Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In April 2011, an official from the Pakistan Foreign Office stated that “Pakistan endorses the efforts of European countries in protecting the civilians from the menace of landmines, however, our strategic location and Indian context would not allow us to support the landmine ban treaty.”[1]

Pakistan has previously 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.”[2] On the issue of antivehicle mines, Pakistan declared that “AVMs are legitimate defensive weapons and existing provisions of the CCW and International Humanitarian Law can address the problems related to their irresponsible use.”[3]

Pakistan has previously stated that CCW 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.[4]

Pakistan did not attend any meetings on the mine ban in 2010 or the first half of 2011. Pakistani NGO Sustainable Peace and Development Organization (SPADO) attended the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in June 2011.

On 8 December 2010, Pakistan abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 65/48 calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has 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 a CCW Protocol II Article 13 report in October 2010 covering the period from September 2009 to September 2010, and another one in April 2011 covering the period from September 2010 to December 2010.  In November 2010, Pakistan stated that it “is in full compliance with all the requirements of the Amended Protocol II” and that it “has successfully incorporated at appropriate levels all the technical requirements, as mandated by the technical annex of Amended Protocol II.”[5]

Use

Pakistan states that it has not laid mines since the 2001–2002 escalation on the Pakistan-India border.[6] 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.[7] Pakistan also maintains permanent minefields along certain portions of the Line of Control in Kashmir.

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, and in Balochistan province. Previous Monitor reports have reported that there is a perception among local populations that Pakistani forces are laying mines to defend some military bases and outposts in these conflict areas, however no one could provide the Monitor with specific details and the Monitor has not been able to substantiate the allegations.[8] Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Pakistan is one of a small number of countries still producing antipersonnel mines.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] In 2007, Pakistan also stated that it had “met the deadlines to improve the specifications on detectability of mines” to be compliant with CCW Amended Protocol II.[13]

Pakistan’s Statutory Regulatory Order No. 123 (1) of 25 February 1999 makes the export of antipersonnel mines illegal.[14]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.”[15] Recent Article 13 reports state simply that “no manufacturing or trade of landmines is allowed in the Private sectors.”[16]  In the past, the country was a major exporter of mines. Pakistani-made mines have been found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.

There is no official information available on the size of Pakistan’s antipersonnel mine stockpile. The Monitor has estimated that Pakistan stockpiles at least six million antipersonnel mines, the fifth largest stockpile in the world.[17] Pakistan has neither confirmed nor denied this estimate.

Destruction

In previous years, Pakistan reported that it destroyed “a large number of outdated mines every year,” but had not provided information about the quantity or types of mines destroyed.[18]  In 2010, Pakistan reported that a total of 43,248 antipersonnel mines (30,615 Mine AP ND P2; 7,014 Mine AP ND P4 Series; 2,884 Mine AP M-14; and 2,735 miscellaneous antipersonnel mines) were destroyed between 2000 and 2009.[19] It provided no information on further destruction in 2011, although it reiterated that the mines lain along the “Eastern Border have been completely cleared/removed/destroyed” without specifying when this took place.[20]

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

In November 2010, Pakistan repeated its long-held view that cluster munitions are legitimate weapons with military utility, but said it opposed the use of cluster munitions against civilians.[1] Pakistan has argued that the problem with cluster munitions is not the weapon itself, but its “irresponsible use.”[2] Previously, in February 2009, a government official said 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.”[3]

Pakistan supports efforts to tackle cluster munitions through the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has cautioned against encouraging “extra-UN mechanisms” such as the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which it believes “should supplement and not supplant the CCW process.”[4]

Pakistan did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and has not attended any of the regional or international diplomatic meetings related to the convention.[5] It was invited to, but did not attend, the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010. Pakistan did not participate in intersessional meetings of the convention in Geneva in June 2011.

In Pakistan, campaigners held a forum on 1 August 2010 to welcome entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and to encourage Pakistan to accede.[6]

Pakistan is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Pakistan is party to the CCW and its Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Pakistan has been an active participant in the CCW meetings on cluster munitions in recent years. In November 2010, Pakistan supported continued CCW deliberations on cluster munitions and said it remained optimistic despite “deep differences.”[7]

Pakistan has urged CCW states to “focus on the irresponsible use and transfer of cluster munitions” and has described a transition period before key provisions take effect as essential.[8] In February 2011, Pakistan objected to 1980 as the proposed cut-off date for prohibiting cluster munitions produced before 1980, which it described as “too arbitrary.” Pakistan also called for a 15-year transition and deferral period for implementation of the proposed protocol and urged the inclusion of new text requiring the facilitation of technical, material, and other assistance for the development of cluster munitions.[9]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Pakistan has often stated that it has never used cluster munitions.[10]

Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) produces and offers for export M483A1 155mm artillery projectiles containing 88 M42/M46 dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) grenades.[11] 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.[12] The Pakistani army took delivery of the first production lots in April 2008.[13]

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 (US) Rockeye cluster bomb and dispenses 225 anti-armor submunitions.[14] Jane’s states that the Pakistan National Development Complex produces and markets the Hijara Top-Attack Submunitions Dispenser (TSD-1) cluster bomb.[15] It lists Pakistan’s Air Force as possessing BL-755 cluster bombs.[16] The US transferred to Pakistan 200 Rockeye cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[17]

Contamination and Impact

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

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’s flood disaster in 2010 added to the problem by displacing mines from areas of conflict in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)  to lower valleys, causing many casualties.[3] More recently, the Pakistan army disclosed that it is again considering plans to emplace mines along the border with Afghanistan to try to prevent infiltration and cross-border attacks by militants. Similar plans were considered in 2007 and 2009 but never implemented. Media quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying “since our long borders are not protected by any natural obstacle, the use of landmines forms an important part of our self-defence strategy given the nature of our security compulsions.”[4]

Pakistan has repeatedly affirmed that it “faces no problem of un-cleared mines; hence no casualties were caused accidentally.”[5] It has also stated “mines have never caused humanitarian concerns in Pakistan.”[6] Its latest CCW Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Article 13 report states that all the mines laid on the border with India “have been completely removed/cleared/destroyed.” It adds that “Pakistan at present faces no problem of uncleared mines because no mines have been laid by the Army” since the border conflict with India.[7] 

Pakistan’s Article 13 annual report submitted in 2007 had, however, acknowledged that “in the area adjoining Pakistan-Afghanistan border, sometimes mines are encountered, but these are mines left by the former Soviet troops.”[8]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.[9]

More recent evidence that Pakistan is affected by both mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) includes a steady flow of mine/ERW casualties recorded in 2010 and 2011 (see Casualties and Victim Assistance section of Pakistan country profile).[10]

No estimate exists of the extent of residual contamination, but increasing conflict between the government and non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in 2009 and 2010 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.[11] Reports from the FATA bordering Afghanistan point to continued use of mines in 2010 as an offensive weapon in tribal and sectarian conflicts.[12]

During field research in 2010 in North and South Waziristan, the Monitor was told by both local elders and journalists, as well as by officials and NGO representatives, that the Pakistani Taliban and other NSAGs have continued to use former mujahideen bases, and that the area around these camps was contaminated with mines emplaced by NSAGs, 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.[13] In Kurram agency, on the border with Afghanistan, community-based organizations report six to seven mine and UXO incidents per month.[14]

Despite government claims that it had cleared the mines it laid on the Indo-Pakistan border during the 2001–2002 stand-off with India and that “minefields laid along the Line of Control (LoC) are properly fenced and clearly marked,”[15] 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.[16] Inhabitants of Garhi Sher Khan in Poonch district, for example, informed the 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.[17]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

The transparency report Pakistan submitted in March 2011 under Article 10 of CCW Protocol V said there were no ERW in Pakistan.[18] Its latest Article 13 Report, however, claimed “terrorists” had used IEDs to attack the government and civilians, mounting 4,570 attacks between 2000 and the end of 2010 and causing 3,665 casualties in 2010 alone, including 992 people killed.[19]

NGOs operating in northwestern districts report an ERW threat to communities from UXO, including mortars, artillery shells, hand grenades, IEDs, and rocket-propelled grenades.[20] 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 informed the Monitor in April 2011 that it planned to establish a mine action facility to provide information, mine/ERW risk education (RE), and victim assistance services to the conflict-affected population. However, the Ministry said that due to lack of resources the program could not be started yet.[21] Previously in 2007, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had disclosed plans 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 RE in affected areas of Pakistan. In April 2009, however, the ministry had reported that it had made no progress with this initiative.[22]

An Inter Services Public Relations representative told the Monitor that Pakistani military engineering units are responsible for mine clearance in contaminated conflict zones.[23] 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.[24]

Mine clearance in 2010

The army and FC released no information on mine clearance activities in 2010. The army was reported to have conducted demining operations in the area of Chamalang in Balochistan in 2009, clearing antivehicle and other unspecified mines.[25] Army engineers and Pakistan’s FC are said also to have also undertaken demining operations in FATA and the Swat Valley in 2009.[26]

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.”[27] However, Monitor field research and interviews with aid workers, activists, and journalists in 2010 did not identify any measures by local authorities in border areas to protect civilians from mines.[28]

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.[29]

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, reportedly delivered RE to 1.5 million IDPs in refugee camps and temporary schools, mainly in  Mardan 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.[30]

The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) started community-based RE in March 2009 in partnership with SPADO. By June 2010, it was operating 15 four-person teams, including three all-women teams, in four districts of Buner, Dir, Shangla, and Swat.[31] Beginning in December 2010, it continued community-based RE in partnership with the Peshawar-based NGO BEST and expanded the geographic scope of its operations to include the FATA agencies of Bajaur and Mohmand, as well as the displaced populations from Bajaur and Khyber in Peshawar’s Polzai camp. Working with 17 three-person teams, including five all-women teams, it conducted 11,857 RE sessions through August 2011 reaching more than 540,000 people.[32] Its RE activities led to 274 ERW being reported to the military for destruction in 2010 and a further 78 items in the first seven months of 2011.[33]

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. MAG and SPADO have two field offices in the center (Kohat) and south (DI Tank) of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, which has around a million people displaced by the conflict in the neighboring FATA. MAG and SPADO conduct train the trainer courses and operate eight teams in the center and south (four in each) delivering direct RE training in schools, madrassas, community centers and homes, working with 80 community focal points who facilitate access to the population.[34]

SPADO reports that it started the first comprehensive community-based RE in Malakand  following fighting there, covering the districts of Buner, Dir, Shangla, and Swat. It concluded its activities in Malakand in March 2011. Similarly, when military operations started in South Waziristan, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, SPADO extended its operations into the South Waziristan districts of Tank and DI Khan. The program focuses mainly on RE through direct sessions with communities and children in schools. Between April 2010 and March 2011, SPADO held 8,152 training sessions for over 301,000 people in these districts. It also trained and used local media, government institutions, religious scholars, civil society organizations, and community leaders.[35]

Casualties Overview

In 2010, the Monitor identified 394 casualties from antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Pakistan.[1] Nearly half of all casualties were security forces (46%), a significant increase from 2009 when they were 25% of all reported casualties. Forty-four child casualties were identified (32 children killed; 12 injured), representing 21% of all civilian casualties; most (41) were boys. Adult men (332 or 84%) continued to make up the largest casualty group; 18 casualties were female.

As in 2009, the vast majority of casualties in 2010 (368) occurred in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (241), Balochistan (64), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly North-West Frontier Province) (63). Victim-activated IEDs caused more than half of all casualties, a percentage that has been increasing since at least 2007.[2] Victim-activated IEDs killed 44 people and injured 159 people, including 15 children.

The 394 casualties identified in 2010 represented a similar number to the 421 casualties identified in 2009; given significant variation in available annual casualty data the slight decrease is not necessarily indicative of change.[3] The ongoing violence in KP and FATA continued to be seen as the cause of high numbers of casualties.[4]

In the first eight months of 2011, initial reports indicated the number of casualties had already increased compared with 2010 and 2009.[5]

The total number of casualties in Pakistan is not known, and there has been no official data collection mechanism. In 2010 and 2011, the government reported that there were no ERW casualties in Pakistan.[6] However, between 1999 and 2010, the Monitor identified at least 2,784 casualties (1,025 killed; 1,664 injured; 95 unknown) from victim-activated explosive items, including ERW, through media monitoring, field visits, and information provided by service providers.[7] It is likely that the total number of casualties is much higher. For example, in 2011, it was reported in the media that 6,710 Pakistani soldiers were injured in conflict in recent years and that IEDs were the greatest cause. It was not reported what proportion of the IEDs were victim-activated.[8]

Victim Assistance

The Monitor has identified 1,664 mine/ERW survivors in Pakistan.[9]

Assessing the needs of victims

No efforts were reported in 2010 to assess the needs of mine/ERW survivors.

Victim assistance coordination

Victim assistance coordination[10]

Pakistan reported that that the Military Operations Directorate of the Pakistan Army was the focal point for victim assistance, but did not indicate if this was for both civilian and military survivors.[11] During the year, there was increased cooperation among nongovernmental service providers. Bilateral cooperation between individual service providers and government agencies also increased in order to provide survivors with information and referrals to existing services.[12] The Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and its National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons are responsible for the protection of the rights of all persons with disabilities.[13]

There was no victim assistance plan in 2010. Pakistan reported that a “deliberate procedure/programme is in place” for the victims of IEDs. However, this was reported to be individual rehabilitation programs including emergency and ongoing medical care and physical rehabilitation at army medical units and hospitals, as well as economic reintegration through monetary compensation and employment. It was not reported if civilians could access these services.[14]

Pakistan provided information on victim assistance coordination in its Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V Article 10 report and information on victim assistance available to IED casualties in its CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report.[15]

Survivor Inclusion

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 2010[16]

Ongoing violence throughout 2010, mostly in northern Pakistan, and the greater use of victim-activated IEDs increased the demand for victim assistance.[17] In response to this increased demand, several international and national organizations increased the availability of services in the affected areas, particularly in KP and FATA, increasing emergency medical services and opening new physical rehabilitation centers. However, the deteriorating security situation restricted access to these services. Mine/IED and ERW survivors were prevented from traveling to services and hospitals and access roads were closed. The security situation also restricted humanitarian access to survivors and other victims of the violence, along with the transport of medical supplies.[18] This was further exacerbated by flooding that began in July 2010 in violence-affected areas, washing out bridges and roads, and increasing the numbers of people requiring medical attention.[19]

The Pakistani government had a medical support plan that detailed the emergency medical evacuation of mine/IED and ERW casualties to army medical units and field hospitals in the affected areas.[20] Pakistan reported that these services were “adequate.”[21] MSF found that low standards of equipment and hygiene in hospitals in affected areas negatively impacted the quality of services.[22]

In 2010, access to health care, both emergency and ongoing medical attention, remained difficult for mine/IED/ERW survivors in violence-affected communities. To respond to the increased demand for medical services, the ICRC doubled the capacity of its Peshawar field hospital. It also continued to support mobile health units and provided medical supplies and equipment to local hospitals in violence-affected areas as well as war-surgery training.[23] In 2010, MSF started to provide emergency surgery once again in Swat, KP, after closing the program in early 2009, and opened a new emergency medical department in Hangu district of KP.[24]

HHRD and PIPOS each opened two new rehabilitation centers in conflict-affected areas of the country. Overall, among the five rehabilitation centers supported by the ICRC, there was a 90% increase in the number of mine/ERW survivors receiving prosthetics in 2010.[25] In an effort to increase access to rehabilitation services, the ICRC conducted outreach visits in Kashmir and reimbursed patients for transportation and accommodation costs to all ICRC-supported centers and for the cost of treatment at PIPOS centers.[26]

Rehabilitation services for military mine/IED and ERW survivors were available through army hospitals. Complicated cases were referred to AFIRM. In 2010, AFIRM was unable to meet the demand for rehabilitation services due to a lack of staff and funding. Wait-lists of up to a year to be admitted were reported. Those who were admitted could wait several months before receiving a prosthetic device. The quality of the prosthetic devices available depended on the rank of the soldier rather than their needs.[27]

As in previous years, few psychological support and economic inclusion programs were available. HI continued to provide psychosocial support begun as part of its emergency relief program in 2009 and LCD provided counseling for all persons with disabilities in conflict-affected areas. LCD launched a livelihood project in KP for persons with disabilities, aiming to include 1,500 beneficiaries.[28] The ICRC continued providing small grants and business training through the Muzaffarabad Physical Rehabilitation Center, which had a 33% increase in the number of beneficiaries as compared with 2009.[29]

In 2010, SPADO expanded its efforts to connect survivors in KP and FATA to all available victim assistance services.[30]

According to the Pakistani government, IED survivors were provided with monetary compensation, employment, and commercial or agricultural property. No figures were provided on the number of survivors who received this assistance in 2010, or if any were civilian.[31] Employment quotas for persons with disabilities lacked adequate enforcement mechanisms.[32]

The law provides for equality of the rights of persons with disabilities, but not all provisions were implemented in practice.[33] Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 5 July 2011.

In 2010, international contributions towards mine action in Pakistan totaled US$3,357,471,[1] which represents an increase of 82% compared to 2009. As in 2009, the largest contribution was provided by the European Commission (EC) (€1,700,000/$2,254,370), with two additional states providing over $500,000 each.

Japan’s contribution was made to UNICEF, via the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action.[2]

As in 2009, all international contributions toward mine action in Pakistan went towards risk education (RE) activities, which were carried out by four organizations in 2010.

International contributions: 2010[3]

Summary of contributions: 2009–2010[4]