Thirty-one
of the 35 countries in the Americas region are States Parties to the Mine Ban
Treaty. In this reporting period, since May 2001, three countries ratified the
treaty: St. Vincent and the Grenadines (1 August 2001), Chile (10 September
2001), and Suriname (23 May 2002). There are two signatories remaining in the
region, Guyana and Haiti. A parliamentary motion for ratification of the treaty
has been submitted to the National Assembly in Guyana. According to a Haitian
official in June 2002, the ratification procedure was on a “fast
track.”
Cuba and the United States remain the only two countries in the region
completely outside the Mine Ban Treaty.
Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica enacted national implementation legislation
in this reporting period. They join Canada, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Trinidad
and Tobago, which had previously done so.
In the reporting period, several countries submitted initial (and in some
cases subsequent) Article 7 transparency reports: the Bahamas, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Panamá. Only Barbados, Dominica,
Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela have not yet submitted an
initial Article 7 Report.
The Third Meeting of States Parties was held in Managua, Nicaragua in
September 2001. Twenty-one countries of the region attended, including
non-signatory Cuba. As President of the Third Meeting of States Parties,
Nicaragua has also served as chair of the Mine Ban Treaty Coordinating Committee
since September 2001. Sixteen countries attended the intersessional Standing
Committee meetings in January and May 2002 in Geneva, including Cuba. Since
September 2001, Canada and Honduras have co-chaired the Standing Committee on
Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, and Colombia has served as
co-rapporteur of the same committee. Perú has been co-rapporteur of the
Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention. Canada
continued to coordinate the Universalization Contact Group and to chair the
intersessional Sponsorship Fund.
Twenty-seven countries in the region voted in support of UN General Assembly
Resolution 56/24M in November 2001, and six countries were absent during the
vote. Cuba and the United States were the only countries in the region among
the 19 countries worldwide that abstained. In June 2002, OAS member states
adopted three landmine resolutions in support of: mine action in Ecuador and
Perú; the OAS AICMA program in Central America; and the Western
Hemisphere becoming a landmine-free zone.
In November 2001, Perú hosted the XI Iberoamerican Summit, attended by
the 21 member nations. The 43rd point of the Lima Declaration focused on the
landmine problem in the region and reaffirmed commitments to eliminate the
problem and to improve the situation of mine survivors. In December 2001,
representatives of the region attended a conference on “Mine Action in
Latin America” in Miami.
In June 2002, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Andean
Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela) met in Lima
and issued the “Lima Commitment.” In the Lima Commitment, six
points were outlined related to the Mine Ban Treaty, including complete
destruction of stocks, establishing national programs for victim assistance and
socioeconomic reintegration, and a call for non-state actors to comply with the
international norm against antipersonnel mines.
Use
Colombia remains the only country in the region
where there is evidence that landmines are currently being used. The FARC-EP
and UC-ELN rebel groups, as well as AUC paramilitaries, continue to use
antipersonnel mines, apparently on an increased basis in 2001 and the first half
of 2002.
Production and Transfer
Cuba and the United States are among the 14
remaining producers of antipersonnel mines in the world. It is not known if
Cuba’s production lines were active in 2001 and 2002. Cuba states that it
does not export mines, but has not yet adopted a formal export moratorium. The
United States has not produced antipersonnel mines since 1997 but reserves the
right to do so. The US has had a legislative prohibition on export since 1992.
Colombian guerrilla groups continue to produce homemade antipersonnel mines
and other improvised explosive devices.
Stockpiling and Destruction
Twelve countries in the region have stockpiles of
antipersonnel mines. This includes the two non-signatories (Cuba and US), one
signatory (Guyana), and nine States Parties (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
El Salvador, Nicaragua, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela). Stockpile
destruction is underway in each State Party except for Suriname and Venezuela.
Ecuador and Perú completed stockpile destruction in September 2001,
joining Canada, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Bahamas, Costa Rica, and Dominican
Republic officially confirmed that they do not possess stockpiles of
antipersonnel mines.
Argentina, in July 2002, reported a stockpile of 96,513 antipersonnel mines,
7,343 more mines than previously reported. It did not destroy any stockpiled
mines in 2001 or early 2002, but has developed a destruction plan. Brazil
reported destroying 13,649 antipersonnel mines in 2001, leaving a stockpile of
30,748 as of 31 December 2001.
Chile has not yet revealed the number of antipersonnel mines it has in stock,
but has reported destroying 14,000 mines in September 2001. In May 2002, Chile
announced that 50 percent of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines would be
destroyed by August 2002 and the remaining half would be destroyed before the
end of 2003. Chile also stated that it had already destroyed 16,000
antipersonnel mines.
In its initial Article 7 Report of March 2002, Colombia reported a stockpile
of 20,312 landmines; no mines were destroyed in the reporting period, but
Colombia is preparing a destruction plan. El Salvador reported the destruction
of 1,291 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in 2000, but none in 2001, leaving 5,344
in stock. Landmine Monitor estimates that Guyana has a stockpile of
approximately 20,000 antipersonnel mines.
Nicaragua destroyed 50,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in 2001 and another
25,000 in April and June 2002; it plans to destroy its remaining 18,313 mines by
September 2002. Suriname has acknowledged a small stockpile of antipersonnel
mines, believed to number 296 as of July 2002, but the Ministry of Defense is
still conducting an inventory. Uruguay destroyed 432 antipersonnel mines from
May 2000 to June 2002, leaving 1,728 in stock. A Venezuelan government official
told Landmine Monitor that the Army and Navy stockpile approximately 40,000
antipersonnel mines.
The United States has the third largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines in
the world. The US stockpiles approximately 11.2 million antipersonnel mines,
including about 10 million self-destructing mines and 1.2 million
“dumb” mines.
Brazil has retained 17,000 antipersonnel mines for training and development
purposes, the highest number of any State Party. Brazil has said that these
mines “will be destroyed in training activities during a period of ten
years after entry into force of the Convention for Brazil, that is by October
2009.” However, Brazil only consumed 450 of these mines in 2000, and five
in 2001.
Argentina originally declared that it would retain 13,025 mines for training
purposes. In April 2002, Argentina told Landmine Monitor that it plans to empty
the explosive content pf 12,025 of these mines to make them inert, and therefore
they should no longer be counted as retained mines. Argentina also revealed
that the Army will keep 1,160 FMK-1 antipersonnel mines to use as fuzes for
antivehicle mines, apparently for training purposes.
Ecuador revised the number of mines it is retaining for training purposes
from 16,000 to 4,000. In May 2002, Perú reported that it is retaining
4,024 mines, instead of 5,578. El Salvador previously reported that it would
not retain any mines, but now indicates it will retain 96.
In the reporting period, Canada facilitated stockpile destruction in a number
of countries around the world, including Ecuador and Perú.
Landmine Problem
Ten countries in the region are known to be
mine-affected: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Perú; as well as the disputed
Malvinas/Falkland Islands. A television documentary appears to have established
that mines are also present on the Argentine side of its border with Chile.
At least 256 of Colombia’s 1,097 municipalities in 28 of the 31
departments in the country are believed to be mine-affected, an increase from
168 municipalities reported in 2000. Nicaragua estimated that, as of March
2002, there were 61,875 mines left in the ground and 184 kilometers of land
along the border still to be cleared. According to Costa Rica’s September
2002 Article 7 Report, an estimated 1,800 mines remain in the ground.
Mine Action Funding
The United States remained the largest single donor
country to global mine action in 2001, although its funding fell $13.2 million,
to a total of $69.2 million. Canada’s contributions to mine action
increased C$6.3 million to a total of C$24 million (US$15.5 million).
The OAS regional program for demining in Central America received $4.7
million in funding in 2001, a decrease from $4.9 in 2000. The Costa Rica
program in particular suffered a funding crisis. Contributions to the OAS
program for demining in both Ecuador and Perú totaled $1.59 million in
2001, an increase from $772,347 in 2000. In its fiscal year 2001, the United
States provided $1.76 million for mine action in Ecuador and $1.66 million for
Perú.
Mine Clearance
Landmine Monitor noted some type of mine clearance
activities during the reporting period in Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Perú. Limited military
mine clearance for tactical purposes was noted in Colombia.
As of June 2002, Nicaragua had cleared more than 2.5 million square meters of
land and 78,374 mines. In June 2002, the Perúvian Army completed mine
clearance along 18 kilometers of the Zarumilla Canal on the border with Ecuador,
finding 906 mines and 1,259 UXO. Ecuador reports that 4,439 mines were cleared
between March 2001 and April 2002.
The demining program in Costa Rica has suffered a serious financial crisis
since December 2001, which has resulted in a disruption and suspension of
operations. The target date of July 2002 for completion of clearance will not
be met. In Honduras, clearance operations originally targeted for completion in
2001 are now scheduled to be completed by the end of 2002. Honduras reports
that, as of April 2002, it had met 98.6 percent of its mine clearance
objectives. Nicaragua now expects to complete mine clearance in 2005, not 2004
as previously estimated. In Guatemala, completion of the National Demining Plan
is scheduled for 2005.
Colombia is developing a National Plan for mine clearance, and expects
clearance to take 20 years; officials have stated that Army minefields around
strategic sites will not be cleared while the war continues.
In October 2001, Argentina and the UK agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding
on the establishment of a feasibility study on mine clearance in the
Falklands/Malvinas, and a joint working group was set up.
To aid in clearance activities, IMSMA, a mine action informational system,
was installed in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Perú in 2001, and in Colombia
and Guatemala in 2002. In the firsthalf of 2002, the GICHD established
its first regional support center in Managua, Nicaragua in order to assist IMSMA
users throughout Latin America.
The US has sponsored the creation of a “Quick Reaction Demining
Force,” based in Mozambique.
Mine Risk Education
Mine risk education programs were carried out in
Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Perú, and, to a
limited extent, in Chile, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. National Armies and
government agencies conducted MRE in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Nicaragua, and Perú, while local organizations were reported to
conduct MRE in Colombia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
Mine Casualties
From January 2001 to the end of June 2002,
landmine/UXO casualties were reported in Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El
Salvador (UXO only), Guatemala (UXO only), Nicaragua, and Perú. In this
reporting period, landmine/UXO casualties also include nationals coming from
mine-free countries, and in some cases from other mine-affected countries,
killed or injured while abroad engaged in military or demining operations,
peacekeeping, or other activities. Casualties of this nature were reported for
Canada, Honduras, Perú, and the United States. In 2001 and the first
half of 2002, incidents during clearance operations or in training exercises
caused casualties among deminers in Colombia and Nicaragua.
Colombia has by far the greatest number of new landmine/UXO casualties. For
the first ten months of 2001, the Colombian government reported a total of 243
mine incidents involving antipersonnel mines and UXO, with 43 people killed and
158 injured, up from 83 casualties reported for all of 2000. According to media
reports, 129 casualties in Colombia were reported in the first half of 2002. In
Nicaragua, there were 16 casualties in 2001. In Chile, three civilians were
injured and one military officer was killed in landmine incidents. In
Perú, in 2001 and through June 2002, six civilians were injured and one
killed in five mine incidents.
Survivor Assistance
Governmental assistance to landmine and UXO
survivors in the Americas is generally of poor quality. Resources for civilian
casualties are often inadequate or absent, while for the most part, limited
resources are available to military and police personnel. A marked urban bias
in health care resource allocation amplifies the problems.
In El Salvador, the National Family Secretariat, headed by the First Lady of
El Salvador, is implementing a Law of Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons.
In Honduras, a new orthopedic workshop commenced production in San Pedro Sula.
In Nicaragua, efforts are being made to ensure that survivor assistance becomes
an integral part of the public health system, and of other State institutions
including the Ministry of the Family, the Institute for Youth, and the National
Technological Institute.
The Canada/PAHO/México tripartite victim assistance project in Central
America continues in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
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