Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The United States of America (US) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. A review of US landmine ban policy, announced in November 2009, was apparently concluded in 2011 but the outcome still had not been announced as of September 2013.

In December 2012, a Department of State official informed States Parties, “We have not made a decision on United States accession” to the Mine Ban Treaty and said: “Our review has identified operational issues relating to accession that require careful consideration. This consideration is ongoing, and we expect to be able to announce a decision soon.”[1]

At a Mine Ban Treaty side event convened by the US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), the US representative said that “soon” should be taken as meaning by the time of the Mine Ban Treaty’s next meeting of States Parties to be held in Geneva in December 2013. In response to questions about the “operational issues” cited in the statement the official stated, “We’ve made real progress. We’ve identified the issues. Our homework is done. Now it’s about looking at the options and going forward.”[2]

At the outset of the policy review in 2009, the US cautioned that it would take “some time” to complete the review “given that we must ensure that all factors are considered, including possible alternatives to meet our national defense needs and security commitments to our friends and allies….”[3] According to then-National Security Advisor General James L. Jones, the purpose of the review was “to specifically examine the costs and benefits that would be involved in a decision to accede to the Ottawa Treaty.”[4]

The US was the first nation to call for the “eventual elimination” of antipersonnel mines in September 1994 and it participated in the Ottawa Process that led to the creation of the treaty, but did not sign in 1997. The Clinton administration set the goal of joining in 2006. However, in 2004 the Bush administration announced a new policy that rejected both the treaty and the goal of the US ever joining.[5] As mentioned above, in November 2009 the administration of President Barack Obama publicly acknowledged that a comprehensive review of US mine policy was underway.[6]

Until the Obama administration’s policy review is completed, the 2004 Bush policy remains in place, permitting the indefinite use of self-destructing, self-deactivating antipersonnel mines anywhere in the world. In accordance with the Bush policy, as of 31 December 2010 the US prohibits the use of antipersonnel mines that do not self-destruct and self-deactivate (sometimes called “persistent” or “dumb” mines) anywhere in the world, including in Korea. Since the US participated in the Second Review Conference in November 2009, it has continued to attend Mine Ban Treaty meetings as an observer.[7] The US attended the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012 where it made a brief statement on universalization.[8] The US attended intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011 but not those held in May 2012 or May 2013.[9]

On 3 December 2012, the US abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 67/32 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in previous years. It was one of only 19 nations to abstain.

Over the course of the policy review, there have been numerous expressions of support for the US joining the Mine Ban Treaty. In May 2010, more than two-thirds of the US Senate wrote to President Obama to state strong support for the ban on antipersonnel mines and expressed confidence that “through a thorough, deliberative review the Administration can identify any obstacles to joining the Convention and develop a plan to overcome them as soon as possible.”[10] On 30 November 2010, 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates sent a letter to President Obama urging a US decision to join the Mine Ban Treaty.[11] On 18 April 2012, the USCBL sent a letter signed by the leaders of 76 NGOs to President Obama to encourage him to “make a decision on future U.S. landmine policy as soon as possible” and “announce that the United States will accede to the Mine Ban Treaty.”[12] In January 2013, Foreign Policy magazine included a call for the US to ban landmines to a list of ten foreign policy objectives for the second term of the Obama Administration.[13] On 1 March 2013, the 13^th anniversary of the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, the USCBL called on the United States to “embrace the Mine Ban Treaty and announce concrete plans for a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines.”[14]

During an August 2013 visit to Colombia, US Secretary of State John Kerry rolled up his pant leg in solidarity with landmine victims.[15]

The US is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. It submitted its annual national report for Amended Protocol II on 4 April 2013, as required under Article 13, and a national annual report for Protocol V on 5 April 2013, as required by Article 10.

Use, transfer, production, and stockpiling

The last known US use of antipersonnel mines was in 1991.[16] There were reports in 2009 and 2010 of US forces in Afghanistan using Claymore directional fragmentation mines.[17] However, these munitions are not prohibited under the Mine Ban Treaty if used in command-detonated mode.[18]

In February 2012, US officials confirmed implementation of the 2004 policy directive to end the use of so-called persistent (non-self-destructing) mines by the end of 2010.[19] In its CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report, delivered in March 2012, the US provided the following statement:

“Beginning January 1, 2011, the United States no longer uses any persistent landmines anywhere. All persistent landmines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, have been transferred to inactive inventory and will be destroyed in accordance with U.S. DoD [Department of Defense] policies and procedures.”

According to the statement, the United States’ entire stockpile of landmines now has the features of self-destruct and self-deactivation specifications provided in Amended Protocol II landmines.[20]

The US is retaining a small quantity of “persistent mines” for demining and counter-mine testing and training.[21]

On 26 December 2007, the comprehensive US moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines was extended for six years until 2014.[22] US law has prohibited all antipersonnel mine exports since 23 October 1992, through a series of multi-year extensions of the moratorium.

The US has not produced antipersonnel mines since 1997. It is one of just 12 countries in the world that either still actively produces the weapon or reserves the right to do so.[23] However, the US currently has no plans to produce antipersonnel mines in the future. There are no victim-activated munitions being funded in the procurement or the research and development budgets of the US Armed Services or Department of Defense.

Two programs are being funded, the XM-7 Spider Networked Munition and the IMS Scorpion, that once had the potential for victim-activated features (thereby making them antipersonnel mines as defined by the Mine Ban Treaty) but that are now solely “man-in-the-loop” (command-detonated, and therefore permissible under the treaty).[24]

In light of the termination in 2008 of the War Reserve Stocks for Allies, Korea (WRSA-K) program, and the US policy of prohibiting use of non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines in Korea after 2010, it appears that the approximately half a million mines stored in South Korea will be removed and destroyed.[25]

The Monitor has been reporting, based on official 2002 data, that the US has a stockpile of approximately 10.4 million antipersonnel mines.[26] However, knowledgeable sources have indicated to the Monitor that the current active stockpile is far smaller, and that millions of stockpiled mines have been removed from service and have been or will be destroyed.

The United States of America (US) has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The US has acknowledged the “important contributions” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but also led unsuccessful efforts to create an alternate international law to regulate and not ban cluster munitions through the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), to which it is party. The US opposed the negotiation of a legally binding instrument in the CCW until June 2007 when the Oslo Process to create the Convention on Cluster Munitions was underway.[1] It subsequently became one of the most ardent supporters of a CCW protocol, working intensively to forge agreement on a draft CCW protocol on cluster munitions.[2] The US said it was “deeply disappointed” at the CCW’s failure in November 2011 to conclude the draft protocol, but the administration of President Barack Obama has not said if it will review its policy on joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions now that it has been affirmed as the sole international law specifically addressing cluster munitions.[3]

The Obama administration has continued to implement a cluster munition policy created under President George W. Bush in July 2008. Under the 2008 Department of Defense (DoD) policy, by the end of 2018 the US will no longer use cluster munitions that result in more than 1% unexploded ordnance (UXO).[4] Until 2018, any use of cluster munitions that exceed the 1% UXO rate must be approved by the Combatant Commander.[5] The 10-year transition period was seen as “necessary to develop the new technology, get it into production, and to substitute, improve, or replace existing stocks.”[6] Under the policy, all cluster munition stocks “that exceed operational planning requirements or for which there are no operational planning requirements” must be removed from active inventories as soon as possible (but not later than 19 June 2009) and demilitarized as soon as practicable.[7] In November 2011, the US stated that it would continue to implement the 2008 DoD policy on cluster munitions.[8]

The US did not directly participate, not even as an observer, in the diplomatic Oslo Process in 2007 and 2008 that resulted in the Convention on Cluster Munitions. However, US Department of State cables made public by Wikileaks from late 2010 through 2011 show how the US attempted to influence its allies, partners, and other states during the Oslo Process to affect the outcome of the negotiations, especially with respect to the issue of “interoperability” (joint military operations between the US and States Parties to the convention).[9] The diplomatic cables also show how the US has worked extensively to influence national implementation legislation and interpretation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including on issues of foreign stockpiling and transit[10] (see section on Foreign stockpiling and transit below). In a February 2009 cable, the US commended Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre for the “successful conclusion” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[11] In at least one instance, a US cluster munition manufacturer exerted pressure on a foreign government not to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[12]

The US has never participated in a meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Third Meeting of States Parties in Oslo, Norway in September 2012.

When reports emerged of civilian casualties caused by use of cluster munitions by Syrian forces in October 2012, the then-Permanent Representative of the US to the UN, Ambassador Susan Rice, tweeted that the cluster munition use was an example of “atrocities” by the Syrian regime.[13] The US voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on 15 May 2013 that strongly condemned, “the use by the Syrian authorities of…cluster munitions.”[14] In April 2011, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the use of cluster munitions by Libyan government forces in Misrata.

In a 17 July 2013 letter to President Obama, senior US Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), as well as Representative James McGovern (D-MA), described the US government’s cluster munitions policy as “outdated” and urged that it be “immediately” and “expeditiously” reviewed to put the US “on a path to join the international Convention on Cluster Munitions.” The letter urges a review of the DoD’s policy on cluster munitions and states, “Rather than waiting until 2018, as is current DOD policy, we believe the U.S. military should immediately halt the use of cluster munitions that have an unexploded ordnance rate of greater than one percent.”[15]

On 28 February 2013, Senators Feinstein and Leahy reintroduced the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, Bill S. 419, to limit the use of cluster munitions to munitions that have a 99% or higher reliability rate, prohibit use of cluster munitions in areas where civilians are known to be present, and require a clearance plan if the US uses cluster munitions.[16] On 28 February 2013, Representative McGovern re-introduced an identical companion bill in the House as H.R. 881.[17]

On 19 June 2013, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced the Designating Requirements On Notification of Executive-ordered Strikes Act of 2013 or DRONES Act, which includes provisions requiring that US cluster munitions have a less than 1% dud rate and be used only against military targets and not in areas inhabited by civilians. It contains the same language on cluster munitions as the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act described above. In addition, the bill would prohibit the President from authorizing the use of cluster munitions if they would be “reasonably likely to unintentionally harm any citizen of the United States or citizen of a strategic treaty ally of the United States.”[18]

Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, and other civil society groups in the US have continued to take action in support of the Convention on Cluster Munitions through the US Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions. On 1 August 2013, the US campaign sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry urging a review of US policy on cluster munitions, stating “It’s time for the United States to assume a leadership role, join the conversation, and take significant action” on cluster munitions. It urged that the current 2018 policy date for instituting a ban on nearly all cluster munitions be brought forward and called for the US to “examine the need for the exception in the policy that allows continued use of cluster munitions that have a less than one percent unexploded ordnance rate during military operations.”[19]

The US has not joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, but in late 2009 the Obama administration began a comprehensive review of US policy on banning antipersonnel mines and accession to the treaty. In the nearly four years since the policy review commenced, the US has become a regular observer at Mine Ban Treaty meetings, but the policy review still had not concluded as of July 2013.

Use

The US used cluster munitions in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam (1960s and 1970s); Grenada and Lebanon (1983); Libya (1986); Iran (1988); Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia (1991); Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995); Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo (1999); Afghanistan (2001 and 2002); and Iraq (2003).[20]

In June 2010, Amnesty International (AI) published a series of photographs and stated that it appeared to confirm US use of at least one TLAM-D cruise missile with 166 BLU-97 submunitions to attack an “alleged al-Qa’ida training camp” in al-Ma‘jalah in the al-Mahfad district of Abyan governorate of Yemen on 17 December 2009.[21] A US Department of State cable dated 21 December 2009 acknowledged the US played a role in the 17 December strike.[22] Neither the US nor Yemeni government has publicly responded to the Yemen use allegations.[23]

The July 2013 letter by Senators Feinstein and Leahy refers the Yemen strike and reported civilian casualties. It notes that “current DOD policy requires Combatant Commanders to approve the use of cluster munitions that exceed a one percent unexploded ordnance rate” and requests that DOD provide “detailed information on the use of cluster munitions since the implementation of current DOD policy” issued in June 2008.[24] As noted above, the letter also called for an immediate halt to the use of cluster munitions with a failure rate of more than 1%.

Production

In 2001, then-Secretary of Defense William Cohen issued a policy memorandum stating that all submunitions reaching the “full rate” production decision by fiscal year 2005 and beyond must have a failure rate of less than 1%.[25] The US has not budgeted any money for producing new cluster munitions since 2007.[26] Research and development activities continue at the applied research level for the purposes of improving the reliability of existing submunitions as well as the development of new types of submunitions. These activities are in programs being conducted by the Air Force, Army, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.[27]

The US has in the past licensed the production of cluster munitions with Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Transfer

While the historical record is incomplete, in the past the US transferred hundreds of thousands of cluster munitions, containing tens of millions of submunitions, to at least 30 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United Kingdom (UK).[28] In 2012, Chile’s Ministry of National Defense provided the Monitor with information showing an export to the US in 1991 of one 250kg cluster bomb and one 500kg cluster bomb.[29]

The US first instituted a moratorium on the export or transfer of cluster munitions that do not meet the 1% UXO standard in a 2007 appropriations (budget) bill at the initiative of Senator Leahy. The moratorium was extended the following year as the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, but again the restrictions only applied to that fiscal year.[30]

The 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act contained similar restrictions as the previous appropriations bills; it prohibited the provision of military assistance for cluster munitions, the issuing of defense export licenses for cluster munitions, or the sale or transfer of cluster munitions or cluster munitions technology unless “the submunitions of the cluster munitions, after arming, do not result in more than 1 percent unexploded ordnance across the range of intended operational environments.” In addition, any agreement “applicable to the assistance, transfer, or sale of such cluster munitions or cluster munitions technology” must specify that the munitions “will only be used against clearly defined military targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians.”[31]

The same export moratorium language was included in the 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law by President Obama on 16 December 2009.[32] Similar export moratorium language was included in the 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-74) signed into law on 23 December 2011,[33] the 2013 Continuing Appropriations Resolution signed into law on 28 September 2012,[34] and the 2013 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act.[35]

On 19 May 2011, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) issued a memorandum on the sale of cluster munitions that incorporates these legal requirements into DSCA policy by adding them to the Security Assistance Management Manual. According to the US agency that administers weapons transfers, “At present the only cluster munition with a compliant submunition (one that does not result in more than 1% UXO across the range of intended operational environments) is the CBU-97B/CBU-105, Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW). The CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon, which contains non-explosive rods, is not captured by the ban.”[36]

Recent US exports of cluster munitions include sales to the UAE (announced in September 2006 of 780 M30 GMLRS rockets),[37] India (announced in September 2008 of 510 CBU-105 SFW),[38] Saudi Arabia (announced in June 2011 of 404 CBU-105D/B SFW),[39] Taiwan (announced in September 2011 of 64 CBU-105 SFW),[40] and the Republic of Korea (announced June 2012 of 367 CBU-105D/B SFW).[41]

On 26 April 2013, Representative Gerald Connolly (D-MA) introduced H.R. 1793 or the “Global Partnerships Act of 2013.”[42] The bill contains language identical to export moratorium on cluster munitions that in the 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-117) and adds that any “agreement applicable to the assistance, transfer, or sale of such cluster munitions or cluster munitions technology” must require the recipient to “immediately recover any unexploded submunitions, and to give assistance as necessary to any civilian injuries, that follow the use of such weapons in any area in which civilians are present.”

Stockpiling

In 2009, a US Department of State official said, “The current stockpile is huge; the DoD currently holds more than 5 million cluster munitions with 700 million submunitions. Using our current demilitarization capabilities, it will cost $2.2 billion to destroy this stockpile.”[43] At the CCW Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, the US delegate stated that the US stockpile includes “more than 6 million cluster munitions,” which indicates that the stockpile may be larger than previously reported.[44]

An October 2004 report to the US Congress by the DoD provides details on a stockpile of 5.5 million cluster munitions containing about 728.5 million submunitions.[45]

US stockpile of cluster munitions (as of 2004)[46]

In a February 2011 presentation to CCW delegates, the US stated that “around two million” cluster munitions would be captured by a CCW proposal for a ban on the use of cluster munitions produced before 1980. The types of cluster munitions included in this figure were listed on a slide projected during an informal briefing to CCW delegates by a member of the US delegation. Several of the types (such as CBU-58, CBU-55B, and M509A1) were not listed in the “active” or “total” inventory by the US DoD in a report to Congress in late 2004.

The October 2004 DoD report to Congress provides details on a stockpile of 5.5 million cluster munitions of 17 different types that contain about 728 million submunitions.[47] However, this figure does not appear to be a full accounting of cluster munitions available to US forces. The number apparently does not include cluster munitions that are located in foreign countries or stockpiled as part of the War Reserve Stocks for Allies (WRSA).[48]

The DoD had not publicly reported on the removal of excess cluster munitions from stocks by June 2009, as called for in the July 2008 policy. The July 2013 letter to President Obama from Senators Feinstein and Leahy notes that the 2008 policy “requires the Services and Combatant Commands to initiate the removal from active inventory all cluster munition stocks that exceed or do not satisfy operational planning requirements” and requests that the DoD provide “an unclassified report detailing the number of cluster munitions that have been removed from the active stockpile, as well as how many remain.”[49]

Since 2000, the US has destroyed 9,400 tons of outdated cluster munitions (not including missiles and rockets) on average per year at an average annual cost of $7.2 million. For fiscal year 2012, the funding for the destruction of non-missile cluster munitions and submunitions consumes 24% of the annual budget allocation for the destruction of conventional ammunitions.[50]

Since fiscal year 2007, there has been a separate funding source for the destruction of multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) rockets and ATACM missiles, with special destruction facilities for MLRS rockets at the Anniston Defense Munitions Center in Alabama and the Letterkenny Munitions Center in Pennsylvania. The army has requested $109 million for the destruction of 98,904 M26 MLRS rockets from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2012.[51]

Foreign stockpiling and transit

It appears that the US has taken action to remove its stockpiles from the territories of at least two States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The UK announced in 2010 that there were now “no foreign stockpiles of cluster munitions in the UK or on any UK territory.”[52] According to a Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, the US removed its stockpiled cluster munitions from Norway in 2010.[53]

US Department of State cables released by Wikileaks show that the US has stockpiled and may continue to be storing cluster munitions in a number of countries, including Convention on Cluster Munitions States Parties Afghanistan, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain, as well as in non-signatories Israel, Qatar and perhaps Kuwait:

·         According to a December 2008 cable, “The United States currently has a very small stockpile of cluster munitions in Afghanistan.”[54]

·         According to a December 2008 cable, Germany has engaged with the US on the matter of cluster munitions that may be stockpiled by the US in Germany.[55]

·         According to a cable detailing the inaugural meeting on 1 May 2008 of the “U.S.-Israeli Cluster Munitions Working Group (CMWG),” until US cluster munitions are transferred from the War Reserve Stockpiles for use by Israel in wartime, “they are considered to be under U.S. title, and U.S. legislation now prevents such a transfer of any cluster munitions with less than a one percent failure rate.”[56]

·         In a November 2008 cable, the US identified Italy, Spain, and Qatar as states of particular concern with respect to interoperability since “they are states in which the US stores cluster munitions,” even though apparently Qatar “may be unaware of US cluster munitions stockpiles in the country.”[57]

·         A December 2008 cable states that Japan “recognizes U.S. forces in Japan are not under Japan’s control and hence the GOJ [Government of Japan] cannot compel them to take action or to penalize them.”[58]

·         According to a May 2007 cable, the US might be storing clusters munitions in Kuwait.[59]

Casualties^[1]

Thirty-seven US soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq and 132 in Afghanistan in 2009, compared to 131 soldiers killed in Iraq, and 72 in Afghanistan in 2008.^[2] It was not known how many incidents were caused by victim-activated IEDs.^[3] In addition, five US soldiers were killed or injured by mines or explosive remnants of war (ERW). One US soldier was killed by a mine in Afghanistan;^[4] one US soldier was killed and two were injured by an item of ERW at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan;^[5] and one US soldier was killed by a mine in Baghdad, Iraq.^[6]

Between 1999 and 2009, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor recorded 212 US mine/ERW/IED casualties (83 killed, 129 injured).^[7]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW/IED survivors in the US is likely to number in the thousands. From 2001 to 1 March 2010, 967 soldiers lost at least one limb in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[8]

Survivor needs

In 2009, the Joint Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Disability Evaluation System (DES) piloted a single disability examination at 21 sites to assess whether 337 injured active duty soldiers should be discharged from the military based on injuries, wounds, or illnesses incurred during their service. Based on the information collected, it assisted the pilot participants in transitioning to civilian life with access to the benefits and services available to them through the DVA.^[9]

Victim assistance coordination

The DVA is the lead government agency that assists all veterans, including those disabled from mines/ERW/IEDs, with offices in each of the 50 states, the Philippines, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.^[10] The DVA Office of Survivors Assistance is the primary advisor to the government on policies and programs affecting survivors and dependents of deceased veterans and service members.^[11]

Survivor inclusion

In February 2009, Tammy Duckworth, a disabled US veteran, was appointed as an assistant secretary of the DVA, helping to “overhaul the agency” with a goal of reducing bureaucratic obstacles to disability benefits.^[12]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2009

In 2009, the DVA increased the number of local accredited orthopedic and prosthetic providers to ensure decentralized access to physical rehabilitation care. As of March 2010, it had contracted more than 600 local orthopedic and prosthetic providers.^[13] The DVA also added additional mental health clinicians and increased its psychological support capacity to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though stigma around mental health prevented many veterans from accessing available services.^[14]

In January 2009, the Department of Labor initiated the “America’s Heroes at Work” employment pilot project to coordinate employment opportunities for veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and/or PTSD and document best practices to help employers hire, accommodate, and retain veterans in the workplace.^[15]

In 2009, the Wounded Warrior Project identified a number of shortcomings in the DVA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program. These included insufficient, temporary support payments for disabled veterans; too few counselors attending to program participants; insufficient reimbursement of program participation expenses; and a lack of long-term measurement mechanisms to quantify program success.^[16]

On 30 July 2009, the US signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but had not ratified it as of June 2010.

The United States of America (US) is the largest donor for mine action, having contributed over US$2 billion since 1993. In 2012 as part of the its Conventional Weapons Destruction program within the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (WRA), the US contributed $134.4 million to mine action in 30 countries and three territories through more than 40 organizations, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), UNDP, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the International Trust Fund Enhancing Human Security (ITF).[1]

Afghanistan and Iraq received the largest contributions, and together they constituted almost half (48%) of US funding in 2012, approximately the same percentage as in 2011. Six recipients (Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Colombia, Iraq, and Lao PDR) each received at least $5 million each.

In 2012, the US reported on their priorities for the period in different regions: in addition to increased US support in the Pacific to clear World War II-era unexploded ordnance in Palau, the Solomon Islands, and other Pacific nations and to build local capacity in the region,[2] it also increased its assistance to Lao PDR from $5 million to $9.3 million, an increase of 46%.

In southeastern Europe, largely consisting of countries that were part of the former Yugoslavia, the US shifted its major focus from reducing the threat from landmines to reducing excess stockpiles of obsolete small arms, light weapons, and ammunition. Nevertheless, the US contributed $4.7 million to countries in southeastern Europe for mine action, including $2.3 million to Bosnia Herzegovina. All US funding for southeastern Europe is provided through the ITF.

Since 2011, the US has provided approximately $40 million in assistance to locate and secure man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) and other weapons.[3] The WRA in the US Department of State’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs reported a contribution of $21.8 million to Libya from other State Department sources in 2012.[4] The US did not disaggregate this funding to Libya regarding MANPADS and landmines. In an interview with Michael P. Moore from Landmines in Africa, Major General Walter D. Givhan, the US State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Plans, Programs and Operations, said, “In Libya, the US government prioritized securing MANPADS over landmines and while some of the funds made available for MANPADS destruction also covered landmine destruction and removal, the intent was to eliminate the MANPADS.”[5]

The US also provides ongoing support to the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR), located at James Madison University in the state of Virginia, which supports research, training—including the annual Senior Mine Action Managers’ Course—and the Journal of Mine Action publication.[6]

Since 2008, the US has contributed almost $600 million to mine action, largely through the WRA and the Leahy War Victims Fund of USAID.

Contributions by recipient: 2012[7]

In 2012, 88% of US support went towards capacity building, survey, and clearance programs. The US contributed $15.5 million towards victim assistance in 13 countries, an increase of $3 million from 2011.[8] Recipients included the ICRC, the International Center, Information Management and Mine Action Programs, It is known as iMMAPClear Path International, the Polus Center, Project Renew, and PeaceTrees Vietnam. Contributions attributed to global funding went to the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics and the World Health Organization.[9]

Two US government offices provide funding for victim assistance. In 2012, WRA provided $5.8 million to victim assistance projects in five countries; USAID provided $9.7 million to victim assistance projects in seven countries through the Leahy War Victims Fund, which is one of the five Special Programs to Address the Needs of Survivors (SPANS) within the Bureau for Democracy (a part of USAID).[10] In 2013, the Leahy War Victims Fund commenced a new three-year, $2.3 million project for people with disabilities.[11] Other victim assistance support went through the ITF in Slovenia and grants from the WRA directly to NGOs.

In addition, the US provided $10.2 million through USAID to programs that target persons with disabilities in more than 30 countries and territories where there are landmine survivors, including Georgia, Montenegro, Iraq, Jordan, and Nicaragua as well as Kosovo.[12]

The US-based NGO Spirit of Soccer received funding to deliver risk education in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Iraq in 2012.[13]

Contributions by thematic sector: 2012

Contributions for victim assistance, by recipient country: 2012

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[14]