Peru’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs Eduardo Ferrero signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997.
In a statement at the signing ceremony, Ferrero said Peru “has been
adjusting its conduct to the objective of this Convention [and] confirms here
its will to execute in good faith the international prohibition of these
artifacts.”[1] Earlier in
1997, Peru told the Organization of American States (OAS) that Peru’s
Armed Forces do not have antipersonnel
mines.[2]
On 17 June 1998, Peru became the nineteenth nation to ratify the ban treaty.
Peru expressed its deep satisfaction with the agreement which it considered
“the result of a long negotiation process to which Peru actively
contributed.”[3] Peru
was among the early nations to call for an immediate, comprehensive ban on
antipersonnel mines, which it did in July 1995 during a United Nations
International Mine Clearance conference in Geneva. Peru participated in all of
the ban treaty preparatory meetings, endorsed the pro-treaty Brussels
Declaration, and took part in the Oslo negotiations. Peru also voted in favor
of the pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions in 1996, 1997 and 1998, as well
as the pro-ban resolutions of the Organization of American States (OAS). Peru is
one of the few nations that has contributed to the OAS mines register.
Peru is a party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and
ratified its amended Protocol II on landmines on 3 July 1997. It is a member of
the Conference on Disarmament, but has not been a noted supporter or opponent of
efforts to launch negotiations on a mine export ban in that forum.
Production
It appears that Peru was a producer of
antipersonnel mines in the past. The U.S. Department of Defense identifies Peru
as the manufacturer of the MGP-30 plastic antipersonnel mine and the MGP 31
plastic antitank mine, both made by the Centros de Fabricacion de Armas of the
Industrial Services of the
Navy.[4] The U.S. State
Department has also identified Peru as an AP mine
producer.[5] It is not known
when Peru ceased production.
Transfer
Peru is not thought to have ever exported
antipersonnel landmines, though it never instituted a formal moratorium. A 1993
U.S. State Department communication said that while Peru had not exported mines,
it “may be attempting to sell [its] landmines
abroad.”[6]
Peru imported 10,252 M18A1 Claymore antipersonnel mines from the United
States (10,000 in 1978 and 252 in
1989).[7] Other suppliers of
Peru’s mines are unknown.
Stockpiling
In its 1997 report to the OAS Landmine Registry,
Peru stated that it had no stockpile of antipersonnel
landmines.[8] The United
Nations landmine database indicates that, as of 1996, Peru may have had a
“small” stockpile for antiterrorist
purposes.[9]
Use
Despite allegations to the contrary, Peru denies
using antipersonnel mines during its border conflict with Ecuador in
1995.[10] In December 1998,
Peruvian General Raul O’Connor said that “Peru has never placed
landmines at the border with
Ecuador.”[11] Ecuador
claims that the country of origin of the mines it has already cleared makes it
certain that some of mines were laid by
Peru.[12]
A 1993 U.S. Department of State report said that Peru “currently
employs mines as part of its static defense program to protect certain
installations and equipment” from terrorist threats posed by the MRTA and
Sendero Luminoso
organizations.[13]
Landmine Problem
Peru’s principle problem with uncleared
landmines is on its border with Ecuador, specifically in the foothills of the
Cordillera del Condor mountain range between the two countries. The border area
was a subject of dispute for 57 years and the countries went to war over this
area in 1941, 1981 and most recently, in February 1995. Throughout the conflict,
tens of thousands of mines were laid along the border, with the majority of them
planted during the 1995 fighting.
While Ecuador acknowledges mine use, Peru denies it.
Between 1995 and 1998 there were approximately 130 casualties to landmines in
Peru, most of them in the Cordillera del Condor border region.
Amazonian indigenous people, the Shuar and Achuar, live on both sides of the
border and are affected by the presence or suspected presence of uncleared
mines. In November 1998, the “Families Shuar and Achuar of the
Frontier” issued a joint declaration to the international community,
asking for the governments of both countries to demine the
border.[14] On 5 December 1998,
the Ecuadorian Indian Confederation of the Amazonia (COICA in Spanish) demanded
the clearance of the mines along the border.
Peru also has problems with landmines along its border with Chile.
Non-governmental organizations in the southern Peruvian border town of Tacna
have protested against the mines planted by Chile on the border between 1975 and
1976 claiming that the mines have been responsible for at least fifteen deaths
and approximately 200
injuries.[15] They warn
Peruvians about the dangers of attempting to cross the border illegally to seek
work in Chile, and they have asked for demining of the
area.[16]
Mine Awareness
On 20 November 1998, Peruvian women’s
organizations launched a “Flower Crusade” to demand the eradication
of antipersonnel mines and to show solidarity with landmine
victims.[17] Linda Lema,
president of the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom, said
on that occasion that many children had suffered mutilations by mines planted
around electrical towers near
cities.[18]
Mine Clearance
On 26 October 1998, after three years of peace
talks, the Presidents of Ecuador and Peru signed a peace agreement in Brasilia,
Brazil. As part of the agreement, both nations agreed to the demining of their
borders under the supervision of the Ecuador/Peru Multinational Observation
Mission (MOMEP). MOMEP is made up of military representatives of the United
States, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. These four countries are the guarantors of
the 1942 peace protocol, the Protocol of Rio de Janeiro.
General O’Connor, representating Peru in MOMEP, said in December 1998
that Peru has no maps to submit to MOMEP because it did not plant any
mines.[19] Ecuador handed over
maps, but asked MOMEP not to make them public for security
reasons.[20]
Despite these problems, the mine clearance effort is both a
confidence-building measure as well as an endeavor with concrete humanitarian
goals. Both the Ecuadorian and Peruvian governments sent representatives to the
January 1999 Mexico City Regional Seminar on Landmines and said that
implementing the peace agreement, including mine clearance, is more important at
present than trying to establish who placed the
mines.[21] Ecuador and Peru made
a joint presentation on the border demining program at the meeting. The first
phase of the program is clearing the mines in order to place boundary markers.
This initial clearance phase began on 28 December 1998.
Several countries, including Canada, Japan, Spain, Russia and the United
States, have announced that they will support the demining operations along the
Ecuador/Peru border with funding, technical expertise and equipment. Larger
efforts are underway to develop the border zone’s economy.
On 17 September 1998, the President of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, said at the
Congress in Lima that his country would assist in mine clearance operations on
the the border with Ecuador.[22]
On 28 December 1998, the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation handed the
Peruvian Government more than US$730,000 for mine clearance and integration
programs with Ecuador.[23] On
17 November 1998, Russia’s Ambassador in Lima, Valentin Bogomazov, said
Russia was ready to support demining operations with special equipment,
instructors and training.[24]
Japan also promised aid for the demining operations. MOMEP members Argentina,
Brazil and Chile will assist in the clearance
effort.[25] At the Mexico City
conference in January 1999, Canada pledged $100,000 (Canadian) to the effort.
On 22 February, an official in the office of the Director of Planning and
Evaluation of Programs of the Foreign Ministry in Peru said “there have
been advances in the demining of electrical towers,” but detailed
information could not be made public for secutity
reasons.[26]
[1] Unofficial translation of
statement to Signing Ceremony by Doctor Eduardo Ferrero, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Peru in Ottawa, Canada, 3-4 December 1997.
[2] Letter from Ambassador
Beatriz Ramaccion, Permenent Representative of Peru to the OAS, Washington DC, 1
March 1997, No. 7-5-M/073.
[3] Peruvian Foreign Ministry
Press Release quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP), 19 September 1998.
[4] U.S. Department of
Defense, “Mine Facts” CD Rom.
[5] U.S. Department of State,
Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7
December 1993.
[6] U.S. Department of State,
Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7
December 1993.
[7] U.S. Army, Armament,
Munitions, and Chemical Command (USAMCCOM), Letter to Human Rights Watch, 25
August 1993, and attached statistical tables.
[8] OAS, “Summary
Table: Antipersonnel Landmines, as of May 1, 1998"; Letter from Ambassador
Beatriz Ramaccion, Permenent Representative of Peru to the OAS, Washington DC, 1
March 1997, No. 7-5-M/073.
[9]Peru Country report, UN
Database, see www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/peru.htm
[10] See: Letter from
Ministro Juan M. Leoro, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the OAS to the
OAS Landmine Register,14 march 1997, N.029-97 MPE-OEA; letter from Ambassador
Beatriz Ramaccion, Permenent Representative of Peruto the OAS, Washington DC, 1
March 1997,7-5-M/073; and letter from Ambassador Beatriz Ramaccion, Permenent
Representative of Peruto the OAS, Washington DC, 21 April 1997,Nota
7-5-M/132.
[11] “Peru Denies
Planted Mines Along Ecuadorian Border,” FBIS Translated Text of PA
1612174398 article in Guaya El Universo, Quito, 10 December 1998, p.
A4.
[19] “Peru Denies
Planted Mines Along Ecuadorian Border,” FBIS Translated Text of PA
1612174398 article in Guaya El Universo, Quito, 10 December 1998, p.
A4.
[20] Remarks at Regional
Seminar on Antipersonnel Landmines, Mexico City, Mexico, 11-12 January 1999.
[21] Remarks at Regional
Seminar on Antipersonnel Landmines, Mexico City, Mexico, 11-12 January 1999.
[22] Agence France Presse
Lima, 17 September 1998.
[23] Agence France Presse
Lima, 17 September 1998.
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