Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: AVERAGE[1]

The Republic of Chile is affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines as well as, to a very limited extent, by explosive remnants of war, which may include cluster munition remnants.[2]

The mines were laid on Chile’s borders with Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru during the Pinochet regime in the 1970s. The mined areas are generally difficult to access and mostly in unpopulated regions. Some minefields in the north are located as high as 5,000m above sea level, although the vast majority of the mines are located in two of the remaining five mine-affected regions.[3] As of December 2013, 98 confirmed mined areas remained across the four regions of Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, and Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, containing an estimated 61,402 mines.[4] A further 9,512 mines are located within suspect hazardous areas (SHAs, termed “danger areas” by Chile) in Arica y Parinacota, Antofagasta, and Valparaiso regions. As of December 2013, total contaminated area was estimated to cover 13.93km².[5]

Confirmed mined areas in Chile[6]

Cluster munition remnants

Chile has identified four areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants. The four areas are located at military training bases in three regions where all types of ammunition have been used during routine training exercises. The 96.88km² of contaminated area represents the total size of the training area where cluster munitions were used.[7] The precise extent of cluster munition contamination within the training area may be smaller than initially reported (see table below) and will be determined through technical survey and clearance. Chile has not reported on any efforts at clearance of these areas.

Cluster munition contamination[8]

Mine Action Program

The National Demining Commission (Comisión Nacional de Desminado, CNAD) is responsible for mine action in Chile. Its main functions are to advise the President, mobilize resources, coordinate demining with state agencies, and develop plans for implementing the Mine Ban Treaty. CNAD is chaired by the Minister of Defense and Chile’s mine action program is executed under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense.[9]

Demining is conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, Navy Peace and Demining Division (POMTA).

Land Release

Chile reported in December 2013 that they had cleared more than 40% of recorded mines (77,415 of the original estimate of 181,814 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and 9.3km² of the 23.2km² of contaminated area). This leaves 13.9km² and 104,399 mines to clear by March 2020.[10]

In 2013, Chile reported clearance of just 0.4km² of area in the Arica y Parinacota and Magallanes y Antártica Chilena regions in 14 mined areas, destroying in the process 15,470 mines.[11] Chile did not report area cleared for the Antofagasta region but indicated that three mined areas had been released. In addition, it was indicated that the POMTA has continued demining operations on Isla Picton in the Magallanes region, but no details were provided. Chile reported that several areas in Antofagasta collapsed due to snow and severe rainfalls in 2013, causing demining units to be moved to work in other areas and stopping demining efforts for some months.[12]

By February 2014, CNAD indicated that a further 2,070 mines had been destroyed, bringing the total to 79,485, or almost 44% of emplaced mines. No additional land release was reported between December 2013 and February 2014.

However, certification of the “extraordinary operations” clearance activities reported in the Laguna Figueroa sector of the Magallanes y Antártica Chilena region[13] has been challenged in the courts as the local population did not accept the validity of the demining activities in the area.[14]

In 2013, Chile’s demining capacity comprised five survey teams, five units of deminers, and five explosive ordnance disposal teams in addition to three mechanical teams, with a total capacity of 145 people dedicated to clearance operations.[15]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the eight-year extension request granted by States Parties in 2011), Chile 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 2020.

In its March 2011 extension request, Chile cited bad weather, remote mined areas in high altitudes, the difficult terrain, and the different types and conditions of the mines as the main reasons for needing additional time.[16]

In response to the Analysing Group of States Parties’ query regarding the need for an eight-year extension for such a proportionately small area of contaminated land, particularly with regard to the possibility of applying new land release methodologies, Chile cited the difficult terrain, weather, and logistics involved in demining operations in the country.[17] Due to the weather conditions in Chile, clearance activities can only be conducted in October through March each year. Based on the remaining area and number of mines, it is calculated that Chile needed to clear approximately 2km² and destroy 16,000 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines per year to be able to meet its Article 5 obligations by 2020.

Despite the achievable yet conservative targets set, Chile’s clearance record since being granted its extension request has demonstrated that it is already falling behind its annual benchmarks with a shortfall of more than 1.6km²,achieving just 46% of its target to date. Nevertheless, CNAD officials have stated that Chile will meet its Article 5 obligations by its 2020 deadline:[18] “We have a rate of 10% per year in the number of mines destroyed, which allows us to think that we will meet the goal of liberating all the territory by 2020 and get certified as free of landmines.”[19]

In March 2013, Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, accused Chile of failing to comply with its clearance obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty, stating that the Chilean government had “paralyzed” clearance operations along their shared border.[20] Chile and Bolivia are embroiled in a border dispute following Bolivia’s appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding its demands for a corridor of access through Chile to the Pacific Ocean.[21]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants

Chile has not reported conducting any clearance in 2012 or 2013 of the four areas contaminated with cluster munitions since its first Article 7 report.

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Chile is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 June 2021.

Support for Mine Action

According to Chile’s Article 5 deadline extension request, Chile intended to cover the full cost of meeting its Article 5 obligations, which was estimated to be more than US$61 million.[22] Since 2003, the government of Chile has provided almost all funding towards its own mine action program, having not received international funding since 2007. Chile has contributed more than $4 million each year since 2008 and an estimated $40 million since 2003. In March 2014, the Executive Director of CNAD, Col. Juan Mendoza, said: “We manage a budget of four million dollars annually for this work, as well as some international donations.”[23]

Recommendations

·        Chile should increase its pace of land release significantly, applying all relevant methodologies to ensure annual targets are met.

·        Chile should improve its reporting of progress by disaggregating clearance more clearly in terms of square meters cleared per annum, types of mines found and destroyed, and number of mined areas released.