Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

Policy

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)[1] signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 8 September 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. On 29 December 2004, parliament approved a law amending the criminal code to apply penal sanctions for violations of the treaty.[2]

BiH submitted its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, covering calendar year 2010. It used voluntary Form J to provide additional information on casualties, mine clearance, and victim assistance. BiH submitted eleven previous Article 7 reports.[3]

BiH attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, where it made a statement on its progress since being granted a mine clearance deadline extension and a statement on victim assistance. BiH also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011, making statements on victim assistance, as well as providing an update on mine clearance.

BiH is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. BiH is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It submitted an annual report as required by Article 13 in 2009.  BiH is also party to Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Production, transfer, illegal stores, and use

BiH has stated that production of antipersonnel mines ceased by 1995.[4] It has reported on the conversion of production facilities.[5] BiH is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines.

In past years, authorities on numerous occasions found illegal stores of mines, but none have been explicitly reported since 2006.[6]  In addition, nearly 40,000 mines were collected from the population under Operation Harvest until 2006.[7]

After BiH joined the treaty, the Monitor noted several cases of mine use in criminal activities, but no such incidents have been reported since 2003.[8]

Stockpile destruction and retention

BiH declared completion of its antipersonnel mine stockpile destruction program in November 1999, with a total of 460,727 mines destroyed.[9] This number has been amended annually since 2003, increasing each year to a total of 513,844 mines in BiH’s Article 7 report covering calendar year 2010.[10] No explanation has been given by BiH for these changes. Presumably, they result from newly discovered stocks, mines turned in by the population, or illegal mines seized from criminal elements.[11]

In September 2006, BiH reported that it had discovered more than 15,000 MRUD (Claymore-type) directional fragmentation mines during inspections of weapon storage sites.[12] It said that although the mines were not specifically prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty, BiH had made a decision to destroy the mines for humanitarian reasons as well as to show its commitment to the aims of the treaty.[13] BiH reported that, as of April 2007, about 5,000 mines had been destroyed, with the intention to complete destruction in May 2007, but it has not provided information on completion.[14]

Mines retained for research and training

At the end of 2010, BiH retained 1,962 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, as well as 23 MRUD.[15] BiH’s Article 7 reports submitted in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 have indicated that all of the retained antipersonnel mines are fuzeless.[16]

The total number of mines retained at the end of 2010 indicates a decrease of 268 mines and two MRUD from the number reported at the end of 2009.[17] BiH had reported increases in the number of mines retained in 2006, 2007, and 2008.[18] The number of MRUD reported as retained has decreased each year since 2006.[19] BiH has not given any explanation for the increases, decreases, or overall inconsistencies in its reporting on the number of retained mines over the last several years.

Of the 1,962 antipersonnel mines (other than MRUD) reported as retained at the end of 2010, 877 are held by demining agencies, 557 by the BiH Mine Detection Dog Center (MDDC), 330 by the BiH Mine Action Center (BHMAC), 125 by the BiH Armed Forces, three by the RS Civil Protection Agency, and 70  by the FBiH Civil Protection Agency.[20]

BiH has stated that its retained mines are used for training mine detection dogs.[21] While providing more information about its retained mines, BiH has still provided few details on the intended purposes and actual uses of these mines, and has failed to use expanded Form D on retained mines with its annual transparency reports, as agreed by States Parties in 2004.

 

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, ratified on 7 September 2010, and became a State Party on 1 March 2011.

It is not known if specific legislation will be undertaken to enforce the convention in BiH.[1]

BiH’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report is due by 28 August 2011.

BiH actively participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the convention, making strong contributions based on its experience as a country affected by cluster munitions and declaring a national moratorium on cluster munition use prior to the conclusion of the process.[2] BiH has continued to engage in the work of the convention. It attended the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010 as well as intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011.

At the First Meeting of States Parties, BiH made a statement calling for the full realization of the rights of victims and described the convention’s provisions on victim assistance as “extraordinary.”[3] BiH also expressed its confidence that clearance of unexploded submunitions could be completed in two to three years.[4]

Handicap International’s (HI’s) Sarajevo-based Office for South East Europe and Landmine Survivors Initiative are promoting the Convention on Cluster Munitions in BiH, including its ratification.[5]

BiH is party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Interpretive issues

In July 2011, the head of the department of conventional weapons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Ministry’s views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the convention, including the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations, the prohibitions on transfer and foreign stockpiling, and the prohibition on investment in cluster munitions producers. On the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts during joint military operations or “interoperability,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that, “under the same Article 21, para 3, we may engage in joint military operations with non-states Parties that might engage in activities prohibited by the Convention, however our personnel or nationals should not provide assistance with activities prohibited by the Convention.”[6]

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the “transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of States Parties is prohibited by the Convention.”[7] The Ministry, however, noted that it does not have “access to or information on weapon types” that are stockpiled in European Union Force (EUFOR) military bases “on our territory.”[8] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stated that it considers “investment in the production of cluster munitions to be prohibited.”[9]

Convention on Conventional Weapons

BiH is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). BiH played a central role in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in 2010 and the first half of 2011 in its capacity as Friend of the Chair on victim assistance.

While actively participating in the discussions on the draft chair’s text, BIH has maintained that a new protocol must have an immediate and measurable impact to address the humanitarian harm caused by the use of cluster munitions and be compatible with the Convention on Cluster Munitions. At a CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) meeting on 30 August 2010, BiH announced the completion of its domestic procedures to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions and pledged its readiness to destroy all its cluster munitions.[10]

Use, production, and transfer

Yugoslav forces and non-state armed groups used available stocks of cluster munitions during the 1992–1995 war. The various entity armies inherited cluster munitions during the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 

BiH has acknowledged that it produced cluster munitions for a period of 11 years, but has stated that production has ceased.[11] It has noted that since there was a large technology investment in a few production facilities, it would need assistance for conversion of these facilities and care for employees.[12]

BiH produced KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions for the Orkan multi-barrel rocket system.[13] The production capacity included the ability to manufacture KB-series submunitions and integrate them into carrier munitions such as artillery projectiles and rockets.[14] According to Jane’s Information Group, the Ministry of Defense has produced the 262mm M-87 Orkan rocket, with each rocket containing 288 KB-1 dual purpose submunitions.[15] Jane’s also lists BiH Armed Forces as possessing KPT-150 dispensers (which deploy submunitions) for aircraft.[16]

Stockpiling and destruction

In June 2011, BiH stated that the Ministry of Defense adopted a decision on 10 February 2011 “to destroy high risk ammunition” and has designated the following types of cluster munitions for stockpile destruction. No official information is available on the numbers of each type of cluster munitions.

Types of Cluster Munitions Stockpiled by BiH[17]

In addition, BiH has identified “other assets that are required to undergo a technical checkup control” to determine ways and means of destruction: FAB 100 M-80, FOTAB 50, and Sapy (durandal).[18]

BiH has said that it lacks the necessary technical means to destroy its cluster munitions and UNDP has agreed to provide financial and technical assistance.[19] In November 2010, BiH also stated that the Ministry of Defense had all necessary the legal provisions in place to enable the stockpile destruction.[20]

At the First Meeting of States Parties in November 2010, BiH announced that it would destroy KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions from the M87 Orkan rockets.[21] Binas Bugojno, a company that produced cluster munitions before the 1992–1995 war, would destroy the submunitions through a process of open detonation. According to HI, a total of 75,000 KB-1 submunitions were transferred to the facility for destruction on 8 October 2010.[22] As of 3 November 2010, a total of 50,000 KB-1 submunitions had been destroyed.[23] In June 2011, BiH stated that the destruction of its KB-1 and KB-2 submunitions would be completed by the end of 2011.[24] In early August 2011, HI stated that the remaining 25,000 submunitions had been destroyed.[25]

In November 2010, BiH stated that it possessed “a large quantity” of BL-755 bombs and lacked the capacity to destroy them.[26] In June 2011, BiH said that a contract had been signed with UNDP for their destruction.[27] According to UNDP information provided to HI, the stockpile totaled 321 BL-755 bombs and would be destroyed by the end of 2011.[28]

As of early August 2011, UNDP is working with the BiH Armed Forces to prepare for the destruction of a total of 56 Orkan rockets.[29]

In November 2010, BiH said that it had received an offer of assistance from the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia) to destroy cluster munitions stockpiled by BiH.[30] The proposed project was not carried out, however, and no cluster munitions or submunitions were transferred from BiH to FYR Macedonia for destruction.[31]

BiH has not yet indicated if it will retain cluster munitions for training or research purposes.

Cluster munition remnants

BiH is contaminated with cluster munition remnants, primarily as a result of the 1992–1995 conflict related to the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslav aircraft dropped BL-755 cluster munitions in the early stages of the conflict and NATO forces used them subsequently.[32] 

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) completed a general survey of the extent and impact of cluster munitions contamination in June 2011, submitting its report to the BiH Mine Action Center (BHMAC), which will be responsible for defining the risk area more precisely and preparing clearance tasks. The survey identified two main types of cluster munition: air-dropped BL-755 submunitions and R262 projectiles fired from Orkan M-87 multiple rocket launchers, which contained Mk-1, Mk-3, or KB-1 submunitions. It also identified contamination by improvised bombs that dispersed KB-1 submunitions.[33]

The survey identified 140 areas hit by air strikes and artillery with an estimated total of 3,774 unexploded submunitions and additional contamination around a former ammunition factory at Pretis that was hit by a NATO air strike scattering submunitions in the surrounding area. It identified 699 suspected hazardous area (SHA) polygons covering a total of 12.18km², of which 3.23km² is believed to high risk. Some 5km² is contaminated by artillery-delivered submunitions, 3.9km² by BL 755s and 3.1km² by unexploded KB-1 submunitions. The survey found several previously unidentified areas affected by unexploded submunitions resulting in a significantly higher estimate of contamination. In 2009, NPA had estimated cluster munitions affected only 1–2km².[34]

SHAs were found in 39 municipalities but 43% of the total SHAs were in the municipalities of Travnik, Bužim, Cazin, Tešanj, Gornji, Vakuf, and Vareš, with a population of more than 226,660 inhabitants. Agricultural land and forests make up more than 82% of the total suspect area and land needed for housing and reconstruction another 15%.[35]

Clearance of cluster munition contaminated areas

NPA completed three cluster munition clearance tasks in 2010, clearing an area of 88,126m². Two KB-1 submunitions were found and destroyed.[36] It also canceled an area of 151,879m² of previously suspect land through non-technical survey.[37]

In addition, civil protection explosive ordnance disposal teams found and destroyed 68 KB-1 submunitions in 2010.[38]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, BiH is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2021. The government has not assigned responsibility for clearing cluster munitions, but NPA is supporting BHMAC in deciding how to address the problem.[39]

Cluster munition casualties

BiH reported having registered 225 cluster munition casualties (44 killed; 181 injured) for the period 1992–2011. The number was based on preliminary data, which still required verification.[40] At least 86 cluster munitions casualties during strikes were reported in BiH in 1995.[41] Some nine casualties caused by unexploded submunitions were identified between 1995 and the end of 2009.[42] However, submunitions were not distinguished from other ERW in BHMAC casualty data collection.[43] No casualties from submunitions were reported in 2010.

 

Contamination and Impact

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is heavily contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munition remnants, primarily as a result of the 1992–1995 conflict related to the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Mines

Parties to the conflict placed mines extensively along confrontation lines to block troop movements and around strategic facilities; but front lines moved frequently, leaving contamination that is extensive and generally of low density.[1]

Most minefields are in the zone of separation between BiH’s two political entities—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS)—which is 1,100km long and up to 4km wide, but mines were placed throughout the country in all types of soil and vegetation. In southern and central BiH, mines were often used randomly, with few records kept. Some of the affected territory is mountainous or heavily forested, but the fertile agricultural belt in Brčko district is one of the most heavily contaminated areas.[2]

 

The BiH Mine Action Center (BHMAC) reported that at the end of 2010 BiH had some 1,442km² of suspected hazardous areas (SHAs),[3] down from the estimated 1,556km² a year earlier, although still more than the level of contamination (1,259km²) projected for the end of 2010 in BiH’s Article 5 deadline extension request.[4] At the end of June 2011, BiH put the total estimated SHA at 1,400 km², equivalent to 2.8% of BiH’s territory. Divided into three categories of hazard according to the level of threat,[5] this included 228.5km² of category I areas, 375.5km² of category II areas, and 796km² of category III areas.[6]

 

BHMAC’s database holds records of 19,138 minefields and 10,866 SHAs, but it has estimated that this represents only 50–60% of the real number. Most minefields have a small number of mines, often laid individually or without any pattern. Even where records exist, many do not show exact locations of either minefields or individual mines.[7] By the end of 2010, BHMAC estimated some 210,000 mines remained to be cleared[8]—10,000 less than at the end of 2009 and as presented in the request for the extension of the Article 5 deadline for clearance.[9]

A general assessment completed by BHMAC in 2008 to prepare the request for an extension of BiH’s Article 5 clearance deadline identified 1,631 mine/ERW impacted communities, up from 1,366 in a 2003 Landmine Impact Survey. The assessment estimated that mines/ERW directly affect 921,513 people, including 154,538 in high-impacted communities, 342,550 in medium-impacted, and 424,425 in low-impacted communities. Of the total number of impacted communities, 122 or 7.5% were high-impacted; 625 or 38.3% medium-impacted; and 884 or 54.2% low-impacted. On this basis, BiH remains one of the world’s most mine-affected countries.[10]

BHMAC reports that BiH’s urban areas are relatively safe compared with rural areas where people depend economically on contaminated land. Two-thirds of the affected population are returnees, most of whom are living in villages.[11]

Cluster munition remnants

BiH is contaminated with cluster munition remnants, primarily as a result of the 1992–1995 conflict related to the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslav aircraft dropped BL 755 cluster munitions in the early stages of the conflict.[12]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) completed the first phase of a general survey of the extent and impact of cluster munitions contamination in June 2011, submitting its report to BHMAC, which will be responsible for defining the risk area more precisely and preparing clearance tasks. The survey concluded that two main types of cluster munition were used in the conflict: air-dropped BL 755 submunitions and R262 projectiles fired from Orkan M-87 multiple rocket launchers, which contained Mk-1, Mk-3, or KB-1 submunitions. It also concluded forces used light weapons to disperse improvised cluster munitions loaded with KB-1 submunitions.[13]

The survey identified 140 locations where aircraft, artillery, and light weapons dispersed an estimated total of 3,774 unexploded submunitions and additional contamination occurred around a former ammunition factory at Pretis that was hit by a NATO air strike scattering KB-1 submunitions in the surrounding area. The survey identified 669 suspected hazardous area (SHA) polygons covering a total of 12.18km², of which 3.23km² is believed to be extremely high risk (2%), very high risk (4.15%), or high risk (20.36%). Some 5km² contains unexploded submunitions fired from light weapons using an improvised device, another 3.9km² of suspected SHA where BL 755s were used, and 3.1km² hit by Orkan M-87 multiple rocket launchers.[14]

SHAs were found in 39 municipalities, but 43% of the total SHA was in the municipalities of Gornji Vakuf (1.9km²), Travnik (1.1km²), Sapna (1km²), Hadžići (0.7km²), and Ljubuški (0.6km²). A total of 226,668 people are living in 79 communities around SHAs of whom an estimated 13,020 are directly at risk and in the vicinity of the areas on a daily basis. Total cluster munition casualties recorded in BiH between 1992 and 2010 included 41 people killed and 190 injured. Agricultural land and forest make up more than 82% of the total suspect area and land wanted for housing and reconstruction another 15%.[15]

Other explosive remnants of war

In addition to scattered unexploded ordnance (UXO) in suspected mined areas, BiH has an area of more than 1km² in the vicinity of Zunovica, Hadzici, where a Yugoslav National Army barracks and ammunition storage area was bombed in 1995. The type of contamination had not been identified as of January 2011.[16]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

 

The Demining Commission under the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs and Communication supervises the state-wide BHMAC and represents BiH in its relations with the international community on mine-related issues. The Demining Commission’s three members, representing BiH’s three ethnic groups, propose the appointment of BHMAC senior staff for approval by the Council of Ministers, report to the Council on mine action, approve the accreditation of demining organizations, and facilitate cooperation between the FBiH and RS. The Demining Commission mobilizes funds for mine action in cooperation with the Board of Donors, which includes the embassies of donor governments, the European Commission, the UN, and the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance.[17] Three new members of the Demining Commission were elected onto the Council of Ministers at its 137th meeting on 18 November 2010. Members of the Demining Commission are from three ministries: Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, and Security. [18]

BHMAC, established by the Decree of BiH Council of Ministers in 2002, is responsible for regulating mine action and implementing BiH’s demining plan, including accreditation of all mine action organizations.[19] BHMAC operates from its headquarters in Sarajevo and through two entity mine action offices—formerly autonomous Entity Mine Action Centers—and eight regional offices. The two entity offices coordinate the activities of regional offices in planning, survey, and quality control and assurance (QA). QA inspectors are based in the regional offices. In 2010, BHMAC coordinated the work of 36 accredited demining organizations.[20]

Strategic Mine Action Plan

BHMAC completed a general assessment of mine action in February 2008 and used the results, together with financial, operations, and resources plans as the basis for a new BiH Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019.[21] The assessment calls for a revision of national mine action legislation in order to:

·         establish stable and continuous funding of mine action from the government and local authority budgets;

·         develop local governance responsibility for mine action with a focus on planning and prioritizing, RE, and measures prohibiting movement of ERW;

·         criminalize the destruction or removal of mine warning signs; and

·         improve the status of deminers.[22]

However, a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Civil Affairs with support from BHMAC and UNDP and submitted to parliament in February 2010 did not receive parliamentary approval, as had been expected, and in May 2010 it was sent back to the Legislation Commission for amendment.[23] Since the parliamentary election took place in October 2010, no progress has been made in adopting the proposed Mine Action Legislation.[24]

The BiH Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019 sets the goal of becoming “free of mines” by 2019 and identifies seven strategic goals, including “elimination” of the mine threat, increasing funding, providing RE and victim assistance, and conducting technical development and research, and advocacy. It foresees three revisions of the strategy: in 2012, 2015, and 2017.[25]

BiH identifies three categories of hazard: (1) areas used by the local population and locations with resources required for economic development; (2) locations that are used occasionally or are located on the edge of category 1 hazards; and (3) remote areas along former confrontation lines, without known minefields but with possible ERW, and which are not used by the local population.[26]

The first and second categories are to be released through clearance and general and technical survey, supported by “permanent” marking and RE. The third category of suspected hazard will be dealt with by permanent marking, RE for local communities, and the introduction of a law imposing penalties for trespass on marked and fenced land.[27] Permanent marking involves marking by qualified organizations of the perimeters of the suspected mined area using signs made of more resistant material and expect to last at least five years.[28]

With the adoption of the Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019, plans for demining prepared by demining organizations and endorsed by BHMAC are submitted to municipal authorities (rather than community leaders as occurred before) for final approval. BHMAC also continues to prepare demining and technical survey tasks.[29] BiH Armed Forces and Civil Protection agencies submitted their strategies in February 2009 to BHMAC, which confirmed they are in compliance with the national mine action strategy.[30]

BHMAC acknowledges, however, that it has not been able to fulfill the 2009–2019 Strategy, reporting in June 2011 that in the first two years of implementation it achieved only about half the plan’s targets.[31] BHMAC identifies lack of funding as the main obstacle to achieving the plan’s objectives.[32]

Land Release

BiH reported releasing a total of 112.5km² of SHAs in 2010, 11% less than in 2010. An area of 2.35km² was cleared through manual, machine, and mine detection dog (MDD)-supported clearance by 25 demining organizations, an area 21% greater than the previous year, but the area canceled or released through survey was down 12% to a total of 110.15km². This included areas canceled as a result of general (14.51km²) or “systematic”[33] (86.25km²) surveys, or released by technical survey (9.39km²).[34] As a result of general survey, 65.83km² was assigned for future clearance. [35]

Five-year summary of clearance[36]

Survey in 2010

BiH has conducted general, systematic, and technical survey since 1998, spurred by the low quality of minefield records in BiH. The Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019 calls for completing general survey by 2012 in order to provide a basis for revising the mine action strategy.[37]

BHMAC conducted general and systematic survey and urgent marking in 2010 with 44 surveyors in 22 survey teams and eight planning officers deployed in its regional offices.[38] NPA remains the only organization that supports BHMAC in land release through general survey and preparing tasks for technical survey and clearance (by defining the boundaries of risk area), working from BHMAC offices in Banja Luka, Bihac, Brčko, Pale, and Travnik.[39]

In 2010, BHMAC survey teams and demining organizations surveyed a total of 166.58km² through systematic and general survey. Out of this, 86.25km² was canceled as a result of systematic survey and 14.51km² by general survey, while the remaining 65.82km² was earmarked for future technical survey and clearance. This included 4.29km² that was confirmed as hazardous area, leading to preparation of 198 clearance tasks, with 32.19km² earmarked for technical survey.[40]

Mine clearance in 2010

Demining organizations cleared 2.35km² during 2010, barely one-quarter of planned clearance for the year, although still one-fifth more than the amount cleared in 2009. A further 9.4km² was released by technical survey in 2009, 1.4km² less than in 2009 and 2.2km² less than in 2008.[41]

At the end of 2010, BiH demining capacity consisted of 41 organizations accredited for various forms of mine action (demining, RE, training, and monitoring), including five governmental bodies (the Armed Forces, FBiH Civil Protection Agency, RS Civil Protection Agency, Brčko District Civil Protection Agency, and the BiH Mine Detection Dog Center), 19 NGOs, and 17 commercial organizations. The 25 organizations accredited for demining all engaged in clearance operations during 2010.[42]

Accredited demining organizations at the end of 2010 had, between them, 1,509 licensed deminers and management personnel; 67 MDD teams; 1,374 metal detectors; and 41 demining machines, of which 30 machines were for digging soil, four were for removing vegetation, and seven were for the removal of debris.[43]

Mine clearance in 2010[44]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension request granted in 2008), BiH is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2019.[45]

BiH’s Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019 was presented as the blueprint for fulfilling its Article 5 obligations but it has failed to achieve the Strategy’s targets every year since it started. The Strategy projected release of 30km² a year through clearance and technical survey, two and a half times more than what it achieved in 2010.[46] BHMAC continues to assert that it could achieve its target if it received adequate external financing.[47] In June 2011, at the Standing Committee meetings, BiH repeated that “reduction of the remaining mine suspected area planned for the period 2011–2019 will largely depend on allocated local and donor funds.”[48]

From the start of its mine action program in 1996 through 2010, BiH reduced its total SHA from 4,200km² to 1,442km², canceling or releasing 2,758km². In its Article 5 extension request, BiH projected that by the start of 2011 it would have reduced the total SHA to 1,214km² but it achieved only 1,442km², missing the target by 228km².[49]

BiH has sufficient mine action capacity to achieve its 2009–2019 Strategy targets but operators in the last two years used less than half their full capacity. BHMAC attributes the persistent under-performance to lack of funding and slow tendering procedures.[50] National funding, in particular, has fallen short of what projected. The 2009–2019 Strategy projected international funding of KM 25 million in 2009 and local funding of KM 53.43 million. Although foreign donors provided KM 25.97 million, national funding reached KM 21.72 million, less than half its expected share. Amendments to the Law on Demining were also expected to help stabilize financing of mine action but the amendments also did not pass.[51]

Clearance of cluster munition contaminated areas in 2010

NPA completed three cluster munition clearance tasks in 2010 clearing an area of 88,126m². Two KB-1 submunitions were found and destroyed.[52] It also canceled an area of 151,879m² of previously suspect land through non-technical survey.[53]

In addition, civil protection explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams found and destroyed 68 KB-1 submunitions in 2010.[54]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, BiH is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2021.

The government has not yet assigned responsibility for clearing cluster munition remnants. Since 2009, NPA has been supporting BHMAC in its efforts to address the problem.[55]

Battle area clearance in 2010

Civil Protection organizations in BiH and NPA are responsible for EOD response. As a result of those activities, Civil Protection units reported finding and destroying a total of 23,105 items of explosive ordnance, including 497 antipersonnel and 102 antivehicle mines, aircraft bombs and rockets, artillery shells, rockets, hand grenades, rifle grenades, rocket propelled grenades, mortar bombs, anti-aircraft ammunition, and 68 unexploded submunitions.[56]

Battle area clearance in 2010[57]

N/R = Not reported

Quality management

BHMAC has 12 QA inspectors and 28 QA officers who performed 4,165 inspections on 350 demining tasks in 2010, an average of almost 12 inspections per demining task but only a little over half (52%) of the planned number of inspections. [58]

Safety of demining personnel

During 2010, two deminers were killed and two injured in three incidents.[59] Two incidents involved PROM-1 mines. A Tehnoelektro deminer was killed and another seriously injured in the first incident in April 2010. In the second incident, a UXB Balkans deminer was killed. In a third incident, a “Pazi mine” deminer was injured by a fuze in May 2010. [60]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

During 2010, BHMAC coordinated the work of 18 accredited RE organizations. Nine of these organizations undertook a total of 23 RE projects in 2010, reaching an estimated 37,215 people. In addition, the NGO Stop Mines distributed 25,265 children’s books to first grade pupils in 430 primary schools through its project “Be aware of mines.”[61]

During 2010, demining organizations conducted 61 permanent marking projects resulting in putting up 1,564 signs, less than one-third (31%) of what was planned. RE organizations also conducted 19 projects aimed at preventing people from entering Category 3 hazards covering an area of 9.3km², 58% of the plan. A total of 12,068 urgent marking signs were put up by organizations in the course of RE activities and general survey, 67% of the plan.[62]

In West-Herzegovina and Una-Sana cantons, demining operators put up 42 urgent marking signs around an area identified by NPA as a suspected cluster munition hazard.[63]

Casualties Overview

In 2010, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BHMAC) reported 14 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). All casualties were adult men. Three accidents caused four deminer casualties (two killed; two injured). This represented a continuing decrease in annual casualties from 2009 and 2008, although the number of accidents was the same (three) in 2009. The 14 mine/ERW casualties in 2010 was half the 28 casualties reported for 2009.[1]

BHMAC recorded 7,957 mine/ERW casualties for the period 1992–2010 (1,653 killed; 6,304 survivors).[2]   From 1997 to the end of 2010, BHMAC recorded 107 deminer casualties (43 killed; 64 injured).[3]

BiH reported having registered 225 cluster munition casualties (44 killed; 181 injured) for the period 1992–June 2011. The number was based on preliminary data that still required verification. BiH did not report how many of these casualties occurred during strikes or from unexploded submunitions.[4] At least 86 casualties during cluster munitions strikes were identified in BiH in 1995.[5]

Victim Assistance

There were at least 6,304 mine/ERW survivors in BiH by the end of 2010.

Assessing victim assistance needs

The BMAC national database, including needs assessments compiled in 2009, was available for use in providing services on request. The database had been distributed to all key actors.[6]

Victim assistance coordination[7]

Coordination through the LMVA Working Group primarily consisted of briefings by victim assistance actors and information sharing. Four meetings were held in 2010. Most key actors in victim assistance were involved.[8]

BiH reported on changes in victim assistance in the areas of legislation and services at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2010 and at intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Cluster Munitions in Geneva in 2011, as well as in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reporting for calendar year 2010.[9]

Survivor Inclusion

Mine/ERW survivors and their representative organizations were included in the LMVA Working Group and survivors were included in the implementation of services through NGOs.[10] BiH reported that it was “standard practice” to include persons with disabilities in forming all policies which relate to their needs.[11]

A mine/ERW survivor was included in the delegation of BiH at the intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty in June 2011, but survivors were not on the delegations at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban Treaty in 2010 or the intersessional meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Geneva in June 2011.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2010[12]

In 2010 there was some improvement in the availability and quality of victim assistance services through training, particularly in peer support.

It was reported that very little progress was made in improving conditions people with disabilities overall in 2010.[13]

The entity-level Ministries of Health were involved in the implementation of a project by the NGO Hope 87 to increase skills training of medical staff in CBR centers throughout BiH.[14]

LSI peer support staff was reduced from 12 to 10, and the number of people receiving peer-support visits services also decreased accordingly. However LSI increased the peer support capacity of other organizations through training and introduced peer support in one state-run rehabilitation center.[15]

In February 2010, a law was passed on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities in the Federation of BiH that allows for a specific Fund to support the law’s implementation. The Fund was in the process of being established by June 2011.[16]

There were some policy changes made in 2010. Both the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska adopted legislative frameworks to reform social protection systems towards a needs-based approach for social benefits, including veterans’ benefits. However, during 2010 there remained a clear discrimination between different categories of persons with disabilities, although the vast majority of such persons were unemployed. Persons with disabilities resulting from service during the 1992–1995 conflict were given a privileged status above civilian war victims and persons who were born with disabilities. [17] Civilians with disabilities often lacked access to health protection and the labor market. Entity-level disability strategies were adopted in the Federation of BiH (2010–2014) and Republika Srpska (2010–2015).[18]

BIH has legislation to ensure physical access to persons with disabilities. In the Federation of BiH, the law mandated that all public buildings must be retrofitted to provide access, and new buildings must also be accessible. However, buildings were rarely accessible to persons with disabilities in practice, including several government buildings. The Republika Srpska had comparable laws for public access, but few older public buildings were accessible. [19]

BiH ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 12 March 2010.

 

Since 2005, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has contributed approximately 30% of its mine action budget. In 2010 it contributed BAM26,514,824 (US$17,957,890)[1] compared to BAM21,718,346 ($15,441,412) in 2009.[2] In its Article 5 deadline Extension Request in 2008 BiH committed to $20.6 million per year in 2009 and 2010 and committed to raising another approximately $33 million from other local sources.[3]

National funding in BiH came from 12 different sources including the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), two municipalities (compared to five in 2009), the Bosnian Serb Republic (Republika Srpska, RS), Brčko district, the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Transportation and Communication, state utility companies, and the railway.

The FBiH budget allocates funds to the BiH Mine Action Center (BHMAC) and the army, while cantons contribute to Civil Protection Agency demining operations. In Brčko district and the RS funding also goes through the local Civil Protection Agency.

National contributions: 2010[4]

In 2010, international contributions towards mine action in BiH totaled $11,845,607.[5] The largest contribution was provided by the United States (US) ($3,800,000), with three additional countries (Norway, Germany, and Switzerland) providing over $1 million each.

Of the total contribution, $632,989 (5%) went towards victim assistance activities, while the remainder was for clearance activities.

International contributions: 2010[6]

From 2006 to 2010 BiH’s national contributions to mine action averaged $14,986,407 per year, and international contributions averaged $17,492,078 per year.

Summary of contributions: 2006–2010[7]