Mine ban policy overview

Mine Ban Policy

The Hellenic Republic (Greece) signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified 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]

Greece has been in violation of the Mine Ban Treaty since March 2008 when it missed its stockpile destruction deadline. The stockpile destruction process was reinitiated in the second half of 2013 following a modified contract agreement with Hellenic Defence Systems S.A. (EAS), the company originally contracted to carry out its stockpile destruction, for the destruction of the remaining 60% of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines. A Greek official informed the ICBL that just over half of its remaining stockpile had been transferred to a contractor in Bulgaria for destruction; the destruction process was understood to be in process on 1 October 2014 when an a series of explosions destroyed the Bulgarian facility, killing 15 employees.[3] Greece’s stockpile destruction activities were previously suspended in early 2010 after an explosion at the same Bulgarian facility and a subsequent lengthy legal process between the Greek state and EAS (see section on Stockpile destruction below).

Greece submitted its eleventh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in April 2014, covering calendar year 2013.[4]

Greece is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Greece is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines; submitting its annual report in early 2014 covering calendar year 2013. Greece became party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW) on 21 October 2014, which will enter into force for Greece on 21 April 2015.

Production and trade

Greece is a former producer of antipersonnel mines; it also formerly imported them from Germany and the United States (US).[5] Prior to becoming a State Party, Greece had a moratorium on the production and export of antipersonnel mines for a number of years.[6]

Stockpiling

In its April 2014 Article 7 report, Greece declared a stockpile of 953,285 antipersonnel mines as of 31 December 2013, comprised of 179,938 M2 mines, 241,760 DM31 mines, 529,292 M16 mines, and 2,295 M14 mines.[7] This is the same number that Greece has reported since 2011.[8]

Before it began stockpile destruction efforts, Greece reported a pre-destruction stockpile of 1,568,167 antipersonnel mines, composed of 792,780 DM31 mines, 568,327 M16 mines, 204,565 M2 mines, and 2,495 M14 mines.[9] Greece had previously reported a pre-destruction stockpile totaling 1,566,532 antipersonnel mines composed of these types as well as 504 Area Denial Artillery Munition (ADAM) 155mm artillery projectiles, each containing 36 antipersonnel mines. Counting the ADAM mines, the revised pre-destruction stockpile total was 1,586,311.[10]

Greece adjusted its pre-destruction stockpile total in 2011 following a stockpile inventory and a review of its records held by the Greek Armed Forces.[11] The amendments increase the number of M16 mines stockpiled (14,968 more) and decreased the number of DM31 (1,620 fewer), M2 (9,809 fewer), and M14 (1,400 fewer) mines. Greece reported that a total of 18,144 ADAM mines contained in 504 artillery projectiles were destroyed in 2007.[12]

Stockpile destruction

Greece failed to meet its 1 March 2008 deadline for destruction of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines and, as of November 2014, remains in violation of the treaty.

Greece began its stockpile destruction almost eight months after the deadline passed. In December 2010, it stated that a total of 615,362 stockpiled mines were transferred to a Bulgarian facility operated by EAS during the period November 2008 to May 2010, where 614,882 mines were destroyed.[13] Destruction operations halted in early 2010, however, after an explosion at the Bulgarian destruction facility. Following a ministerial decision and an arbitral award, the contract between EAS and Greece was revoked in June 2010 on the basis of delays in the destruction process. The company subsequently appealed the decision.[14]

According to Greece, a ministerial decision signed in November 2012 “put the whole process back on track.”[15] On 29 April 2013, Greece signed a modified contract with EAS for the destruction of the remaining 60% of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines. The contract required that the stockpile destruction be carried out at the Bulgarian company VIDEX’s facilities and funded by the Ministry of Defence of Greece. Greece described the “proactive” involvement of the Greek Armed Forces in the process, from transporting the mines under police and military escort to the Greek-Bulgarian border and through random checks by Greek officers during the delivery and destruction process.[16]

In December 2013, Greece informed States Parties that on 7 June 2013 EAS submitted all the relevant documents, including an end user certificate, in order to re-launch the destruction process of its stockpile at the VIDEX facilities in Bulgaria. It stated that the request for an international import certificate submitted on 2 July 2013 by VIDEX to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy and Energy was approved on 17 October 2013. Subsequently, on 2 December 2013 the Greek Ministry of Development, Competitiveness, and Finance issued export licenses for the antipersonnel mines. It reported on 5 December 2013 that the only remaining pending documents required to commence the shipment of the mines to Bulgaria were transport licenses, which it said were expected to be issued by Greek and Bulgarian authorities “within the next few weeks.”[17] Greece stated that it expected the transport and destruction of the stockpiled mines to begin in “early 2014,” adding that the ongoing financial crisis had continued to hinder the process, including delayed payments to EAS employees.

In April 2014, Greece informed States Parties that 6,528 DM31 mines were transferred to Bulgaria on 24 February 2014, following a Ministry of Defence directive.[18] Subsequently, on 17 March 2014 Greece officials issued a transport license for 51,298 DM31 mines, which it said would be transported to Bulgaria “in the coming weeks.” Greece reported that on 20 March 2014 a total of 5,088 M2 and 2,160 M16 mines had been shipped to Bulgaria, with a further 15,000 mines scheduled to be transported on 14 April.[19]

At the Mine Ban Treaty’s Third Review Conference in June 2014, Greece announced that a total of 239,112 mines had been transferred to the VIDEX facility in Bulgaria, where 107,058 DM31 mines had been destroyed.[20] It stated that EAS and VIDEX were expected to complete destruction of the stockpile by the end of 2015 “notwithstanding…any future unforeseen circumstances.” EAS estimated that the transfer of the stockpile to Bulgaria would be completed by 18 August 2014, the date on which the contract expired. Greece stated that the remaining 714,173 mines would be transferred and destroyed “within the timeframe…provided.” It added, however, that destruction would continue “according to the provisions of the standing contractual agreement, which provides for the possibility of an extension in the deadline for completion.”[21] At the same time, Greece announced that EAS had already submitted a request for an extension to complete the destruction beyond the contract’s original provisions.[22]

In October 2014, a Greek official informed the ICBL that a total of 452,695 antipersonnel mines remained in Greek stockpiles, awaiting transfer for destruction. A total of 500,590 mines had been transferred to Bulgaria for destruction, but the process halted after a series of explosions on 1 October 2014 demolished the Bulgarian facility, killing 15 workers (13 men and two women).[23] The blasts completely obliterated the factory, leaving behind two craters the size of football fields and scattering debris over several hundred feet from the site.[24] No information has yet been provided on whether the explosion led to the full destruction of all mines at the facility.

According to a media report, the Bulgarian Attorney General’s office stated that the director of the VIDEX facility had sought  permission to transfer 800,000 mines from the facility, located in Gorni Lom, to another site in Seslavtsi, on the outskirts of Sofia, but was denied. The blasts at the Gorni Lom facility occurred later that same day.[25]

The cause of the explosions could not immediately be determined, however Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev blamed the incident on “arrogant nonobservance” of safety procedures.[26] Two months prior to the incident, Bulgarian officials raised serious concerns about safety breaches at the plant.[27] There had been at least three previous unplanned explosions at the destruction facility in 2006, 2007, and 2010 which caused fatalities and injured six people, and in 2010 destroyed two buildings.[28] A national day of mourning was declared on 3 October 2014 in the wake of the tragedy.[29]

It is presumed that all mines present at the facility at the time of the explosion on 1 October 2014 were also destroyed, but some could remain at the site as unexploded ordnance. Greece has yet to announce a new plan for the destruction of its remaining 452,695 mines, but an official informed the ICBL that it intends to submit to States Parties a revised destruction plan by the end of 2014, as called for in Action 5 of the Maputo Action Plan.[30]

Mines retained for research and training

In April 2014, Greece reported that as of the end of 2013, it retained a total of 6,142 antipersonnel mines for troyed, but some could remain at the site as unexploded ordnance. Greece has yet to announce a new plan for the destru286), M2 (1,443), and M16 (372). It reported that 16 mines were consumed in 2013 during army engineer training activities.[31] Previously, Greece had not reported consuming mines for permitted purposes since 2009.[32]

Policy

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

Greece has provided various reasons for why it is not in a position to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including its “strong belief” about the need to use cluster munitions for defense purposes, concerns about the convention’s stockpile destruction deadline and related costs, and the position of other states in the region.[1]

Greece is also party to Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and supported efforts to conclude a draft CCW protocol on cluster munitions, which ultimately failed in 2011, ending the CCW’s deliberations on cluster munitions and leaving the Convention on Cluster Munitions as the sole multilateral instrument to specifically address the weapons.[2] Despite this, Greece has repeated its preference for cluster munitions to be addressed through the CCW.[3] In an April 2014 letter responding to a Monitor request for an update on Greece’s position on joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Greece stands ready to engage on cluster munitions “within the UN framework.”[4] In October 2013, Greece said it “continues to believe that the CCW remains the most appropriate forum for the discussion on a Protocol on [c]luster munitions.”[5]

Greece participated in two conferences of the Oslo Process that developed the convention text (Lima in May 2007 and Vienna in December 2007), but attended the negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 only as an observer and did not sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions when it was opened for signature in December 2008.[6]

Greece has never participated in a meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, even as an observer. It was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013.

Greece has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[7]

Greece is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Greece has stated that it has never used cluster munitions.[8] In December 2013, a Greek defense blog reported on procurement efforts to modernize the Greek Armed Forces’ multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) that it said have been “a subject of intense debate in the General Staff which is required to select and implement a solution within a global binding environment that is required by international treaty to ban cluster munitions.”[9]

Greece has produced, imported, and stockpiled cluster munitions, but it is not clear if Greece ever exported cluster munitions.[10] In 2011, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official stated that “the last production of cluster munitions in Greece was in 2001.”[11]

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) GRM-20 mortar projectile containing 20 DPICM. As of July 2013, the company’s website listed both weapons as produced “in the past.”[12]

Greece has imported from the United States (US) 203mm DPICM artillery projectiles, M26 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) rockets, and Rockeye bombs.[13] According to US export records, Greece also imported 4,008 CBU-55B cluster bombs at some point between 1970 and 1995.[14] In 2011, a Greek official informed the Monitor that Greece possesses 1,286 CBU-55B cluster bombs.[15]

Greece is the sole reported customer for the Autonomous Free Flight Dispenser System (AFDS), which disperses a variety of explosive submunitions, developed in the past by General Dynamics (US) and LFK (Germany).[16] Jane’s Information Group lists Greece as also possessing BLG-66 Belouga and CBU-71 cluster bombs.[17]

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.[18]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

In December 2009 at the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, the Hellenic Republic (Greece) announced it was in full compliance with Article 5 of the treaty.[1] However, there was 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 had conducted quality assurance (QA) seven times through to May 2011.[2] QA was 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 was planned to conduct QA at a depth of 1.2 meters. 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] In 2012, Greece began verification operations on Rhodes, covering an area much larger than the one remaining mined area. The Greek Army completed verification on 8 March 2013 and declared the area mine-free; on 21 March 2013 the land was handed over to the municipal authorities in Rhodes.[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 regions of Western Macedonia and Epirus 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 2011, Greece reported that ERW clearance operations were underway in the Western Macedonia and Epirus regions and that 525,155m² had been cleared.[8]

In an interview with the Monitor, Lieutenant-Colonel Demetrios Tavris from the Ministry of National Defence 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 are the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defence.[10]

Article 5 Compliance

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 previous unknown mined areas were discovered, Greece would report to States Parties under the reporting mechanisms of the treaty.[11]

However, the marked minefield on the island of Rhodes suggested that Greece’s declaration of compliance was premature. In March 2013, Greece completed verification operations in Rhodes and declared the island and all of Greece mine-free.[12]

Questions remain about the completion of clearance of mined areas dating back to the civil war elsewhere in the country. Greece’s most recent Article 13 report under the Convention on Conventional Weapons Amended Protocol II 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.”[13] Greece has reported as “void” the section covering “areas suspected to contain mines” in its annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports.[14]

Casualties

The last new casualty of mines/explosive remnants of war (ERW) was identified in the Hellenic Republic (Greece) in 2012. In January of that year, 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] The last casualties identified before 2012 were four mine casualties in 2008.[2]

Between 1999 and 2012, the Monitor identified at least 109 landmine casualties (66 killed and 43 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] 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.[4]

Victim Assistance

There is no report on the total number of mine/ERW survivors living in Greece.

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.”[5]  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.[6]

There were no economic reintegration opportunities or psychological support for survivors..[7] 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.[8]

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. Legislation is enforced, but access to buildings for persons with disabilities remains difficult.[9]

The main coordination body regarding disability policy at the national level is the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (since 2015 the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity), which is in charge of social protection, policy for assessment of disability, and pensions. The Ministry of Health regulates policy related to healthcare as well as the organization of health and social care establishments.[10] However, as described earlier, most landmine victims in Greece are asylum seekers or illegal immigrants who face precarious situations and therefore cannot always access services.[11] Policy changes announced in early 2015 indicated the possibility of increased access to health services for asylum seekers in the future.[12]

Greece ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 31 May 2012.