Key
developments since May 2001: On 27 April 2002, Yemen destroyed the last
8,674 of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines. Between May 2001 to February 2002,
2.2 million square meters of land were cleared of mines and UXO. Yemen has
served as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance since September
2001.
MINE BAN POLICY
Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December
1997, ratified on 1 September 1998 and the treaty entered into force on 1 March
1999. Draft implementation legislation was discussed at a meeting of the
inter-ministerial National Mine Action Committee (NMAC), on 7 April
2002.[1] NMAC proposed that the
draft legislation be incorporated into the civil or military criminal
code.[2] A committee, including
the NMAC chair and a legal consultant, was formed to reformulate the draft law
and submit it to the Cabinet for approval. On 27 April 2002, the government
reported that the legislation was under “final
consideration.”[3]
Yemen attended the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in
Nicaragua in September 2001. At the meeting, Yemen and Germany were named
co-chairs of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Awareness, and Mine
Action Technologies. Yemen served in this role at the January and May 2002
intersessional meetings. Yemen cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General
Assembly Resolution 56/24M in November 2001, calling for universalization of the
Mine Ban Treaty.
After submitting its initial Article 7 transparency report on 30 November
1999, Yemen submitted annual updates on 14 November 2000, 18 September 2001, and
27 April 2002. The 2002 update covers the period from 8 September 2001 to 27
April 2002 and includes 58 pages detailing the location of mined
areas.[4]
While Yemen is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), its
Geneva-based representatives attended the third annual meeting of State Parties
to Amended Protocol II, as well as the Second CCW Review Conference, in December
2001.
The YemenMine Awareness Association (YMAA) translated and published
the country report on Yemen from the Landmine Monitor Report 2001 to
promote the universalization, implementation, and monitoring of the Mine Ban
Treaty in Yemen and throughout the region.
Yemen states that it has never manufactured or exported antipersonnel mines.
The last reported use of mines was
1994.[5]
STOCKPILE DESTRUCTION
On 27 April 2002, Yemen completed destruction of
its stockpiled antipersonnel mines, when it destroyed the last 8,674 mines at
Alwaht in Lahej governorate.[6]
The Prime Minister, representatives of the Ministry from Defense and other
ministries, ambassadors, the UN Development Program, the international media,
NGOs, and the in-country Landmine Monitor researcher for Yemen attended the
ceremony.[7]
Yemen destroyed about 74,000 antipersonnel mines in total, apparently
including 66,674 since September
2001.[8] Canada, the United
Kingdom, and the United States provided financial assistance to destroy the
stockpile.[9]
Yemen intends to use the bodies of POMZ-2 antipersonnel mines to build a
monument to commemorate the stockpile destruction and “to artfully depict
the relationship between the human beings and the
mines.”[10]
Yemen elected to retain 4,000 antipersonnel minesfor training and
research purposes as permitted under Article 3 of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[11] Retained mines are
housed in two locations: in Sana’a at the Military’s central storage
facilities, and in Aden, at the Military’s Engineering Department training
facility.[12] Thus far, Yemen
has consumed 120 of these mines for training of mine detection
dogs.[13]
The Army does not possess Claymore-type
mines.[14]
SURVEY AND ASSESSMENT
The Survey Action Center (SAC) carried out the
world’s first comprehensive nationwide Landmine Impact Survey in Yemen
between July 1999 and July 2000. It identified 592 mine-affected villages in
nineteen out of twenty governorates (Al-Mahweet governorate was the only one
declared mine-free).[15] The
survey identified 1,078 mined areas covering a total reported surface area of
923 million square meters, mainly in central and southern Yemen. In indicated
that approximately 828,000 Yemeni civilians (or one out of every sixteen
citizens) are affected by the presence of mines and UXO.
MINE ACTION FUNDING
In 2001, the government of Yemen allocated 3
million Yemeni riyals ($17,212 at official conversion rates) to the mine action
program.[16] Previously, the
Yemen Mine Action Program spent approximately $5.5 million in a two-year period
from May 1999 through April 2001. In 2001 international donors to mine action
in Yemen allocated the following:
Saudi Arabia: $3 million (in installments over three years). This is for
demining, stockpile destruction, mine risk education, and victim assistance. On
13 April 2002, in a ceremony attended by the Minister of State and the Saudi
ambassador in Sana’a, six hearing aids, three wheelchairs and 19
prostheses were provided for mine survivors. Saudi Arabia also funded surgical
operations for 32 mine
survivors.[17]
United States: nearly $1.7 million. This is for the purchase of demining
equipment and materials ($656,000), vehicles ($148,900), medical supplies
($5,816), logistic support items ($25,100) funding to support current mine
clearance operations ($187,000), and training by U.S. military forces
($672,000).[18]
Germany: $326,000. This is for mine detecting dogs ($153,000), secondment of
experts ($148,000), and a mission to study lessons learned
($25,000).[19]
Italy: $253,626 (€280,436) for support to the national mine action
program.[20]
The Netherlands: $500,000 for mine action program
activities.[21]
Switzerland: $120,000 for an administration and logistics advisor to support
the national mine action
program.[22]
Canada: $62,184. This is for mine clearance support ($58,777) and stockpile
destruction ($3,414).[23]
United Kingdom: $12,000 for stockpile
destruction.[24]
MINE ACTION PLANNING AND COORDINATION
The National Mine Action Committee, chaired by the
Minister of State (a member of the cabinet), is responsible for policy
formulation, resource allocation, and the national mine action strategy. The
Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) is responsible for coordination of
mine action activities, the activities of the Regional Executive Mine Action
Branch (REMAB Aden), and also executes national mine action plans. The Yemen
Mine Action Program currently employees 816 personnel in planning, training,
logistics, mine survey, mine clearance, mine awareness, and victim assistance.
The NMAC has established a Mine Awareness Advisory Committee (MAAC), and a
Victim Assistance Advisory Committee (VAAC), and working groups to assist with
planning and evaluation of mine awareness and victim assistance activities.
There are no new developments regarding the plan to open a regional mine unit in
Hadramout.[25]
As part of a twenty-five year strategy, mine action specialists designed the
government-approved Five-Year Strategic Mine Action Plan (from 2001 to 2005),
which uses the National Mine Action Vision and Landmine Impact Survey, to
establish national priorities. These include mined areas that block access to a
critical area (such as water or pasture land); mined areas that block access to
infrastructure (such as roads, public use facilities, or water resources); and
mined areas that impede development (such as water projects, airport/sea/port
development, and oil extraction). Another priority is to ensure mine survivors
have equal access to educational and economic
opportunity.[26]
MINE CLEARANCE
A unit of the Engineering Department of the
Ministry Defense and a separate body, the Mine Clearance Unit of the Regional
Technical Executive Unit, undertake mine clearance in Yemen. In 2001, 4,304
antipersonnel mines, 35 antivehicle mines, and 4,352 UXO were cleared and
destroyed.[27] From May 2001 to
February 2002, six Army demining companies cleared 2,198,607 square meters of
land in Aden, Lahej, Abyan, al-Dhala, Ebb, and Hadramout and handed over the
land to the local authorities and the
communities.[28] Mine action
teams were deployed to four of the fourteen highest priority impact areas based
on the results of the Landmine Impact Survey. Three out of four areas close to
communities in Aden, Sana’a and Hjja governorates were
cleared.[29] Cleared sites
mostly consist of grazing lands, desert, and farms.
Newly formed technical (Level Two) survey teams engaged in area reduction and
clearance in eight governorates: Aden, Lahej, Hadramout, Abyan, Al-Dhala, Ebb,
Hajah and Sana'a.[30] Four
demining companies fenced 25 minefields in these
governorates.[31] During these
operations 62 antipersonnel mines and 822 UXO were detected, cleared, and
destroyed as efforts to limit the boundaries of these
minefields.[32]
At the beginning of 2001, 432 deminers (including 14 UXO specialists) were
working in Yemen. The number had increased to 500 by July 2002, and is expected
to reach 600 by 2003. Eight mine detecting dogs were brought from Afghanistan,
of which two died, and 13 additional dogs are slated to arrive in 2002 from
Germany. Sixteen members of the regional mine action staff are being trained to
work with these dogs.[33]
In 2002, the national program will continue to expand. The last of the eight
mine action units (including clearance, mine awareness, and victims assistance
teams) will be trained, equipped, and fielded; two additional technical survey
teams will be deployed; the first four mine detecting dog teams (four dogs in
each team) will be operational; and a management information system to accredit,
license, and ensure quality in accordance with international standards will be
put into place.[34]
MINE RISK EDUCATION
In the year 2001 and through April 2002, the YMAA
and the Mine Awareness Department at the Regional Mine Action Center in Aden
carried out joint activities in Aden, Lahej, and Abyan, reaching 64 villages and
schools and an estimated 44,808 people. These organizations also executed 87
field visits and distributed 30,490 posters and games during this
period.[35]
Mine risk education in Yemen is mainly conducted through field visits and
workshops in villages close to mined areas. There is ongoing coordination with
key people (Shieks, Imama, teachers, students, and journalists) at the
governorate and village levels. The content of the participatory workshops
include an introduction to the danger of mines and UXO using materials such as
plastic models and posters. The participants are also trained in how to
transmit basic mine risk education messages using a child-to-child approach.
Communication skills and safety procedures are also taught in case they
encounter mines or UXO. Role-playing and games are also used.
The National Mine Action Program spent $20,000 for mine risk education in
2001. The Mine Awareness Department in Sana’a established plans for 2002
to target 101 mine-affected villages to work in cooperation with demining
companies in villages in Al Dhala and
Ebb.[36] During 2001, the Mine
Awareness Department in Sana'a implemented separate mine risk education
workshops and follow-up meetings in different mine-affected villages in Qataba
and Al-Nadra. The National Mine Action Program supports these activities.
The Mine Awareness Department implements mine risk education locally and
nationally which involves mainly village presentations, which are preceded by
meetings with the key people where information is gathered regarding accidents,
mine victims, places where mine victims, and locations where mines and UXO have
been found. The Mine Awareness Department also produced a documentary film
advocating for the Mine Ban Treaty and Mine Action activities in Yemen. This
film was shown on Yemeni television in March
2002.[37]
In April 2001, the Yemen Mine Awareness Association (YMAA) received a $22,440
grant from the embassy of the United States in Sana’a to work jointly with
the Regional Mine Action Center in Aden to replicate community-based programs in
Qataba and Al-Nadra. Both Qataba in Al-Dhala governorate and Al-Nadra in Ebb
Governorate are high-risk areas identified by the Impact Survey. YMAA women
members gave mine risk education sessions at one of the houses in the village to
reach women and girls who could not attend the workshop. Field visits were
conducted in these areas in May and June 2001 and February and April 2002. In
March 2002, the YMAA produced a poster and a storybook depicting mine survivors,
as well as a quarterly newsletter about mine risk education activities in
villages, with support provided by the U.S. embassy and Rädda Barnen (Save
the Children Sweden).[38]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES
The National Mine Action Center registered five
mine survivors in 2001; it does not register those killed in mine incidents.
The Regional Mine Action Center in Aden gave different numbers: in September
2001, a mine explosion injured three children (two lost their lower limbs and
fingers) in Azal village, Ebb governorate; during the same month, ten people
were killed and five injured in an antivehicle mine explosion in Al-Nadra, Ebb
governorate.[39]
Mine/UXO incidents continue to be reported in 2002. On 24 March, two
soldiers were injured in a mine explosion during a training exercise at the
Regional Mine Action Center in Aden. On 25 March 2002 in the al-Baida
Governorate, a ten-year old boy was killed and two other children were injured
in a UXO explosion.[40] On 2
April 2002, a mine incident in Al-Otbat village in Qataba killed a goat, but
there were no human
casualties.[41]
The Landmine Impact Survey, completed in July 2000, recorded a total of 4,904
casualties, of which 2,560 were killed and 2,344
injured.[42] At the time, it
was noted that casualties were markedly higher than any statistics previously
collected. Concerns have been expressed that the numbers are not accurate and
could be as high as double the real figure. It is possible that the survey
raised expectations of compensation, which induced people to register even
though they were victims of other
causes.[43]
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
The Victim Assistance Department of the National
Mine Action Program provides emergency medical assistance to landmine/UXO
casualties in any area of Yemen when incidents are reported. The Victim
Assistance Department developeda medical survey plan to follow up the
results of Landmine Impact Survey. The plan is divided into three stages:
medical survey, diagnosis, and provision of medical support. Implementation of
the survey commenced in June 2001. An eight-member medical survey team targeted
the Qataba district in the Al-Dhala governorate and identified 64 survivors (16
females and 48 males) and the Al-Nadra district in Ebb governorate where 110
survivors (16 females and 94 males) were
identified.[44] On 21 January
2002 the Victim Assistance Department referred 51 mine and UXO survivors from
Al-Dhala governorate to the Aden Hospital for medical treatment and for
rehabilitation services at the prosthetic
workshops.[45]
The ICRC assisted the Ministry of Health National Artificial Limbs and
Physiotherapy Center in Sana'a to adopt ICRC
technology.[46] After the
delivery of materials in March 2001, the centered produced 284 prostheses and
1,870 orthoses. The Ministry of Health requested the ICRC to extend assistance
to a new prosthetic workshop that is being built in Mukalla in the isolated
Hadramout governorate.
Handicap International Belgium (HIB) supports two physical rehabilitation
centers in Taiz and Aden, in cooperation with the Ministry of Insurance, Social
Affairs, and Labor (MOISA) and the Ministry of Public
Health.[47] In 2001, the Taiz
Rehabilitation Center provided 3,060 physiotherapy treatments, 768 prostheses
were fitted, and 109 prostheses were repaired. As well as providing
rehabilitation services, the Aden center facilitated the training of twelve
orthopedic technicians and six physiotherapy
assistants.[48] Thirty-five
amputees are registered on the center’s waiting list of which twenty
percent were injured in mine or UXO incidents. Production of below-the-knee
prostheses started at the Aden workshop in March 2002 when four prostheses were
provided to patients, including two mine
survivors.[49] In 2001, donors
to the HIB program included the European Union, the Social Fund for Development,
the British Council, French Co-operation, and private
donors.[50]
In 2001, the Yemen office of Rädda Barnen (Save the Children Sweden)
supported the Ministry of Social Affairs in a community-based program to assist
children with disabilities, including landmine survivors, in the governorates of
Aden, Lahej, Abyan, Taiz, and Ebb. Following an evaluation of the program, a
workshop was held on 26-28 January 2002 to discuss the outcomes and implement
recommendations and lessons learned. Since then, new plans have been discussed
between different parties to improve the effectiveness of the program in the
field.[51]
Since May 2001, support from the National Mine Action Program to the Italian
NGO, Movimondo, ceased due to a lack of coordination with the Victim Assistance
Advisory Committee. However, Movimondo’s assistance program, which
includes the training of Yemeni physiotherapists and nurses, continues as
planned.[52]
DISABILITY POLICY AND PRACTICE
Act 61 on the Care and Rehabilitation of the
Disabled was issued in December
1999.[53] On 23 January 2002,
Presidential Law Number 2 establishing a care and rehabilitation fund for the
disabled came into effect. The fund will initially cover the costs of immediate
medical care in hospital.[54]
Landmine survivor assistance in Yemen is coordinated through the Victim
Assistance Advisory Committee; the membership of which includes the Ministry of
Public Health and Population, the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs
(MOISA), Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, and four international NGOs,
ADRA, Handicap International Belgium, Movimondo, and Rädda Barnen. There
is no representation from local NGOs or mine survivors.
[1] Interview with Rashida Al-Hamadani,
Secretary of the National Demining Committee, Sana'a, 13 March 2002. In 2002, a
legal committee drafted a law to implement the treaty, with the assistance of
the ICRC regional office in Cairo, which was then studied by Ministry of Legal
Affairs. The National Mine Action Committee used to be called the National
Demining Committee. [2] Interview with
M. Al-Fasyel, Director of Ministry of Legal Affairs, Sana'a, 12 March 2002.
NMAC believed this would be sufficient to fully implement the Mine Ban
Treaty. [3] Article 7 Report, Form A, 27
April 2002. [4] Ibid., Form
C. [5] See previous Landmine Monitor
Reports for more details on past use and importation of
mines. [6] Article 7 Report, Form G, 27
April 2002. This included 8,174 PPMN-SR-2 mines and 500 PMN mines. Also, email
from Mansoor Al-Ezzi, Director, Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), 30
April 2002. [7] Article 7 Report, Form
G, 27 April 2002. Also, email from Mansoor Al-Ezzi, Director, YEMAC, April
2002. [8] Article 7 Report, Form D, 27
April 2002, reports that 66,674 mines were transferred for destruction in the
period 8 September 2001 to 27 April 2002. This included 58,000 POMZ-2 mines in
addition to those destroyed on 27 April. There is a discrepancy in accounting.
In its 2002 and 2001 Article 7 reports, Yemen reports a stockpile of 78,000
mines (58,500 POMZ-2; 16,000 PPMiSR-2; 2,000 PMN; and 1,500 PMD-6). It retained
4,000 of those mines for training purposes, leaving 74,000 to be destroyed. A
total of 5,050 were destroyed on 14 February 2000, and 4,286 on 22 February
2001. This would leave 64,664 to be destroyed since September, not 66,674. See
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 987-988.
[9] Canada provided CAN$21,000 for the
final stockpile destruction. Yemen’s Article 7 Report, Form F, 27 April
2002. The United States funded the February 2001 destruction. Telephone
interview with Mansoor Al-Ezzi, Yemen Mine Action Program, 24 February 2001. The
UK provided $12,000. Telephone interview with Scott Pilkington, UN Chief
Technical Advisor, Sana'a 8 April
2002. [10] Article 7 Report, Form D, 27
April 2002. [11] It is keeping 1,000
each of PMN, POMZ-2, PMD-6 and
PPMiSR-2. [12] The 4,000 mines retained
for training were transferred to these locations during the reporting period.
Article 7 Report, Form D, 27 April
2002. [13] Article 7 Report, Form D, 27
April 2002. This includes 30 of each of the four types
retained. [14] Interview with Mansoor
Al-Ezzi, Director, YEMAC, Sana'a, 11 March
2002. [15] For more detail on the survey
methodology and findings, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp.
988-989. [16] Telephone interview with
Scott Pilkington, UN Chief Technical Advisor, Sana'a 8 April
2002. [17] Interview with Kaid Thabet
Mokbel, Director, Medical Survey Team, Victim Assistance Department, Regional
Mine Action Center, Aden, 9 May
2002. [18] U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The
United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p.
44. [19] UN Mine Action Investment
Database, 2001 donor report for
Germany. [20] Italy, Article 7 Report,
Form J, submitted 2 May 2002. Converted to US dollars by Landmine Monitor on 9
May 2002. [21] UN Mine Action Investment
Database, 2001 donor report for the Netherlands; in the Article 7 Report
submitted by the Netherlands on 19 April 2002, the figure is given as
€568,000. [22] UN Mine Action
Investment Database, 2001 donor report for
Switzerland. [23] UN Mine Action
Investment Database, 2001 donor report for
Canada. [24] Telephone interview with
Scott Pilkington, UN Chief Technical Advisor, Sana'a 8 April
2002. [25] Interview with Mansoor
Al-Ezzi, Director, YEMAC, Sana'a 11 March 2002, and email 24 July
2002. [26] Five Year Strategic Action
Plan for Yemen, 2001-2005; also published in UN Mine Action Service,
“Portfolio of Mine-Related Projects,” February 2002, pp.
250-251. [27] Interview with Yehia M.
Nasser, Director, Operations Department, Regional Technical Executive Unit,
Regional Mine Action Center, Aden, 19 March
2002. [28] Interview with Fadhle Garama,
Director, Regional Technical Executive Unit, Regional Mine Action Center, Aden,
8 April 2002. [29] Interview with
Mansoor Al Ezzi, Director, YEMAC, Sana’a, 11 March
2002. [30]
Ibid. [31]
Ibid. [32] Interview with Fadhle Garama,
Director, Technical Executive Unit, Aden, 8 April
2002. [33]
Ibid. [34] UN Mine Action Service,
“Portfolio of Mine-Related Projects,” February 2002, p.
251. [35] Interview with Saleh A.
Montsar, Deputy Director, Regional Technical Unit, Aden, 4 April
2002. [36] Interview with Nabeel Rassam,
Director, Mine Awareness Department, National Mine Action Center, Sana’a,
3 January 2002. [37]
Ibid. [38] Interview with Aisha Saeed,
Chairperson, YMAA, Sana’a, 10 May
2002. [39] Interview with Kaid Thabet
Mokbel, Head of Medical Survey Team, Victim Assistance Department, Regional Mine
Action Center, Aden, 9 May 2002. [40]
Interview with Fadhle Garama, Director, Regional Mine Action Center, Aden, 8
April 2002. [41] Telephone interview
with a local mine awareness committee member, Qataba, 2 April
2002. [42] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, pp. 993-994. [43] Opinions from
various sources given to Landmine Monitor in
confidence. [44] Interview with Abobaker
Abbas, Director of Medical Department, Sana'a, 3 January
2002. [45] Interview with Alkadher
Abdulla, Director of the Victim Assistance Department, Regional Mine Action
Center, Aden, 9 May 2002. [46] ICRC
(Geneva), Special Report, Mine Action 2001, July 2002, p.
39. [47] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, pp. 994-995. [48] Handicap
International Belgium Activity Report
2001. [49] Interview with Roel Janssen,
Handicap International Belgium, Aden, 25 March
2002. [50] Handicap International
Belgium Activity Report 2001. [51]
Telephone interview with Soud Al-Hibshi, Community Based Rehabilitation Program
Officer, Rädda Barnen, 30 April
2002. [52] Interview with Roberta
Contini, Movimondo, Sana'a 11 March 2002; see also Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 994. [53] For details see
Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp.
869-870. [54] Telephone conversation
with Ehab Salem, Chairperson of the Aden Disabled Society, 9 May
2002.