 2018. It provided yearly projections for clearance of the 0.08km² (80.238m²) of remaining contamination, in 34 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) and 26 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs), to complete the process by 2022.[12] In 2019, Ecuador declared that part of the initially identified 0.08km² was on Peruvian territory.[13] Only 12% of the 2019 clearance target was met, while no clearance took place in 2020 due to COVID-19.

During the Organization of American States (OAS) Regional Dialogue in February 2021, Ecuador requested international technical and financial support to meet its clearance obligations.[14]

Legislation and standards

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

Under the 2000 Binational Cooperation Program, Ecuador and Peru adopted a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining in April 2013 to unify their demining procedures in line with IMAS.[15]

In 2020, the United States (US) Department of State reported that a Requirements Determination Site Survey of the Ecuadorian “COTOPAXI” Battalion was conducted, in cooperation with Mines Advisory Group (MAG), to identify capabilities and shortfalls in clearance and casualty care.[16]

Information management

Ecuador uses an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database.[17]

Cross-border cooperation

In 2021, CENDESMI reported that it had held 21 meetings with Peru’s CONTRAMINAS since the creation of the Binational Cooperation Program in 2000, while the Ecuadorian Army Corps of Engineers held 25 coordination meetings with the General Directorate of Humanitarian Demining of the Peruvian Armed Forces. Three technical meetings for data sharing were also reported.[18]

During the Tenth Meeting of National Mine Action Authorities from Ecuador and Peru, on 19 June 2019, Peru officially communicated to Ecuador that it had finalized the non-technical survey of a minefield named “PV_La Media,” and determined that the area was in Peruvian territory, reducing the size of the remaining hazardous areas for Ecuador to clear in Zamora Chinchipe province.[19]

OAS, through its Program of Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Mines (Acción Integral contra las Minas Antipersonal, AICMA), acts as a coordination platform and monitoring body for humanitarian demining in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and has promoted resolution CP/CSH-478/02, “The Americas as an Antipersonnel Land Mine Free Zone.”[20] OAS held a two-day virtual Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining on 10–11 February 2021, in which Ecuador and Peru jointly presented a session on the challenges and progress of clearance.[21]

Risk education

Risk education management and coordination overview

Government focal points

CENDESMI

Coordination mechanisms

CENDESMI coordinates with Peru’s CONTRAMINAS for the organization of binational mine risk education campaigns

Coordination outcomes

Six binational risk education campaigns since 2015

Risk education standards

CENDESMI defines priorities to prepare national risk education campaigns with the participation of mine-affected communities

 

Coordination

CENDESMI and CONTRAMINAS collaborate in the implementation of binational risk education campaigns to ensure that border communities in Ecuador and Peru are aware of the danger posed by landmines. The campaigns are bilingual and multisectoral, and involve the ministries of health, education, defense, and interior, and have been conducted every two years in Ecuador since 2015.[22]

Standards

Ecuador has not reported on any national risk education standards or operational plans.

Victim assistance

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[23]

Government focal points

Institute of Social Security of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces

National Council on Disability Equality (Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de las Discapacidades, CONADIS)

Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control

Coordination mechanisms

CONADIS

Legislation

Organic Act on Disabilities (2014)

Organic Act on National Equality Councils (2014)

Plans/strategies

National Agenda for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities 2017–2021

National Development Plan 2017–2021

Disability sector integration

 

CONADIS is responsible for interministerial and intersectoral coordination and implementation of disability rights policy

 

Coordination

The National Council on Disability Equality (Consejo Nacional para la Igualdad de las Discapacidades, CONADIS) was one of five National Equality Councils created by Ecuador in 2014. It is composed of five representatives of persons with disabilities (one per ‘type’ including physical, intellectual, psychosocial, hearing, and visual impairment), and five state representatives from the executive, legislative, judicial, electoral, and transparency and social control branches.[24]

In May 2016, Decree No. 1047 dissolved the Technical Secretariat for Disability and responsibility for disability issues in Ecuador was transferred to CONADIS. It has issued annual accountability reports since 2017, and developed a proposal to reform the Organic Law on Disabilities.[25] In 2020, CONADIS held 24 virtual dialogues to share its proposal with citizens, and gathered the input of 1,053 representatives of persons with disabilities on the 94 propositions and comments.[26]

Between 2017 and 2020, no CONADIS accountability reports mentioned mine/ERW survivors.

Laws and policies

There was no existing legislation specially on assistance for mine/ERW victims.

In 2014, Ecuador enacted the Organic Law on Disabilities and its implementing regulations, which should ensure the rights and timely provision of support and services for persons with disabilities. The law is aligned with rights established in the Constitution of Ecuador and international treaties, as well as those derived from related laws, with gender, generational, and intercultural aspects.[27]

In 2018, Ecuador passed resolutions for persons with disabilities related to civil registry services, transport use, tax exemptions for the importation of equipment, and validity of disability cards.[28]

In October 2019, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities welcomed a series of measures in Ecuador that facilitated further inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities, such as the National Agenda for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities 2017–2021, and inclusion of disability issues within the National Development Plan 2017–2021.[29] However, the committee highlighted that Ecuador should further align its legislative framework with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to include gender and minorities in its policies and set up an independent mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the CRPD.[30]

The public policies within the National Agenda for the Equality of Persons with Disabilities 2017–2021, entitled “Lifelong Rights,” are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ecuador’s constitution, the CRPD, the Organic Law on Disabilities, and the National Development Plan. It contains 12 public policy points along with strategies, actions, indicators, and goals agreed by working groups comprising 119 delegates from 46 institutions.[31]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2020)[32]

Landmines

0.04km² (containing around 2,941 landmines)

Extent of contamination: Small

Cluster munition remnants

None

Other ERW contamination

None

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

Ecuador’s mine contamination results from the 1995 border conflict with Peru. The most heavily mined section of the border was the Condor mountain range, which was at the center of the dispute. The initial extent of mine contamination in Ecuador was reported to be 629,081m².[33]

Prioritization of clearance has been guided by population density near contaminated areas, and the extent to which landmines pose a barrier to social and economic development, leaving the remote contaminated areas to be cleared last.[34] Only one of Ecuador’s 24 provinces—Zamora Chinchipe, located in the south along the border with Peru—is still contaminated. This area is considered the most difficult to access due to geographical and meteorological conditions.[35]

At the end of December 2018, Ecuador reported 80,238m² of contaminated land across four zones in Zamora Chinchipe.[36] Yet in its Article 7 report for calendar year 2019, it reported 40,056m² of contamination across three zones. This reduction of 40,182m² was not matched by its land release figure for 2019 of 2,898.5m². In June 2019, Ecuador reported that a minefield, “PV_La Media,” had been surveyed and was determined to be in Peruvian territory, reducing the total.[37] The size of the “PV_La Media” minefield was reported to be 41,315m².[38] Despite the discrepancies in figures, the estimate of remaining contamination of 0.04km² was thought to be accurate.

Ecuador’s Article 7 report for 2020 included the same figure for remaining contamination, across three zones in Zamora Chinchipe province, made up of 27 CHAs and 26 SHAs.[39]

Casualties

Casualties overview

Casualties

All known mine/ERW casualties (between 1999 and 2019)

18 (5 killed, 13 injured)

 

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

No mine/ERW casualties have been reported in Ecuador since 2015.

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators

National

Army Corps of Engineers Battalion No. 68, “COTOPAXI”

General Command for Demining and EOD

Ecuador-Peru Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit

Note: EOD=explosive ordnance disposal.

 

Clearance

Land release overview[40]

Landmine clearance in 2020

None

 

Ordnance destroyed in 2020

None

Landmine clearance in 2016–2020

  • 2016: 1,410m²
  • 2017: 15,476m²
  • 2018: 14,069m²
  • 2019: 2,899m²
  • 2020: 0

Total land cleared: 33,854m² (0.03km²)

Progress

Progress in 2019 and 2020 did not meet the annual land release projections in the Humanitarian Mine Action Plan 2019–2022: only 12% of the clearance target was achieved in 2019, and no clearance was conducted in 2020

 

Land release

Since Ecuador began demining operations in 2000, it has cleared over 0.55km² of contaminated land, and cleared and destroyed 12,193 antipersonnel mines, 74 antivehicle mines, and 35 ERW.[41]

In May 2019, Ecuador submitted an updated workplan for the implementation of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations, as requested by the Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties.[42] The workplan included a program for landmine clearance in the last remaining contaminated province of Zamora Chinchipe between 2019 and 2022.

Ecuador planned to clear 23,383m² of contaminated land and destroy 478 antipersonnel landmines in 2019. It failed to meet this target, clearing 2,899m² and destroying 62 mines. Total land cleared in 2019 was significantly less than in 2018 and 2017. Since 2015, planned budget allocations have not been met and annual clearance targets have not been achieved, with the exception of 2018.[43]

Demining operations in Ecuador were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was reported to have delayed planning and affected Ecuador’s ability to finish clearance by 2022.[44]

A revised workplan for 2020–2021 presented at the Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining in February 2021 proposed the release of 23 areas totalling 21,010m² in 2021, and 30 areas totalling 19,046m² in 2022. Ecuador requested US$7 million to support clearance in 2021–2022.[45]

Risk education

Operators and service providers

CENDESMI provides risk education in affected areas, including as part of the binational program with Peru’s CONTRAMINAS.

Beneficiary numbers

A total of 250 people received risk education in Ecuador in 2019. No age and gender disaggregated data was available.[46] No risk education beneficiaries were reached in Ecuador in 2020.

Implementation

Six risk education campaigns have been conducted jointly with Peru.[47] On 26–27 September 2019, the sixth Binational Mine Risk Education Campaign was carried out in cooperation with Peru, targeting local authorities, leaders, communities, and media organizations from the areas of Chinapintza and Machinaza, in Zamora Chinchipe province.[48]

The seventh campaign, planned in Peru for 2020, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and rescheduled for September 2021.[49] The campaigns were reportedly bilingual and multisectoral, involving ministries of health, education, defense, and interior.[50]

Target groups

Risk education in Ecuador was provided to populations living near contaminated areas, as part of clearance operations. Communities living or working close to the Peru-Ecuador border are reached through Binational Mine Risk Education campaigns. In Zamora Chinchipe, 14 communities and five ethnic groups live near mined areas, which limit access to resources and affect children going to school.[51] Ecuador reported that via risk education activities, community members were the main source of information on the location of contaminated areas, in absence of records or maps.[52]

Delivery methods

Risk education in Ecuador is a multisectoral activity, including the participation of the ministries of defense, education, health, and interior. No information was provided by Peru or Ecuador on the methodologies, materials, or means of communication used during risk education campaigns.

Major developments in 2020

No risk education activities were reported in Ecuador in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[53]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators[54]

Type of organization

Name of organization

Type of activity

Governmental

Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (Consejo de Participación Ciudadana y Control Social)

Registration of combatants with disabilities

Institute of Social Security of the Armed Forces (Seguridad Social Militar)

Technical assistance to affiliated organizations, including the Association of Decorated Combatants with Disabilities “Heroes of Cenepa”

National

Association of Decorated Combatants with Disabilities “Heroes of Cenepa” (Asociación de Combatientes con Discapacidad y Condecorados “Héroes del Cenepa”)

Psychological support

 

 

No specific mine/ERW victim assistance activities were reported by Ecuador in 2020.[55]

Needs assessment

In 2020, the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control ordered the registration of 103 ex-combatants from the 1995 Cenepa border conflict, as beneficiaries of the Law on Recognition of National Heroes and Heroines.[56]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Until the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation was liquidated by ICRC in 2020, it had supported CONADIS, local service providers, and the Ministry of Public Health to improve physical rehabilitation policies and services in Ecuador. It had also supported CONADIS in facilitating discussions between the authorities of Ecuador, El Salvador, and Nicaragua on applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health in measuring disability. The MoveAbility Foundation had also worked with the Ministry of Public Health to bolster the capacity of the national physical rehabilitation system in Ecuador.[57]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The Association of Decorated Combatants with Disabilities “Heroes of Cenepa”—a member of the Latin America Network of Mine/ERW Survivors and other People with Disabilities (Red Latinoamerica de sobrevivientes de minas antipersonal, restos explosivos de guerra y otras Personas con Discapacidad, RED-LAT)—provided psychological support to survivors and their families, as well as to families of the deceased. RED-LAT works with the Ministry of National Defense, Joint Command of the Armed Forces, General Command of the Army, Institute of Social Security of the Armed Forces, and the National Council for Equality of Disabilities.[58]

In 2020, CONADIS signed a cooperation agreement with the National Federation of Ecuadorians with Physical Disabilities (La Federación Nacional de Ecuatorianos con Discapacidad Física, FENEDIF) to promote inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace.[59] CONADIS also developed a handbook on disability inclusion in the workplace on an e-learning platform.[60]



[1] Organization of American States (OAS), “Regional Profile: Ecuador-Peru Border,” OAS Mine Action Project Portfolio 2009–2010.

[3] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form C, p. 9 and Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 9. This figure is half that reported in its Article 7 report for calendar year 2018 (80,238m²), although only 2,899m² was cleared in 2019. Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018) Form D, p. 9. See, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Database.

[4] CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022,” December 2017, p. 16 and Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form G, p. 17.

[5] Ecuador Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019). See, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Database.

[7] CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2021 (Geneva: ICBL-CMC, 15 September 2021).

[8] Ecuador Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020).

[9] OAS, “Status of Humanitarian Demining Operations: Ecuador,” 10–11 February 2021; Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Third Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 31 March 2017, Annex 1; and CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022”), December 2017.

[11] Ibid., Annex 1, p. 95.

[12] CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022”), December 2017, p. 3.

[13] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D.

[14] OAS, “Status of Humanitarian Demining Operations: Ecuador,” 10–11 February 2021, pp. 27–31.

[16] MAG mainly supported Ecuador on small arms and ammunition management but contributed to the Requirements Determination Site Survey. See, MAG, “Where We Work: Ecuador,” undated; and US Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (PM/WRA), “To Walk the Earth in Safety: January–December 2019,” April 2020, p. 58.

[19] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 15.

[20] Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), “Organization of American States,” undated.

[22] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 14 and OAS, “Regional Stakeholders Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining: Peru-Ecuador: A Shared Path,” 10–11 February 2021, p. 20.

[23] Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Combined second and third periodic reports submitted by Ecuador under article 35 of the Convention, due in 2018,” CRPD/C/ECU/2-3, 13 February 2019, pp. 3–5 and OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Ecuador,” CRPD/C/ECU/CO/2-3, 21 October 2019, pp. 2–3.

[24] OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Combined second and third periodic reports submitted by Ecuador under article 35 of the Convention, due in 2018,” CRPD/C/ECU/2-3, 13 February 2019, pp. 3–5.

[25] CONADIS, “Propuesta de Reforma a la Ley Orgánica de Discapacidades” (“Proposition to reform Organic Law on Disabilities”), November 2020.

[26] CONADIS, “Informe de Rendicion de Cuentas 2020” (“Accountability Report 2020”), May 2021, p. 22.

[28] OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Combined second and third periodic reports submitted by Ecuador under article 35 of the Convention, due in 2018,” CRPD/C/ECU/2-3, 13 February 2019, pp. 3–5; and OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Ecuador,” CRPD/C/ECU/CO/2-3, 21 October 2019, pp. 2–3.

[29] OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Ecuador,” CRPD/C/ECU/CO/2-3, 21 October 2019, pp. 2–3.

[30] Ibid., pp. 3 and 11–12.

[31] OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Consideration of reports submitted by parties to the Convention under article 35 (continued) Combined second and third periodic reports of Ecuador,” CRPD/C/SR.481, 9 September 2019.

[32] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form C, p. 9; Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 9. This figure is half that reported in its Article 7 report for calendar year 2018 (80,238m²), although only 2,899m² was cleared in 2019. Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report (for calendar year 2018) Form D, p. 9. See, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Database.

[33] Staff Lt.-Col. Marcelo Torres Garzon, “Status of Implementation: Humanitarian Demining: Ecuador,” presentation at Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10–11 February 2021.

[34] CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022),” December 2017, p. 4.

[35] Staff Lt.-Col. Marcelo Torres Garzon, “Status of Implementation: Humanitarian Demining: Ecuador,” presentation at Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10–11 February 2021.

[36] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018), Form D, p. 9.

[37] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 9.

[38] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018), Form D, p. 7.

[39] Ecuador mentioned that SHAs did not have GPS coordinates. See, Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form C, p. 9.

[40] Ecuador Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form F, p. 8; Ecuador Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V Article 10 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form A; Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018) Form D, p. 15; Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form G, p. 17; and CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022”), December 2017, pp. 16 and 28.

[41] Statement of Arturo Cabrera Hidalgo, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10–11 February 2021; and Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), p. 15.

[42] Decisions on the request by Ecuador for an extension of its Article 5 deadline, Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties, Vienna, 21 December 2017.

[43] Staff Lt.-Col. Marcelo Torres Garzon, “Status of Implementation: Humanitarian Demining: Ecuador,” presentation at Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10–11 February 2021.

[44] Statement of Arturo Cabrera Hidalgo, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10–11 February 2021.

[45] Staff Lt.-Col. Marcelo Torres Garzon, “Status of Implementation: Humanitarian Demining: Ecuador,” presentation at Regional Dialogue on Humanitarian Demining, held virtually, 10-11 February 2021.

[46] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 15.

[48] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018), Form D, p. 14.

[50] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2019), Form D, p. 14.

[51] Ibid.

[52] CENDESMI, “Plan de Trabajo para la aplicacion del Articulo 5 2019–2022” (“Workplan for the application of Article 5, Action Plan 2019–2022”), December 2017, p. 23.

[53] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form G, p. 17.

[54] Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, “CPCCS dispone registro de 103 excombatientes del Cenepa como beneficiarios de la Disposición Final Segunda de la LRHHN” (“CPCCS has registered 103 ex-combatants of Cenepa as beneficiaries of the Second Final Disposition of the LRHHN”), 1 April 2020; International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) MoveAbility Foundation, “Ecuador,” undated (no longer available online); RED-LAT, “Organizaciones Miembros de la Red” (“Network Members”), undated; and OHCHR, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Combined second and third periodic reports submitted by Ecuador under article 35 of the Convention, due in 2018,” CRPD/C/ECU/2-3, 13 February 2019, p. 5.

[55] Ecuador Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2020), Form J, p. 22.

[56] Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, “CPCCS dispone registro de 103 excombatientes del Cenepa como beneficiarios de la Disposición Final Segunda de la LRHHN” (“CPCCS has registered 103 ex-combatants of Cenepa as beneficiaries of the Second Final Disposition of the LRHHN”), 1 April 2020.

[57] ICRC MoveAbility Foundation, “Ecuador,” undated; and ICRC, “Moveability Liquidation,” 4 January 2021.

[58] RED-LAT, “Association of Decorated Combatants with Disabilities “Heroes of Cenepa,” (Asociacion De Combatientes Discapacitados Y Condecorados “Heroes Del Cenepa”), undated.

[59] CONADIS, “Informe de Rendicion de Cuentas 2020” (“Accountability Report 2020”), May 2021, p. 17.

[60] The handbook was titled: “Manual de Derechos Humanos, Inclusión laboral y Buenas Prácticas para las Personas con Discapacidad” (“Manual of Human Rights, Labor Inclusion and Good Practices for People with Disabilities”). CONADIS and FENEDIF also developed a virtual platform to raise awareness and build capacity for persons with disabilities. CONADIS, “Informe de Rendicion de Cuentas 2020” (“Accountability Report 2020”), May 2021, p. 17.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 18 December 2019

Policy

The Republic of 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] As of October 2019, no national legislation has been adopted.

Ecuador regularly attends meetings of the treaty, including the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014, and more recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided a general statement and a statement on Article 5 clearance.[2] Ecuador did not attend the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019. It regularly submits updated annual Article 7 transparency reports.

Ecuador previously served on the Standing Committee on Resources, Cooperation and Assistance (2013–2014), the Committee on Article 5 Implementation (2015), and the Committee on Victim Assistance (2016–2017).

Ecuador is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Ecuador is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and retention

Ecuador did not produce or export antipersonnel mines in the past. Ecuador previously imported antipersonnel mines from Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, Spain, and the United States.[3]

Ecuador completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines in January 2002, destroying a total of 260,302 mines.[4]

As of December 2018, Ecuador retained 90 mines for training and research. Ecuador initially reported that a total of 16,000 mines would be retained, but later reduced this number to 4,000 mines in 2001.[5]

Use

The Monitor knows of no government use of antipersonnel mines in Ecuador since the Cenepa border war with Peru concluded in 1998.[6]



[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] Statement of Ecuador, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2018; and statement of Ecuador, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 29 November 2018.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 23 June 2004; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 29 March 2000 and 5 March 2001.

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 30 April 2003. Ecuador revised its stockpile and stockpile destruction information in its 2003 Article 7 report. Previously, Ecuador reported completion of destruction of a stockpile of 260,302 antipersonnel mines by January 2002. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form G, 31 May 2002. Initially, in March 2000, Ecuador reported a stockpile totaling 271,802 antipersonnel mines. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 29 March 2000.

[5] Ecuador initially reported that a total of 170,344 mines would be retained for training, but after the ICBL stated its alarm at the number, Ecuador’s representative subsequently stated that this number was an error.

[6] 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.


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.