Contamination and Impact

Chile is affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and, to a very limited extent, by explosive remnants of war (ERW), which may include cluster munition remnants.[1]

Mines

The mines were all 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,[2] although the vast majority of the mines are located in two of the six mine-affected regions. Of the 198 original mined areas, three-quarters were located in Arica and Parinacota (on the border with Peru), and Antofagasta (desert), which together contained 92% of the mines laid.[3] As of 2012, mined areas remained in Antofagasta, Arica, Magallanes y Antártica Chilena, and Tarapacá regions.[4]

On 19 February 2012, Chile closed Route 5, the main highway in the north of the country, for two days after torrential rains and flooding caused an unknown number of antipersonnel and antivehicle landmines to move and appear between Arica and the Peruvian city of Tacna. No mine incident was reported. In February 2011, heavy rains over a 48-hour period caused flooding and landslides.

On 26 May 2012, a taxi going to Peru drove through a marked minefield in Quebrada de Escritos in Arica region near the border with Peru and hit an antivehicle mine that detonated, killing the driver. No other casualty was reported.[5] According to Chile’s Article 5 deadline extension request in 2011, Quebrada de Escritos, a desert area with no inhabitants, originally contained 23 mined areas covering a total of approximately 490,000m² with 16,824 antipersonnel mines and 13,298 antivehicle mines. Chile’s National Humanitarian Demining Commission (CNAD) reported in 2010 and 2011 that heavy rains had delayed clearance operations in the area and only one of the 22 mined areas had been cleared.[6] Although Quebrada de Escritos is a major transit area to and from Peru and one of the few remaining mined areas near populated areas, and despite the increased risk of displacement of mines from flooding, clearance of all the remaining 22 mined areas is not scheduled to be completed until 2017.[7] In early 2012, heavy rains washed mines down a ravine onto a beach in Peruvian territory. It is possible that this has may have also occurred in earlier years.[8]

In June 2012, Norway, Chile, and Peru jointly announced that Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) would conduct clearance operations in the Quebrada de Escritos area and that the government of Chile would pay the full cost of the clearance.[9] In August 2012, an NPA team arrived in Chile to determine the exact scope, time, cost, and methods required to clear the Linea de Concordia minefield on the coast of southern Peru.[10] The plan is for NPA to conduct clearance in the last quarter of 2012.[11]

On 14 August 2012, Chilean media reported a deminer was injured while clearing mines between road markers number four and five near the city of Arica, close to the border with Peru.[12] This is nearby the area where the taxi driver was killed in May when his taxi hit an antivehicle mine. According to Chile’s Article 5 deadline extension request the area between the city of Arica and the border with Peru, a distance of approximately 55km, has 68 mined areas containing 66,035 antipersonnel mines and 37,400 antivehicle mines covering approximately 9km².[13]

Cluster munition remnants

It is not known to what precise extent Chile is contaminated by cluster munition remnants. Chile informed States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in April 2012 that it has military testing/training areas that are contaminated by cluster munition remnants, but provided no further details.[14] Unexploded submunitions have been seen by geographers over the past 10 years while conducting research on training sites of the Chilean army and air force.[15]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

CNAD is responsible for mine action in Chile. Its main functions are to advise the president, mobilize resources, coordinate humanitarian demining with state agencies, and develop plans for complying with the Mine Ban Treaty. CNAD is chaired by the minister of national defense and includes the undersecretaries of foreign affairs, health, and treasury, plus the armed forces’ chief of staff and the heads of the general staff of the armed forces, as well as CNAD’s executive secretary.[16] The Chilean mine action program is executed under the auspices of the Ministry of National Defense.

Inclement weather, difficult terrain, and the long distances to access the mined areas with personnel and equipment are the main challenges that Chile has cited that it faces in fulfilling its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance obligations.[17]

Land Release

Since 2002, Chile has reportedly released 13.48km² from an original 23.2km² of contaminated area, leaving 9.72km² to release.[18] Chile also reports it has destroyed 27% of the 181,814 mines known to have been placed.[19]

Summary of land release in 2002–2011

Mine clearance in 2011

In 2011, Chile cleared or otherwise released 4.15km², destroying in the process 5,549 antipersonnel mines and 5,125 antivehicle mines. This compares to 1.51km² and 2,351 antipersonnel mines and 1,073 antivehicle mines in 2010.[20] Both years, however, represent considerably higher productivity and progress than in any previous year.

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the eight-year extension request granted 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 March 2011, in its extension request, Chile cited weather, distant mined areas in high altitudes, the difficult terrain, and the different types and conditions of the mines as the main reasons for needing the additional time.[21]

In reply to a question from the Analysing Group of States Parties on the possibility of applying new land release methodologies as recommended by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining to shorten the time needed to clear all mined areas, Chile said it would be irresponsible to try to reduce the additional eight years it had requested to meet its Mine Ban Treaty obligations considering the difficult terrain, weather, and logistics involved in demining operations in the country.[22] In commenting on Chile’s presentation of its extension request at the June 2011 Standing Committees, Norway encouraged Chile to use all applicable land release methodologies to increase productivity and possibly shorten the time needed.[23]

In December 2011, at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, Chile was encouraged by the other States Parties to improve its land release methodology so it could meet its Article 5 obligations before 2020. The decision also noted that Chile intended to pay the full cost of meeting its Article 5 obligations.[24] Progress in clearance in 2010–2011 offers optimism that Chile may be able to release the remaining 9.72km² of contaminated area before 2020.

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.

The extent of the clearance challenge is not yet known. As of 14 August 2012, Chile had not submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report, which was due on 28 November 2011.

Quality management

As of 31 March 2011, CNAD’s quality assurance team had certified the clearance of 30 mined areas while 24 others were pending.[25] In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2011, it reported one additional certification: on 13 July 2011, Isla Hornos was declared to have been cleared of mines.[26]

 Other Risk Reduction Measures

All mined areas are said to be marked with warning signs in at least three languages and fenced with two-meter-high barbed wire. CNAD’s website has detailed maps of the mined areas.[27]

Risk Education

Tourist information indicates the location of mined areas and personnel with the National Tourism Service (Servicio Nacional de Turismo, SERNATUR), the police, and the people living near the mined areas have received risk education (RE). CNAD also coordinates RE with the Ministry of Education through 38 schools and 17 communities affected by landmines. More than 5,000 children received free school supplies and educational materials with RE messages printed on them. Additionally, civil society organizations participated in CNAD seminars and lectures on RE in the Arica and Parinacota, Tarapaca, Antofagasta and Magallanes, and Chilean Antarctica regions.[28]