Casualties and Victim Assistance

Summary Findings

·         Reduced government funding to Kenya Psychiatric Center in 2012 suspended its outreach program that had previously provided psychological support to mine survivors unable to access the center

·         Survivors found accessing mainstream employment and educational programs and initiatives difficult

·         By the end of 2012, the only public provider of rehabilitation services in the region ceased producing prosthetics due to the absence of a trained technician

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Senegal is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Senegal has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

In 2012, the Monitor identified 24 mine/ERW casualties in Senegal.[1] Of these 24 mine/ERW casualties, the Senegalese National Mine Action Center (Centre national d’action antimines au Sénégal, CNAMS) identified 16 mine casualties.[2] The 24 casualties identified for 2012represents a slight decrease from the 32 casualties in 2011, but it is still a significant increase from recent years.[3] This rise in the annual casualty rate is explained by the increase in mine casualties among combatants (20 of the 24 casualties). Nearly all casualties in 2012 occurred in the north of Casamance, near the border with Gambia. Since 2011, violent conflict intensified in the region between the Senegalese government forces and the rebel group Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance, MFDC).[4] Fluctuations in the security situation in Casamance have resulted in variable annual mine casualty rates in Senegal over the last several years.[5] In 2012, at least two organizations believed that continued mine risk education and demining efforts were preventing even more significant increases in the number of casualties during the year.[6]

There were four civilian casualties reported in 2012, all male and including three persons from Gambia. There were no casualties among children identified during the year.

The Monitor identified at least 824 casualties (175 killed; 636 injured; 13 unknown) between 1988 and the end of 2012.[7] This included 570 civilian casualties and 241 military casualties.[8] CNAMS registered a total of 805 casualties (178 killed; 627 injured) of which 568 were civilians and 236 were military.[9] Since 2005, all reported casualties have been caused by mines.[10]

Victim Assistance

By the end of 2012, there were at least 636 mine/ERW survivors in Senegal, including 429 civilian and 207 military survivors. CNAMS reported 627 survivors through the end of 2012.[11]

Victim assistance since 1999[12]

Most mine/ERW survivors in Senegal live in the Casamance region where services are much more limited than elsewhere in the country. Senegal has reported on several occasions that it is committed to victim assistance, but at the same time has acknowledged that needs were not being met due to a lack of resources. The government relied on international and national NGOs, including the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (Association sénégalaise des victimes de mines, ASVM) and Handicap International (HI) to implement activities. Years of conflict and continued intermittent violence devastated infrastructure and prevented access to services.

Throughout 2012, emergency medical care was limited and response times depended on the location of the incident; the army provided assistance. Follow-up medical care was only available in the two regional hospitals, which had sufficient capacity but had equipment that only worked intermittently and experienced shortages of supplies. These two hospitals and their satellite centers also provided physical rehabilitation. Improvements in the availability of free follow-up medical care and physical rehabilitation were noted at the Ziguinchor Regional Hospital (CRAO) in 2012.[13] In addition to shortages of supplies and materials, there were reports of long waiting lists.

Psychosocial support has been provided by the Kenya Psychiatric Center (Centre psychiatrique de Kenya) and ASVM, with the support of the CNAMS. However, financial support from CNAMS to the center to offer their services outside Ziguinchor was not provided in 2012.[14] The center was the only facility providing psychological support to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities for all regions of Casamance, but in practice these services were only accessible to survivors living in the south, due to the center’s distance from the northern regions and the lack of transportation.[15] Throughout the period, economic reintegration and education opportunities for survivors were inadequate because there were few programs targeting survivors and survivors had difficulties accessing broader programs for all vulnerable groups. Military survivors received separate services, which were mostly free of charge and better, but still had gaps.[16]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2012, the CNAMS continued to use and regularly update the data on survivors’ needs that was collected in October 2009 in the implementation of the National Victim Assistance Action Plan 2010–2014 (Plan d’action national pour l’assistance aux victimes, PANAV).[17] During 2012, local and international organizations joined efforts, under the coordination of HI, to gather information on direct and secondary victims, mainly focusing on child survivors. This survey informed the development of access to education for identified victims.[18] ASVM also began a survey to identify victims and assess their needs; it was expected to be completed in 2013.[19]

Victim assistance coordination in 2012[20]

In 2012, CNAMS held meetings of the CRC every three months. The CRC, established in 2011, brings together CNAMS with local and international organizations working in the region under the chairmanship of the Governor of the Casamance region.[21] Further monthly coordination meetings took place in 2012 between representatives of CNAMS and of ASVM.[22]

Senegal’s PANAV included a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating progress in its implementation, though no reports had been made available that compared victim assistance progress against PANAV through the end of 2012. Evaluation of the PANAV and its impact was scheduled to take place in June 2013.[23]

Senegal provided updates on mine casualties and on progress and challenges for victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012 at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012,  and in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for the 2012 calendar year.[24]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

Mine/ERW survivors were involved through ASVM and international organizations in the design of victim assistance programming.[25] In 2012, survivors participated in national and regional victim assistance coordination meetings through ASVM.[26]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[27]

In 2012, there was increased availability of victim assistance services focused on improving social inclusion and access to education for children affected by mines/ERW.[28] The escalation of violence in the northern part of the Casamance region since 2011 decreased access to all victim assistance services for survivors in this geographic area, as transportation was limited.[29] Overly bureaucratic procedures, the centralization of victim assistance services in the regional capital, and the fact that assistance was not affordable prevented many survivors from accessing services, particularly physical rehabilitation.[30] However, in 2012, the CRAO hospital in Ziguinchor worked towards providing free medical services to mine/ERW victims.[31]

In 2012, the government, through CNAMS, increased funding for materials for prosthetics.[32] However, as of the end of 2012, CRAO, the only public provider of rehabilitation services in the region, ceased producing prosthetics following the transfer of one technician and the death of another, leaving the center with no trained technician. Meetings between the regional government, CNAMS and the ICRC SFD did not identify a solution to replace the technicians, placing continued ICRC SFD support in jeopardy.[33]

The Kenya Psychiatric Center continued providing psychological support to mine survivors in 2012. However, because of lack of funding by CNAMS since November 2011, services that were formerly provided through outreach visits in rural areas were not available throughout 2012. Therapy sessions through art were introduced for mine/ERW victims with the collaboration of a local association called Bokart.[34]

The CAOSP of Ziguinchor continued to provide mine/ERW victims with educational and career advice specifically targeted and adapted to their needs. However, such services were only provided in the regional capital of Ziguinchor, and the CASOP recognized that the issue of accessibility of such services to victims in other areas was a key challenge.[35] In 2012, the government increased funding for educational support to child and youth survivors.[36] At the same time, a project established by HI, UNICEF, and ASVM in 2011 to provide children affected by mines/ERW with educational kits and improve their access to education could not continue due to lack of funding. [37]

Two new projects were established by HI focusing on social inclusion through sports and on access to HIV/AIDS care for persons with disabilities and mine/ERW victims.[38]

Senegalese law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of other state services. The government did not enforce these provisions adequately in 2012. The law also mandates accessibility for persons with disabilities, but there remained a lack of infrastructure to assist them.[39]

Senegal ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 7 September 2010. Through to the end of 2012, national implementation mechanisms had not yet been approved; however, a Special Counsel to the President of Senegal was appointed on the issue of disability.[40]