This
is the fourth annual report of the Landmine Monitor, the unparalleled initiative
by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) to monitor and report on
implementation of and compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, and more
generally to assess the international community’s response to the
humanitarian crisis caused by landmines. Landmine Monitor marks the first time
that non-governmental organizations are coming together in a coordinated,
systematic and sustained way to monitor a humanitarian law or disarmament
treaty, and to regularly document progress and problems.
The Landmine Monitor system consists of three main components: a global
reporting network, a central database, and an annual report. Landmine Monitor
Report 2002: Toward a Mine-Free World is the fourth such annual report. The
first report was released in May 1999 at the First Meeting of States Parties to
the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo, Mozambique, the second report was released in
September 2000 at the Second Meeting of States Parties in Geneva, Switzerland
and the third report was released in September 2001 at the Third Meeting of
States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Managua, Nicaragua. A diverse network
of 115 Landmine Monitor researchers from 90 countries gathered information to
prepare this report, which is primarily based on in-country research, collected
by in-country researchers. Landmine Monitor has utilized the ICBL campaigning
coalition, but has also drawn in other elements of civil society to help monitor
and report, including journalists, academics and research institutions.
Landmine Monitor is not a technical verification system or a formal
inspection regime. It is an attempt by civil society to hold governments
accountable to the obligations they have taken on with respect to antipersonnel
mines; this is done through extensive collection, analysis and distribution of
publicly available information. Though in some cases it does entail
investigative missions, Landmine Monitor is not designed to send researchers
into harm’s way and does not include hot war-zone reporting.
Landmine Monitor is designed to complement the States Parties reporting
required under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty. It reflects the shared view
that transparency, trust and mutual collaboration are crucial elements to the
successful eradication of antipersonnel mines. Landmine Monitor was also
established in recognition of the need for independent reporting and
evaluation.
Landmine Monitor and its annual reports aim to promote and assist discussion
on mine-related issues, and to seek clarifications, in order to help reach the
goal of a mine-free world. Landmine Monitor works in good faith to provide
factual information about issues it is monitoring, in order to benefit the
international community as a whole.
Landmine Monitor Report 2002 contains information on every country of
the world with respect to landmine ban policy, use, production, transfer,
stockpiling, mine clearance, mine risk education, landmine casualties, and
survivor assistance. It does not only report on States Parties and their treaty
obligations, but looks at signatory states and non-signatories as well. All
countries are included in this report in the belief it will provide an important
means to measure global effectiveness on mine action and banning the weapon.
Appendices with information from key players in mine action, such as UN agencies
and the ICRC, are also included.
As was the case in previous years, Landmine Monitor acknowledges that this
ambitious report has its shortcomings and should be viewed as a work in
progress. The Landmine Monitor is a system that is continuously updated,
corrected and improved. Comments, clarifications, and corrections from
governments and others are sought, in the spirit of dialogue and in the common
search for accurate and reliable information on a difficult subject.
Landmine Monitor 2002 Process
In June 1998, the ICBL formally agreed to create
Landmine Monitor as an ICBL initiative. A Core Group was established to develop
and coordinate the Landmine Monitor system, which consists of five
organizations: Human Rights Watch, Handicap International Belgium, Kenya
Coalition Against Landmines, Mines Action Canada, and Norwegian People’s
Aid. Human Rights Watch serves as the lead agency. The Core Group assumes
overall responsibility for, and decision-making on, the Landmine Monitor system.
Research grants for Landmine Monitor Report 2002 were awarded in
November 2001, following a meeting of the Core Group in Brussels in October
2001. The global research network met in six regional meetings between October
2001 and January 2002 to discuss preliminary findings, exchange information,
assess what research and data gathering had already taken place, identify gaps,
and ensure common research methods and reporting mechanisms for the Monitor. In
February and March 2002, draft research reports were submitted to the Landmine
Monitor research coordinators for review and comment. From 17-19 April 2002 the
research network met a second time in Paris, France to present final reports and
discuss major findings with the research coordinators, as well as engage in a
peer review process and evaluation of the initiative to date. Throughout April,
May, June and July 2002 Landmine Monitor’s team of regional and thematic
coordinators verified sources and edited country reports, with a team at Human
Rights Watch taking responsibility for final fact-checking, editing and assembly
of the entire report. This report was printed during August and presented to
the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva,
Switzerland in September 2002.
Landmine Monitor Report 2002 is available online at
www.icbl.org/lm
The content of the report and previous annual reports are available in the
database at www.lm-online.org
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