Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: POOR[1]

Mine contamination in the Republic of Peru is the result of internal armed conflict in the 1980s and 1990s, and a brief conflict between Peru and Ecuador in 1995 over a longstanding border dispute.[2] During this conflict, part of the two states’ common border was mined, affecting four departments in Peru: Amazonas, Cajamarca, Piura, and Tumbes. The most heavily mined section was an area known as “Cordillera del Cóndor” (the sparsely populated Amazonas department), which was at the center of the conflict.[3] In April 2014, Peru reported remaining contamination was 438,254m²(0.4km²) across 135 mined areas and containing 10,313 recorded mines.[4]

In February 2012, Peru suffered further mine contamination along its border with Chile following mine displacement caused by torrential rains and floods in the Arica-Parinacota region in northern Chile. The floods caused mines laid in the 1970s to surface near the main highway linking Arica (Chile) with Tacna (Peru) in an area called Quebrada de Escritos.[5] Peru and Chile commissioned Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) to clear the mines,[6] which it completed in December 2012, destroying some 300 mines in the process.[7]

Mine Action Program

Chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Peru’s national mine action authority, the interministerial Executive Council of the Peruvian Mine Action Centre (Centro Peruano de Acción contra las Minas Antipersonal, CONTRAMINAS) is responsible for setting strategy and priorities in addition to plan and budget approval.[8] CONTRAMINAS is responsible for overall management and day-to-day coordination of mine action activities.

At the end of 2013, the Organization of American States (OAS) concluded its program of technical and financial assistance to Peru’s mine action operations, which it initiated in May 2001 through its Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in South America (Misión de Asistencia a la Remoción de Minas en América del Sur, MARMINAS).[9] The OAS has continued to support a victim assistance project, which was due also to close in late 2014.[10] RONCO Consulting concluded its work with CONTRAMINAS in March 2013.

In April 2013, under the Binational Cooperation Program established in 2000 Peru and Ecuador issued a Binational Manual for Humanitarian Demining with a view to unifying the demining procedures of both countries in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[11] In December 2013, the joint Ecuador-Peru Binational Humanitarian Demining Unit conducted its first demining exercise in Morona Santiago in Ecuador. A second exercise was planned to be conducted in Peru during the course of 2014.[12]

In 2013, Peru reported demining capacity of some 150 deminers, five explosive ordnance disposal personnel, six mine detection dogs, and one mechanical excavator.[13] As of March 2014, transfer of demining units from the specialized unit of the national police under the Security Division of CONTRAMINAS (División de Seguridad, DIVSECOM), planned for 2012, had not yet occurred, although it was due to occur “very soon.”[14]

Regarding additional mined areas identified in 2012, Peru noted that clearance would require “a substantial increase in the resources of the Peruvian State to provide greater capabilities to humanitarian demining process in order to comply with the obligations assumed before the Convention and finish the cleanup and destruction of mines in the territory national before March 1, 2017.”[15]

Land Release

Clearance on the border areas with Ecuador has been under the responsibility of the Directorate General for Humanitarian Demining Army of Peru.[16] As of April 2014, Peru reported that a total of 107,304m² had been cleared since 2007 in the Cordillera del Cóndor with the destruction of 8,718 mines.[17]

Mine clearance in border area in 2009–13 (m²)[18]

Mine clearance in 2013

Peru reported clearance of 16,017m² in the Cenepa river area in 2013, with the destruction of 2,391 antipersonnel mines. Clearance occurred during 11 work periods of 20 days each.[19] This represents an increase of 2,226m² from the 13,791m² cleared in 2012[20] when the exceptionally low output was attributed to the high elevation of the river area that had required building a new camp, transport of equipment, and construction of bridges and heliports for demining.[21] The small increase in mined area cleared may be attributable to an increase in deminer capacity from 60 in June 2013[22] to the 150 reported in March 2014, in addition to use of (as yet unexplained) new mechanical and manual demining techniques.[23]

Demining in the Cordillera del Condor has been described as a challenging endeavor due to its topography as a mountainous jungle prone to heavy rain for much of the year, and reaching heights of 2,900m which means that it is only accessible by a two-hour helicopter flight.[24]

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 2008), Peru 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 2017.

On 29 February 2012, Peru’s Minister of Defense, Alberto Otárola, said the border with Ecuador “would be free of landmines by 2016.” He continued, “I think in 2016 or 2017 we can say that our borders will be free of mines, as all the boundaries of democratic countries that respect the right to life of its citizens, must be.”[25] In May 2012, at the Intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva, Peru said they would clear all remaining mined areas “as quickly as possible.”[26] In 2014, the Coordinator General of CONTRAMINAS stated: “We are still working according to our deadline.”[27]

It is unclear, however, if Peru can indeed meet its Article 5 deadline in 2017.[28] The 48 mined areas found to be in Peruvian territory rather than in Ecuador in 2012 increased significantly the area and number of mines to clear. In combination with Peru’s low clearance rate in recent years, whether Peru can clear the remaining areas by 2017 with current capacity is seriously in doubt.

It its statement to the Standing Committee meeting on mine clearance in April 2014, Peru stated that the additional mined area meant that Peru needs a “substantial increase in resources” to expand demining capacity in order to comply with its Article 5 clearance obligations by the March 2017 deadline.[29] CONTRAMINAS reports having reviewed its operational plans in light of the additional mined areas from Ecuador and created a new draft national plan.[30] As noted above, the content of the plan has not yet been disclosed publicly.

Support for Mine Action

Peru contributed the equivalent of US$1.6 million to its own national mine action program in 2013, less than in 2012. In addition, the US Department of State allocated $1 million to Peru for the period October 2012–April 2013.

Peru estimated a budget of $26 million would be needed to complete clearance in its revised Article 5 deadline Extension Request in 2008, of which $17.8 million would be provided by its national budget in 2008–2017 with the remaining $8 million to be sought from external sources. To date, Peru has raised $22 million of the projected total needed. These figures, however, do not take into account the need for increased resources due to additional mined areas identified. Peru has not provided a projection of the extra financial resources needed to complete clearance, nor indicated how it intends to raise those funds.

Recommendations

·         Peru should urgently increase its national clearance capacity, specifically by deploying police demining units to the border areas with Ecuador as soon as possible.

·         Peru should share with States Parties its revised national clearance plan to account for the 48 additional mined areas inherited from Ecuador.

·         Peru should inform states of its exact needs for assistance and resource shortfall, and provide a clear plan on how Peru intends to raise the additional funding needed.