Prior to 1993, Ethiopia also included what is today
the independent nation of Eritrea. The tremendous turmoil in Ethiopia and the
region over the past few decades has left a considerable landmine problem. Over
the past year, Ethiopia has been involved with Eritrea in a dispute over the
border between the two countries, which was never formally delineated after
Eritrean independence in 1993. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of laying mines
during the conflict.
Mine Ban Policy
Ethiopia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997 and in a statement to the signing conference, the government reaffirmed its
commitment to the treaty, and as a mine-affected nation, urged the international
community to adhere to the articles of the treaty dealing with assistance in
mine clearance and victim
assistance.[1] Ethiopia has yet
to ratify the ban treaty but the Foreign Ministry recently stated that
“Ethiopia has already triggered the necessary procedural mechanisms
leading to the ratification of the
Convention.”[2]
Ethiopia participated in the meetings of the Ottawa Process, including the
October 1996 meeting which launched the Process. It endorsed the Brussels
Declaration and was a full participant to the Oslo treaty negotiations where it
spoke out against U.S. proposals which, if accepted, would have seriously
weakened the ban treaty.
At the time of the Oslo meetings, the International Committee of the Red
Cross organized a conference in Addis Ababa with government, media and aid
organizations, during which the government confirmed its commitment to the
Ottawa process.[3] Ethiopia has
also supported resolutions put forward by the Organization of African Unity
(OAU)—which is headquartered in Addis Ababa—on landmines, along with
the “Plan of Action” from the May 1997 OAU meeting on landmines in
Kempton Park, South Africa. It has supported all relevant 1996, 1997 and 1998
UN General Assembly resolutions supporting the ban on antipersonnel mines.
Ethiopia is a member of the Conference on Disarmament but has not been a
noted supporter or opponent of efforts to negotiate a partial ban on landmines
in this forum.
Production, Transfer and Stockpiling
Ethiopia does not produce landmines and claims to
not have imported mines since the end of the Menguistu regime in
1991.[4] Ethiopia is not known to
have ever exported antipersonnel mines. The list below of mines found in
Ethiopia gives an indication of the sources of supply of AP mines to the
government in the past. The current size and composition of the
government’s mine stockpile is unknown.
Use
Over the last thirty years, landmines have been
used in Ethiopia during various armed conflicts both internally and with
neighboring countries. Landmine problems stem from several conflicts. One was
the long struggle for independence by Eritrea and Tigre, which left
contamination in the northern region of
Ethiopia.[5] After the
unsuccessful incursion of Somali forces to take the disputed Ogaden region in
1977 and 1978, the Menguistu regime constructed a mine barrier along the border
between the two countries.[6] The
fighting in the late 1980's to unseat the Menguistu regime, which ended in 1991,
also caused mine contamination. Another area of concern stems from the mining
of the southern Sudanese
border.[7]
The regions most affected by these various conflicts include Tigray, Afar,
Amhara, Somali, Gamela, Oromya and
Beni-Shangul.[8] The areas known
to be contaminated consist of "Gondar and Dessie, the northern Shewar region,
along the road between Djibouti and Awash, the Ogaden region, along the Somalia
border and in the Western area around Welega and West
Arosa.”[9] The estimated
number of mines varies greatly from 500,000 mines, of which 400,000 are thought
to be antipersonnel mines, to 1.5 million mines, to as many as four million
mines.[10] More than twenty types
of mines have been identified from seven
countries.[11]
TM-57, TM-62M, TMK-2 (Former Soviet Union); M7A2, M15 (USA) and PM-60
(Former East
Germany).[13]
There
were also mines of German, Italian, Cuban, Czechoslovakian origin which could
not be identified by the U.S. Department of State in its 1993 Hidden
Killers report.[14]
Since the overthrow of Menguistu in 1991, Ethiopia has continued to
experience internal conflicts and disputes with neighboring countries. Tensions
have been felt in the National Regional States of Oramia and
Somali.[15] Ethiopian forces are
also reported to have entered Somalia to go after Islamic bases that have
supposedly carried out attacks inside
Ethiopia.[16]
The most publicized border conflict has been with Eritrea. The conflict over
the delineation of the border, which was never officially marked after Eritrean
independence in 1993, has centered on the Badme region and been equated to the
trench warfare of World War
One.[17] While the Ethiopian
government and press accuse Eritrea of using mines during the conflict, as many
as 50,000 in the Badme region alone, the government maintains that in this
border conflict “Ethiopian defense forces have never used anti-personnel
landmines.”[18] There is no
evidence to the contrary.
Mine Clearance
The threat of mines in Ethiopia is considered a
problem though not an emergency
situation.[19] The government
says that demining is one of its priorities to further sustainable peace and
development and the national capacity has developed considerably since 1993 when
it was deemed "extremely
limited."[20] Currently the
Ethiopian Ministry of Defense-operated Ethiopian Demining Project (EDP), with
U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining assistance, is the only
capacity in country. The main headquarters in Addis Ababa consists of
management, a public awareness team and an historical research team. The
Project has three headquarters in the east, south and west regions of the
country each with a demining company of one hundred
deminers.[21]
Funding to the EDP from the U.S. government has totaled U.S. $8.2 million
since 1993, with another $1.3 million projected for
1999.[22] The Handicap
International project in the refugee camps has totaled U.S. $338,510, of which
U.S. $270,281 was provided by the EU, with another U.S. $83,842 requested for
the current year.
As of June 1998, the EDP had cleared 17,000 sq. km of
land.[23] The number of mines
cleared by the end of 1997 was reportedly
74,850.[24] Injuries to deminers
have been limited with sixteen injuries and four deaths over a two and one-half
year period.[25] Prioritization
for clearance is determined by the EDP headquarters in Addis from requests by
various ministries and local
authorities.[26] While the
Project seems reactive in its choice of areas to clear and there are questions
about the prioritization mechanisms, the results appear to be entirely
humanitarian in their effect.[27]
The Ethiopian program has yet to undertake a nation-wide survey to determine
the full range and extent of mine contamination and victim assistance needs.
Ethiopia has been identified by the UN Mine Action Service as needing a such a
survey to support the existing
program.[28] The German NGO,
Santa Barbara, reached an agreement with the Ethiopian government to conduct a
level 1 survey in 1998, however due to a lack of funding, the survey was
postponed.[29] One hundred mine
sites have already been identified by the EDP with additional sites being added
regularly.[30] None are marked,
as signs previously placed around mined areas were taken by local
inhabitants.[31]
Mine Awareness
Mine awareness is carried out by the EDP and NGOs
although there has been little coordination to date. The EDP program uses
newspapers, radio, TV and fliers to convey messages about the danger of
mines.[32] The UN assessment
mission found problems in the military style of training used by the EDP and its
lack of involvement with the community. In 1996, the ICRC expanded its
affiliation with Circus of Ethiopia, a local NGO made up of street children to
include messages about identification and the dangers of
mines.[33]
Since September 1997, Handicap International has operated a mine awareness
program in four Somali refugee camps located in
Ethiopia.[34] As of 1998, more
than 58,000 refugees had received training to prevent accidents in and around
the camps and during and after repatriation. The project is staffed by one
expatriate and people from the four
camps.[35]
Landmine Casualties
A general estimate of amputees in Ethiopia is
21,000-23,000 of which twenty percent, 4,200-4,600, are thought to be mine
victims.[36] A 1994 estimate put
the number of accidents at five to ten per
week.[37] However, more recent
investigations say the number of mine accidents in Ethiopia is relatively
low.[38] The lack of a
comprehensive level 1 survey or of an established system for reporting accidents
makes a more exact estimate of casualties impossible. In addition to Ethiopian
casualties, a “sizable number” mine victims from Somaliland have
been transported over the border to the refugee camps in
Ethiopia.[39] Estimated costs for
treating mine victims in Ethiopia is U.S.
$60,000.[40]
Landmine Survivor Assistance
Ethiopia has three functioning physical
rehabilitation centers; the Prosthetics-Orthotics Center in Addis Ababa
indigenously established in 1961, the Mekele center in the Tigray region, which
was established by the ICRC in 1992, and the Harar center in the Hararegay
region established by ICRC in
1982.[41] A fourth center, Debre
Zeit in the Wollo region is no longer functional. The Prosthetics-Orthotics
center in Addis is the main center, and one of the premier centers in Africa
with eighty-two staff members of which fifty-three are
technicians.[42]
In addition to the 380 prosthetics produced by the center in 1998, which
account for almost sixty-five percent of all production in Ethiopia, the Addis
Center produces orthotic devices, wheel chairs and crutches, as well as
components that supply other centers across
Africa.[43] It also provides
technical consulting services and has trained technicians from other centers
across the world including technicians from mine-affected nations like Angola,
Lebanon, Chad and Somalia.[44]
Twenty-five technicians received training at the Addis center in 1998. The
center is an autonomous welfare organization independently operated under the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The center is supported by its own income
generation and support from organizations and individuals.
The Mekele center is administered by the Tigraye Disabled Fighters
Association, a local NGO. The center produced 116 prosthetics in
1998.[45] The Harar center is
administered by the regional branch of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The center produced ninety-five prosthetics in
1998.[46] ICRC scaled down its
involvement at the Mekele center in
1994.[47] ICRC provided
assistance to the Addis, Harar and now defunct Debre Zeit centers through 1995
with funds from its Special Fund for the Disabled through
1996.[48]
[5]“Ethiopia- Joint
assessment mission report,” UNMAS, 22 June 1998, p. 2.
[6]U.S. Department of State,
Political-Military Affairs Bureau, Office of International Security Operations,
Pub. No. 10098, July 1993, p. 89; U.S. Department of State, “Background
Notes: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,” March 1998, Office of
East African Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs, www.state.gov
[10]U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. A-1.; UN Landmine Database.
“Ethiopia.” www.un.org/Depts/Landmines; Gadamu, December 1997, p.
2; UNMAS, 22 June 1998, p. 2.
[11]U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers, 1993, p. 88.
[12]Ibid. The U.S. Department
of State incorrectly listed the M3 AP mine as an AT mine.
[16]BBC World,
“Ethiopians pull Out of Somalia,” 4 January 1999, www.bbc.co.uk.
[17]“Ethiopia and
Eritrea- Trench warfare,” Economist, 13 March 1999, p. 56.
[18]Ethiopian Government
Spokesperson, “Total Victory for Operation Sunset,” Ethiopian
News Service, Addis Ababa. www.telecom.net.et/~ena, 28 February 1999;
Professor Addis Birhan, “Mind Eritrea's Mine Fields,” Walta
Information Service, Addis Ababa. www.telecom.net.et/~walta, 6 March 1999;
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 17 March 1999, p. 2.
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