Poland
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
State Party |
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National implementation measures |
Has reported that existing legislation is sufficient |
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Transparency reporting |
Provided an initial Article 7 report in November 2013 |
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Key developments |
Stockpile destruction is underway and scheduled to be completed by 2017 |
Policy
The Republic of Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 27 December 2012, becoming a State Party on 1 June 2013.
Poland has reported that the Mine Ban Treaty as an international agreement is superior to domestic law once ratified and applies directly in Poland.[1] It has indicated that national implementation measures may be addressed through an amendment to the Penal Code.[2]
Poland submitted its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report on 28 November 2013, covering the period from 1 January 2012 to 1 June 2013, and provided an updated annual report in November 2014, for calendar year 2013. Before ratifying the treaty, Poland submitted 11 voluntary Article 7 reports.[3]
Poland attended the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014. It also attended the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties to the treaty in Geneva in December 2013 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in April 2014.
Poland is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. Poland submitted an annual report in accordance with the protocol’s Article 13 in March 2014.[4]
Poland’s ratification legislation included a declaration with respect to interpretation of the ban on “assistance” contained in Article 1 of the Mine Ban Treaty. According to the declaration, “the mere participation in the planning or execution of operations, exercises or other military activity by the Polish Armed Forces, or individual Polish nationals, conducted in combination with the armed forces of states not party to the [Convention], which engage in activity prohibited under that Convention, is not, by itself, assistance, encouragement or inducement for the purposes of Article 1, paragraph (c) of the Convention.”[5]
Production, transfer, use, stockpiling, and destruction
Poland has regularly stated that it does not produce, export, or use antipersonnel mines.[6]
In the past, Poland produced three types of antipersonnel mines and imported a fourth type. Poland exported antipersonnel mines until 1993. An export moratorium in 1995 was made permanent by cabinet decree on 7 April 1998, which was then superseded by a law adopted in September 2002.[7]
In its initial Article 7 report provided in November 2013, Poland declared a stockpile of three types of antipersonnel mines: PSM-1, PMD-6, and MON-100.[8]
Under Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Poland is required to destroy all stockpiled antipersonnel mines under its jurisdiction and control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 June 2017.
Poland began destroying its stockpile of more than one million antipersonnel mines in 2003.[9] As of June 2011, the project was reported to be 60% completed.[10] At the Mine Ban Treaty’s Third Review Conference in June 2014, Poland reiterated a previous announcement first made in 2012 that it had already completed destroying more than one million antipersonnel mines or 97% of its stockpile.[11] It stated that the stockpile destruction was ongoing and would be completed “well before the 2017 deadline.”[12]
In November 2013, Poland reported that a 2013 inventory review had identified a total of 16,957 PSM-1 mines and several components remaining to be destroyed.[13] It said that all the remaining antipersonnel mines and components were gathered at five storage facilities in 2013 in preparation for destruction.[14] It stated that the disposal of mines and their components was carried out in accordance with Polish labor and environmental protection standards.[15]
Poland spent PLN450,000 (US$189,881) on the stockpile destruction project in 2008, an additional PLN655,000 ($212,214) in 2009, and another €286,000 ($379,265) in 2010.[16]
In its initial Article 7 report provided in November 2013, Poland confirmed that it is not retaining any antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes permitted in under Article 3 of the convention.[17]
[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, 28 November 2013, Form A. The report also lists several domestic legal provisions on weapons controls and regulations of illegal materials as pertaining to the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
[2] The rationale document also specifies that amendments to include antipersonnel mines will be made to Acts of the Council of Ministers of 3 December 2001 (Dz. U. Nr 145, poz. 1625, z późn. zm.) and 23 November 2004 (Dz. U. Nr 255, poz. 2557, zpóźn. zm.) on prohibitions and restrictions with regard to use, production, and trade of weapons, ammunition, and national security related goods. Draft Ratification Bill, Parliament of the Republic of Poland, 21 June 2012. Poland’s initial Article 7 report listed these and other domestic legal provisions as relevant to the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, but it is not clear that amendments have in fact been made to specifically include antipersonnel mines under their provisions.
[3] Poland submitted previous voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports in 2012 (for calendar year 2011), 2011 (for calendar year 2010), 2010 (for calendar year 2009), in 2009 (for calendar year 2008), and on 14 April 2008, 6 April 2007, 3 May 2006, 11 May 2005, 12 May 2004, and 5 March 2003.
[4] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, 28 March 2014.
[5] Draft Ratification Bill, Parliament of the Republic of Poland, 21 June 2012.
[6] In 2006, Poland told the Monitor that current military doctrine does not foresee the use of antipersonnel mines, including in joint military operations or exercises with other states. Letter from Tadeusz Chomicki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 March 2006. However, in January 2007 Poland said that it planned to install self-destruct or self-neutralization mechanisms on some antipersonnel mines. It has not referred to such plans since that time. In March 2008, officials stated that Poland does not rely on antipersonnel mines for the defense of its national territory or its bases abroad. See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 867.
[7] “Ordinance of the Council of Minister of August 20, 2002 concerning the imposition of prohibition and restriction on transfer of goods and strategic importance for the state security,” Journal of Laws, 6 September 2002.
[8] Poland has previously acknowledged possessing MON-100 Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, and said that these are “meant exclusively for mine-controlled detonation…[which] excludes the possibility of accidental detonation.” The MON-100 is described in Poland’s first voluntary Article 7 report in 2003 as a “directional fragmentation mine, if equipped with a MUW fuse attached to a tripwire.”
[9] Poland initially reported 1,055,971 stockpiled antipersonnel mines at the end of 2002. During 2003, it destroyed 58,291 POMZ-2 (2M) mines due to expiration of shelf life. It destroyed another 12,990 stockpiled mines in 2005, again because their shelf life had expired.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Statement of Poland, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014. In December 2013 and December 2012, Poland reiterated the announcement that it had already destroyed 97% of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines. In 2008, Poland announced destroying 651,117 mines, or two-thirds of its stockpile.[11] This was a much more rapid destruction of stockpiles than previously planned.[11] Poland further reduced its stockpile to 200,013 mines in 2009. No further reduction took place in 2010. In 2011, Poland reduced its stockpile to a total of 13,585 antipersonnel mines.[11] As part of its search for alternatives to mines, in 2008 Poland started a research project “aimed at the development of a modern and comprehensive system of engineering obstacles (barriers)” which might include “explosive devices controlled by an operator.” As of June 2011, the project was reported to be 60% completed. See statement of Wojciech Flera, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 December 2013; statement by Amb. Remigiusz A. Henczel, Mine Ban Treaty Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 December 2012; Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2008), Form B; Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2009); Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2010), Form B; Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2011), Form B; response to Monitor questionnaire by Adam Kobieracki, Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010; and letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011.
[12] Statement of Poland, Mine Ban Treaty Fourth Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.
[13] Initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 28 November 2013. Poland previously reported in 2012 that as of December 2013 a total of 13,585 PSM-1 mines were awaiting destruction. It is not clear if the increase is related to the 2013 inventory review.
[14] Initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form F, 28 November 2013. Poland reported that it began destroying components of antipersonnel mines in 2011, which included their transport to four central storage facilities. In July 2011, a contract was awarded to the company MG Poland Llc for the sale of iron and wooden antipersonnel mine components as well as detonator mechanisms.
[15] Initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form F, 28 November 2013.
[16] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 April 2009; response to Monitor questionnaire by Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010; and letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011. Average exchange rate for 2008: US$1=PLN2.3699; and for 2009: US$1=PLN3.0865. Oanda.com. Average exchange rate for 2010: €1=US$1.3261. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 6 January 2011.
[17] Initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, 28 November 2013. Poland reiterated its intention not to retain any antipersonnel mines at the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2013. Statement by Wojciech Flera, Minister Counsellor, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 December 2013. This was confirmed previously in a statement by Amb. Henczel, Mine Ban Treaty Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 December 2012; and in a meeting with Col. Jaroslaw Rubaj, Counsellor-Military Adviser, Permanent Mission, Geneva, and Jaroslaw Ogrodzinski, Deputy Chief of Non-proliferation and Disarmament Division, Arms Control and Disarmament, Ministry of Defence, 25 May 2012. In the past, Poland stated it planned to retain about 5,000 antipersonnel mines for training purposes. In 2009, Poland used 326 empty antipersonnel mine casings to train demining squads for peacekeeping and stabilization missions, up from 295 casings used in 2008, and 144 in 2007. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that imitation mine casings were used for training in 2010. This has been indicated also in Poland’s 2011 Article 7 report. See Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2010); and response to Monitor questionnaire by Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010. He stated that PSM-1, PMD-6, POMZ-2, POMZ-2M, and MON-100 casings were being used for this purpose.
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Policy
The Republic of Poland has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
In a 23 May 2014 letter to the Monitor, the deputy head of Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the need to protect civilians from the humanitarian problems caused by cluster munitions, but said Poland “is not considering becoming a State Party to the Oslo Convention at the present moment.” He cited Poland’s commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty, which it ratified on 27 December 2012.[1]
In September 2013, a Polish official confirmed to the CMC that the government’s position on accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions remained unchanged, confirming there is awareness of the convention’s humanitarian rationale, but citing Ministry of Defense concerns over the cost of replacing cluster munitions with another weapons system. According to the official, Poland’s Ministry of Defense still considers cluster munitions as a necessary weapon that would only be used in “self-defense.”[2]
Since 2008, Poland has repeatedly stated that it is not in a position to join the convention due to “security needs” and because it is not prepared to accept the convention’s “far-going prohibitions.”[3] In 2009, Poland said that it considered cluster munitions equipped with self-destruct mechanisms and with a failure rate no higher than 3% to be “legitimate weapons of significant military value.”[4]
Poland is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has long expressed a preference for cluster munitions to be addressed within the CCW. The 2014 letter by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, makes no mention of the CCW.
Poland participated in the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the convention, but from the start made clear that it did not support a comprehensive prohibition on cluster munitions and preferred the CCW framework.[5] Poland attended both the negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008 and the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008 as an observer.[6]
Poland has participated in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2008, despite not joining. It has attended every meeting of States Parties of the convention as an observer, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Poland participated for the second time in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2014.
Poland has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munition use, 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]
Poland has consistently stated that the Polish Armed Forces have never used cluster munitions in combat situations.[8] In May 2014, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “it is important to note that as in previous years cluster munitions were not used by Polish Armed Forces in combat situations.”[9]
Previously, in 2011, Poland said that cluster munitions were used for training purposes in 2010 and 2011 on training grounds by Poland’s land forces as well as the air force.[10] The 2014 letter makes no mention of the use of cluster munitions for training purposes.
Stockpiling
Poland acknowledges possessing both air-dropped and surface-launched cluster munitions.[11] In May 2013, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that information on Poland’s holdings of cluster munitions had been disclosed as a transparency measure.[12]
Polish land forces are equipped with the following types:
· 122mm M-21FK “FENIKS-Z” rockets, containing 42 GKO submunitions, used by BM-21/21M or RM-70/85 multi-barrel rocket launchers;
· 122mm “HESYT-1” artillery projectiles, containing 20 GKO submunitions, used by 2S1 “GOŹDZIK” self-propelled howitzers; and
· 98mm “RAD-2” mortar projectiles, containing 12 GKO submunitions, used by M-98 mortars.
The Polish Air Force possesses the following types of cluster munitions:
· ZK-300 cluster bomb, containing 315 LBOk fragmentation bomblets—both the carrier and bomblets were designed and produced in Poland;
· BKF expendable unit loader with antivehicle, incendiary and fragmentation bomblets, imported from the former Soviet Union, for use in KMG-U dispensers on Su-22 aircraft;
· According to information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in previous years, the GKO submunitions are typical dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) that combine an antipersonnel fragmentation with an anti-armor shaped charge. Poland claims that they are an entirely Polish design and are “relatively new and modern” (produced since 2001), incorporating a back-up self-destruction mechanism, which it claims ensures “negligible failure rates of the submunitions in all environmental conditions.”[13]
Poland has stated that its air-delivered cluster munitions, which entered into service in the 1980s during the Warsaw Pact era, are “obsolete” and stressed that “the current military Air Force doctrine does not anticipate any use of air-delivered cluster munitions in military operations.” However, it acknowledged that the Polish Air Force used cluster munitions in 2009 for training crews of Su-22M4 aircraft in 2010. Poland confirmed that the Polish Armed Forces are equipped with cluster munitions for the Su-22M4 aircraft and stated, “If this ammunition is not fully used in training purposes, after the exhaustion of services life, they will be subject to disposal and destruction.”[14]
In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the armed forces no longer possessed RBK-250, RBK-250-275, and RBK-500 type cluster bombs; in view of their age, the bombs were withdrawn from use during the 1990s and destroyed.[15]
In 2010, the Minister of Defense informed Parliament that “the ministry is considering equipping the Polish Armed Forces with precision strike munitions (intelligent munitions), in case a complete ban on cluster munition use is introduced.”[16]
In May 2014, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that its cluster munitions are subject to “regular stockpile reviews” and said that “munitions that are not eligible for further use are consequently destroyed, which results in a gradual decrease in the number of stockpiled units.”[17]
Production
Several Polish companies produce cluster munitions. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the types of cluster munitions it lists as being in the Polish arsenal “are produced by the Polish companies exclusively for the needs of the Polish Armed Forces.”[18] The ministry confirmed in 2010 that cluster munitions “are still produced by the Polish companies” for its armed forces.[19]
The Polish company Zakłady Metalowe “DEZAMET” S.A. has produced the ZK-300 Kisajno cluster bomb and also lists producing another type of cluster bomb called the LBKas-250, which contains 120 LBok-1 bomblets.[20] Zakłady Metalowe “DEZAMET” S.A. also produces a 98mm mortar cluster munition, as well as a 122mm projectile designed for the 2S1 “GOŹDZIK” howitzer.[21] The Kraśnik defense plant has produced cluster munitions for 98mm mortars, 122mm artillery, and 152mm artillery.[22] The Polish company Tłocznia Metali Pressta Spółka Akcynjna has manufactured 122mm rockets.[23] Fabryka Produkcji Specjalnej Spółka z o.o. produces the 122mm M-21FK “FENIKS-Z” and the 122mm “HESYT” rockets. It also produces GKO submunitions. Many of these companies are subsidiaries of the Bumar Group, a majority government-owned defense industry consortium of 23 defense sector companies specializing in munitions, rockets, and other weaponry technology.[24] In 2005, regarding future procurement of cluster munitions, Poland stated, “The Ministry of Defense requires during acceptance tests less than 2.5% failure rate for the purchased submunitions.”[25]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in 2010 that Poland was not prepared to introduce a moratorium on the use, production, or transfer of cluster munitions.[26] In September 2013, a government official confirmed that Poland is not considering enacting a moratorium on the use or production of cluster munitions.[27]
Transfer
In May 2014, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative informed the Monitor that Poland’s stockpiles are “kept under strict control and are not subject to any international transfers.”[28] Previously, in 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that Poland and/or Polish companies have not exported any cluster munitions in previous years.[29] In 2010, however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Monitor that Polish companies could, theoretically, be legally granted permission to export cluster munitions, if an application was requested.[30]
[1] Letter from Michael Polakow, Deputy Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.
[2] CMC meeting with Witold Majewski, Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of South Africa, September 2013.
[3] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Deputy Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; and letter from Adam Kobieracki, then-Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[4] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[5] Poland was one of three states present at the initial conference launching the process in February 2007 that did not endorse the Oslo Declaration, in which states pledged to negotiate a legally binding instrument by the end of 2008 prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable humanitarian harm.
[6] For details on Poland’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 226–227.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/68/182, 18 December 2013. Poland voted in favor of a similar resolution on 15 May 2013.
[8] It claimed that there was not a single unexploded submunition found during tests of new GKO artillery submunitions. Unexploded remnants were found during tests of old-generation cluster bombs for the SU-22M4 aircraft. Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009. In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Polish Military Contingent in Afghanistan has been equipped with cluster munitions for 98mm mortars, but also stated that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force policy not to use cluster munitions in Afghanistan “has been put into effect through the order of the Chief of General Staff” of the Polish Armed Forces. Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 235–236.
[9] Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.
[10] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; and letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010.
[11] Unless noted, all information on stockpiles was provided by letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[12] Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.
[13] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[14] Ibid., 8 April 2010.
[15] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.
[16] Response by Bodgan Klich, Minister of Defense to parliamentary question no. 18071 on cluster munitions, submitted by Joseph Rojek, Member of Parliament, SPS-023-18071/10, 26 October 2010.
[17] Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.
[18] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[19] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.
[20] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004), p. 391; and Zakłady Metalowe, DEZAMET S.A. website, “Air Armament,” undated.
[21] Zakłady Metalowe, DEZAMET S.A. website.
[22] Zakłady Metalowe DEZAMET S.A. website, “Cargo Ammunition;” and Marcin Górka, “Poland Sees Nothing Wrong in Cluster Bombs,” Gazeta Wyborcza, 9 September 2008.
[23] Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001–2002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001), p. 626.
[25] Communication from the Polish Ministry of Defense to IKV Pax Christi Netherlands, 14 February 2005. The information was provided with the proviso that the “content of the paper does not necessarily reflect the official position of Poland.”
[26] Letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010.
[27] CMC meeting with Witold Majewski, Second Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of South Africa, September 2013.
[28] Letter from Michael Polakow, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 23 May 2014.
[29] Letter from Tomasz Łękarski, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2011; letter from Marek Sczygieł, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 July 2010; and letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 March 2009.
[30] Letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 April 2010. The response stated: “Currently regulations on control of trade in goods of strategic importance do not provide for a total ban on exports of cluster munitions, as opposed to anti-personnel mines falling within CN code 9306 90 10 Combined Nomenclature, whose export from the territory of the Republic of Poland shall be prohibited (with limited exceptions) under the Regulations Ministers of 20 October 2009 amending Regulation on the introduction of bans and restrictions on goods of strategic importance for national security (Journal of Acts 2009, No. 183, pos. 1427). Administrative decisions on the granting of permits to export weapons are considered on an individual basis with the involvement of consulting authorities, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 29 November 2000 on foreign trade in goods, technologies and services of strategic importance for national security and for the maintenance of international peace and security (Journal of Laws of 2004 No. 229, item. 2315, as amended later). Obtaining permission for export of cluster munitions is theoretically possible, in the case of approval of the transaction by the trade control authority, after having received a positive opinion of consulting bodies, including the Foreign Ministry.” Translation by Marta Kulikowska, Polish Red Cross, 30 May 2010.
Mine Action
Contamination and Impact
Poland remains contaminated by large quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and, to a much lesser extent, mines from World War II. Poland has consistently stated there are no known or suspected mined areas in Poland.[1]The Ministry of National Defense has reported that scattered “single” emplaced mines, mostly antivehicle mines, have been found during clearance operations but most of those that have been destroyed are remnants of World War II stockpiles.[2]Poland is not believed to be affected by cluster munition remnants.
Mine Action Program
The army conducts clearance operations of former military facilities. It also conductsclearance operations in response to reports from the general public under a 2002 Ministry of National Defense order as well as according to other guidelines. Polish companies are involved in clearance operations within Poland. Polish deminers have also engaged in demining abroad as part of UN or other multinational operations.[3]
Land Release
Poland does not report formally on clearance of mines or ERW within Poland.[4]Its CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 transparency report for 2011 gives details of clearance by Polish deminers only during peace operations in Afghanistan.[5]
[1] See, for example, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Reports (for calendar years 2008, 2009, and 2010), Form C.
[2] See, for example, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form C, 14 April 2008; letter from Grzegorz Poznanski, Deputy Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 14 May 2008; letter from Tadeusz Chomicki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 March 2006; and interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny, Ministry of National Defense, and Col. Slawomir Berdak, Polish Armed Forces, in Geneva, 8 May 2006.
[3] See, for example, CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, 23 September 2009; and Statement of Poland, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 4 December 2009.
[4] See, for example, CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, 23 September 2009.
[5] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 (for 2011), Form E.
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties
Two new explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in the Republic of Poland were reported in the media in 2013. In Czestochowa, a father and his son were killed in December 2013 due to the explosion of a bomb in a location used for training fighter pilots during World War II.[1]
In 2012, a man was killed by ERW, also likely dating from World War II.[2] Incidents with ERW caused two child casualties in 2011. Prior to the 2001 incident, the last time casualties were identified was in 2008, when 10 ERW casualties were reported.[3]
Casualties continued in 2014: in January a 37-year-old collector of ordnance was killed while trying to disarm a missile from World War II found in the woods in the village of Czarnotrzew.[4]
The Monitor identified a total of 208 mine/ERW casualties in Poland from 1999 to the end of 2013 (42 people were killed and 166 injured).[5] The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Poland is not known. Due to incomplete data collection, casualties may have been under-reported. Between 1945 and 1973, 3,833 civilians (including 3,189 children) were killed and 8,221 (including 6,656 children) were injured in mine/ERW incidents.[6] Between 1944 and 1994, 658 soldiers were killed and several thousand injured in clearance operations.[7]
There is no specific victim assistance coordination mechanism in Poland. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for all disability-related matters. There is also a Government Plenipotentiary for Persons with Disabilities as well as a National Consultation Council for Persons with Disabilities, which organized training sessions for government officials to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities into the society and to fight discrimination. The State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons (PFRON) was established in 1991 in order to create new jobs and/or retain jobs for persons with disabilities, fund social rehabilitation, and to finance NGOs projects (mainly on advocacy and public awareness).[8]
Poland ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 27 September 2012.
[1] “Częstochowa: eksplozja niewybuchów zabiła dwie osoby” (“Czestochowa: the explosion of unexploded ordnance killed two people”), Telewizja Polska (TVP), 21 December 2013.
[2] Tomasz Dybalski, “Śmierć od niewypału. Dlaczego doszło do tragedii? (nowe fakty)” (“Death by misfire. Why was there a tragedy? (New facts)”), Echodnia (daily newspaper), 22 July 2012.
[3] “Likely WWII Bomb Kills 2 Polish Children,” Associated Press (Warsaw), 24 March 2011; and Monitor analysis of data provided by email from Adam Kobieracki, Director of Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 23 April 2009.
[4] “Kolekcjoner niewybuchów zginął w eksplozji pod Ostrołęką” (“Collector of unexploded ordnance killed in an explosion at Ostroleka”), Wirtualna Polska, 14 January 2014.
[5] See previous Landmine Monitor Reports on Poland.
[6] Letter from Maruisz Handzlik, Director of the Export Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 February 2001.
[7] Ibid.
[8] See Ministry of Labor and Social Policy website; and United States Department of State, “2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Poland,” Washington, DC, 27 February 2014.
Support for Mine Action
In 2008 and 2009, the Embassy of Poland in Angola provided US$155,000 to Versol, an Angolan commercial demining company, for a mine clearance operation in Lunda Sul.[1]
From 2005–2009 Poland provided mine clearance personnel in support of international peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo, and Syria with a valuation of at least $3.3 million.[2]
Summary of contributions: 2008–2009[3]
|
Year |
Amount (US$) |
|
2009 |
60,000 |
|
2008 |
95,000 |
|
Total |
155,000 |
[1] Interview with Jacek Wasilewski, Second Secretary, Embassy of Poland, Luanda, 10 May 2010.
[2] Article 7 Reports, Form J, 2009 (for calendar year 2008), 14 April 2008, 6 April 2007, 3 May 2006, and 11 May 2005; and see also Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p.92.
[3] UNMAS, “UNMAS Annual Report 2006,” New York, 11 May 2007; UNMAS, “UNMAS Annual Report 2007,” New York, 13 November 2008; UNMAS, “UNMAS Annual Report 2008,” New York, 2008; and UNMAS, “UNMAS Annual Report 2009,” New York, September 2010.