Commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty

Mine Ban Policy

The Hellenic Republic (Greece) signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 25 September 2003, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2004. Ratification makes the Mine Ban Treaty part of Greek domestic law.[1] Greece has specified the parts of its existing criminal codes that provide penal sanctions for any violations of the treaty.[2]

At the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012, Greece indicated that its stockpile destruction activities were suspended, pending a judicial decision in the case opposing the Greek state and the company originally contracted to carry stockpile destruction, Hellenic Defense Systems S.A. (see section on Stockpile Destruction, below). Greece has been in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty since March 2008, when it missed its stockpile destruction deadline.

Greece submitted its ninth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in April 2012, covering calendar year 2011.[3]

Greece is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and submitted its annual report for calendar year 2011 in April 2012. Greece is not party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Production and trade

Greece is a former producer of antipersonnel mines, and also imported them from Germany and the United States (US).[4] Prior to becoming a State Party, Greece had a moratorium on the production and export of antipersonnel mines for a number of years.[5]

Stockpiling and destruction

In its 2012 Article 7 report on developments in calendar year 2011, Greece reported a pre-destruction stockpile of 1,568,167 antipersonnel mines composed of four types: DM31 (792,780), M16 (568,327), M2 (204,565), and M14 (2,495). Greece had previously reported a pre-destruction stockpile totaling 1,566,532 antipersonnel mines composed of these types as well as 504 ADAM 155mm artillery projectiles, each containing 36 antipersonnel mines. Counting the ADAM mines, the revised pre-destruction stockpile total was 1,586,311.[6] 

Greece adjusted its pre-destruction stockpile totals in 2011 based on an inventory of the stockpile and a review of its records by the Greek Armed Forces.[7] The amendments showed an increase in the number of M16 mines (14,968 more) and a decrease in the number of DM31 (1,620 fewer), M2 (9,809 fewer), and M14 (1,400 fewer) mines. The ADAM artillery shells were removed from the stockpile total, but Greece stated in December 2010 that a total of 18,144 ADAM mines contained in the 504 artillery projectiles were destroyed in 2008.[8]

Greece failed to meet its 1 March 2008 deadline for destruction of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines and, as of September 2012, remains in violation of the treaty. In June 2011, Greece informed States Parties that a total of 953,285 mines remain to be destroyed.[9] Greece started its stockpile destruction almost eight months after its deadline, and eventually halted stockpile destruction operations in early 2010 after an explosion at the destruction facility located in Bulgaria and operated by Hellenic Defense Systems S.A. (EAS). In June 2010, following a ministerial decision and an arbitral award, the contract between EAS and Greece was revoked on the basis of delays in the destruction process. EAS subsequently appealed the decision.[10]

In December 2010, Greece informed States Parties that a total of 615,362 stockpiled mines had been shipped to the Bulgarian facility operated by EAS from November 2008 to May 2010, and that 614,882 mines were destroyed.[11] It said it was examining the difference of 480 mines between Bulgarian and Greek data.[12] In June 2011, Greece said that the 480 mines that were missing from a shipment to Bulgaria were found in a Greek warehouse.[13] Those mines apparently have not yet been destroyed.

In May 2012, Greece stated that stockpile destruction was suspended pending the conclusion of the judicial process with EAS and indicated that the main proceeding of the Administrative Court of Appeals would take place on 27 September 2012.[14] Previously, in December 2011, Greece noted that any new contract would involve the closer engagement of the Greek Armed Forces in monitoring the destruction process.[15]

The ICBL has repeatedly expressed concern at Greece’s failure to start the destruction process early enough to meet its destruction deadline. It has urged Greece to set a firm deadline for completion and devote the necessary resources for destruction as well as report progress to States Parties on a monthly basis.[16]

Mines retained for research and training

Greece reported that as of the end of 2011, it retained a total of 6,158 antipersonnel mines for “training soldiers in mine detection and clearance and canine detection” of the following types: M14 (3,047), DM31 (1,286), M2 (1,445), and M16 (380).[17] Greece did not use the expanded Form D for reporting on the intended purposes and actual uses of retained mines agreed at the First Review Conference in 2004. Greece did not consume mines for permitted purposes in 2011 or 2010, but did so in 2009.[18]

The Hellenic Republic (Greece) has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In May 2012, a government official confirmed Greece’s hesitation over joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including its continued “strong belief” in the need to use cluster munitions for defense purposes, as well as concerns about the deadline and costs of stockpile destruction, plus the fact that other states from the region are not ready to sign.[1] In 2011, officials said that Greece was not in a position to accede due to national defense and financial reasons.[2]

Greece has long expressed its preference for cluster munitions to be addressed within the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).[3] In May 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that despite the “regretful failure” of the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference to conclude a new protocol on cluster munitions in November 2011, Greece continues to “believe that the CCW is the only forum in a position to include the most significant producers and users of cluster munitions in future negotiations, in which the delicate balance between military utility and humanitarian concerns should be respected.”[4]

Greece participated in two conferences of the Oslo Process that developed the convention text (Lima in May 2007 and Vienna in December 2007), but participated as an observer only in both the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 and the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in December 2008 and did not sign the convention.[5]

Since 2008, Greece has not participated in any meetings related to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011.

Greece is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Greece is a party to the CCW and actively supported efforts to conclude a new CCW protocol on cluster munitions in 2011.

At the outset of the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in Geneva in November 2011, Greece described the chair’s draft text as a “good basis” for the proposed CCW protocol on cluster munitions, which it said would “significantly contribute to addressing the uncontested humanitarian concerns that emerge from the unregulated use of cluster munitions.”[6]

The Review Conference ended without reaching agreement on the draft protocol, and with no proposals for further negotiations, thus concluding the CCW’s work on cluster munitions. Following the failure, Greece said that it could not join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but that it shares humanitarian concerns and is willing to prohibit the “most deadly” cluster munitions.[7]

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Greece has stated it has never used cluster munitions.[8] Greece has produced, imported, and stockpiled the weapon. It is unclear if Greece has exported cluster munitions.[9]

In June 2011, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated that “the last production of cluster munitions in Greece was in 2001.”[10]

Hellenic Defence Systems S.A. (EBO-PYRKAL), also known as EAS, has produced two versions of the GRM-49 155mm artillery projectile with 49 dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) submunitions and the 107mm high explosive/improved conventional munition (HE/ICM) GRM20 mortar projectile containing 20 DPICM.[11]

Greece has imported 203mm DPICM artillery projectiles, M26 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) rockets, and Rockeye bombs from the United States (US).[12] According to US export records, Greece also imported 4,008 CBU-55B cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[13] In June 2011, a Greek official informed the Monitor that Greece possesses 1,286 CBU-55B cluster bombs.[14]

Greece is the sole reported customer for the Autonomous Free Flight Dispenser System (AFDS), which disperses a variety of explosive submunitions, developed by General Dynamics (US) and LFK (Germany).[15] Jane’s Information Group lists Greece as also possessing BLG-66 Belouga and CBU-71 cluster bombs.[16]

In addition, Greece has imported DM-702 SMArt-155 sensor-fuzed munitions from Germany. These weapons contain two submunitions, but are not considered cluster munitions under the terms of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[17]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

In December 2009 at the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, Greece announced it was in full compliance with Article 5 of the treaty.[1] However, there is one marked minefield on the island of Rhodes, the largest of Greece’s islands and a popular tourist destination. In response to concerns raised by the ICBL, Greece reported in June 2011 that the Greek army cleared the area in 1987 but failed to locate all of the mines, and that since then has conducted quality assurance (QA) seven times through to May 2011.[2] QA is conducted at a deeper depth and larger perimeter each time. In May 2011, QA was said to have been conducted at 40cm depth. In September 2011, it is planned to conduct QA at a depth of 1.2m. Since 1987, no mines have been found.[3] After several inquiries by the Monitor and concerns raised by the ICBL, Greece informed the Monitor in May 2012 that it would undertake full clearance of the area before the end of the year.[4] Clearance operations started in May 2012.

In addition, Greece is contaminated with antivehicle mines in minefields in Evros along the border with Turkey.[5]

Explosive remnants of war

Contamination elsewhere in the country consists of booby-traps and explosive remnants of war (ERW) remaining from World War II and from the 1946–1949 civil conflict in the Western Macedonia and Epirus regions in the north of the country. The contaminated area is not clearly defined, although the amount of ERW is said to be large.[6] A survey in Western Macedonia in 2007 found a total of 786 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs), including some mined areas, of which 13 SHAs covering 310,000m² were subsequently cleared, leaving 773 areas to be addressed.[7]

In March 2011, Greece reported that it was clearing ERW in the Western Macedonia and Epirus regions and that from September to December 2010 it had cleared 218,900m². Greece did not report whether the clearance was occurring in just one or in both of the regions. Weather conditions limit clearance operations.[8]

In an interview with the Monitor, Lieutenant-Colonel Demetrios Tavris from the Ministry of Defense said it was impossible to determine the extent of the ERW problem in other parts of Greece as there could always be some residual contamination.[9]

Mine Action Program

There is no national mine action authority or mine action center in Greece. All clearance operations and their management fall under the Ministry of Defense’s responsibility.[10]

Land Release

As noted above, clearance of former battle areas took place in 2010, although details of the areas cleared have not been made public.

Mine clearance in 2011

No formal mine clearance took place in 2011, but major operations started in May 2012. In 2009, Greece completed clearance of antipersonnel mines in the 57 mined areas it laid along the border with Turkey.[11] During clearance at Evros, it found and destroyed 24,731 antipersonnel mines.[12]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Greece 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 2014.

At the Second Review Conference, Greece claimed that it had fulfilled its Article 5 obligations in 2009, five years before its deadline, and that there were no known mined areas under Greece’s jurisdiction or control containing antipersonnel mines. In the event that new unknown mined areas were discovered, Greece would report to States Parties under the reporting mechanisms of the treaty.[13]

However, the marked minefield on the island of Rhodes suggests that Greece’s declaration of compliance was premature and that Greece will have outstanding legal obligations under the treaty until all of the SHA has been safely and successfully released.

Questions also remain about the completion of clearance of mined areas elsewhere in the country dating back to the civil war. Greece’s most recent Article 13 report under CCW Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons refers to areas contaminated by mines in Western Macedonia and Epirus, although it notes that there are “no properly defined minefields in this area and no maps.”[14] Greece has reported as “void” the section covering “areas suspected to contain mines” in its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports.[15]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

There is no formal mine/ERW risk education program in Greece. Greece reported that “all minefields along the border with Turkey in the Evros province are clearly defined and marked.”[16] It also stated that “all minefields have a double fence” and that “barbed wire was added to almost all the minefields of Evros.”[17]

No new mine or explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were identified in Greece in 2011.

In January 2012, local media reported that an Albanian man was injured by an explosive item said to be an antipersonnel mine in the forest along the Ioannina-Kakkavos national road.[1] Prior to this, four mine casualties were identified in 2008.[2] No casualties were identified from 2009 to 2011.

Between 1999 and 2008, the Monitor identified at least 108 landmine casualties (66 killed and 42 injured); the majority of casualties were non-Greek citizens. Between 1954 and 2007, at least 31 deminers were killed. From 1954 to 2002, 17 military personnel were injured in clearance operations.[3] In its 2011 reporting for the Convention on Conventional Weapons Amended Protocol II, Greece stated that “there are no mine victims” with reference to the completion of the clearance antipersonnel mines from the Greek-Turkish border.[4]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Greece is unknown.

The vast majority of casualties were migrants and asylum seekers entering Greece through border areas. The head of the clearance battalion reported that some 187 non-Greek citizens had been injured between 1995 and early 2007.[5]

In 2008, during a visit to Evros prefecture, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe reminded Greece that “the authorities must provide a prompt and generous assistance to all mine victims, especially migrants.”[6]  Some support has been provided to survivors, but the Monitor found no evidence of full rehabilitative assistance made available to all known survivors. Any available victim assistance was abandoned when the economic crisis in the country began in 2009.[7]

As of mid-2012, two survivors were known to be still living in Greece, both with official status: one as a refugee and the other a migrant. There were no economic reintegration opportunities or psychological support for survivors. One survivor was involved in sport activities.[8] Survivors with “humanitarian refugee”status may be eligible for a small disability benefit. Survivors living without clear residency status relied on sporadic contributions from state institutions or public donations.[9]

Greece has legislation that protects the rights of persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, access to buildings, and in the provision of other government services; the legislation is enforced, but access to buildings for persons with disabilities is poorly enforced.[10]