Casualties Overview

The Monitor identified seven casualties in a single incident in Peru in 2010; two soldiers were killed and five injured after stepping on a victim-activated improvised explosive device (IED) in the River Apurímac and River Ene valley (VRAE) in November.[1] Two casualties were reported for 2009.[2]

The last confirmed casualties caused by factory-made mines occurred in 2007.[3] Since 2007, most of the casualties identified have been caused by victim-activated IEDs in areas of coca cultivation.[4]

The total number of mine/IED and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties recorded in Peru since 1991 is 434 (52 killed; 378 injured; four unknown).[5]

Victim Assistance

Between 1991 and the end of 2010, there were at least 378 mine/IED/ERW survivors identified in Peru.[6]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2010, the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonales, Contraminas), together with the Polus Center and other Peruvian NGOs, continued to assess the needs of all survivors. By the end of the year, victim assistance survey teams had interviewed and designed individualized social and economic reintegration plans for 70% of the 327 survivors registered with Contraminas. Survivors in need were also connected with medical care and/or physical rehabilitation services.[7]

Victim assistance coordination[8]

In September 2010, Contraminas convened the Victim Assistance Consultative Committee for a national workshop on victim assistance. Other coordination activities included survivor needs assessment and referrals, as well as training medical professionals to identify and register mine survivors. The  Victim Assistance Consultative Committee also gave support to a pilot project to improve community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in the province of Junín, an area with a significant number of mine survivors.[9]

Peru’s National Victim Assistance Plan was finalized in early 2010.[10] The Plan’s objectives include providing individualized support for socio-economic reintegration for all registered survivors and strengthening local healthcare and rehabilitation facilities in mine affected areas.[11] During the year, activities included in the plan were co-implemented by Contraminas and the Polus Center with financing from the Organization of American States (OAS) and other donors.[12]

Survivor Inclusion

The Association of Victims and Survivors of Minefields (Asociación de Victimas y Sobrevivientes de Campos Minados, AVISCAM) and other national NGOs working with mine survivors are members of the Victim Assistance Consultative Committee.[13] As members of the needs assessment interview teams, mine/ERW survivors are directly involved in implementing and monitoring the National Victim Assistance Plan. The interview teams also work with survivors to design and implement socio-economic reintegration programs.[14]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

In 2010, there was an increase in the availability of victim assistance services, especially socioeconomic reintegration programs in Peru. There were also some initial efforts to overcome obstacles to the accessibility of services for survivors living in rural and remote areas.[15]

As in previous years, medical facilities and the country’s main rehabilitation center were centralized in the capital, while most survivors were based in rural communities. The time and expense of traveling to these services prevented most survivors from accessing them.[16] In response to accessibility challenges, multidisciplinary teams including doctors, ophthalmologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers traveled to the provinces of Junín and Huancavelica in May and provided assistance to 27 survivors.[17] In addition, a pilot project developed capacity for the Huancayo hospital in Junín to provide physiotherapy, as well as repairs and adjustments to prosthetics. This was to be duplicated in other areas of the country where CBR programs are in place.[18]

To improve the quality of prosthetics, training was provided to technicians at the National Institute of Rehabilitation (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, INR) by the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) and by the Polus Center.[19] The cost of prosthetics for survivors referred by Contraminas was covered by the OAS.[20]

The availability of economic inclusion initiatives increased significantly in 2010. The Polus Center provided economic inclusion services to 50 survivors throughout the country, generally either education and training or micro-finance.[21] In 2010 AVISCAM launched a new program in cooperation with the National Institute of Research and Training in Telecommunications (INICTEL) to offer online courses in web and graphic design and telephone repair to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities.[22]

Peruvian law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities, but few resources were dedicated to its implementation and persons with disabilities remained economically and socially marginalized. Few efforts were made to ensure the accessibility of public buildings.[23]

Peru ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 January 2008.