Key
developments since March 1999: Albania ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 29
February 2000. Albania inventoried its stockpiled mines and in May 2000
reported having 1,607,420 mines stored in 120 depots in the country. It
estimates it will take up to two years to complete destruction at a cost of
approximately $560,000. It has destroyed 8,400 mines. On 8 October 1999 the
Albanian Mines Action Committee (AMAC) was founded to coordinate mine action in
the country. In June 2000, RONCO began demining operations in two priority
areas defined by AMAC. In northern Albania the ICRC and CARE are carrying out
mine awareness programs. As a result of the Kosovo crisis, in northern Albania
AMAE had recorded eighty-five mine/UXO incidents, resulting in eighteen dead and
118 injured, by early July 2000.
Mine Ban Policy
Albania signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on 8
September 1998, and deposited the instrument of ratification at the United
Nations on 29 February 2000. The treaty enters into force for Albania on 1
August 2000. Ratification was approved unanimously by parliament, and a Foreign
Affairs Ministry official has said, “According to the instrument of
ratification...the Convention is fully obligatory to Albania without any
reservation or
declaration.”[1] Domestic
legislation to bring into effect the penal sanctions required for implementation
is being prepared.
On 25 May 2000 the Council of Ministers announced “Decision No.
269” including the following key elements: all stockpiled antipersonnel
mines will be destroyed by 2004; all the areas of the Republic of Albania,
infected with mines, must be demined by 2009; the Ministry of Defense is to
present to the Council of Ministers the program and finances needed carry out
these obligations, three months after this law comes into effect; the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and other state institutions will seek financial and
technological support to meet these MBT obligations, and aid for mine victims as
well. The decree enters into force after its publication in the “Official
Paper.”[2] The Chief of
the Albanian EOD organization confirmed that the Council of Ministers has
already prepared projects toward the implementation of the
MBT.[3]
The government attended the First Meeting of States Parties (FMSP) to the MBT
in May 1999. Government representatives have participated in one meeting each
of the Standing Committees of Experts on Stockpile Destruction, Mine Clearance
and General Status and Operation of the Convention. Albanian representatives
also participated in the second Regional Conference on Landmines in Croatia in
June 1999, and in the third regional conference in Slovenia in June 2000.
In December 1999, Albania voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution
54/54B urging full implementation of the MBT, as it had with previous pro-ban
UNGA resolutions. Landmine Monitor Report 1999 was well-received by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that the report “notes a survey
on the history of using and producing the landmines from Albania, the current
situation and problems caused by landmines which were [previously not]
known....“[4]
NGO activity remains strong in Albania. In 1997 the AntiMining Friends
Committee (AMFC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) started
an awareness campaign focused on unexploded ordnance (UXO) and ammunition spread
across the country. After the Regional Conference in Budapest in March 1998,
efforts of the AMFC concentrated on promoting the Mine Ban Treaty with the
general public and the authorities.
Albania is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but
at the urging of the ICRC, the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs are now
considering formal adherence to the CCW and its protocols.
Production
According to official sources AP mines have not
been produced in Albania since 1990 or
1991.[5] No funding is
available so previous AP mine production facilities scheduled for conversion to
civilian production simply remain closed. One facility formerly owned by the
Ministry of Defense has been partially privatized and continues to produce
explosives for commercial
purposes.[6]
Transfer
Albania received large numbers of mines from the
Soviet Union and China prior to
1975.[7] There was no official
transfer of AP mines during the Kosovo crisis in early
1999,[8] but there were press
reports of some groups of people being killed while transferring ammunition to
Kosovo. Russian AP mines and Chinese antitank mines have been found in Kosovo,
which may have been transferred from
Albania.[9]
Stockpile and Destruction
The Deputy Minister of Defense stated that
“after the ratification of the Ottawa Treaty Albania is obliged to destroy
the stockpile and to clear the mine fields as well as hot spots contaminated by
UXO."[10] A considerable
stockpile of AP mines is held by the Albanian Armed Forces. During 1999, a new
inventory took place, with results that have been reported on two recent
occasions (with slight differences):
A plan for destruction of the stockpile with the assistance of the NATO
Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Ammunition Storage and Training Team (EODASTT)
has been prepared.[14] This
will involve dismantling the PMD-6 and POMZ-2 mines, smelting their metal parts,
re-using the explosives for demining, demolition or other commercial purposes,
while burying the other materials, and destroying the PMN mines by demolition.
It is proposed that this activity will be undertaken at nine regional locations
based on selected ammunition storage facilities.
This plan will take up to two years to complete, at an estimated cost of US$
561,600, which, Deputy Defense Minister Ilir Bocka told the SCE on Stockpile
Destruction in May 2000, is not “readily identifiable in our budget.
Currently our funds re allocated to safety related issues involving the
destruction of life-threatening, dangerous ammunition.... Albania will require
considerable support in order to implement its
plan.”[15] He stated that
Albania had started to destroy its AP mine stockpile—a total of 8,400 thus
far. In conclusion, Deputy Minister Bocka informed the SCE in May 2000:
Even in view of Albania’s difficulties, this Committee and the
International community should be aware that:
Albania places the destruction of its Antipersonnel Mines high on its
political agenda.
The Albanian Government is confident that it is able to exercise appropriate
control to ensure full cooperation of its Armed Forces in the implementation of
its plans to carry out demilitarisation of Antipersonnel Mines.
Our plans for the demilitarisation of our stockpile have been considered in
terms of cost effectiveness, but also in terms of environmental aspects,
socioeconomic factors and the expertise and technology currently available to
Albania.
Finally, Albania welcomes verification of its stockpile and the monitoring
of the process and progress of its demilitarisation program by the Nation
Members of this Committee and International Community at
large.[16]
Use and Landmine Problem
During widespread rioting in early 1997, the
population looted an estimated 600,000 antipersonnel mines from
stockpiles.[17] How many mines
remain today in private hands is not known. Some of these stolen mines have
been used for private purposes, for example mine explosive is used for fishing.
When the government signed the MBT on 8 September 1998 the Albanian Armed
Forces were ordered not to use AP
mines.[18] Despite Serbian
incursions into Albania in early 1999 “even during the Kosovo crisis
Albania did not mine its borders, acknowledging the problems they would cause in
a post conflict
situation.”[19]
However, the border was mined and contaminated with UXO, including Albanian
territory, by Serb forces. Artillery and ABABEL-50 multiple launch rocket
systems contaminated sixteen areas (140 hectares) with unexploded KB-1 bomblets
up to 25 kilometers inside Albanian territory. Additionally, the entire
Albania-Kosovo 80 km-long border is affected by antipersonnel and antitank mines
laid by Serbian forces during border incursions. The total area contaminated is
approximately 1,400 hectares, in the districts of Tropoja, Kukes and Has.
The mines are mostly located around approaches to border crossing-points, but
nearby agricultural areas, grazing land and villages are also contaminated. The
mines identified include PMA-1, PMA-2, PMR and TMA-5 types, which have been
found up to 400 meters inside the
border.[20]
A villager from Dobruna, a village in the Has district described what
happened on one occasion: “We were evacuated from our village. Serbs set
fire to our houses and mined the whole area of the border. When we went back
home to start our life again 150 meters behind my house I stepped on two
landmines and as you can see I lost both
legs.”[21]
There are no reports of the border with Montenegro being mined.
These recent events have seriously aggravated what were the already
substantial dangers and difficulties existing in much of Albania as a result of
the 1997 riots. Explosions in thirty-eight depots, including fifteen major
incidents, involving over 6,000 tons of explosives and ammunition of all types
killed and injured many people, and contaminated large areas of land with UXO.
The fifteen “hot spot” areas of gross contamination covered some 220
hectares of land.[22]
Looting of ammunition depots, abandonment of looted ordnance including AP
mines, private use, and the widespread use of AP mines to protect official
buildings, added to this problem. Considerable socio-economic problems as well
as physical danger have been caused by these successive phases of mine/UXO
contamination.[23]
“Weapons in Exchange for Development,” a pilot UNDP program in
1999 in the district of Gramsh, aimed to collect weapons (including mines) and
ammunition held by the population since 1997. This was completed at a cost of
$1,300,000, considered very successful and there are plans for it to be
implemented in other
districts.[24]
Mine Action
With respect to the mine problem related to 1997
difficulties, six of the fifteen “hot spot” areas, amounting to some
forty hectares of land, have been cleared of hazardous ammunition and related
scrap.[25]
With respect to the problem in the north related to Kosovo, the Albanian
Armed Forces (AAF) EOD organization conducted a Level 1 survey in August and
September 1999, with the assistance of CARE International, to identify
mine-contaminated areas. Some 1,400 hectares of land were assessed as
potentially mined.[26] The
AAF EOD team marked minefields along 120 kilometers of the northern border in
August-September 1999 using 5,000 markers contributed by UNICEF. Due to theft
of minefield markers and the damage caused by a hard winter, the AAF repeated
this process in April and May
2000.[27]
Since March 1999 the AAF EOD has maintained a constant operation to clear the
hot spots with guidance provided by NATO-employed advisory staff. Protection
equipment, detectors and some other relevant materials have been provided by
NATO countries, principally Italy, Switzerland, UK and
US.[28]
Sixteen areas affected by KB-1 bomblets were cleared by the AAF EOD except
where coincidental with mine contamination; approximately 140 hectares of land
has been cleared and 2,700 bomblets
destroyed.[29]
On the 8 October 1999 the Albanian Mines Action Committee (AMAC) was founded,
under the chairmanship of the Deputy Minister of Defense. The Committee is made
up of representatives of the UN Development Program, UNICEF, the Emergency
Management group and the Ministry for Local Government. The overall aims of
AMAC are to obtain funding for humanitarian mine action and mine clearance, to
carry out mine/UXO clearance and supervise these operations in order to optimize
their impact.
To implement AMAC policy, the Albanian Mine Action Executive (AMAE) was
formed and effectively functions as the national Mine Action Center. Albanian
authorities continue to make potential donor-countries aware of the extent and
nature of the landmine/UXO problem in the country and seek financial and
materiel support. AMAC has requested the Albanian EOD organization to prepare
further demining projects in anticipation of interest by a funding organization.
All the information gathered regarding minefields, minefield marking, mine
victims, mine awareness, and fundraising is centralized at the AMAE. Maps of
minefields, marking signs and information about mine victims are accessible on a
computer database (system provide by the United States). For the AMAE office
until March 2000 contributions totaling $7,670 have been made by the UNDP
($4,445), Royal Norwegian Embassy ($725) and CARE International ($2,500). The
government of Canada will meet the administrative costs of the AMAE from July
2000 through March 2001, after which the Swiss government has pledged support
until March 2005.[30]
RONCO, a U.S. demining company arrived in Albania in early May to carry out
an assessment, and has identified one contaminated area at Qafe Prushe, a border
crossing point in Has District where clearance operations commenced in June,
supported by a grant of $2 million from the US Department of Defense through
Slovenia’s International Trust Fund. On 8 June the AMAE announced
“the commencement of demining in Albania.” RONCO has been
contracted “to work in Qafe Prush (Has) and Qafe Morine (Tropoja) which
are two priority areas defined by AMAC and AMAE.... The company has two demining
teams and mine detective dogs that have been based in the town of Kruma.... The
Albanian Mines Action Executive is responsible to supervise the demining
operations. The company will continue demining next year too. It is worth
mentioning that local inhabitants welcomed the company hoping that the number of
casualties will drop. One day before the company commenced demining two
incidents occurred. Two men crossing the Albanian border got injured. One lost
his leg and the other was injured in his
face.”[31] In July
Germany announced a grant of DM 1.2 million to the German NGO HELP for demining
in Albania.[32]
It is very important to start the mine clearance in the border regions
because in many areas, for the local population the nearest villages are in
Kosovo which can be reached only by illegal crossings, as using the official
crossing points takes much longer. To re-open these unofficial paths, local
Albanians have preferred to demine the routes themselves. Also, in the summer
of 1999 there were rumors about landmines being collected by villagers for
resale, with articles about this in the local media. The actual practice seems
to have been very small-scale, but the publicity itself served to encourage a
very dangerous activity.
Mine Awareness
In northern Albania the AMAE is coordinating the
ICRC and CARE mine awareness programs. The CARE program includes training of
teachers in three northern districts to implement mine awareness programs in
schools, as well as training of committees in villages to increase mine
awareness. The CARE budget ended in January 2000 but UNICEF sponsored the work
in February and March, and UNDP in April and May. Two teams of three
instructors are based in Kukes and Has districts, and two instructors may be
located in Tropoja who will be supervised from Kukes.
The ICRC has a community-based approach to mine awareness, which relies on
the network of Albanian Red Cross volunteers. Volunteers coming from the
problem areas are trained as instructors, who then teach mine awareness to the
general public, including children, and combine this with the distribution of
food in the war affected border-villages because this increases the impact of
the mine awareness activities. There are three teams of five instructors, who
also try to identify new mine victims. Three instructors in other towns where
children are more exposed to ammunition and UXO have also made presentations
relevant to those circumstances. This program, in which the Albanian Red Cross
takes a leading role, started in October 1999. UNICEF supported some public
events as lead-agency and trained teachers from all over Albania and
representatives from the Youth Council in mine awareness. CARE and the ICRC
provided trainers for these courses. The Balkan Sun Flowers organization is
also involved in a mine/UXO awareness program, with UNICEF support.
Survivor Assistance
A record of mine victims is maintained by AMAE and
is publicly available. Seven military personnel have been injured while marking
fields or on border patrol or other
duties.[33] After the Kosovo
crisis the number of civilian mine victims increased significantly. By early
July 2000 AMAE had recorded eighty-five incidents, resulting in eighteen dead
and 118 injured.[34] In
addition to the two recent casualties mentioned by AMAE when announcing the
RONCO contract, several children in the eastern town of Peshkopi in the district
of Dibra were severely injured and one child was
killed.[35]
In general, most of the casualties were teenagers curious about what might be
in prohibited areas. Many people were injured while attending grazing animals
or crossing the borders illegally; some were killed or injured trying to rescue
other people injured by mines. Illegal border-crossing is especially common in
the Tropoja district where many people have no identification papers; because
KFOR troops cannot allow them to cross the border without identification papers,
the villagers use other routes through mined areas. The ICRC has raised this
issue with the AMAE for the authorities’ urgent attention.
State facilities provide immediate medical aid and treatment to mine victims.
A one-year pension is available to people injured in the performance of their
duties, such as border policeman or soldiers marking minefields, and
approximately $80 per month (equivalent to monthly salary in the public sector)
to disabled people, including mine victims. There is no statutory obligation to
provide prostheses to amputees.
Albania’s Prosthesis Center (located in the Military Hospital)
collaborates closely with the ICRC, which along with the Swiss Red Cross,
provides raw materials for the production of artificial limbs. There is an
agreement between the Center’s Director and the ICRC to give priority to
mine survivors. Mine awareness instructors identify lower and upper leg
amputees, then a medical specialist determines which of the survivors is ready
for measurement. The ICRC then transports them to Tirana, accompanied by a
relative, for the first phase of the fitting process, and then three weeks later
for the final phase. The ICRC covers all costs, including accommodation and a
per diem during the period needed for fitting. When the process is finished the
ICRC returns the survivors to their villages. The Albanian government granted
the Center $40,000 for 1999; any grant for 2000 is not known at present.
From April 1999 until the end of the year, Handicap International had an
operation in Durres to provide psychological support to the victims of war for
the Kosovar refugees. In Shkoder, HI distributed thousands pairs of shoes,
orthopaedic devices, crutches and wheelchairs.
[1] Interview with Armand Skapi, UN
Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tirana, 1 March
2000. [2] Decision dated
25.05.2000-06-17 [sic] on Prohibition Of The Use, Storage, Production And
Transfer Of Antipersonnel Mines And Their Destruction, signed by Prime Minister
Ilir Meta and Defense Minister Luan Hajdaraga (unofficial
translation). [3] Interviews with Ismet
Miftari, Chief of Albanian EOD, Tirana, 6 April, 15 May, 16 June 2000; Draft
Project of Republic of Albania-Ottawa Treaty related Ammunition
Demilitarization, Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Activities. [4] Interview with Armand
Skapi, UN Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tirana, 1 March
2000. [5] Ibid; Report of the Permanent
Mission of the Republic of Albania to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), 23 November 1999, p. 3; for details of
Albania’s production of AP mines before 1990, see: International Campaign
to Ban Landmines, Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World,(New
York: Human Rights Watch, 1999), p.
699. [6] Interviews with Ismet Miftari,
Chief of Albanian EOD, Tirana, 6 April, 15 May 2000. Also, Email to LM/HRW by
William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Ammunition
Storage Training Team (NATO EODASTT), 16 July
2000. [7] See Landmine Monitor Report
1999, pp. 699-700, for details. [8]
Interviews with Ismet Miftari, Chief of Albanian EOD, Tirana, 6 April, 15 May
2000. [9] UNMACC Threat / Factsheet No.
1, 27 October 1999. [10] Interview with
Ilir Boçka, Chairman of AMAC and Deputy Minister of Defense, Tirana, 22
March 1999. [11] Presentation by Ismet
Miftari, Chief of Albanian EOD, at conference Action Against APMs, Selanik, 3-4
May 2000. [12] Briefing Notes, Deputy
Minister of Defense and Chairman of AMAC Ilir Bocka, presentation to the
Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 22-23 May 2000.
(Paper distributed as “Ottawa Treaty and Related Ammunition
Demilitarisation, Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Activities.”) [13] Presentation by
Ismet Miftari, Selanik, 3-4 May
2000. [14]
Ibid. [15] Briefing Notes, Deputy
Defense Minister Ilir Bocka, SCE on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 22-23 May
2000. [16]
Ibid. [17] Interviews with Ismet
Miftari, Chief of Albanian EOD, Tirana, 6 April, 15 May
2000. [18] For past instances of AP
mines used by Albania and by others on Albanian territory, see Landmine Monitor
Report 1999, p. 701. [19] Briefing
Notes, Ilir Bocka, SCE, Geneva, 22-23 May 2000; interviews with Ismet Miftari,
April and 15 May 2000. [20] Ibid;
Presentation by Ismet Miftari, Selanik, 3-4 May
2000. [21] Interview with a mine
survivor, Dobruna, Has District, 3 December
1999. [22] Briefing Notes, SCE, Geneva,
22-23 May 2000. [23] Ibid.; Landmine
Monitor Report 1999, pp. 701-702. [24]
It has already been replicated in the Peshkopi and Elbasan districts. Email to
LM/HRW by William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16 July
2000. [25] Briefing Notes, SCE, Geneva,
22-23 May 2000. [26]
Ibid. [27] Email to Landmine
Monitor/Human Rights Watch by William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16
July 2000. [28] Interview with Major
Besim Canga, Chief of the field EOD Team, Gjeroven, Berat, 5 May 2000. Also,
Email to LM/HRW by William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16 July
2000. [29] Briefing Notes, SCE, Geneva,
22-23 May 2000. [30] Email to LM/HRW by
William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16 July
2000. [31] “Demining Begins in
Albania,” AMAE Press Release, 8 June
2000. [32] Email to LM/HRW by William
Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16 July 2000, citing AMAE press
conference, July 2000. Mine Awareness Coordination Meeting, Albania, 16 June
2000; email to the ICBL from UNICEF-Albania, 16 June
2000. [33] Report to the OSCE, 23
November 1999, p. 3. [34] Email to
LM/HRW by William Hunt, Senior Consultant, NATO EODASTT, 16 July 2000. AMAE
database on mine/UXO incidents; AMAE Press Release, 8 June
2000. [35] Mine Awareness Coordination
Meeting, Albania, 16 June 2000; email to the ICBL from UNICEF-Albania, 16 June
2000.
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