Contamination and Impact

Mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination in Peru is the result of internal and international armed conflict.

Mines

Peru has two distinct mine problems. One is the Condor Mountain Range in the sparsely populated Amazon basin, where, in 1995, during an armed conflict with Ecuador, antipersonnel mines were emplaced along the border in Amazonas, Cajamarca, Piura, and Tumbes departments.[1] In June 2010, Peru reported 36 mined areas remaining, covering a total of 192,700m² in the sectors of Cenepa (22 mined areas), Santiago (eight mined areas), Achuime (five mined areas), and Tiwinza (one mined area) in Amazonas department, containing 28,514 mines.[2] In May 2011, Peru reported the same number of mined areas after having cleared 36,000m² of contaminated area.[3]

However, there appears to be significant additional contamination. Peru and Ecuador have been exchanging information about mined areas on the border between the two countries since May 2010.[4] In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2010, Peru included 13 mined areas in Ecuador (see Mine Action section of the Ecuador country profile) and 10 previously unreported areas in Peru.[5] The extent of this contamination has not, though, been reported. In August 2011, Ecuador and Peru planned to meet in Chiclayo and Lima in Peru to discuss strategies on how to work together to clear the areas.[6]

Previously unreported mined areas identified in Peru in 2010

The second mine problem is in the center of the country where, in the 1980s, mines were planted to protect infrastructure against attacks from non-state armed groups.[7] In total, 837 electricity pylons, three antenna transmitters, one electricity substation, three high-security prisons, and two police bases were mined.[8] As of June 2011, all of the mined pylons, transmission antennas, and substations had been cleared, as well as Miguel Castro Castro prison on the outskirts of Lima and the prison at Yanamayo, leaving one prison and two police bases to be demined. Mine clearance at the prison in Huacariz in Cajamarca city was underway as of June.[9]

Explosive remnants of war

In 2009, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Gonzalo Gutiérrez said that Peru was fighting the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) in rural areas, and that Shining Path was using explosive devices or booby-traps to protect coca harvests.[10]Casualties in 2008 and 2009 from improvised explosive devices and ERW have been reported in the River Apurímac and River Ene valley (VRAE) region, an area where the armed forces of Peru have been engaged in combat with Shining Path.[11] In November 2010, the police engaged the Shining Path in La Pólvora in northern Tocache province after the rebels had attacked a camp of coca eradicators. The police encountered several ERW; it was reported that police explosive ordnance disposal personnel deactivated “up to 25 mines.”[12]A media report in May 2011 said homemade booby-traps were affecting the coca eradication program in Upper Huallaga Valley in San Martín.[13]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The national mine action authority is the Executive Council, comprised of representatives of the ministries of defense, education, health, interior, and the National Council for the Integration of Disabled Persons (Consejo Nacional Para la Integracion de la Persona con Discapacidad, CONADIS). The Council, which is chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sets strategy and priorities and approves plans and budgets.[14] Under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, CONTRAMINAS) coordinates planning and operations to meet Peru’s Mine Ban Treaty obligations, including for clearance.[15]

CONTRAMINAS is responsible for overall management and day-to-day coordination of mine action activities. The Organization of American States (OAS) has assisted Peru in mine clearance since May 2001. The Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in South America (Misión de Asistencia a la Remoción de Minas en Suramérica, MARMINAS), established by the Inter-American Defense Board in May 2003 to support mine clearance in both Ecuador and Peru, provides technical advice to the OAS and monitors demining operations. OAS provides monitors to support the Peruvian army’s clearance operations.[16]

United States (US) funding through RONCO has provided training and equipment to CONTRAMINAS and refurbished the National Humanitarian Demining Training Center (Centro Nacional de Capacitación en Desminado Humanitario) at Chiclayo—the fourth largest city in Peru and transit city from Lima to the border for demining teams—where both police and army deminers are trained.[17]US funds also supported the improvement of medical evacuation capacity by repairing an existing Peruvian helicopter.[18]

Relations between Peru and Ecuador appear to have improved as a result of addressing the mine problem on the border. Senior officials, as well as the presidents of each country, have met several times since 2007 to discuss progress towards meeting Mine Ban Treaty obligations. In May 2010, at a meeting in Huaquillas, Ecuador between the commanders of each demining program, Peru provided data and sketch maps for 13 mined areas in Ecuador.[19] In August 2011, 10 deminers from Ecuador planned to attend a basic demining training course at Chiclayo.[20]

Land Release

The Peruvian Armed Forces General Directorate of Humanitarian Demining (Director Ejecutivo de la Dirección General de Desminado Humanitario del Ejército de Perú, DIGEDEHUME) is responsible for clearance of the border with Ecuador. A specialized unit of the national police, the Security Division (División de Seguridad, DIVSECOM), is responsible for clearing mines/ERW around the high-tension electricity pylons and other infrastructure.[21]

Mine clearance in 2010

Peru reported that in 2010 it had destroyed 78 mines during 17,349m² of clearance in Cahuide, Chiqueiza, and Pacahacutec in Rio Santiago district on the border with Ecuador. In January–June 2011, clearance continued in these areas and a further 18,636m² of area was cleared and 314 antipersonnel mines destroyed.[22]

 The National Police completed clearance at Miguel Castro Castro prison and the prison at Yanamayo in 2010. During clearance of 4,863m² they destroyed 3,747 antipersonnel mines. In January–June 2011, the police cleared 2,158m² at Huacariz prison while destroying 1,557 antipersonnel mines.[23]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the eight-year extension request granted in 2008), Peru is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2017.

While Peru has made good progress in clearing the mined areas around infrastructure it is not clear how the 10 newly identified mined areas on the border with Ecuador will affect Peru’s ability to meet its 2017 Article 5 deadline.

Quality management

The OAS conducts quality control on all completed clearance tasks.[24]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

In 2010, risk education campaigns were implemented in the towns near the border monitoring post at Nativa de Papayacu in Amazonas region; around the police base at Tulumayo in Amazonas; at the police base and the town center in Uchiza in Santa Lucia and in Tocache district in San Martin region; and in Leoncio Prado in Huanuco province. The OAS and the ICRC provided support through the distribution of education materials.[25]