Mine ban policy overview

Policy

Lebanon has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, but indicated in December 2009 that it intends to do so.  Lebanon participated as an observer in the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, where its representative told States Parties that Lebanon “hopes to sign…in the future,” and it “looks forward to joining the Mine Ban Treaty.”[1]

Lebanon’s leadership role in promoting the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions appears to have had a positive impact on its position on the Mine Ban Treaty.  Lebanon had long said that it was unable to join the treaty due to the continuing conflict with Israel, and that the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah heightened concerns about the security of its southern border.[2]

In counterpoint to its remarks at the Second Review Conference on 4 December 2009, just two days earlier Lebanon was one of only 18 nations to abstain from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 64/56, which called for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.[3] In explaining its vote, Lebanon said it respected the treaty, but had not acceded due to self-defense concerns emanating from Israel’s “aggression.”[4]

Lebanon attended the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2010, but did not provide an update on its progress toward joining the treaty.

 Lebanon is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, use, and stockpiling

In December 2009, Lebanon confirmed that it “has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.”[5] There have been no allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines or antipersonnel mine-like devices in Lebanon since 2006 and 2007.[6]

The Lebanese Armed Forces stockpiles an unknown number of antipersonnel mines. In March 2008, the director of the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) said that the stockpile consists of a small quantity of mines, which he described as being lower than the maximum number permitted by the Mine Ban Treaty for training purposes.[7]

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Lebanon signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008.

On 3 August 2010, Lebanon wrote to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, “The Lebanese Government has already endorsed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the very first constitutional step in the process of ratification. The draft legislation has also been forwarded by the Cabinet to the Parliament for final adoption; however, it is still under discussion within the competent parliamentarian committees.”[1]

The Cabinet approved ratification of the convention on 21 April 2010.[2] At the International Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Santiago, Chile on 9 June 2010, Ambassador Najla Riachi Assaker informed other states that Parliament would enact the necessary ratification legislation shortly.[3] Parliamentary approval was expected in June, but has been delayed at the request of some political parties that indicated they need more time.[4]

Lebanon told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that the government “has not decided yet on the mandate and the shape of the body that will oversee the implementation of the [convention]. The inter-ministerial committee is only one among other feasible alternatives. Pending a decision on this matter, the Lebanese Mine Action Center…is coping with the cluster munition contamination alongside other related activities.” [5]

Lebanon has remained actively engaged in the work of the convention. At the conference in Santiago in June 2010, Lebanon also spoke of the need to sustain the partnership of affected and non-affected states, and the importance of NGOs. [6] Lebanon participated in the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions in June 2009, where it called upon “all countries stockpiling cluster munitions to start without delay destroying their stockpiles, pending the entry into force of the [Convention on Cluster Munitions].”[7]

Lebanon was actively engaged from the very beginning of the diplomatic Oslo Process in 2007 and 2008 that produced the convention. The large-scale use of cluster munitions by Israel on the territory of Lebanon during the 2006 war with Hezbollah contributed greatly to the sense of humanitarian urgency that underpinned the Oslo Process.[8] Lebanon participated in the international preparatory conferences in Oslo, Lima, Vienna, and Wellington, the formal negotiations in Dublin, and the regional conference in Belgrade for affected countries. Lebanon hosted the Beirut Regional Conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions from 11–12 November 2008.

Throughout the Oslo Process, Lebanon consistently argued that humanitarian protection should be given primacy in the development of the conventions provisions. On adopting the convention in Dublin in May 2008, Lebanon saw it as ushering in a new approach to international law “that put humanitarian concerns at the very centre.” Lebanon transmitted a message of sincere thanks from the individuals and communities affected by cluster munitions to the states that had worked together to adopt the convention.[9]

Lebanon has provided interpretive statements on a number of important provisions in the convention. These include that the prohibition on transfer of cluster munitions includes also a prohibition on “transit;” that foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions is prohibited; that financing and investment in cluster munition production or transfer is prohibited; and that Article 1 of the convention takes precedence over Article 21, so that “States Parties must never undertake any act that could constitute deliberate assistance with a prohibited act.”[10]

Lebanon is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

The National Committees for Mine Risk Education and Mine Victim Assistance in Lebanon and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) declared 10–16 August 2009 as a week of solidarity with the victims of mines and cluster bombs. Candlelight vigils, a Scouts’ march, and awareness campaigns were held throughout Lebanon, calling upon the government to rapidly ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[11]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Lebanon has stated that it has never used, produced, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[12] 

In 2006, Hezbollah fired more than 100 Chinese-produced Type-81 122mm cluster munition rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.[13] The source for these 122mm cluster munition rockets fired by Hezbollah is not known.

Cluster munitions were used in Lebanon by Israel in 1978, 1982, and 2006.^[14] United States Navy aircraft dropped 12 CBU-59 and 28 Rockeye bombs against Syrian air defense units near Beirut during an armed intervention in December 1983.^[15]

Contamination and Impact

Lebanon is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), especially cluster munition remnants, as a legacy of 15 years of civil conflict, which ended in 1990, and from conflicts with Israel. The July–August 2006 conflict with Israel resulted in heavy new contamination in southern Lebanon.[1] According to the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) conducted in 2002–2003 and revised estimates by the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC), 165km² of area was suspected to be contaminated with landmines. As of February 2010, 91km² had been cleared or otherwise released leaving 74km² of suspected mined areas.[2] This is the same figure reported in 2009, as clearance efforts focused on cluster munition contaminated areas.[3] 

Number of suspected hazardous areas as of 31 December 2009[4]

* LMAC defines a mined area as an area considered dangerous due to the presence or suspected presence of mines and a minefield is an area containing mines with or without patterns.[5] The precise distinction between the two remains unclear.

Mines

The landmine problem remains primarily in the south, along the UN-delineated Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon. There are believed to be some 375,000 mines remaining, mostly antipersonnel.[6] The mines have been laid up to about 3km inside Lebanese territory, covering an area of more than 7km².[7]

There are also minefields in Batroun, Chouf, Jbeil, and Jezzine; north of the Litani river; in the Bekaa valley; and across Mount Lebanon, left from various civil conflicts since the 1970s. Most of these areas were identified during the 2002–2003 LIS. LMAC, however, was surveying additional suspected areas that were not identified during the LIS.[8]

All known mined areas are said to be marked.[9]

Cluster munition remnants

Cluster munition contamination originates primarily from Israel’s bombing of Lebanon in July–August 2006, as well as from conflict in the 1980s.[10] As of June 2010, LMAC estimated that 23km² of contaminated areas remained.[11]

The remaining area to be cleared at the end of 2009 was approximately 23km²,[12] a significant increase from the estimated 16km² remaining at the end of 2008 and despite clearance of 4.6km² in 2009. The increase is the result of re-surveying the contaminated areas, and the transmission of Israeli data in May 2009.[13] This data indicated 282 potential strike locations that had not previously been identified, of which 166 are north of, and the other 116 south of, the Litani river.[14]

The projected end date for clearing all unexploded submunitions has been postponed on several occasions since 2006. The UN had originally indicated that all cluster munitions would be cleared by the end of 2007 but then revised the completion date to 2008.[15] In February 2010, LMAC said it planned to complete cluster munition clearance by 2011 and mine clearance by 2013, if sufficient funding was available.[16] The postponement of planned clearance completion dates was said by LMAC to be a result of the increased estimations of remaining contaminated areas, as well as inadequate funding.[17]

A study of the economic impact of cluster munition contamination in Lebanon found that two-thirds of the area affected in 2006 was agricultural, representing close to 5% of all agricultural land in southern Lebanon. It estimated current and projected losses of agricultural production would total between US$22.6 million and $26.8 million.[18]

Strike data was eventually received from the Israelis on 14 May 2009,[19] and despite its value in determining affected areas, it was criticized by LMAC for being provided too late.[20] According to the head of LMAC, if the information had been provided earlier, more lives might have been saved.[21]

Other explosive remnants of war

Isolated ERW can be found across the country, but the most affected area has been in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in the north. [22]

In May 2007, fighting between the Lebanese army and non-state armed group Fatah al-Islam in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp resulted in UXO contamination and the laying of booby-traps and antivehicle mines by Fatah al-Islam. There are two areas to the camp, the middle part, and the outer perimeter, called the primes. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) cleared the primes, and Handicap International (HI) has been clearing the inner area since November 2008. It is planned that once clearance is completed, the area will be covered with one meter depth of soil, and homes for the displaced Palestinian refugee population will then be built.

As of February 2010, the middle of the camp was sealed off, and only the LAF, HI, rubble removing contractors, UN agencies, and the Department of Antiquities were allowed inside. All of the population of the camp has been displaced and the camp remained empty as of May 2010.[23]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The Lebanese Mine Action Authority (LMAA), an interministerial body established in 1998 by the Council of Ministers, is chaired by the Minister of Defense. The LMAA is responsible for the Lebanon National Mine Action Program. LMAC, under the command of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the LAF, is the coordinating body for all mine action in Lebanon and is responsible for implementing and coordinating the mine action program.[24]

Since the beginning of 2009, LMAC has been responsible for the management of mine action throughout Lebanon. The Mine Action Coordination Center South Lebanon (MACC-SL) was handed over from the UN to the Lebanese government and became the Regional Mine Action Center (RMAC) in January 2009.[25] LMAC is supported through a UNDP Chief Technical Advisor.[26] 

The RMAC is based in Nabatiye. It was set up as planned in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support capacity-building with the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC). The MoU formally ended on 13 December 2008, but UNMACC continued to provide equipment and six civilian employees for six months in 2009.[27] UNMACC is responsible for operational support to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) contribution to demining and battle area clearance.[28]

The 2008–2012 national strategy (End State Strategy) provides 12 implementation guidelines and direction for associated long-term and annual plans. It assumes with sufficient funding cluster munitions can be cleared over the next few years at which time all clearance assets can return to clearing known mined areas where they had been assigned prior to 2006.[29]  These plans will be revised at the end of 2010.[30]

The major challenge to clearance in Lebanon is said to be sustaining funding.[31]

Land Release

LMAC, through the LAF, conducts land release or cancelation by survey only of areas identified as suspected areas in the LIS. Areas contaminated with cluster munitions are not released through survey.[32] The small amount of mined area released reflects Lebanon’s national priorities since 2006. In 2009, only Mines Advisory Group (MAG) reported having mine clearance capacity among its clearance teams.[33] The decline in clearing areas affected by cluster munitions is the direct consequence of decreased funding since 2007 from international donors.[34]

Five-year summary of land release[35]

Survey in 2009

The LAF was solely responsible for surveys in 2009.[36] Demining NGOs and UNIFIL do not have formal survey capacity.[37] The area released in the table below refers to mined areas identified during the LIS.[38]

In February 2010, LMAC trained additional LAF personnel on how to conduct technical survey so that the LAF could add three technical survey teams to its existing demining capacity.[39]

Survey in 2009[40]

Mine clearance in 2009

In 2009, UNIFIL conducted mine clearance to establish a visible border between Israel and Lebanon along the Blue Line. Approximately 500 points along the border have been identified and require the erection of a Blue Barrel marker.[41] During clearance, UNIFIL cleared 119,538m², and found and destroyed 347 antipersonnel mines, five antivehicle mines, 268 items of UXO, and 539 unexploded submunitions.[42]

Minefields north of the road have been approved for clearance, and will result in clearing approximately 50,000 mines covering 1.9km² based on minefield data and maps made available by the Israeli Defense Forces in 2009. Clearing the roads will open the access road to the Blue Line, allow UNIFIL to patrol, and the Lebanese army to monitor and observe the Blue Line.[43] MAG was asked to support the project because UNIFIL does not have mechanical demining assets. Up to 20 villages will benefit from the clearance north of the Blue Line.[44]

In 2009, MAG also continued its demining activities in the Chouf mountains in Mount Lebanon district with one demining team, and cleared 15,559m².[45] Swedish Civilian Contingency Agencies (MSB), formerly Swedish Rescue Services Agency, cleared 50,038m² in 2009 before they closed their operations in September 2009.[46]

Mine clearance in 2009[47]

Clearance of cluster munition contaminated areas in 2009

Three international NGOs, UNIFIL, and two national demining operators cleared unexploded submunitions in 2009. As of February 2010, the combined capacity to clear unexploded submunitions was 27 teams, making a total of 276 personnel, compared with 114 teams in 2007.[48] Over the course of 2009, the total number of teams declined as funding was reduced, and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), MSB, and BACTEC Group left the country.[49]

Some of the decrease in capacity was reversed when a national NGO, Peace Generation Organization for Demining (PGOD), was established in September 2009. It works in partnership with the Iranian organization, Immen Sazan Omran Pars (ISOP), and is funded by the government of Iran from a general fund for reconstruction in Lebanon.[50]  PGOD started with two teams, and by February 2010 had expanded to six teams with plans to further increase its capacity in 2010.[51] LMAC accredited PGOD and tasks them for clearance across all areas of south Lebanon. [52]

DanChurchAid began in 2009 with five teams, which they reduced to two by the end of the year due to lack of funding. They worked in southeast Lebanon.[53] The majority of MAG’s clearance teams conducted battle area clearance in Nabatiye district.[54] Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) has four teams, one of which is all female.[55]

Clearance of cluster munitions remnants in 2009[56]

Battle area clearance in 2009

HI continued clearance operations in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2009. HI teams consist of “searchers,” which go through the area in 10cm sections, and then remove the rubble to another site to be crushed. As of February 2010 and since October 2008, HI had found 12,500 items, including bombs, booby-traps, mortars, grenades, and AK-47 bullets. They also found 12 antipersonnel mines on the former frontline (between Areas 0 and 1, near the north entrance of the camp), a number of booby-trapped antivehicle mines, used by Fatah al-Islam, and four large air-dropped bombs used by the LAF. The LAF provided maps to HI showing where approximately 20 bombs, of which two were 400kg and the others 250kg, had been dropped. HI has also found munition bunkers, which they handed over to the LAF for clearance. After clearance, the bunkers were buried in a landfill.[57]

HI was also conducting clearance and visual searches to support archeological teams digging in Roman ruins in the camp.[58]

Community liaison

RMAC has three military and four civilian community liaison officers, who work to collect information from impacted communities, report on incidents, and coordinate with the clearance operators.[59] 

UNIFIL has a national Community Liaison officer.[60] NGOs also have their own community liaison capacity and work closely with the LMAC community liaison teams. [61]

Quality management

NGOs have their own internal quality assurance systems, based on the International Mine Action Standards.[62] LMAC and RMAC quality assure all areas cleared by the clearance operators, and it is reported by one operator that the system works well.[63]

Quality assurance and accreditation of UNIFIL’s work is done jointly with the LAF in the UNMACC office in Naquora.[64]

Safety of demining personnel

MAG had two demining accidents in early 2009; in both cases a deminer was injured by the explosion of a submunition.[65]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

LMAC coordinates and supervises mine/ERW risk education (RE), which is conducted by national NGOs. A National Steering Committee on Mine Risk Education represents the various professional and political groups in the country, and the members work in the communities they represent. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Affairs are also members.[66] Oversight of RE is conducted by LMAC, which conducts weekly field visits,[67] and the Landmine Resource Center.[68] As a result of LMAC policy, only national NGOs conduct RE, although NPA provides financial support to national NGOs for RE.[69]

UNICEF did not support RE programs in 2009. UNICEF discontinued its support when the emergency/recovery program launched in 2006 ended in December 2008.[70]

Casualties

Casualties in 2009

In 2009, 33 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were identified in Lebanon.  All casualties were male, including four boys (one boy killed and three injured).^[1] Cluster munition remnants caused the greatest number of casualties (17), followed by unknown devices.^[2] Demining accidents accounted for five casualties. All demining casualties were injured by unexploded submunitions, including one member of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) French battalion,^[3] two Mines Advisory Group (MAG) deminers,^[4] and two deminers from the Lebanese Armed Forces Engineering Regiment.^[5] 

The 33 casualties in 2009 is an increase from the 28 casualties reported by Landmine Monitor in 2008, but is significantly lower than the 130 casualties recorded for 2007.^[6] In November 2009, the UN found that there had been a “significant reduction of new victims” since the dramatic increase in casualties immediately after the 2006 conflict.^[7] As in previous years, most casualties were adult men, followed by boys.^[8]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Lebanon recorded from 1975 to June 2009 was 3,857 (960 killed and 2,897 injured).^[9] Updated figures were not available as of February 2010 since the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) had not finished verifying existing casualty data, a process that was ongoing throughout 2009.^[10] As of November 2009, at least 690 cluster munition casualties had been identified, most of which were believed to be included in the total casualty figure provided by LMAC. Most of these casualties were caused by unexploded submunitions.  Reporting on casualties that occurred during cluster munition use was scant; only 16 (3 killed; 13 injured) were identified.^[11]

Victim Assistance

There are at least 2,897 mine/ERW survivors in Lebanon.^[12]

Survivor needs

In 2009, LMAC collected detailed information about the needs of survivors injured between July 2006 and the end of 2009 as part of ongoing casualty data verification. LMAC, with the involvement of National Steering Committee on Victim Assistance members, collected and shared information about victim assistance services received, and those still needed, by survivors and families.^[13] Most service providers on the Steering Committee also reported conducting needs assessments for beneficiaries who registered with them in 2009.^[14]

Victim assistance coordination^[15]

In January 2009, LMAC assumed full responsibility for victim assistance coordination in Lebanon.^[16] The National Steering Committee on Victim Assistance provided a forum for the exchange of information regarding victim assistance services and new casualties. In 2009, it met as needed.^[17] 

Efforts to implement victim assistance objectives included in LMAC’s Long Term Plan were limited due to a lack of funding and staff time dedicated to victim assistance.^[18] The first phase of the casualty data verification and the development of guidelines for victim assistance were completed in 2009, but no progress was recorded in developing a five-year victim assistance plan or an evaluation and monitoring system for victim assistance.^[19]

Survivor inclusion

Survivors were included in the National Steering Committee on Victim Assistance, as representatives of NGO service providers.^[20] In addition, some victim assistance NGOs had survivors in management positions and many had survivors involved in planning activities.^[21]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2009^[22]

There were no significant changes to the availability or quality of services and assistance to mine/ERW survivors in 2009, despite a perceived decline in available funding for victim assistance since 2008.^[23] All fifteen member organizations of the National Steering Committee on Victim Assistance provided a range of victim assistance services, including medical attention, physical rehabilitation, psychosocial support, and economic inclusion, continuing existing programs with similar numbers of beneficiaries.^[24]  Two representatives from victim assistance NGOs noted an increased capacity within the NGO sector, one noting improvements in the implementation of services since 2001.^[25] While victim assistance suffered from a “chronic lack of funds” in 2009,^[26] it was reported that all survivors were “getting their basic needs met.”^[27]

Discrimination against persons with disabilities was prohibited by law, but the law was only partially implemented.^[28] Provisions regarding employment quotas and building accessibility codes, among others, lacked enforcement.^[29]

Lebanon signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 14 June 2007, but had not yet ratified it as of 8 July 2010.

In 2009 the government of Lebanon contributed US$6.5 million to mine action for personnel from the Lebanese Armed Forces, vehicles including fuel and maintenance, communications, and medical care.[1]

In May 2010 the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) and Blom Bank, one of Lebanon’s largest banks, launched an innovative national fundraising effort that will earn LMAC a percentage of each national and international transaction with a Blom MasterCard Giving Affinity credit card.[2] General Mohamed Fehmi, LMAC’s Director stated, “This initiative will not only contribute materially to resolving the problem of landmines, but it will also raise the awareness of the Lebanese public and show international donors that the Lebanese private sector is also doing its part in this important effort.”[3]

Contributions from 12 international donors[4] and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) totaled $21,210,204, a decrease of $6.6 million, or 24%, from 2008. The United States and Norway contributed a combined $10,374,632 while Belgium’s €3,032,000 ($4,225,092) contribution was for a demining team with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. The US and Canada contributed $1,344,164 for victim assistance.

The UNRWA supports demining and explosive ordnance disposal at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp for Palestinians in partnership with Handicap International (HI).[5]

International contributions: 2009[6]

Summary of contributions: 2005–2009[7]

N/R=not reported