Key developments
since March 1999: Denmark completed destruction of its stockpile of 266,517
AP mines on 14 December 1999. From the beginning of 1999 through the end of May
2000, it contributed approximately $15.2 million for mine action programs.
Denmark has established a humanitarian demining training center for NGOs.
Mine Ban Policy
Denmark was an active supporter of the
“Ottawa Process” leading to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), which it
signed on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 8 June 1998. With regard to
additional implementing legislation, Denmark states, “No legal,
administrative and other measures in addition to the legal, administrative and
other measures already in force have been deemed necessary to comply with the
Convention.”[1]
The government participated in the First Meeting of States Parties to the MBT
in Maputo in May 1999. It has attended at least one meeting of each of the five
intersessional Standing Committees of Experts.
Denmark voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54 promoting the
MBT in December 1999, as it had with previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions. The
government sees the MBT as the main instrument for achieving a mine-free world.
The treaty provides a policy-framework for Danish contributions to mine action.
Denmark submitted its initial Article 7 report to the United Nations on 27
August 1999. It is comprehensive, with detailed information on mines in
stockpiles, plans for their destruction and the situation on the
mine-contaminated peninsula of Skallingen. The second Article 7 report, for the
calendar year 1999, due by 30 April 2000, had not been submitted by the end of
June 2000.
Denmark is a State Party to CCW Amended Protocol II (1996). It attended the
First Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in
December 1999, but had not submitted its report as required under Article 13 by
that time. Denmark is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament, but
“supports all efforts to ban anti-personnel landmines, including efforts
in the Conference on
Disarmament.”[2]
Production and Transfer
The government of Denmark has stated that no
antipersonnel mines have been produced since
the1950s.[3] Denmark has not
exported AP mines in the past. It imported AP mines from the United States,
Germany and perhaps other
nations.[4]
Stockpile Destruction
According to Minister of Defense Hans
Hækkerup, Denmark completed destruction of its 266,517 antipersonnel mines
on 14 December 1999.[5] The
quantities of each type destroyed were reported as: 97,095 Type M/47; 102,372
Type M/56; 54,280 Type M/58; 12,770 Type
M/66.[6] The destruction was
carried out at the Ammunition Arsenal, Elling, and at
Entsorghungs-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Leipzig in Germany, by disassembling,
burning and chemical destruction, following national, NATO and European Union
safety and environmental
standards.[7]
Denmark has retained a total of 4,991 AP mines for training purposes (60 Type
M/56 and 4,931 Type M/58), which are under the control of the Chief of Defense,
the Army Material and Operational
Commands.[8] Half of these AP
mines will be used for development and testing of mine detection equipment, and
half will be used for training in mine
detection.[9] The Article 7
report does not include mention of 1,000 Claymore-type M18A1 mines acknowledged
to be in stocks, which the government states have been modified for use only in
command-detonated mode.[10]
Landmine Problem
Denmark is slightly mine-affected, but this is
limited to the Skallingen peninsula on western Jutland, dating from World War
II. The area is marked, and there are no reports of accidents caused by the
mines there in recent years. Skallingen is a protected natural reserve, and the
Danish government has gradually acquired almost all of the mine-infested
territory. The area is currently being mapped, and a plan to clear the area
will be developed. Denmark has reported, “According to the judgement of
the Danish Ministry of Defense most of the mines are ineffective today, but
there still is a small risk of some being
effective.”[11]
Mine Action Funding
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for
funding mine action programs. Denmark is a member of the Mine Action Support
Group, a group of major mine action donors that meets in New York to coordinate
their support for such programs.
Denmark has contributed a total of DKK 189,836,797 (US$24 million) to a broad
range of mine action programs from 1996 to
1999.[12] It provided DKK 49.9
(US$7 million) in 1999, and a total of DKK 64.9 (US$8.2 million) from
January-May 2000. Funding totalled DKK 57 in 1996, DKK 38.6 in 1997, and DKK
44.3 in 1998.
In its draft strategy document for international assistance, Denmark states
that the eradication of AP mines is a political, humanitarian and development
task, and has to be worked on from all three
approaches.[13] According to
the Danish International Development Agency, mine clearance will continue to
have high priority in the years to
come.[14] The government has
used the MBT as a framework for governing allocations for mine action, aiming at
supporting countries that are members of the MBT. Denmark is reviewing its
support for mine action programs in Angola, due to the new use of AP mines by
the government. However, support is also given to non-MBT parties such as Laos
and to programs in areas that cannot be state parties, such as Chechnya and
Kosovo.
A new development in Denmark is the establishment of a training center for
non-governmental organizations in humanitarian demining, aimed at reinforcing
the capacity for humanitarian mine clearance. The first course started on 25
April 2000, with sixteen participants. This is also funded by a mine action
grant.[15]
Table 1. Governmental donations to mine action in calendar year
1999[16]
Activity
Amount (DKK)
US$
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
Angola
Training program and information campaign in Toco north of Lubango
4,000,000
508,015
UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
Kosovo
UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action in Kosovo
1,500,000
190,505
Danish Refugee Council
Angola
Information campaign etc.
5,000,000
635,019
UNOCHA
Afghanistan
Mine clearance program etc.
2,500,000
317,509
DanChurchAid
Kosovo
Mine education (total grant 1999-2000: 17.4 million)
11,900,000
1,511,346
NPA
Mozambique
Mine clearance program etc.
5,000,000
635,019
ADP/UNDP
Mozambique
Mine clearance program etc.
14,500,000
1,841,556
Mines Advisory Group
Vietnam
Bomb and mine clearance in Quang Tri Province (total grant 1998-1999)
7,100,000
901,727
OHR / DEMEX
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Identification of areas in Brcko where mine clearance is needed (Total
grant 98-99)
460,000
58,421
DEMEX
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Mine clearance in Brcko (total grant 1998-1999)
1,720,000
218,446
Slovenian Trust Fund
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Demining (total grant 1998-1999)
700,000
88,902
Danish Demining Group
Somalia
Mine clearance (MIKA)
540,000
68,582
1999 IN TOTAL
54,920,000
6,975,047
Table 2. Governmental contributions to mine action in 1 January - 29 May
2000[17]
Amount (DKK)
UNMAS
Mozambique
Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action in Mozambique
1,000,000
126,742
DFH /ASF
Chechnya
Mine awareness etc.
300,000
38,023
IPPNW
General
Support to mine campaigns
1,000,000
126,742
ICBL
International
Landmine Monitor initiative
350,000
44,360
DanChurchAid
Kosovo
Mine clearance program etc. (2nd instalment of total grant 1999:
17.4 million)
5,500,000
697,085
DanChurchAid
Kosovo
Mine clearance program etc.
7,000,000
889,020
DanChurchAid
Chechnya
Mine clearance in Chechnya (3rd instalment of 9.3 million)
2,300,000
291,508
UNDP
Laos
Bomb clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)
19,500,000
2,471,482
Nicaraguan Government
Nicaragua
Mine clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)
8,000,000
1,013,941
OAS
Guatemala, Honduras,
Costa Rica
Mine clearance program (total grant 1998-2000)
15,000,000
1,901,140
IND/UNOPS
Mozambique
Technical assistance to National Demining Institute
2,972,700
376,768
Dandec
General
Grant to education in mine clearance
2,000,000
253,485
2000 (January-May) IN TOTAL
64,922,700
8,230,296
An additional DKK 5,000,000 is granted for the UNDP/CMAC mine clearance
program in Cambodia, but not yet allocated, due to Danish dissatisfaction with
Cambodia Mine Action Center management. Denmark will not disburse this grant
until adequate guarantees for changes at CMAC are
received.[18]
Research and Development (R&D)
The main R&D initiative is the Nordic Demining Research Forum
(NDRF).[19] The Danish machine
manufacturer Hydrema has produced a civilian version of its mine clearance
vehicle Hydrema MCV 910, which is used by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) in Angola
and by DanChurchAid in Kosovo. Hydrema cooperates with these agencies to improve
the design based on field experience.
Non-Governmental Organizations
Two NGOs in Denmark are involved in humanitarian
mine action programs:
DanChurchAid,[20] a humanitarian
NGO connected to the Danish Church, and Danish Demining
Group,[21] a cooperative agency
involving the Danish Refugee Council and Danish People’s Aid. DanChurchAid
is also the focal point for mine action in Action by Churches Together, a global
cooperation of church organizations involved in humanitarian work. Both these
NGOs receive a major part of official Danish mine action funds. A new NGO,
Fonden Danmark mod Landminer, advocating the need to support mine action and the
ban, is in the process of being
established.[22]
Landmine Casualties
Although some Danish peacekeepers have been
injured by mines, it has not been possible to establish the exact number.
Denmark has all modern medical and rehabilitation facilities.
[1] Denmark’s Mine Ban Treaty Article
7 Report, Form A, submitted 27 August 1999. Landmine Monitor is unaware of what
penal sanctions are currently in place for violations of the
treaty. [2] Denmark’s Report to
the OSCE on the Questionnaire on Anti-Personnel Landmines, 25 January
2000. [3] This has been contested by a
group of Danish NGOs who claim that Danish companies were involved in production
of components until 1983. For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp.
581-582. [4] See Landmine Monitor Report
1999, p. 582. [5] Letter to Fonden
Danmark mod Landminer from Hans Hækkerup, Minister of Defense, 15 May
2000. The was confirmed by the Danish delegation in remarks to the meeting of
the Standing Committee of Experts on General Status of the Convention, Geneva,
30 May 2000. [6] Article 7 Report, Form
D, 27 August 1999. [7] Ibid, Form
E. [8] Ibid, Form
D. [9] Ibid. Also, remarks by the
Danish delegation at the meeting of the Standing Committee of Experts on General
Status of the Convention, Geneva, 30 May
2000. [10] Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
p. 583. [11] Article 7 Report, Annex to
Form E; see also, Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p.
584. [12] Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(US$ conversion by Landmine
Monitor/Denmark). [13] Partnership 2000,
Danish Development policy, draft edition, 14 June 2000, available at:
http://www.um.dk/danida/partnerskab2000/analyse.asp. [14]
DANIDA Five Year Plan 2000 – 2004, available at:
http://www.um.dk/danida/5aarsplan2000-2004/index.asp. [15]
Telephone interview with Ole Neustrup, Bureau Chief S3, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 10 July 2000. Also, remarks by Danish delegation at the meeting of the
Standing Committee of Experts on General Status of the Convention, Geneva, 30
May 2000. [16] Data supplied by Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Conversion to U.S. dollars by Landmine Monitor researcher.
Abbreviations -- UNOCHA: UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance,
ADP: Accelerated Demining Program, UNDP: UN Development Program, OHR: Office of
the High Representative, Bosnia –
Herzegovina. [17] Ibid. Abbreviations
-- IPPNW: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, OAS:
Organization of American States, IND: National Demining Institute, UNOPS: UN
Office for Project Services. [18]
Telephone interview with Ole Neustrup, Bureau Chief S3, Ministery of Foreign
Affairs, 10 July 2000. [19] For details
see report on Norway in this edition of the Landmine Monitor Report
2000. [20] DanChurchAid:
www.dca.dk. [21] Telephone interview
with Arne Vågen, Danish Demining Group. See also:
arvc@drc.dk. [22] Information available
at: www.fmn.dk
About Us
Our Research Products