Key
developments since May 2001: From 18 to 21 September 2001, Nicaragua hosted
the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. As President of the
Third Meeting of States Parties, Nicaragua has also served as Chair of the
Coordinating Committee since September 2001. From September 2000 until
September 2001, Nicaragua served as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Victim
Assistance. Nicaragua has destroyed 115,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines and
plans to destroy the remaining 18,313 mines by September 2002. As of June 2002,
Nicaragua had cleared more than 2.5 million square meters of land and 78,374
mines. Nicaragua now expects to complete mine clearance in 2005, not 2004 as
previously estimated.
MINE BAN POLICY
Nicaragua signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December
1997, ratified on 30 November 1998 and the treaty entered into force on 1 May
1999. On 7 December 1999 then President Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo signed
implementing legislation, which included penal sanctions for violations of the
law.[1]
Nicaragua hosted the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty
in Managua from 18-21 September 2001. This was the largest diplomatic meeting
that Nicaragua had ever hosted, and the first United Nations-sponsored meeting
following the tragic events in the United States on 11 September 2001. Despite
some daunting travel difficulties, representatives of 95 governments
participated in the meeting, including 67 States Parties, making it the
best-attended Meeting of States Parties to date. Nicaragua’s extensive
efforts on logistics and planning resulted in a smoothly run and very successful
meeting under trying circumstances.
Nicaragua’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Francisco Xavier Aguirre
Sacasa, was elected President of the meeting, a role that Nicaragua held until
the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September
2002.[2] In remarks to the
opening plenary, Minister Sacasa said that the treaty showed what could be
achieved by cooperation, including with the essential role of civil society. At
the end of the meeting, the Foreign Minister held a joint press conference with
Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams and the head of the ICBL delegation, Stephen
Goose.
As President, Nicaragua, represented by Minister Counsellor Cecilia Sanchez
Reyes, has chaired the Coordinating Committee of States Parties, and played a
key role in the intersessional work program, including the development of the
Implementation Support Unit following the approval of its establishment at the
Third Meeting of States Parties and its start of operations in January 2002.
Under Nicaragua’s leadership, enhancements to the intersessional work
program were implemented, with a renewed focus on the core humanitarian
objectives of the Mine Ban Treaty, and the approaching deadlines for stockpile
destruction and clearance of mined areas, as well as the Art. 6.1 obligations
regarding victim assistance and socio-economic reintegration. Also in its role
as President, Nicaragua’s Permanent Mission in Geneva sent out letters to
all States Parties reminding them of their Article 7 reporting obligations and
urging participation in the intersessional meetings.
At the intersessional meetings in January and May 2002, Nicaragua made a
number of important interventions and presentations in the various Standing
Committees, as well as chairing two briefings for missions based in Geneva. In
January, Nicaragua and Honduras arranged an informal briefing for donor
countries to meet with mine-affected countries from Central America and learn
about the mine situation in those countries. In May, Nicaragua co-hosted a
ceremony and breakfast reception to acknowledge the landmine survivors
participating in the “Raising the Voices” advocacy training program.
From September 2000 until September 2001, Nicaragua served as co-chair, together
with Japan, of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, Socio-Economic
Reintegration and Mine Awareness.
Nicaragua introduced UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, along with Norway
and Belgium, the past, present and future presidents of the meetings of States
Parties. The resolution, which called for universalization and full
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, passed on 29 November 2001 with 138 votes
in favor, none against and 19 abstentions. Nicaragua encouraged states to
support the resolution in its October 2001 statement to the UNGA General Debate
on disarmament.[3]
Nicaraguan representatives made presentations at a “Mine Action in
Latin America” conference in Miami, from 3-5 December
2001.[4]
Nicaragua submitted its annual Article 7 Report on 22 May 2002, covering an
unspecified period until 30 March 2002. Previously, it submitted its initial
report on 18 May 2000, and an annual report on 7 May
2001.[5]
Nicaragua is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW)
and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but did not attend the annual Amended
Protocol II conference, or the Second CCW Review Conference, held in Geneva in
December 2001.
The Centro de Estudios Internacionales (CEI), Landmine Monitor’s
country researcher, published its third report on landmines in Nicaragua during
the Third Meeting of State
Parties.[6] CEI and several
other NGOs are members of the National Demining Commission (CDN).
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, AND USE
Nicaragua states that it no longer produces
antipersonnel landmines and does not have production
facilities.[7] Nicaragua
imported mines in the past and reported Cuban, Czechoslovakian, and Soviet
antipersonnel mines in its
stockpiles.[8]
No use of antipersonnel mines by any armed group has been reported in 2001 or
2002. However, on 9 November 2001, Army and Police units raided the hideout of
the criminal gang “Frente Unido Andrés Castro,” led by Pilar
Lira, and seized a range of weaponry, including two antipersonnel
mines.[9]
There are reports of civilians storing and using antipersonnel mines for
non-military purposes. Danis Hernández, a landmine survivor who carries
out on mine risk education workshops, says that some peasants do not want mines
cleared since they prevent cattle theft; others use them for fishing. In one
case, a resident of the town of San Fernando kept a stock of antipersonnel mines
to trade for materials or for money, since he had heard that the Army was paying
for them. Hernández reported that in a four-month period in 2001, some
58 antipersonnel mines were received from civilians in Nueva Segovia. Some had
brought live mines to the workshops to hand them over; some kept them under
their beds at home; some even used them as doorstops, oblivious to the
danger.[10]
On 1 April 2002, the Police in San Fernando Municipality, Nueva Segovia
Department, seized eight antipersonnel mines from local residents who had been
keeping them in their homes since 1994. They were destroyed by Army mine
clearance specialists on 3 April 2002. According to the media article, from one
resident the Police seized three PP-MiSr-II, two POMZ-2M, and two PMN
antipersonnel mines; from another resident, a PP-MiSr-II mine. The first
resident reportedly told the authorities that he had kept the mines at home for
eight years, as souvenirs, since he thought they were
harmless.[11]
STOCKPILING AND DESTRUCTION
At the beginning of 1999 Nicaragua had a stockpile
of 136,813 antipersonnel
mines.[12] From April 1999 to
September 2001, Nicaragua destroyed 90,000 antipersonnel mines in eight separate
destructions.[13]
On 17 September 2001, 20,000 antipersonnel mines were destroyed at the
National Sergeant School near Managua in the eighth destruction event, the day
before the opening of the Third Meeting of States Parties. Over 300 people
witnessed the destruction including then President Arnoldo Aleman, diplomatic
and NGO participants to the meeting of States Parties a well as media at a
public ceremony.
While this destruction should have left Nicaragua with 46,813 mines in
stocks, in its May 2002 Article 7 Report, Nicaragua reported that following a
process of certification of the stockpile, a total of 43,313 antipersonnel mines
were left as of 30 March
2002.[14]
On 25 April 2002, 15,000 mines were destroyed by the Infantry Battalion of
the Army’s Second Regional Military Command, in Chinandega department in
an event attended by the newly elected President, Enrique Bolaños, and
other distinguished guests.[15]
On 20 June 2002, another 10,000 mines were destroyed at the National Sergeant
School.[16]
Nicaragua plans to destroy the remaining mines by September
2002.[17] The treaty-mandated
deadline for completion of stockpile destruction is 1 May 2003. During the 2002
intersessional meetings, Nicaragua stated that it was willing to share its
technical expertise in stockpile destruction with other countries.
In its March 2002 Article 7 Report, Nicaragua confirmed that it is retaining
1,971 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, as permitted under Article
3.[18] Of this total, 286 mines
were transferred to the OAS/IADB MARMINCA program for canine training, beginning
on 29 September 1999.[19] The
number of mines retained has not changed since 1999, indicating that Nicaragua
has not yet expended any of the mines.
LANDMINE PROBLEM
Nicaragua’s landmine problem is a result of
the 1979-1990 internal conflict. In addition to mines, a large quantity of
unexploded ordnance (UXO) such as bombs, fragmentation grenades, mortars, and
ammunition were also left in areas where combat took
place.[20] The mine and UXO
problem is located along the northern border with Honduras and also in a number
of interior locations, including the departments of Jinotega, Madriz, Nueva
Segovia, and the Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region
(RAAN).[21]
In its March 2002 Article 7 Report, Nicaragua stated that there were an
estimated 61,875 mines still left in the ground, and of the 313 kilometers of
the northern border that were mine-affected, 129 kilometers have been cleared
and 184 kilometers remain.[22]
Mined areas were located in: Bayuncun, La Cantina, La Explosión, El
Guayabo, Gualacatu, Llano Guapinol, Murupuchi, Namasli, El Porvenir, Río
Poteca, San José, and El
Ural.[23]
Nicaragua also reported that the identification of suspected mine-affected
areas is ongoing. Civilians informed authorities of suspected mined areas in
Boaco, Chinandega, Chontales, Estelí, Jinotega, Madriz, Matagalpa, Nueva
Segovia, Río San Juan, Zelaya Norte, and Zelaya
Sur.[24]
In April 2001, Nicaragua reported that it had completed clearance of mines
that had been mapped and registered along 96 kilometers of the southern border
with Costa Rica, and declared the border the country’s first mine-free
region.[25]
Despite the government’s demining efforts, UNICEF reported in 2002 that
“locals are often forced to carry out mine clearance activities themselves
in order to use their
land.”[26] (See below for
more on “amateur deminers”).
MINE ACTION FUNDING
Nicaragua’s National Demining Plan, first
introduced in April 1999, stated that approximately $27 million was needed to
complete stockpile destruction and mine clearance in the
country.[27]
The Organization of American States (OAS) Unit for the Promotion of
Democracy, through its Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines
(AICMA, Acción Integral Contra las Minas Antipersonal), is responsible
for coordinating and supervising the Assistance Program for Demining in Central
America (PADCA, Programa de Asistencia al Desminado en Centroamérica),
with the technical support of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB).
The IADB is responsible for organizing a team of international supervisors in
charge of training and certification, known as the Assistance Mission for Mine
Clearance in Central America (MARMINCA, Misión de Asistencia para la
Remoción de Minas en Centro América).
PADCA and MARMINCA have mine action programs in Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and Honduras. In Nicaragua, the Army is responsible for clearance
operations, along with PADCA and MARMINCA.
For the 2001 budget, the OAS PADCA program raised approximately $4.72 million
from the United States ($1.27 million), Norway ($1.15 million), Canada
($979,232), Sweden ($639,964), United Kingdom, ($271,971), Spain ($255,340),
Italy ($100,000) and Japan
($45,000).[28] This represents
a decrease from $4.92 million raised in the year 2000.
The OAS PADCA program has suffered a serious financial crisis since December
2001.[29] In Nicaragua, the OAS
had to provide “bridging funds” until donors renewed commitments to
Nicaragua’s demining operational fronts three and
four.[30] According to Sergio
Caramagna, the Director of the OAS National Office in Nicaragua, approximately
$3 million is required for mine action in 2003, and approximately $8.5 million
is needed through 2005.[31]
According to the Chief of the Operational and Planning Directorate of the
Nicaraguan Army, Nicaragua requires $6.5 million to cover costs for completion
of mine clearance
operations.[32] In addition,
funding is being sought for two helicopters for medical evacuations, and to
acquire more metal detectors.
Funding sources for mine action activities derive from a number of areas.
The three operational fronts (3, 4 and 5), the canine unit and the activities of
the independent platoon are funded via the OAS. Two other fronts (1 and 2) are
funded bilaterally by an international donor, as are the activities of the heavy
equipment unit. Still other activities like those related to UNICEF are funded
from other sources. Many of these projects, activities and contributions span
timeframes not easily captured and described as “calendar year”
expenditures.[33]
According to the Minister of Defense, the US Department of State provided
$50,000 through the OAS to strengthen the operational capacity of the National
Demining Commission.[34] The US
reports that in addition to its funding of the OAS/IADB program, in 2001 the
Defense Department helped Nicaragua in conducting a metal detector
evaluation.[35] UNOPS reports
that it has worked with UNMAS to provide program management services needed to
implement programs in
Nicaragua.[36]
MINE ACTION COORDINATION
The Comisión Nacional de Desminado (CND),
established in November 1998, is the government body responsible for mine action
in Nicaragua. In January 2001, Nicaragua’s Deputy Minister of Defense,
María Auxiliadora Cuadra de Frech, was appointed as Executive Secretary,
and three subcommittees were established to oversee mine action: stockpile
destruction and mine clearance; victim assistance and rehabilitation; and
education, prevention, and minefield signaling. Representatives of the
government, NGOs, and international organizations are members of the
subcommittees. As of June 2002, 27 governmental and non-governmental
institutions were represented on the
CND.[37] The CND does not have
its own budget, but relies on the financial support of the Ministry of Defense.
It has three full-time
staff.[38]
In the half of 2002, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian
Demining (GICHD) established its first Regional Support Centre (RSC) in Managua.
It has set up the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), a
database system that houses information on mine-affected land and those
suspected of being mine-affected, progress on mine clearance in each area and
complete information on incidents and landmine
casualties.[39] The primary
task of the RSC is “the provision of first level user support, including
on-site training, technical adviceand maintenance, for IMSMA users in
Latin America.”[40] The
GICHD also held regional briefings on the International Mine Action Standards
(IMAS) in Nicaragua in 2001.[41]
In its 2002 Article 7 Report, Nicaragua reported that a plan for information
gathering for IMSMA was developed at Level I for the whole country and at Level
II in regions where mine clearance operations have been completed (the
departments of Río San Juan and Nueva
Segovia).[42]
MINE CLEARANCE
Mine clearance is the responsibility of the
Pequeñas Unidades de Desminado (PUD), or Small Demining Units, of the
Engineer Corps of the Nicaraguan Army. Approximately 650 Army members are
trained and equipped to engage in mine
clearance.[43] As envisaged in
the 1999 National Demining Plan, mine clearance is conducted along five
operational fronts; each front is a company-sized 100-person unit. In addition,
there are three platoon-sized units, with approximately 50 persons per
unit:[44] the Chontales-
Jinotega mechanized unit; a marking unit; and an independent unit that includes
a mine detecting dog team.[45]
As of March 2002, Nicaragua reported that a total of 2,515,487 square meters
of land had been cleared for agriculture and grazing. Comparing figures in the
two most recent Article 7 Reports, it would appear that 395,350 square meters of
land were cleared from April 2001 to March
2002.[46]
From 1989 to 30 March 2002, a total of 73,768 landmines were destroyed and
225 kilometers of border were cleared (129 kilometers of the northern border and
96 kilometers of the southern
border).[47] Nicaragua reported
that 668,069 people had benefited from mine clearance
operations.[48]
According to a June 2002 update provided to Landmine Monitor by the
Nicaraguan Army, 703 of 991 objectives had been demined, leaving 288. A total of
78,374 laid mines had been destroyed, leaving 57,269 mines in the
ground.[49]
In 2002, Nicaragua expects to declare Boaco, Chinandega, Chontales
departments and the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) landmine
free.[50] Nicaragua now expects
that mine clearance will be completed in 2005, not 2004 as previously
estimated.[51]
“Amateur Demining”
In an article published by James Madison University
in mid-2001 on amateur deminers in rural areas of Nicaragua, one farmer reported
that he had cleared 500 mines, of which nearly 200 still had the safety pin
fitted because “the reservists and recent recruits who laid them did not
take the risk of removing the safety pin in case the mine went off.” The
same farmer added that he was fed up with local people breaking down his fences
and stealing his mines to use in illegal river fishing. Another farmer, near the
town of Mulukukú, reportedly cleared 200 mines for a large landowner who
only paid him approximately $200 for the clearance work. These amateur deminers
use machetes and sticks to clear
mines.[52]
MINE RISK EDUCATION
Mine risk education (MRE) in Nicaragua is conducted
by a number of actors, including the Comisión Conjunta de Discapacitados
de Madriz para la Paz y Reconstrucción (ORD/ADRN), the Nicaraguan Red
Cross, the OAS, UNICEF, and NGOs. According to the OAS PADCA Nicaragua
Coordinator, a number of significant advances in MRE were made in
2001.[53]
The CND’s Sub-Commission on Education, Prevention and Reintegration has
reportedly been designing and implementing a series of actions and campaigns for
the prevention of mine accidents with the objective of implementing a National
Plan of Preventive Education for Antipersonnel Mine Accidents (Plan Nacional de
Educación Preventiva de Accidentes con Minas
Antipersonales).[54] The plan
includes: dissemination of educational materials through radio and television;
educational materials approved by the CND placed in mine-affected zones;
signaling of mined areas as well as warning signs on roads near the most
mine-affected areas; and activities of the mine clearance units in the
mine-affected areas.[55]
In addition, the Nicaraguan Army developed and implemented a Dissemination
and Mine Accident Prevention Campaign (Campaña de Divulgación y
Prevención de Accidentes con
Mina).[56]
According to the CND, a National Prevention Guide (Guía Nacional de
Prevención) for the production of MRE materials, has been prepared with
the support of UNICEF and OAS PADCA. In addition, the CDN published a
“popular version of the Ottawa Convention which details advances made in
mine action in Nicaragua, and includes prevention
messages.”[57]
UNICEF plans to carry out most MRE activities in close cooperation with CND
and its Sub-Commission. In 2002 and 2003, efforts will center on the
establishment and consolidation of common standards for MRE. According to
UNICEF, clarification and consensus building has yet to be achieved in
methodology and monitoring of MRE
programs.[58] UNICEF’s
budget of the project in 2002 was
$175,000.[59]
According to UNICEF, together with the OAS as an implementing partner and in
direct coordination with the Nicaraguan Army, a community liaison project will
be carried out to improve confidence building and information sharing with
affected communities located close to the northern
border.[60]
According to the ICRC, the Nicaraguan Red Cross, with the support of the ICRC
and UNICEF, continued a child-to-child mine/UXO-awareness program in 2001, which
targeted children of school age. Thirty-three young people were trained under
this program to lead dissemination sessions in school in the RAAN, where Army
mine clearance activities were taking
place.[61]
According to the coordinator of the Joint Commission of Disabled Persons of
Madriz (Comisión Conjunta de Discapacitados de Madriz), Uriel Carazo, the
Commission is providing mine awareness training in 27 schools in the northern
border zones.[62] The
Commission also reports to be teaching children the different types of mine
warning signs to prevent them entering dangerous zones, and how to mark mines
they find without touching them. The Commission also has a mine awareness
project involving baseball teams, which reaches all communities in the northern
border zone.[63]
UNICEF has expressed concern that local populations seem to have lost their
sense of fear towards mines and
UXO.[64] Danis
Hernández, a landmine survivor who carries out mine risk education
workshops in rural communities in Jalapa and San Fernando Municipalities in
Nueva Segovia department, has also remarked on the problem of loss of fear
towards mines and UXOs in Nicaragua. According to Hernández, who is a
member of ADRN (Asociación de Discapacitados de la Resistencia
Nicaragüense) and works the OAS PADCA program in Nueva Segovia, estimates
that 70 percent of local residents in the two municipalities have no fear of
mines, including most males; even some landmine survivors continue to take
risks.[65]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES
In 2001, OAS PADCA reported 16 new landmine/UXO
casualties; two people were killed, 12 injured, and the status of two other
casualties was unknown.[66]
Four deminers were injured in two separate accidents in 2001. On 26 January
2001, a deminer lost a leg and two others suffered facial injuries at Panchito
airstrip in San Francisco Libre municipality near Managua, after one stepped on
a mine while working.[67] On 3
September 2001, a 24 year-old deminer was injured after stepping on a landmine
in Abisinia, Jinotega
department.[68]
As of June 2002, OAS PADCA had recorded 509 casualties, of which 37 were
killed and 472 injured. Of the total casualties, 40 were deminers, including
five killed and 35 injured.[69]
Most of the casualties were male peasants between 30 and 40 years
old.[70] The first casualties
were reported in 1982.
In an accident on 3 June 2002, a mine clearance instructor was killed at the
National Sergeant School near Managua, and another two instructors, a soldier,
and the School’s cook were severely
injured.[71]
Mine/UXO casualties have been recorded in 13
departments.[72] Casualites
occurred in the following departments: Estelí, 2; Madriz, 22; Nueva
Segovia, 188; Chinandega, 26; León, 2; Managua, 10; Rivas, 1; Rio San
Juan, 4; Chontales, 18; Jinotega, 106; Matagalpa, 60; R.A.A.N, 36; and R.A.A.S,
34. The total number of casualities was 509.
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
In 2001, the government of Nicaragua claimed a
“shift in course” in mine action, towards “placing people and
community rehabilitation at the heart of new
programs.[73] According to the
Minister of Defense, 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 (MIFAMILIA), the Institute for
Youth, and the National Technological Institute
(INATEC).[74]
Nicaragua’s May 2001 Article 7 report included a completed Form J on
victim assistance which listed organizations and agencies involved in first aid,
medical care, rehabilitation, and socio-economic
reintegration.[75] The Regional
Directory of Rehabilitation Resources lists 231organizations in
Nicaragua that provide services to persons with disabilities, including medical
and psychosocial care, professional rehabilitation, awareness and information,
economic support and community-based
rehabilitation.[76]
Survivor assistance falls within the mandate of the CND. Consultations are
being held between CND and the National Council for Prevention and
Rehabilitation [Consejo Nacional de Prevención y Rehabilitación]
to find effective mechanisms to improve the social reintegration of mine
survivors.[77] However,
according to the CND, there is no consensus on appropriate rehabilitation
policies for landmine survivors at present, and the CND, through the National
Council for Prevention and Rehabilitation, needs to play more of a facilitating
role between the Ministry of Health and civil society
organizations.[78]
Handicap International (HI) provides support to the services of physical
medicine and rehabilitation at one orthopedic center and four physiotherapy
centers in Trinidad, Estelí department. The project provides material,
organizational and technical support, and is restarting a community-based
rehabilitation network. In June 2001, HI signed a partnership agreement with the
National Demining Commission, under which HI will provide technical advice to
help it to assume its
functions.[79]
The Polus Center for Social and Economic Development Inc. continues to assist
persons with disabilities in Nicaragua, particularly those who have lost limbs
due to war, landmines and
disease.[80] Walking Unidos is
the Polus Center’s Prosthetic Outreach Program in León, Nicaragua.
The program provides prosthetic/orthotic services, which are free of charge or
at a reduced cost for the poor. The center produces above and below knee
prostheses. Since 2000, Walking Unidos has provided over 280 prostheses, and
repaired another 250. A “cyber café”, opened in León,
employs some of the beneficiaries of the prosthetic program, with revenues used
to support the Walking Unidos
project.[81]
In March 2002, the U.S. Global Care Unlimited, based in Tenafly Secondary
School in New Jersey, made a donation of $1,500 to the OAS, to support the
rehabilitation of a 20 year-old landmine survivor in Juigalpa who lost both legs
when she stepped on a landmine under a high-tension electrical tower in
1992.[82]
On 18-19 June 2001, prosthetic technicians from Nicaragua attended the First
Regional Conference on Victim Assistance and Technologies in Managua, organized
by the OAS and the Center for International Rehabilitation
(CIR).[83] CIR has developed a
Lower Extremity Distance Learning program for prosthetic technicians in
Nicaragua which also includes a clinical component implements by a qualified
prosthetist who provides hands-on
training.[84]
The OAS, Landmine and Victim Assistance Program has provided over 409 people
who have no social security or army benefits, with transportation to a
rehabilitation center, lodging, food, prostheses, therapy, surgery and
medications. In 2001, 139 people received rehabilitative or specialized medical
attention through this
program.[85]
The OAS AICMA, in conjunction with the National Technological Institute of
Nicaragua (INATEC) and supported by Global Care Unlimited, a U.S. non-profit
organization established by a group of New Jersey students and teachers,
developed the Post-Rehabilitation Job Training Project. INATEC coordinated
training for 42 landmine survivors at national facilities in courses that
included auto mechanics, computer skills, carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, and
cooking.[86]
The joint Canada-Mexico-Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) tripartite
survivor assistance project continues in Nicaragua. The project supports
prosthetic-orthotic services, vocational training and placement programs for
persons with disabilities, and the integration of community-based rehabilitation
into the networks of primary health care
services.[87]
The Canadian NGO Falls Brook Centre continues to implement a survivor
assistance project in northern Nicaragua called Creating Energy and Building the
Future which provides landmine survivors with prostheses, if needed, and
training in solar electrification. Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) funding for the project ended in May 2001, and since then funding has
been provided by private donors and through small income generation activities
by the landmine survivors themselves, who sell and install solar energy systems
in rural areas. To July 2002, the project has provided 40 landmines survivors
with prostheses and other medical assistance, trained 25 landmine survivors in
solar energy technology, and provided solar electrification in 56 rural
communities. Falls Brook Centre is also in the second year of a CIDA-funded
Kitchen Garden project which assists landmine survivors in four rural
communities suffering from high levels of malnutrition, illiteracy and poverty.
The project involves organic food production including vegetables, small tree
nurseries, perennial plants, medicinal plants, small animal production, and
grains, in survivors own
backyards.[88]
Landmine survivor assistance programs in Nicaragua are reportedly not meeting
the needs of survivors. It is necessary to increase the physiotherapy and
orthopedic capacities of the Ministry of Health; to extend coverage of services;
to increase the prosthetic production capacity; and to ensure the organizational
and financial sustainability of these services in the medium and long term. In
addition, the reintegration of mine survivors is extremely complex in a poor
country like Nicaragua, where most of the population does not have access to the
labor market. The OAS/INATEC project will improve the situation, but it is far
from being able to respond to all
needs.[89]
DISABILITY POLICY AND PRACTICE
Law 202 on Prevention, Rehabilitation and
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, approved on 21 September 1995,
relates to social reintegration; and on 25 August 1997, Executive Decree
No.50-97 established the legal framework for improving the quality of life and
assuring the full integration of persons with disabilities into
society.[90]
Nicaragua was co-chair, with Japan, of the Standing Committee on Victim
Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration for the year to September 2001.
[1] Law for the Prohibition of Production,
Purchase, Sale, Import, Export, Transit, Use and Possession of Antipersonnel
Landmines, Law No. 321, published in the Official Gazette on 12 January 2000.
Article I of this law adds, “installation” to the prohibition on
antipersonnel mines. Article III states that the Armed Forces must destroy its
stockpiles in the “period determined by the relevant authorities.”
Article VI states that persons who violate the Law will be charged with
“exposing the public to danger,” and will be charged accordingly.
See “Prisión para vendedores de minas, “ Confidencial, No.
158, 5-11 September 1998, p. 5. [2]
Final Report, Third Meeting of State Parties, 10 January 2002. See
www.gichd.ch/mbc/all_meetings/3MSP. [3]
Statement by Mario H. Castellón, Alternate Permanent Representative of
Nicaragua to the United Nations, New York, 12 October
2001. [4] The US Department of Defense
and the Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored the conference. See
http://hdic.jmu.edu/conferences/latinamerica/. [5]
While the reporting period is not specified in either report, the first report
contained information as of 30 September 1999 and the second contained
information as of 20 April 2001. [6]
Centro de Estudios Internacionales, “Las minas antipersonales en
Nicaragua: Tercer Informe Independiente,” undated, 72-page
booklet. [7] Article 7 Report, Form E
and Form H, Point 1, 22 May 2002. [8]
Article 7 Report, Form B, 7 May
2001. [9] Moisés Martínez
and Herberto Jarquín, “Golpean al FUAC,” La Prensa (Managua),
10 November 2001; “‘Tyson’ se salva descalzo y armado
sólo de revólver,” El Nuevo Diario (Managua), 15 November
2001. It is not known if any charges were brought according to the domestic
legislation implementing the Mine Ban
Treaty. [10] Landmine Monitor (MAC)
interview with Danis Hernández, intersessional Standing Committee
meetings, Geneva, 28 May 2002. [11]
Roger Olivas, “Convivió 8 años con la muerte. Guardó
minas como ‘recuerdo,’” El Nuevo Diario, 6 April
2002. [12] For more detail, see Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 282. [13]
Article 7 Report, Form D, Table 3, 22 May
2002. [14] This includes 14,680 PMN;
9,843 PMN-2; 1,640 PP-Mi-Sr-II; 1,042 POMZ-2; and 16,108 POMZ-2M mines.
Article 7 Report, Introduction and Forms B and D, 22 May
2002. [15] “Declaran a Chinandega
territorio libre de minas,” La Prensa, 26 April 2002; Esteban Solis R.,
“Declarada Villanueva ‘libre de minas’,” El Nuevo
Diario, 26 April 2002. [16] Luis Felipe
Palacios, “Ejército destruye diez mil minas,” La Prensa, 21
June 2002; Vladimir López, “Ejército on amenaza en RAAN.
Destruyen 10 mil minas en la Escuela de Sargentos ‘Andrés
Castro,’” El Nuevo Diario, 21 June
2002. [17] Article 7 Report,
Introduction, 22 May 2002. [18] This
includes 500 PMN, 500 PMN-2, 100 PP-MiSr-II, 50 OZM-4, 50 PMFH, 100 POMZ-2, 500
POMZ-2M, 100 MON-50, 11 MON-100, and 10 MON-200 mines. Article 7 Report, Form
D, Table 1, 22 May 2002. [19] Article 7
Report, Form D, 22 May 2002. The OAS/IADB MARMINCA program is explained in a
later section. See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
358. [20] UNICEF, “Landmine and
Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in Nicaragua through Community
Liaison,” UN Portfolio of Mine-Related Projects, April 2001, p.
184. [21] Country report on Nicaragua,
United Nations Mine Action “Emine” website, last updated 2 May 2002,
www.mineaction.org (23 July 2002). [22]
Article 7 Report, Introduction, 22 May
2002. [23] Article 7 Report,
“Tasks carried out regarding IMSMA” Section, 22 May 2002, pp.
30-32. [24] Article 7 Report,
Introduction, 22 May 2002. [25] Ibid.;
see Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p.359. [26] Country report on Nicaragua,
United Nations Mine Action “Emine” website, last updated 2 May 2002,
www.mineaction.org (23 July 2002). [27]
See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 360. According to the Organization of
American States, based on over eight years of operational experience, the OAS
coordinated program requires approximately $400,000 to fund a front-sized unit
for each six-month period of field operations. Consequently, 6.5 fronts at
$800,000 per year over a five-year period (2000-2004), produced a general
requirement for approximately $26 to $27 million. (A front is a company-sized,
100 person unit). Letter to Landmine Monitor from Sergio Caramagna, Director,
OAS National Office in Nicaragua, 11 January 2001; Email to Landmine Monitor
(HRW) from William McDonough, Coordinator, PACDA, Organization of American
States, 26 July 2001. [28] In previous
years other donors to the program have included: Argentina, Austria, Denmark,
France, Germany, Honduras, and the Netherlands. “OAS Mine Action Program:
Statement of Contributions Received by December 2001, 1992-2001,”
Non-official table provided in email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Carl Case,
OAS, 18 June 2002. [29] See
“Proyecto de Resolución: Apoyo al Programa de Acción
Integral Contral las Minas Antipersonal en Centroamérica,” AG/doc
4094/02, 15 May 2002. Document prepared for the XXXII OAS General Assembly,
Bridgetown, Barbados,
http://www.oas.org/xxxiiga/espanol/documentos/docs_esp/AGdoc4094_02.htm. [30]
Col. William McDonough. “Report of the OAS-Mine Action Program to the
Committee on Hemispheric Security,” 14 March
2002. [31] Response by Sergio Caramagna,
Director, OAS National Office in Nicaragua, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire,
25 June 2002. [32] Information
provided to Landmine Monitor by Brigadier General César Delgadillo
Cardenal, Chief of the Operational and Planning Directorate of the Nicaraguan
Army, 14 March 2002. [33] Email to
Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Col. William McDonough, Coordinator, OAS PADCA, 5
August 2002. [34] Response by Minister
of Defense José Adán Guerra, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 28
June 2002. [35] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p.
37. [36] See United Nations Office for
Project Services (UNOPS) contribution to Landmine Monitor Report 2002
appendices. [37] Response to Landmine
Monitor questionnaire by Minister of Defense José Adán Guerra, 28
June 2002. [38] Response by Minister
of Defense José Adán Guerra, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 28
June 2002. [39] Geneva International
Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), Annual Report 2000, 25 April 2001;
also OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación
de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),”
CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1,7 May 2001. [40]
See Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) contribution
to Landmine Monitor Report 2002
appendices. [41]
Ibid. [42] Article 7 Report,
“Tasks carried out regarding IMSMA” Section, 22 May 2002,
pp.30-32. [43] Article 7 Report,
Introduction, 22 May 2002. [44] Letter
from Sergio Caramagna, Director, OAS National Office in Nicaragua, to Landmine
Monitor, 11 January 2001; email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Col. William
McDonough, Coordinator, OAS PADCA, 26 July
2001. [45] Article 7 Report, Form E,
“Cronograma de Operaciones de Desminado Proyectado para el Año
2002,” 22 May 2002, p.21-23. The independent unit functions in
operational fronts 3 and 5. [46] Article
7 Report, Form G, Table 2, p. 26, Table 2, p. 33, and Introduction, 22 May 2002;
Article 7 Report, 7 May 2001. Comparing the two reports, it also appears that
Nicaragua destroyed 8,894 mines, and cleared the areas around a hydroelectric
station, eight bridges, six high-tension electrical towers, and a landing strip
from April 2001-March 2002. [47] Article
7 Report, Form E, Table 3, p. 20; Form G, Table 2, p. 26, 22 May 2002. The
numbers reported in Table 3 do not seem to add up correctly, citing 211 square
meters cleared instead of 225. [48]
Article 7 Report, Form G, Table 2, p. 33, 22 May
2002. [49] See Nicaraguan Army,
“Statistical summary of national mine clearance from 1989 to 30 June
2002,” 28 June 2002. [50] Article
7 Report, Introduction, 22 May 2002; Article 7 Report, Introduction, 7 May
2001. [51] Article 7 Report,
Introduction, 22 May 2002. [52] Russell
Gasser, “Interview with an amateur deminer,” in “Landmines in
Central & South America,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 5.2, Summer
2001, p.46-48. [53] Landmine Monitor
interview with Sergio Caramagna, Director, OAS National Office in Nicaragua, 4
March 2002. [54] Article 7 Report, Form
I, 22 May 2002. [55]
Ibid. [56]
Ibid. [57] Comisión Nacional de
Desminado, “Memoria de Labores
2001.” [58] Country report on
Nicaragua, United Nations Mine Action “Emine” website, last updated
2 May 2002, www.mineaction.org (23 July
2002). [59] UN Mine Action, Portfolio of
Mine-related Projects: Nicaragua, updated 2 May 2002, checked 20 July
2002. [60]
Ibid. [61] International Committee of
the Red Cross contribution to Landmine Monitor Report 2002
appendices. [62] Interview with Uriel
Carazo, Joint Commission of Disabled Persons of Madriz, 1 July
2002. [63]
Ibid. [64] Country report on Nicaragua,
United Nations Mine Action “Emine” website, last updated 2 May 2002,
www.mineaction.org (23 July 2002). [65]
Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Danis Hernández, at the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Geneva, 28 May
2002. [66] IMSMA Web Services Country
Edition test in cooperation with Nicaragua. Presented at the Third Meeting of
States Parties, Managua, 18-21 September 2001. Accessed at
www.imsma.ethz.ch/en/project/countryedition.asp#reports (2 August
2002). [67] “Tres heridos en
explosión de mina,” La Prensa (Managua), 29 January
2001. [68] “Mina hiere a
zapador,” El Nuevo Diario (Managua), 16 September
2001. [69] OAS PADCA, Victims Report,
June 2002, accessed at http://www.oeadesminado.org.ni/reportes/junio.pdf (2
August 2002). [70] Interview with Sergio
Caramagna, Director, OAS National Office in Nicaragua, 4 March
2002. [71] Mario Sánchez P.,
“Mina destroza a sargento,” La Prensa (Managua) 4 June 2002;
“Un soldado muerto y tres heridos por explosión de mina en
Nicaragua,” El Colombiano (Medellín, Colombia) 4 June
2002. [72] OAS PADCA, Victims Report,
June 2002, accessed at http://www.oeadesminado.org.ni/reportes/junio.pdf (2
August 2002). [73] Statement by
José Adán Guerra, Minister of Defense, on the occasion of the XV
Meeting of the CND, 29 January
2001. [74] Response to Landmine Monitor
questionnaire by José Adán Guerra, Minister of Defense, 26
February 2002. [75] For details see
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
369. [76] Response to Landmine Monitor
questionnaire by José Adán Guerra, Minister of Defense, 26
February 2002. [77]
Ibid. [78] Comisión Nacional de
Desminado Humanitario, “Memorias de Labores
2001.” [79] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2001, p. 369; see also ICBL Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance
Programs, accessed at
www.landminevap.org. [80] UN Mine
Action, Portfolio of Mine-related Projects: Nicaragua, updated 2 May 2002,
checked 20 July 2002. [81] ICBL
Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs; see also Landmine Monitor
Report 2001, p. 370. [82]
“Víctima de mina recibió donación de niños
EEUU,” La Prensa/EFE (Managua), 8 March
2002. [83] “Ayudarán
más víctimas de minas antipersonales. Primera conferencia
regional de rehabilitación y technología,” El Nuevo Diario
(Managua), 19 June 2001. [84] ICBL
Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs; see also Landmine Monitor
Report 2001, p. 370. [85] Colonel
William McDonough. “Report of the OAS-Mine Action Program to the Committee
on Hemispheric Security,” 14 March 2002; see also ICBL Portfolio of
Landmine Victim Assistance
Programs. [86] Colonel William
McDonough. “Report of the OAS-Mine Action Program to the Committee on
Hemispheric Security,” 14 March
2002. [87] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 370. [88] Email to Landmine
Monitor (MAC) from Peter Sundberg, Project Coordinator, Falls Brook Centre,
Somoto, Nicaragua, 30 July 2002. [89]
Interview with Philippe Dicquemare, Program Director, Handicap International,
Managua, 14 March 2002. [90] Response to
Landmine Monitor questionnaire by José Adán Guerra, Minister of
Defense, 18 March 2002.
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