Casualties Overview

The Monitor identified one new casualty in Peru in 2011; a soldier was injured after stepping on a victim-activated improvised explosive device (IED) in the River Apurímac and River Ene valley (VRAE) in September.[1] Seven casualties were reported for 2010, all from victim-activated IEDs.[2]

The last confirmed casualties caused by factory-made mines in Peru occurred in 2007.[3] Since 2007, most of the casualties identified have been caused by victim-activated IEDs in areas of coca cultivation.[4]

In May 2012, a Peruvian man was killed in Chile when his car hit an antivehicle mine in the Arica and Parinacota region on the border with Peru.[5]

The total number of mine/IED and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties recorded in Peru since 1991 is 435 (52 killed; 379 injured; four unknown).[6]

Victim Assistance

Peru is known to have survivors of landmines, including victim-activated IEDs, and other types of ERW. Peru has made a commitment to provide victim assistance as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Between 1991 and the end of 2011, there were at least 379 mine/ERW survivors identified in Peru.[7] In 2011, some efforts were underway to increase availability and access to physical rehabilitation and register mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities in government social programs, such as medical insurance and pensions. However, throughout the year, access to services remained difficult for most survivors.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2011, no assessment of the needs of mine/ERW survivors was carried out, though the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, CONTRAMINAS) and victim assistance service providers continued to use information collected in 2009 and 2010. Information was used to refer survivors to existing services.[8]

Victim assistance coordination[9]

CONTRAMINAS held several victim assistance coordination meetings in 2011 on an “as-needed” basis to coordinate and monitor the provision of victim assistance to some 140 survivors over the course of the year. Meetings included other government ministries, victim assistance service providers, such as the National Institute of Rehabilitation (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, INR), and survivor associations.[10]

In 2011, CONTRAMINAS and the Polus Center continued implementing Peru’s National Victim Assistance Plan, approved in 2010.[11] 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.[12] Throughout the year, CONTRAMINAS monitored the implementation of the plan, though no effort was made to compare results achieved by the end of the year with the objectives contained within the plan.[13]

Peru provided updates on victim assistance and disability policy at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh on 29 November 2011 and at the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012.[14] Peru provided information on mine casualties in form J of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[15]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

The Association of Victims and Survivors of Minefields (Asociación de Victimas y Sobrevivientes de Campos Minados, AVISCAM) and other national NGOs working with mine survivors are members of the Victim Assistance Consultative Committee.[16]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In 2011, nearly half of all survivors were assisted by CONTRAMINAS and the Polus Center in securing medical assistance and in applying for national health insurance and/or disability pensions.[17]

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. The time and expense of traveling to these services prevented most survivors from accessing them.[18] To address this issue, CONTRAMINAS provided equipment and training to medical professionals at the Huancayo hospital in the province of Junín to provide physiotherapy and make repairs and adjustments to prosthetics.[19] With funding from Japan, Peru constructed a new facility for the INR in a more centrally located and safer area of Lima. It was due to open in mid-2012.[20] The National Council for the Integration of Disabled Persons (Consejo Nacional Para la Integración de la Persona con Discapacidad, CONADIS) carried out a pilot project in the province of Tumbes to provide mobility devices to persons with disabilities living in rural and remote areas.[21]

To improve the quality of prosthetics, the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) and the Polus Center continued to provide training to technicians at the INR.[22] The cost of prosthetics for survivors referred by CONTRAMINAS was covered by the Organization of American States (OAS).[23]

No new economic inclusion initiatives for mine/ERW survivors were identified in 2011. The Polus Center continued to develop individual economic inclusion plans for survivors and provide either education and training or micro-finance.[24]

Peruvian law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, but few resources were dedicated to its implementation and persons with disabilities remained economically and socially marginalized. Few efforts were made to ensure the accessibility of public buildings,[25] though the offices of CONTRAMINAS were made accessible during 2011.[26]

Peru ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 January 2008.