Key developments
since March 1999: In the 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea,
it appears that tens of thousands of new mines were laid. Each government has
alleged that the other laid mines and observers have expressed concern that both
sides may have used mines. Casualties are now on the rise as a result of new
use of landmines.
Background
In May 1998, Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war over
a disputed border area. There have been many allegations that more than 100,000
landmines have been used in this war along the disputed frontier area. New use
is compounding what was already a difficult landmine problem in Ethiopia and
Eritrea. On 18 June 2000, the two countries signed an Agreement on Cessation of
Hostilities. Article 8 of the agreement obligates both parties to demine the
conflict frontier zone to allow UN peacekeeping forces and humanitarian agencies
safe access.[1]
Mine Ban Policy
Ethiopia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997. In a statement at the signing ceremony, 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 for
mine clearance and mine
victims.[2] In March 1999, and
again in May 1999, the Ethiopian government stated that it had “already
triggered” the procedure for ratification of the Mine Ban
Treaty,[3] but to date Ethiopia
has not ratified the treaty.
Ethiopia attended the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo, Mozambique,
in May 1999 as an observer. Its delegation included officials of both the
Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry. The head of delegation stated,
“Ethiopia attaches paramount importance to the convention and would
continue to work and cooperate with all states and groups for the implementation
of the cardinal principles of the
convention.”[4]
The government has not attended any of the meetings in Geneva of the five
Standing Committees of Experts of the Mine Ban Treaty, established to foster
implementation of the treaty.
Ethiopia voted in favor of the December 1999 UNGA resolution supporting the
treaty, as it had with previous pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996, 1997 and
1998.
It is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. While a member
of the Conference on Disarmament, Ethiopia has not been noted as a supporter or
opponent of efforts to negotiate a landmine export ban in that forum.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling
Ethiopia does not produce landmines. At the Mine
Ban Treaty signing ceremony, Ethiopia indicated that it had not imported any
landmines since the overthrow of the regime of Mengistu Heilemariam in
1991.[5] The size of
Ethiopia’s landmine stocks is not
known.[6]
Recent Use
Soon after the start of the border war between
Eritrea and Ethiopia in May 1998, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting landmines
in the conflict zone and areas of Ethiopia controlled by Eritrea. Ethiopia has
alleged that Eritrea planted 110,000
mines.[7] In late May 2000,
Ethiopia accused Eritrea of planting mines in border towns before losing control
of them to Ethiopian
troops.[8]
The Eritrean government alleged to Landmine Monitor in early 2000 that
Ethiopian forces have been using landmines in the disputed
territories,[9] and that the mines
are to a large extent not mapped or
marked.[10] The Eritrean
government in late May and early June 2000 accused Ethiopia of laying mines in
the towns Ethiopian forces were occupying. In particular, when Eritrean forces
recaptured the town of Barentu two weeks after it had been taken by Ethiopian
troops, there were press accounts stating that the Ethiopians had looted and
mined the town.[11]
In an aide-memoire dated 17 July 2000 to the OAU and UN, Eritrea said that
“Ethiopia has and continues to plant new mines inside sovereign Eritrean
territory, particularly in the areas which fall within the temporary security
zone.”[12]
Landmine Monitor has not been able to independently verify whether or not
Ethiopia has used antipersonnel mines in the recent conflict. It is clear that
mines were used by one or both parties to the conflict. In early June 2000,
humanitarian sources told the UN Humanitarian Integrated Regional Information
Network (IRIN) that there was much concern that both countries had mined border
areas, and that “it would appear to take some time before people are
confident enough to go back to their homes” in areas affected by the
conflict.[13] Landmine casualties
among the civilian population are already reported to be on the
rise.[14]
Additionally, South Mogadishu strongman Hussein Farah Aideed has claimed
Ethiopian troops occupying some parts of southern Somalia have used
landmines.[15] In 1998 and 1999,
the Ethiopian army made a number of incursions into Somalia, claiming that
factions opposed to Ethiopia--Itihad and militia of the Oromo Liberation Front,
aided by Eritrea--were launching attacks from bases in southern
Somalia.[16]
The government of Ethiopia denies that it has used antipersonnel landmines in
the conflict with Eritrea or anywhere else since signing the Mine Ban
Treaty.[17]
Use by Non-State Actors
Insurgents opposed to the government of Ethiopia, particularly the Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) are
believed to have used landmines—antivehicle and possibly antipersonnel--in
Ethiopia recently. There were three incidents in 1999 of mine attacks on the
Ethiopian-Djibouti Railway.[18]
According to press accounts, OLF took responsibility for at least one of the
attacks,[19] claiming that the
train was transporting war material for Ethiopia and young Oromo men used by the
Ethiopian army as “cannon fodder” and “mine
sweepers.”[20] In southern
Ethiopia, the Oromo Liberation Front claimed that it mined roads between Kenya
and Ethiopia and some areas in northern
Kenya.[21] ONLF is also thought
to have been behind a number of landmine incidents in the Somali National Region
of Ethiopia, including an accident that seriously damaged the emergency medical
ambulance in the region.[22]
Neither the OLF nor the ONLF have made statements about banning landmines.
The U.S. State Department reported in February 2000 that Eritrea has provided
support for armed opposition groups attempting to overthrow the Ethiopian
government. These groups, mostly based in Somalia and Kenya, used landmines
inside Ethiopia in 1999, according to the
U.S.[23]
Landmine Problem
Landmines have been used in Ethiopia during various
conflicts for decades. For thirty years, Ethiopia fought with the Eritrean
People’s Liberation (EPLF) for the control of Eritrea. Until 1993,
Eritrea was a province of Ethiopia, which had annexed the former UN Trusteeship
of Eritrea in 1963. Landmines were used extensively both by Eritrean liberation
movements and Ethiopia during that war, mainly along the border between the two
countries.[24]
In 1977, Somalia invaded and occupied Somali-inhabited areas in eastern and
northeastern Ethiopia until 1978. Both armies used mines
extensively.[25] As a result of
that war, many minefields are found along the 1,626 km long border with Somalia,
but also from the war between the former military regime of Siyad Barre in
Somalia and Somali oppositions groups based inside
Ethiopia.[26] Other areas with
known mine contamination are: Gondar and Dessie, the northern Shewar region,
along the road between Djibouti and Awash, the Somali National Region, and the
western area around Walega and West
Arosa.[27] Landmines have also
been used along the border with Sudan, where insurgents opposed to the
Government of Sudan have been
active.[28]
While the Ethiopian government estimates the number of uncleared landmines in
Ethiopia at more than 1.4 million, the U.S. Department of State puts the number
of existing mines in Ethiopia at
500,000.[29] Contaminated
areas include Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Gamela, Oromiya, and
Beni-Shangul.[30] Even before the
most recent border war, the border area between Eritrea and Ethiopia was heavily
mined.[31]
Mine Action Funding and Mine Clearance
The Ethiopian Ministry of Defense operates the
Ethiopian Demining Project (EDP). The EDP Headquarters in Addis Ababa is the
sole mine action entity in the country, but the war of 1998-2000 has disrupted
EDP mine action work. It has conducted historical research, mine awareness
education, and demining. There have been no nationwide or systemic surveys in
Ethiopia, but the EDP has so far identified over 100 minefields. The German NGO
Santa Barbara Foundation has signed an agreement with Ethiopia for a Level I
Survey, but has not yet conducted one due to lack of
funds.[32]
The largest mine action donor for the country has been the United States.
Between 1993-1999, EDP received $8.8 million from the U.S. for demining
programs,[33] including $335,000
in fiscal year (FY) 1999. The estimated U.S. contribution for FY 2000 is $2.3
million,[34] which is to be spent
on mine detecting dog capability, training in explosive ordnance disposal and
mine clearance, and the purchase of
equipment.[35]
In 1999 Ethiopia was certified by Germany as being eligible to receive
military surplus equipment for demining
operations.[36]
The U.S. Department of Defense indicates that the EDP mine clearance program
has so far cleared 37,000 AT and AP mines and 364,000 pieces of
UXO.[37] In addition, the
Ethiopian government claims that it has removed 30,375 landmines in 1999 and
40,000 landmines in 2000 in the northern conflict zone in areas that had been
occupied by Eritrea since May
1998.[38]
Mine Awareness Education
The EDP as well as non-governmental organizations,
primarily Handicap International, carry out mine awareness and education
activities in Ethiopia. According to UN Mine Action Service 1998 mission
report, the EDP runs radio and television programs, distributes flyers and runs
newspaper ads to convey messages on the danger of
landmines.[39] There is little
coordination, and a lack of community involvement in the EDP mine awareness
activities.[40]
Since 1997, Handicap International has run mine risk awareness programs in
the Somali refugee camps in northeastern Ethiopia. As of 1999, Handicap
International had trained nine educators. Approximately 100,000 refugees have
also benefited from these training programs. In 1999, the European Commission
granted HI $257,000 for mine awareness
education.[41] At the end of
1999, an Ethiopian NGO RaDO started a mine risk education program in northern
Ethiopia, with the technical assistance of UNICEF.
Landmine Casualties
Landmine casualties are not recorded
systematically. Before the 1998-2000 border war, there were an estimated
4,200-4,600 amputee mine
victims.[42] Although landmine
incidents were beginning to subside and were thought to be relatively low in
1998,[43] casualties are now on
the rise as a result of new use of landmines in northern Ethiopia, with reports
indicating a casualty rate of between five and seven per week. Civilians
returning to the conflict zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia are now under
considerable landmine threat.[44]
Ethiopian government sources claim that landmines in the northern Ethiopian
conflict zone have caused the death of some 100 people in the 1998-1999 conflict
period, and have forced 50,000 to abandon fertile agricultural
land.[45] Local government
officials in the border town of Zala Anbesa claim that seventy-seven people were
killed by landmines in the
area.[46]
Landmine casualties continue to occur in the Somali National Region of
Ethiopia, along the frontier with Kenya and along the Djibouti-Ethiopian rail
line, where both cargo and passenger trains have been derailed by landmines on
three occasions in 2000. These casualties are not systematically tallied. In
the Somali National Region a landmine explosion destroyed one of the two
functioning ambulances and seriously injuring the driver. A local doctor was
also killed by a landmine accident at Qabridahari and another incident injured a
nurse and a driver working on the National Polio Immunization
Campaign.[47]
Landmine Survivor Assistance
All mine-affected regions of Ethiopia are extremely
underdeveloped with poor infrastructure and poorly equipped health care
facilities. Few hospitals are capable of performing emergency surgery and most
local health posts are not competent to provide emergency care to mine victims.
The Department of Rehabilitation Affairs of the Ministry of Labor and Social
Affairs runs three prosthetic/orthotic centers in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa, Mekele
and Harar. The Addis Ababa prosthetic center was established in 1961 by the
Ethiopian government, while the Mekele and Harar centers were established by the
ICRC in 1992 and 1982 respectively. The Addis Ababa center is one of the
premier such centers in all of Africa and its products, wheel chairs, mobility
devices and components are used in many African countries. In addition, its
serves as a reference center, providing training and counseling internationally
to other centers in mine-affected countries.
The ICRC, through a Special Fund for Disabled (SFD), supports
prosthetic/orthotic centers in Ethiopia. The Italian Red Cross, in
collaboration with the ICRC, assigned two permanent staff to the center in Addis
Ababa to help train prosthetists and orthotists and to develop their skill in
the polypropylene technique. In 1999, fourteen ICRC prosthetists/orthotists on
their first missions attended a two-week instruction course, and twenty-seven
others from eight countries completed a one-month course. During these training
courses, eighty-two amputees received new prostheses. Since July 1998, the U.S.
has supported the SFD project in Addis Ababa with $1 million, through the ICRC,
for this training.[48]
In addition, to the training courses, the SFD-supported expatriates carried
out follow-up technical visits to SFD-supported projects every month. In 1999,
technical visits lasting about two weeks were made to twenty-nine projects in
seventeen countries. During these visits, the SFD staff gave further training
in fitting techniques and reviewed the condition of equipment and polypropylene
components. In SFD-supported projects, 4,788 polypropylene prostheses were
produced in 1999. The Prosthetic/Orthotic Center in Addis Ababa supplied an
increased number of ICRC projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya,
Sri Lanka, Sudan and
Uganda.[49]
Since 1997, HI and RaDO have conducted a joint project to implement
rehabilitation services in the main hospitals of the country (Axum, Maychew,
Bahir Dar, Debre Tabor, Woldia, Nekempte, Mettu, Sodo, Hossana, Dire Dawa).
These services, established in coordination with the respective regional and
local health bureaus, provide basic physiotherapy treatments and walking aids to
in-patients and to disabled persons.
[1] Ethiopian and Eritrean foreign ministers
signed the agreement in Algiers, Algeria on 18 June 2000. The President of
Algeria, who holds the Presidency of the OAU for the 2000 cycle, brokered the
agreement. [2] His Excellency, Dr. Fecadu
Gadarmu, Ambassador to Canada, Statement to the Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 3
December 1997, p. 2. [3] Ethiopian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fax to the Ethiopian Consulate in The Hague, 17
March 1999, p. 2. Statement of Dr. Waktasu Negeri to the First Meeting of
States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, 3 May
1999. [4] Statement of Dr. Waktasu Negeri
to the FMSP to the MBT, Maputo, 3 May
1999. [5] Dr. Gadamu, Ottawa, 3 December
1997, p. 3. [6] For information on mines
found in Ethiopia, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp.
145-146. [7] Ethiopian Government
Spokesperson, “Total Victory for Operation Sunset,” Ethiopian News
Service, Addis Ababa, www.telecom.net/~ena, 28 February 1999; Professor Addis
Birhan, “Mine Eritrea’s Minefields,” Wata Information Service.
www.telecom.net-et/~wata, 6 March 1999; Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
17 March 1999, p. 2; Statement of Dr. Waktasu Negeri to the FMSP to the MBT,
Maputo, 3 May 1999; and Africa News, “30,375 Landmines Planted in Eritrea
in Northern Ethiopia Demined,” Embassy of Ethiopia, 25 May
1999. [8] “Ethiopia says Eritrea
laid 7,000 mines in and around border town,” AFP, 6 June 2000. In a
February 2000 report regarding Eritrean human rights practices, the U.S. State
Department said, “According to UN officials, [Eritrean] government forces
laid approximately 50,000 to 60,000 landmines in the Badme area during their
8-month occupation of this disputed territory.” U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “1999 Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices -- Eritrea,” 25 February 2000, p. 3. This is
repeated in the State Department’s Ethiopia country report. Use of mines
by Ethiopia is not mentioned in either country
report. [9] Interviews with Ato Abraham
Yohannes, Embassy of Eritrea, Washington, DC, 28 January 2000 and 8 February
2000. [10] Interview with Eritrean
National Demining Headquarters official, Asmara, January
2000. [11] Some of these reports were
unclear as to who laid the mines, and some said both sides may have mined the
town. IRIN-CEA, “Civilians returning slowly to Mined Town,” 2 June
2000; “Eritreans Assess Damage in Barentu,” BBC World (Africa), 2
June 2000; Ann M. Simmons, “Destruction, Danger Await Eritrean
Returnees,” The Times, 2 June 2000; Patrick Graham, “Eritreans
Don’t Think the War is Over,” National Post, 4 June 2000;
“Eritrean Town Looted by Retreating Ethiopian Army,” Reuters, 2 June
2000; “Ethiopian Forces Reported Still in West Eritrea,” IRIN News
Briefs, 31 May 2000. [12] The aide-memoire
was subsequently provided the UN Security Council and circulated as UN Security
Council document S/2000/726, 21 July 2000. See also, “Eritrea Complains
Ethiopia Violates Peace Pact,” Reuters, United Nations, 24 July
2000. [13] United Nations, IRIN News
Briefs, “Ethiopia: Landmine Deaths in Irob,” 8 June
2000. [14] “Landmines Kill Two
Children, Injure Three Others,” Pan African News Agency, 8 June
2000. [15] “Adid Accuses Ethiopia of
Annexing Somali Territory,” AFP, 21 March
2000. [16] “Ethiopians Pull out of
Somalia,” BBC World, 4 January 1999,
www.bbc.co.uk. [17] For a recent denial,
see: “Ethiopia Responds to the Times’ Special Report,” Letter
to the Editor from Fisseha Adugna, Charge d’affaires, Embassy of Ethiopia,
Washington, DC, Washington Times, 3 June 1999. Though the Mine Ban Treaty has
not entered into force for Ethiopia, the use of mines by a signatory can be
judged a breach of its international obligations. Under Article 18 of the
Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, “A state is obliged to refrain
from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of a treaty when...it has
signed the treaty....” Clearly, new use of mines defeats the object and
purpose of the treaty. [18] See, Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, Djibouti
chapter. [19] “Eritrea Warns against
Changing OAU Peace Plan,” Reuters, 31 May
2000. [20]
Ibid. [21] “Landmines Kill 14,
Injure Four others in Kenya,” PANA (Nairobi), 23 March
2000. [22] Mohamoud Issa, “Landmines
in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia,” In Proceedings of the Workshop on the
Menace of Landmines in the Horn of Africa, The Institute for Practical Research
and Training, Hargeisa, 23-24 November
1999. [23] U.S. State Department, 1999
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Ethiopia, 25 February 2000, p.
4. [24] UN Assessment Mission to Ethiopia,
22 June 1998, p. 5. [25] 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,
www.state.gov. [26] U.S. Department of
State, Hidden Killers, September
1998. [27] UN Assessment Mission to
Ethiopia, 22 June 1998, p.2; U.S. Central Command,
www.centcom.mil/demining/ethiopia. [28]
Human Rights Watch, Sudan: Global Trade, Local Impact: Arms Transfers to all
Sides in the Civil War in Sudan, (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 1998),
pp. 39-40. [29] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers, September 1998, p.
A-1. [30] Ibid. Map-“The Three Most
Mine-affected Areas in
Ethiopia.” [31] See, UN Assessment
Mission to Ethiopia, 22 June 1998. [32]
Santa Barbara website at:
www.stiftung-sankt-barbara.de. [33]
“FY 00 NDAR Project Status,” U.S. Department of State, Office of
Humanitarian Demining Program, 5 May 2000. Numbers reflect funding for
Department of Defense, Department of State, and some Agency for International
Development programs, as cited in Human Rights Watch, “Clinton’s
Landmine Legacy,” A Human Rights Watch Short Report Vol. 12, No. 3(G),
July 2000, p. 26. [34] HRW,
“Clinton’s Landmine Legacy,” July 2000, p.
34. [35] U.S. Department of State,
“FY 00 NADR Project Status,” p. 2, in HRW, “Clinton’s
Landmine Legacy,” July 2000, p.
34. [36] United Nations Assessment Mission
to Ethiopia (UNMAS), 22 June 1998, p.
6. [37] USCENTCOM Demining Home Page, 11
June 2000. [38] Africa News, Embassy of
Ethiopia, 25 May 1999; “Ethiopia: 40,000 landmines removed from central
front,” Ethiopian Television, Addis Ababa, in Amharic, BBC Monitoring, 20
June 2000. [39] UN Assessment Mission to
Ethiopia, 22 June 1998, p. 7. [40] Ibid,
pp. 7-8. [41] “Multi-year Recipient
Report: Ethiopia,” Mine Action Investments Database, UN Mine Action
Service, available at: http://webapps.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/mai/Main.asp?sScreen=
RECIPIENT, visited on 25 July 2000. [42]
Handicap International, MAG, and Norwegian People’s Aid, “Ethiopia,
Portfolio of Mine-Related Projects,”
1998. [43] UN Assessment Mission to
Ethiopia, 22 June 1998. [44]
“Demining Underway in Northern Ethiopia,” AFP, 22 June
2000. [45] Landmines in Ethiopia and the
War with Eritrea, Arabicnews.com: Ethiopian Politics, 6 June
2000. [46]
Ibid. [47] Mohamoud Issa, “Landmines
in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia,” November
1999. [48] U.S. Agency for International
Development, “Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, Portfolio
Synopsis,” Spring 2000, in “Clinton’s Landmine Legacy,”
HRW, p. 28. [49] Interview with Maria
Letizia Zamparelli, Studies and Planing Special Activities Service, Italian Red
Cross, Rome, 24 April 2000.
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