Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Pakistan has repeatedly stated that “Pakistan remains committed to pursue the objectives of a universal and non-discriminatory ban on anti-personnel mines in a manner which takes into account the legitimate defence requirements of States. Given our security compulsions and the need to guard our long borders, not protected by any natural obstacle, the use of landmines forms an important part of our self-defence strategy. As such, it is not possible for Pakistan to agree to the demands for the complete prohibition of anti-personnel landmines till such time that viable alternatives are available.”[1]

In November 2009, Pakistan reiterated its view that Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) had the capacity—if fully implemented—to minimize human suffering caused by mines, and that the protocol maintained “a delicate balance” between humanitarian concerns and security imperatives.[2]

Pakistan did not attend the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Cartagena, Colombia in November–December 2009, although it did participate as an observer at the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in November 2008.  It has not attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings since 2002.

On 2 December 2009, Pakistan abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 64/56 calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. It abstained on all previous annual UNGA resolutions in support of the treaty. 

Pakistan is party to the CCW and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Pakistan submitted an Article 10 transparency report in April 2010 as required under Protocol V, but has not submitted an Article 13 report as required under Amended Protocol II since 2008.

Use

The Pakistan army and security forces have been engaged in armed conflict with Pakistani Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Baloch insurgents in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), parts of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and in Balochistan province. While there is a widespread perception among local populations that Pakistani forces are laying mines to defend some military bases and outposts in these conflict areas, no one could provide Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor researchers with specific details and the Monitor has not been able to substantiate the allegations.[3] Moreover, the Monitor is unaware of any allegations carried in the media during 2009 and 2010 of use of antipersonnel mines by the army or security forces.

The last confirmed use of antipersonnel mines by Pakistan took place between December 2001 and mid-2002, during an escalation of tensions with India when it laid very large numbers of mines along their shared border.[4] Pakistan also maintains permanent minefields along certain portions of the Line of Control in Kashmir.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Pakistan is one of a small number of countries still producing antipersonnel mines.[5] Since January 1997, Pakistan Ordnance Factories has produced detectable versions of hand-emplaced blast mines in order to be compliant with CCW Amended Protocol II.[6] In 2007, Pakistan reported that it “has also planned incorporation of self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanism in its future production” in order to meet Amended Protocol II requirements.[7] The protocol requires that all remotely-delivered mines have self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanisms. Pakistan reported in 2002 that it was developing a remotely-delivered antipersonnel mine system, but has provided no further details.[8]

Pakistan’s Statutory Regulatory Order No. 123 (1) of 25 February 1999 makes the export of antipersonnel mines illegal.[9]The law penalizes importation of mines, but no data is available regarding whether people have been arrested or charged under this law. Pakistan states that it has not exported mines “since early 1992.”[10] In the past, the country was a major exporter of landmines. Pakistani-made mines have been found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.

There is no official information available on the size of Pakistan’s antipersonnel mine stockpile. Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor has estimated that Pakistan stockpiles at least six million antipersonnel mines, the fifth largest stockpile in the world.[11] Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied this estimate. In previous years, Pakistan reported that it destroyed “a large number of outdated mines every year,” but has not provided information about the quantity or types of mines destroyed.[12]  In 2007, Pakistan stated that it had “met the deadlines to improve the specifications on detectability of mines” to be compliant with CCW Amended Protocol II.[13]

Non-state armed groups

Non-state armed groups have sporadically used antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in attacks on Pakistani security forces and civil administration, and in sectarian, inter-tribal, and inter-family conflicts.[14] In November 2009, Pakistan stated that during “ongoing law enforcement operations” in Pakistan, “terrorists had on several occasions used mines and IEDs against army personnel and civilians.” It further claimed that those “devices had foreign imprints, confirming the link between terrorists and actors beyond the borders of Pakistan.”[15]

It appears that Baloch and Taliban groups continued to use antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, and IEDs in 2009 and 2010.[16] In June 2009, two residents of Sui district were killed when their motorcycle struck a landmine.[17] In February 2010, one member of the security forces was killed and two were injured after one of them stepped on a mine while on patrol outside Quetta.[18] In September 2009, two women and two children were killed and two others were injured while traveling in a bullock cart which hit a landmine in Dera Bugti district.[19]

In May 2009, a Pakistani army representative said that the army had encountered victim-activated IEDs and factory-made antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in the Swat Valley in the NWFP, which it attributed to the Pakistani Taliban and “foreign elements.”[20] In August 2009, a resident of Kabal in Swat died after reportedly stepping on a mine.[21] In September 2009, two boys were killed after they reportedly stepped on mines in Tank in the NWFP.[22]

Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor has previously provided anecdotal evidence of mine use by militants in both North and South Waziristan. While armed conflict has escalated in those areas since the Pakistani government launched an offensive on Pakistani Taliban, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor cannot document a specific instance of new use. However, antipersonnel mines have been seized from militants, and deaths and injuries to mines have occurred. For example, in November 2009, in South Waziristan, the army and police recovered antipersonnel mines among other weaponry,[23] and in January 2010, two people were injured by a mine in Bajaur agency.[24]

Policy

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In February 2009, Pakistan said that it is “supporting international efforts to address the humanitarian concerns arising from the irresponsible use of cluster munitions,” but that “in view of Pakistan’s security environment and legitimate defence needs, we do not support a ban on use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions due to their military utility.”[1] In November 2009, Pakistan again asserted that cluster munitions are legitimate weapons with military utility, but said that Pakistan was opposed to their use against civilians.[2]

Pakistan did not participate in any of the Oslo Process diplomatic conferences in 2007 and 2008 that produced the convention, and did not attend any of the regional or international diplomatic meetings related to the convention in 2009 or the first half of 2010.[3]

Pakistan is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Pakistan is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and it consented to be bound by Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 3 February 2009.

Pakistan has asserted that the CCW framework “is the only mechanism that brings the users and producers of cluster munitions and promoters of development and application of IHL [international humanitarian law] on one common platform.”[4] It has also said that it “is important to avoid encouraging extra-UN mechanisms” and that the Convention on Cluster Munitions “should supplement and not supplant the CCW process.”[5]

Pakistan has been an active participant in the CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in recent years. In April 2009, it expressed satisfaction with progress made, and optimism that states are at a point where they can “conclude something.”[6] In April 2010, it called on states to “focus on the irresponsible use and transfer of cluster munitions.” It opposed proposals to limit cluster munitions “through a technological approach,” stating that such an approach “will affect 100 percent” of Pakistan’s stockpiles. It said that a transition period before key provisions take effect is essential.[7]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Pakistan states that it has “never used cluster munitions in any conflict to date.”[8]

Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) produces and offers for export M483A1 155mm artillery projectiles containing 88 M42/M46 dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) grenades.[9] The South Korean company Poongsan entered into a licensed production agreement with POF in November 2004 to co-produce K-310 155mm extended-range DPICM projectiles in Pakistan at Wah Cantonment. While the ammunition is being produced for Pakistan’s army, the two firms have said they will also co-market the projectiles to export customers.[10] The Pakistani army took delivery of the first production lots in April 2008.[11]

Jane’s Information Group reports that the Pakistan Air Weapons Center produces the Programmable Submunitions Dispenser (PSD-1), which is similar to the United States Rockeye cluster bomb, and dispenses 225 anti-armor submunitions.[12] Jane’s states that the Pakistan National Development Complex produces and markets the Hijara Top-Attack Submunitions Dispenser (TSD-1) cluster bomb.[13] It lists Pakistan’s Air Force as possessing BL-755 cluster bombs.[14] The US transferred to Pakistan 200 Rockeye cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[15]

Contamination and Impact

Pakistan is affected by landmines and other ordnance from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979–1989) and three wars with India. However, districts bordering Afghanistan are affected mainly by varied contamination, including not only mines, but also UXO and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from more recent conflicts.

Mines

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, mines were scattered by Soviet forces from helicopters in areas along the border with Afghanistan, some of which landed in Pakistan. In addition, the mujahideen used mines to protect their bases in the tribal areas.[1] There is also mine contamination from Pakistan’s wars with India and from more recent tribal and sectarian conflict, which has involved increasing use of IEDs.[2]

Pakistan has repeatedly affirmed that it “faces no problem of un-cleared mines; hence no casualties were caused accidentally.”[3] It has also stated “mines have never caused humanitarian concerns in Pakistan.”[4] However, Pakistan’s Article 13 annual report submitted in 2007 under Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) stated that “in the area adjoining Pakistan-Afghanistan border, sometimes mines are encountered, but these are mines left by the former Soviet troops.”[5]It also noted that “Existing perimeter marking signs have been painted and marked according to [Amended Protocol] AP-II standards,” acknowledging that some mined areas remained.[6] More recent evidence that Pakistan is affected by both mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) includes mine/ERW casualties recorded during 2009 and 2010 (see Casualties and Victim Assistance section of this Country Profile).[7]

No estimate exists of the extent of residual contamination, but increasing conflict between the government and non-state armed groups in 2009 and 2010 has reportedly resulted in new mine use. Human Rights Watch cited residents of Mingora in the Swat Valley as saying the Taliban had placed mines in the town as the army embarked on its offensive to drive them out of the area in May 2009.[8] Reports from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan point to continued use of landmines in 2010 as an offensive weapon in tribal and sectarian conflicts.[9]

During field research in 2010 in North and South Waziristan, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor was told by both local elders and journalists, as well as by officials and NGO representatives, that the Pakistani Taliban and other non-state armed groups have continued to use former mujahideen bases, and that the area around these camps was contaminated with mines emplaced by non-state armed groups, as well as by mines dating back to the Afghan-Soviet war. Inhabitants of these tribal areas said mine incidents were still occurring, but did not provide specific casualty data.[10] In Kurram agency on the border with Afghanistan, community-based organizations report six to seven mine and UXO incidents per month.[11]

Pakistan has previously declared that mines it laid on the Indo-Pakistan border during the 2001–2002 stand-off with India “have been completely cleared.”[12] It has also claimed that “minefields laid along the Line of Control (LoC) are properly fenced and clearly marked to impose requisite caution on civilians living in the surrounding areas.”[13] However, inhabitants of Pakistani-administered Kashmir report consistently that some areas along the LoC are still contaminated and have not been properly fenced by the militaries of either India or Pakistan.[14] Inhabitants of Garhi Sher Khan in Poonch district, for example, informed Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that villages on both sides of the LoC were contaminated by mines and ERW, and that rainfall caused mines to drift onto the Pakistani side of the border from higher areas on the Indian side.[15]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

According to Pakistan’s latest transparency report submitted under Article 10 of CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war there are no ERW in Pakistan.[16] NGOs operating in northwestern districts, however, report an ERW threat to communities from UXO, which includes mortars, artillery shells, hand-grenades, IEDs, and rocket-propelled grenades.[17] It is not known whether contamination includes cluster munition remnants.

Mine Action Program

Pakistan has no formal civilian mine action program. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed plans in 2007 to establish a Training Center for Demining and Awareness to act as a mine action center for operations in Pakistan and overseas, and to provide mine/ERW risk education (RE) in affected areas of Pakistan. However, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine Monitor in April 2009 that the ministry had made no progress with this initiative.[18]

An Inter Services Public Relations representative told Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor that Pakistani military engineering units are responsible for mine clearance in contaminated conflict zones.[19] The Frontier Constabulary (FC) also says it conducts mine clearance in contaminated areas of Balochistan, FATA, and other conflict zones in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The army provided clearance training and mine detectors to the FC.[20]

Mine clearance in 2009

The army was reported to have conducted demining operations in the area of Chamalang in Balochistan in 2009, clearing antivehicle and other unspecified mines.[21] Army engineers and Pakistan’s FC are said also to have also undertaken demining operations in FATA and the Swat Valley in 2009.[22] No further details on these clearance operations were available as of June 2010.

Other Risk Reduction Measures

Pakistan has no strategic framework for RE. In its Article 13 report submitted in 2007, Pakistan stated that its army engineers were educating people in the “border belt regarding the hazards posed by mines.”[23] However, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor field research and interviews with aid workers, activists, and journalists did not identify any measures by local authorities in border areas to protect civilians from mines.[24]

Since July 2009, UNICEF has supported a Pakistani NGO, the Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (SPADO), and other NGOs in developing and implementing RE activities in Malakand division and other conflict-affected areas in the northwest. After an initial training jointly conducted by UNICEF and Handicap International (HI), NGOs received technical assistance through a coordination mechanism that meets monthly.  The project has included the development of RE materials.[25]

HI started an emergency RE program for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the NWFP in August 2009, funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Office initially for six months, but this funding was later extended. The program, comprising a manager and eight agents, delivered RE to 1.5 million IDPs in refugee camps and temporary schools, mainly in Mardi and Swabi districts but also in Swat and Buner. The program distributed RE materials and prepared radio spots and messages broadcast on local radio and cable television.[26]

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) started community-based RE in March 2009 in partnership with SPADO and as of June 2010 was operating 15 four-person teams, including three all-women teams, in four districts of Buner, Dir, Shangla, and Swat.[27] In five months (through June 2010), FSD reported that the program had conducted 3,869 RE sessions, reaching some 419,271 people. As a result of its RE, 228 items of UXO had been reported to the military for destruction.[28]

Mines Advisory Group (MAG) started an RE project in Pakistan in March 2010, also in partnership with SPADO. MAG provided RE training for SPADO staff as a first step towards training community personnel in the FATA and the NWFP. The initial project was due to run for five months up to August 2010, but MAG planned to apply for an extension.[29]

Casualties

Casualties in 2009

In 2009, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor identified 421 casualties from antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Pakistan.[1] Adult men (327, or 78%) continued to make up the largest casualty group; nearly a third of adult male casualties (103) were security forces. Fifty-seven child casualties were identified (39 killed and 18 injured); 36 were boys and 21 were girls. The vast majority of casualties (310) occurred in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), followed by 107 in Balochistan.[2] Victim-activated IEDs caused nearly half of all casualties, killing 82 people, including 15 children, and injuring 108 people.

There was a 23% increase in casualties from 2008 to 2009. While a lack of complete casualty information makes it difficult to confirm trends, this increase could be attributed to the upsurge in fighting, particularly in the tribal areas and in the NWFP throughout 2009.[3] While IEDs (including some that were victim-activated) and mines were mainly used to target military convoys and law enforcement agencies, their use in roads and areas with civilians contributed to the high rate (321 of 421, or 76%) of civilian casualties.[4]

The total number of casualties in Pakistan is not known and there is no official data collection mechanism. In 2010, for the first time, the government reported that there were no ERW casualties in Pakistan,[5] though between 1999 and 2009, Landmine Monitor identified at least 2,390 casualties  (917 persons killed, 1,378 injured, and 95 unknown) from victim-activated explosives, including ERW, through media monitoring, field visits, and information provided by service providers.[6]

Victim Assistance

There are at least 1,378 mine/ERW survivors in Pakistan; there are no specific victim assistance programs. No efforts were identified in 2009 to assess survivors’ needs.[7]  

Victim assistance coordination

Pakistan does not have any specific coordination mechanisms or national plans for mine/ERW victim assistance. The Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and the National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons are responsible for disability issues and specifically the implementation of the 1981 law for the employment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities and the 2002 National Policy for Persons with Disabilities.[8]

No information was available as to whether or not mine/ERW survivors were included in government coordination, implementation, or monitoring of disability plans.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2009[9]

The continued and intensifying conflict throughout 2009 in mine-affected regions of the country prevented survivors from accessing needed services because of insecure travel conditions.[10] It also caused some non-governmental service providers to cease operations, while others, including the ICRC and HI, expanded services in an attempt to meet the increasing demand.[11] The ICRC was unable to consistently supply health centers or provide planned staff trainings at some partner health and rehabilitation centers in Balochistan and parts of the NWFP and FATA because of security conditions.[12]

While the government reported that there are systems in place to provide free medical support, employment, and monetary compensation for both mine and ERW survivors and families of those killed,[13] field research in March 2010 confirmed a continuing lack of the necessary emergency and continuing medical care services in mine-affected areas of Balochistan, FATA, and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.[14] The provincial government of the NWFP reported having provided financial assistance to the survivors for health and physical rehabilitation services.[15]

Military hospitals provided better medical care to mine/ERW casualties than civilian hospitals but, with some exceptions in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, civilians were unable to access these services.[16]

As part of HI’s emergency relief program launched in June 2009, psychosocial support was provided to persons with disabilities and other vulnerable persons in internally displaced persons camps.[17] While the ICRC continued providing small grants and business training through the Muzaffarabad Physical Rehabilitation Centre,[18] most activities were focused on emergency relief and medical care.

The law provides for equality of the rights of persons with disabilities, though there was a lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms.[19] In August 2009, the government began issuing national identity cards for persons with disabilities to help them access benefits and introduced reduced rates for mass transportation.[20]

Pakistan signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 25 September 2008, but had not yet ratified it as of 20 July 2010.

In 2009, three donors contributed US$1,848,483 for risk education activities. The European Commission (EC) provided €1,266,275 ($1,764,554) to the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action; UNICEF provided PKR3,636,900 ($44,734) to the national NGO Sustainable Peace and Development Organization, and Sweden provided SEK300,000 ($39,195) to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency.[1]

International contributions: 2009