With the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) also begin to disintegrate.
Different parts of the SFRY began to declare independence and throughout the
region there have been varying degrees of conflict in different parts of the
SFRY since 1991. The former SFRY is now divided into five different countries:
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro), and the Republic of Macedonia.
Landmines were used in large quantities during the war in Croatia
(1991-1995).[1] Given that the
SFRY was a major producer of landmines (see report on Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia) landmines were readily available for use and all fighting forces
used them. Some sources believe that there are as many as 1.2 million mines and
UXOs in eastern and western Slavonia, in Baranja, Posavina, Banovina, Lika and
Dalmacija.[2] The U.S.
Department of State estimates 400,000 landmines and 3,000 tons of UXOs,
contaminating nearly one-quarter of the national
territory.[3]
Mine Ban Policy
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ivo
Sanader, signed the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa on 4 December 1997. In his
remarks to the conference, he noted Croatia’s early involvement in the ban
movement, “It was in May 1996 that a group of countries declared their
readiness and interest to have all landmines banned. I am proud to say that
Croatia readily joined the ‘Ottawa Process’ of which Canada was the
initiator?.Signing the Convention, we should bear in mind that we have not
completed our journey yet?.Entering into force of the Convention should be our
first step and I would herewith like to call upon all the signatory states to
ratify it as soon as
possible.”[4] Croatia
ratified the Treaty on 24 April 1998 and deposited its instruments of
ratification at the United Nations on 20 May 1998.
In addition to participating in all of the Ottawa Process meetings and
signing and rapidly ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty, Croatia has been involved in
promoting the treaty in the region. A government delegation participated in the
“Regional Conference on Landmines” hosted by the Hungarian
government, ICBL and Hungarian Campaign to Ban Landmines for countries in the
Baltic and Balkan regions from 26-28 March 1998. At that conference, the
Croatian delegation offered to host another regional follow up meeting in 1999,
which, as of this writing, is scheduled for June. Croatia acceded to the
Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Protocol II on 2 December 1993. It
has not yet ratified amended Protocol II.
Croatia has expressed support for negotiations in the Conference on
Disarmament. In his address to the signing conference of the Ottawa Convention,
Deputy Foreign Minister Sanader noted the importance of the process of the
universalization of the Convention. He stated, “The initiatives to
continue the work of the Conference on Disarmament on this issue are more than
welcome, for it is the opportunity to bring to the table those countries which
at this stage cannot join the ‘Ottawa Process’ and sign the
Convention. I am confident that the spirit of that work would be complementary
to the solutions achieved in the ‘Ottawa Process’ and the
Convention.”[5]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
According to military and government sources,
Croatia is not producing any type of mines at the present. On 4 December 1997,
Deputy Foreign Minister Sanader stated that his country was “neither a
producer nor an importer or exporter of
landmines.”[6]
In the past, especially during the war, some Croatian companies manufactured
mines. In the very beginning of the war, Croatian forces did not have stocks of
mines until taking over JNA barracks and stockpiles. During the war, Croatia
developed its own capacity for mine production. Two producing companies have
been identified, both government-owned -- “Vlado Bagat” in Zadar and
“Rapid” in Virovitica – but information on types and
quantities of mines produced is not
available.[7]
During the conflict, mines were not imported. Croatian fighting forces
acquired stocks during the conflict by capture and new production. There are
some indications on Croatian mines exported to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)
during confrontations between HVO (Croatian forces in BiH) and Army of BiH and
also to Kosovo (via Split - Ancona; recently), but they are not confirmed by
Croatian official sources.
Use
All parties to the conflict in Croatia used
landmines and there is some evidence of mine use since the end of the war.
During 1998 there were four mine incidents in the county of Lika apparently
caused by new mine laying. On 8 February 1999 the Croatian Helsinki Committee
for Human Rights (CHC)[8] gave a
statement about recent incidents in Lika and confirmed information previously
published in Novi List that 31 people were injured (10 fatally) from
“surprise mines” that were placed in yards, gardens, houses and the
like. Damir Gorseta, director of CROMAC, stated that it is impossible for a
non-expert to make such explosive
devices.[9]
The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) and
military sources estimate the number of mines in the ground at between 700,000
– 1,000,000.[11] As noted
above, the U.S. State Department puts the figure much lower, at 400,000
mines.[12] About 75% of mines
are APMs.
The majority of mines are found along former confrontation lines during the
war. Large concentrations of mines were left around big cities in conflict
zones: Dubrovnik, Sibenik, Zadar, Knin, Karlovac, Osijek,
Vukovar.[13] These cities and
some other smaller inhabited areas are also contaminated with UXOs. The right
riverbanks of Kupa and Korana Rivers, which are among the most mined areas in
Croatia, are also littered with fragments, pieces of metal and unexploded
ammunition. The concentration is so dense that is virtually impossible to use
magnetic detectors and the mine detecting can be carried out only with
probes.[14] Mined areas are also
found deep in various provinces. Besides minefields, there are many solitaire
mines and booby traps placed in order to terrorize the local population or to
prevent the use of houses, farmsteads and agricultural land. Some 6,000 square
kilometers of national territory are affected by
landmines.[15]
A total of about 10.5% of Croatian national territory – that is 6,000
square kilometers – is considered potentially dangerous because of mines.
The U.S. State Department reports that more than one-half of the affected area
is in Slavonia; other heavily mined areas are in the former Serb-controlled
Krajina as well as along the coast, north of
Split.[16] In general, 14 types
of mines have been found in 5,780 known mined areas, ranging over one-quarter of
the country: houses and inhabited areas – 9.2%, Industrial areas –
5%, infrastructure (roads, railroads, airports, bridges) – 28%,
agricultural areas – 27,8%, and meadows and forests – 30%.
The data from Croatian and UNPROFOR sources conflict due to different
divisions of Croatian territory. UNPROFOR data corresponds to former
UN-Protected Areas (UNPA) under its jurisdiction and that of the Croatian
government to political divisions of the national territory into counties.
Early UNPROFOR data from the end of 1994 and the beginning of 1995 gave high
figures for the number of deployed landmines. In the former South Sector
(Dalmatinska Zagora, Lika up to Korenica) one million mines were said to have
been placed. The same figure was given for the former North Sector (Lika from
Plitvice, Kordun, Banovina and Posavina up to mouth of the river Una). There
were no estimates for the former West Sector, that included parts of western
Slavonia, that were occupied by Serbian rebels until May 1995, nor for the
former East Sector (eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western
Srijem).[17]. In early 1996,
when UNTAES took control of the former East Sector and as demobilization had
begun (June 1996), it would seem that new data should have been compiled
although it was not made
public.[18] There was some
speculation of a “few hundred thousand” mines.
Some of the later estimates by the United Nations have been drastically
reduced -- for example for the former South Sector, 150,000 mines as compared to
the earlier figure of one million. The estimates of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MUP) for each individual county that includes parts of South Sector,
gave even smaller figures. According to MUP, for example, in the county of
Sibenik 343 mine fields were laid by paramilitary forces and 239 mine fields by
the Croatian Army (HV) with an approximate total of 15,000 mines.
Mine Action Funding
Mine clearance did not really begin in earnest
until the government passed a 1996 law on demining. The government under MUP
established a “Commission for Issues of Mine Clearance” which was to
coordinate mine issues and clearance was to be carried out by a government-owned
company, “MUNGOS,” which was formed from the Civilian Defense Force
and was envisioned to serve as the national demining agency. All international
assistance had to be channeled through that agency. Then, and for the most part
until now, the Croatian government has financed the majority of mine clearance
operations.
In the same year, the United Nations established a Mine Action Center (MAC)
to help the government to establish its own national mine action center to train
national deminers and run a national demining program. In the summer of 1997, an
agreement was reached whereby MAC would begin to merge with government
operations. In February of 1998, a new demining law was passed in Croatia and
the Croatian Mine Action Center formed. In June of 1998, the UNMAC completed
merger with CROMAS; the UN remains in advisory
capacity.[19]
In 1997, $16,150,000 was allocated in the federal budget for mine
clearance.[20] By early October,
all field operations had to stop due to total lack of finances – the
entire allocation had already been spent. At the end of October the government
ensured continuance of the mine clearance with an additional $10 million and
promised to give more support the next year. In 1999 an increase of 4% in the
federal budget for mine clearance operations is anticipated.
In his statement to the General Assembly in November of 1998, Croatian
Ambassador Ivan Simonovic noted that “little international funding has
been provided to assist Croatia in demining.” In that light, his
government does “highly appreciate donations by the Governments of
Switzerland, Germany, Italy Belgium and the UK, as well as by the European
Commission and the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Demining.” The
Ambassador went on to “applaud” a decision by the European Council
to grant 435,000 ECU for clearance in 1998 as well as the Western European
Union’s intention to send experts to coordinate, supervise and train new
Croatian demining teams.[21]
According to the U.S. State Department, the total provided by bilateral
donations and the UN Trust Fund between 1994 and 1998 was over $4
million.[22]
In early December 1998, an international donors’ conference was held in
Zagreb to raise funds for the overall reconstruction of the country.
Reportedly, tensions between Croatia and Western governments over limited action
on domestic non-discriminatory legislation resulted in far fewer pledges than
hoped for. The majority of $9.1 million pledged by a handful of European
countries and Japan was earmarked for mine
clearance.[23]
Mine Clearance
As noted above, mine clearance began with the
passage by the Croatian Parliament of the Mine Clearance Law in March 1996. The
law described mine clearance as a “question of national security and
ecological protection as well as protection of health for all
citizens.”[24] The law
called for the organization of mine clearance to be based on a “Mine
Clearance Plan” developed by the government, which is obligated to provide
an annual report on the implementation of the Plan to the Parliament. All
clearance operations were under the control of MUP’s Commission for Issues
of Mine Clearance and carried out by the Croatian Army, police or the
government-owned mine-clearance agency, MUNGOS.
The Plan is to include data such as mined areas, available as well as needed
personnel, devices and equipment, estimation of costs. and a list of areas
needed to be cleared with fixed
deadlines.[25] National
priorities for mine clearance include houses and farmsteads in the process of
reconstruction according to the plan of Ministry of R&D; schools and other
objects that are important for the society; infrastructure (long distance power
line, roads, railways, bridges, plumbing, telecommunications etc.); economic
objects; fields, plowed fields, gardens and orchards; and forests, pastures,
maquis, etc.[26] Finances for
mine clearance are ensured by the State Budget and other
sources.[27] Other sources are
defined as “international financial investments in humanitarian mine
clearance.”[28]
In February 1998, the national law was changed to allow for more
international participation in mine clearance operations. Several private
agencies – along with MUNGOS -- are currently undertaking mine clearance
in Croatia; the share of the latter has been quite small. Some foreign agencies
are also engaged in humanitarian and reconstruction projects.
Between 1995-1998, some 50,000 mines were removed. The Army cleared 40,800
mines (81,6%) and the other approximately 10,000 mines were cleared by MUNGOS
and other agencies. According to CROMAC, areas cleared include agricultural
areas (5%); roads, not including surrounding areas (50%); infrastructure such as
railroads, airports and bridges (50%); and inhabited areas
(50%).[29]:
Mine clearance by the Croatian Army, 1995-1997
1995: 13,326,200 square meters were cleared, removing 7,383 APMs,
6,444 ATMs and 3 584 UXO;
1996: 10,224,160 square meters were cleared, removing 5,083 APMs,
3,722 ATMs and 1 734 UXO;
1997: 10,959,742 square meters were cleared, removing 5,357 APMs,
2,982 ATMs and 680 UXOs.
Total: 34,510,102 square meters were cleared, removing 17,823 APMs,
13,398 ATMs and 5,998
UXOs.[30]
In 1997 the area of Podunavlje and eastern Slavonija were totally cleared of
mines, that includes settlements: Antunovac, Bilje, Bogdanovici, Ernestinovo,
Kopcevo, Apsevci, Donje Novo Selo, Lipovac, Podgradje, Kusonje and Brusnik. This
was important for the Peaceful Reintegration program. In 1998, 15.6 million
square meters were cleared (a breakdown by county is
available).[31]
The quality control for cleared area has not been completed, which had been
the responsibility of MUP and carried out by police and the Croatian Army. With
the amended law of 1998, responsibility for quality assurance shifted to CROMAC.
Two deminers were employed by CROMAC for that end and six more were planned to
be hired and trained by the UN Quality Assurance Officer. Of 39 square
kilometers cleared, only one square kilometer had been quality
assured.[32] About 963,525
square meters of the ground were explored by HV during 1998, but no mines were
found. Because of a tragic incident on 18 May 1998 when one military person was
killed and three were seriously injured HV called off all the mine clearance
activities. The HV is waiting for the improvement of salaries and safety
measures for its personnel that are taking care of such a dangerous work.
Mine Awareness
From the early 1990s, UNICEF has been involved in
mine awareness efforts in Croatia. UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education
in the distribution of mine awareness kits for 800 primary schools. The program
was limited by the lack of training for the teachers in best use of the
materials. It continues its activities through mine awareness campaigns with
television and radio spots, posters, leaflets and actions in mine-affected
communities.[33]
In 1996, the ICRC began mine awareness programs through the Croatian Red
Cross. It organized mine awareness training for future trainers from the local
Red Cross. The ICRC also organized 4 seminars; 2 in Biograd, and one in Topusko
and in Vukovar. It has trained 110 mine awareness instructors, of whom about 75
are still working.
Number of participants in Mine Awareness Education, 1 January 1996 - 31
December 1998
Men 14,404
Women 14,413
Children 75,977
TOTAL 104,736
Source: Nela Sefic, ICRC, INFO-CODI Assistant
Currently, ICRC mine action programs are interactive and multimedia and are
adjusted according to particular area and its own mine problems. They include
theater performances, art exhibitions, teaching toys for children, video
presentations, and feedback from the audience -- the most important element of
the programs.[34]
The UN Mine Action Center in Croatia offered to provide MA training to the
displaced population of Croatia follow a request by the Government Office for
Displaced Persons and Refugees (ODPR) in late 1996. It was decided to first
conduct a pilot program for two months to see how the “direct
training” method. Research for planning purposes was conducted at the ODPR
Regional Offices and four instructors, who were all members of the Association
of War Invalids (HVIDRA) and actually survivors themselves, were trained by
UNMAC with the assistance of ICRC and the Croatian Red Cross from January to
March 1997. The results of the pilot program were then analyzed and UNMAC
recommended that the best method for disseminating the MA message to the
displaced population would be through a combination of media and direct training
methods. A proposal for mine awareness education for displaced persons and
returnees in Croatia has prepared at an estimated cost of US$550,000.
One NGO, Strata Research, has worked on a mine awareness project combined
with specific civic education program focusing on post-war reconciliation.
Workshops consisted of two parts: a classical mine awareness training was
followed by a broader discussion on reconciliation, on problems concerning
various aspects of identity building (ethnic, professional, gender), and on the
role of the NGOs in coping with the mine problem in the region.. Between 16
April and 14 June 1998, 16 workshops were held. Additionally, there were 4 radio
shows featuring workshop coordinators, instructors and participants.
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
Between 1990-1995, 400 civilians were killed and
1,400 were injured in landmine incidents. According to incomplete data from 1995
to 1997, 560 people were injured or killed in 359 incidents. During 1998, 32
persons were killed, 16 seriously injured, 29 slightly
injured.[35] Data on mine
victims remains unreliable; in official statement by CROMAC it was said that
there were 15 incidents with 12 killed from January to June 1998; but the STRATA
RESEARCH analytical service notified 15 mine incidents with 19 killed in the
same period. Elderly persons, agricultural population and workers in public
companies (with objects placed on the mine -affected areas) seem to be the most
exposed ones.
According to information given by ICRC there are no prosthesis workshops in
Croatia. There are no national disability laws in Croatia. Mine victims do not
receive any special treatment compared to other disabled. They get first aid and
medical assistance in general according to their health insurance.
[1]Ozren Zunec, The Mine
Planet, (Zagreb: Strata, 1997), p. 171. The Dayton Agreement (22 November
1995) is considered as the end of the war in Croatia and in Bosnia and
Herzegovina
[2]Interview with Hrvoje
Babic and Milan Bajic, members of the CROMAC Council
[3]U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine
Crisis, (Washington: Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, September
1998), p. 81.
[4]H.E. Dr. Ivo Sanader,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, Address: “A
Global Ban on Landmines,” Ottawa, Canada, 4 December 1997.
[15]Ambassador Ivan
Simonovic, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, “Statement to
the Fifty-third Session of the General Assembly: Agenda item 42: Assistance in
Mine Clearance,” United Nations, New York, 17 November 1998.
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