Thirty-two
of the fifty-three countries in Europe/Central Asia are States Parties to the
Mine Ban Treaty, including eight in this reporting period (since March 1999):
Netherlands, Italy, Iceland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Tajikistan (which
acceded), Czech Republic, and Albania.
Another eight countries have signed but not ratified: Cyprus, Greece,
Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. Moldova has nearly
completed the ratification process. Based on their statements and actions, it
appears that some of these signatory countries are not committed to ratifying
the treaty in the near future, including Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, and Poland.
All of the European Union has signed except Finland, all of NATO except Turkey
and all of Central/East Europe except the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In the region, eight of the thirteen non-signatories are countries of the
former Soviet Union. The non-signatories are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Latvia, Russia, Turkey,
Uzbekistan, and FR Yugoslavia.
Of the States Parties, twenty-two submitted their Article 7 reports as
required under the Mine Ban Treaty. Six are late in their reporting, including
Andorra, Iceland, Luxembourg, Monaco, San Marino, and Turkmenistan.
The following 13 States Parties report that they have enacted implementation
legislation: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In
addition, Macedonia and Sweden report that adequate implementation measures have
been taken. A number of other states indicate that the treaty has been
incorporated into domestic law, or that existing law is adequate, and new,
separate legislation is not needed: Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, and Slovak
Republic. The following states have drafted legislation, but it has not yet
become law: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, and the Netherlands.
Albania, Holy See and Iceland report that preparations are underway.
Turkish officials have stated that landmine policy has changed dramatically.
In May 1999 Turkey for the first time stated its intention to join the Mine Ban
Treaty in the near future, and it reiterated that statement in December 1999.
Also in December, Turkey reported that a military directive banning the use of
AP mines on Turkish territory has been in place since January 1998. Earlier, in
March 1999, Turkey signed an agreement with Bulgaria to demine and prohibit
future use of mines on their common border. Turkey reported on similar
negotiations with Georgia and Azerbaijan, and a similar proposal to Greece.
Belarus stated publicly on several occasions that the only impediment to
joining the Mine Ban Treaty is its need for international financial and
technical assistance for destruction of millions of stockpiled antipersonnel
mines. Finland reiterated its goal of joining the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has not made any public statements
regarding a mine ban since his election, a government press release in March
2000 spoke of the policy “aimed at banning of landmines” declared by
the president.
Use
In the period since the
release of the Landmine Monitor Report 1999, the most extensive new use
of AP mines globally has been in Chechnya and in Kosovo. Both Russian forces
and Chechen fighters have used mines since fighting erupted in September 1999.
In its pursuit of Chechen rebels, Russia “accidentally” dropped
mines on Georgia on two occasions. In April 2000, Russia announced its decision
to mine part of the border between Chechnya and Georgia. Georgia is considering
mining its side of the border as well.
In the course of the Kosovo conflict, forces of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia laid approximately 50,000 mines; Kosovo Liberation Army forces used
mines as well, but in much less significant numbers. During the NATO air
operation, US and UK planes dropped some 1,600 cluster bombs; it is estimated
that this resulted in at least 15,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance which pose
the same danger to civilians as AP mines.
It appears that there was continued use of AP mines in Abkhazia by Georgian
armed groups. The PKK rebel forces also apparently continued to use AP mines in
Turkey and Northern Iraq. After disturbances along their borders, Uzbekistan
reportedly reinforced its border with Kyrgyzstan with landmines. Azerbaijan has
continued to accuse Armenia of laying mines in Azeri territory, but Landmine
Monitor has not found concrete evidence of such use and Armenia denies such
charges.
The UN reported that Cyprus, a treaty signatory, “refreshed”
minefields on its side of the buffer zone on the island.
Production and Transfer
Landmine Monitor
Report 1999 noted that twenty-three countries in the region had stopped
production of antipersonnel mines and that Russia, Turkey and Yugoslavia
remained the only producers. In June 2000 Turkish officials told a
representative of the ICBL that Turkey no longer produces AP mines, but there
has been no formal confirmation. Russia confirmed what it had first announced
in 1998: a halt to its production of blast AP mines. Yugoslavia said in 1998
that it did not produce or use AP mines, but especially in light of the Kosovo
conflict, the statement does not have credibility.
No country in the region is believed to export AP mines. Eighteen are past
exporters; sixteen have signed the treaty. Russia has a formal moratorium on
export of non-detectable and non-self-destructing mines. Yugoslavia has
publicly stated that it no longer exports AP mines.
Belarus on 4 February 2000 extended its export moratorium until the end of
2002. The government also issued a decree in 1998, banning the transit of AP
mines through its national territory. Turkey’s export moratorium, which
was set to expire in January 1999, was extended for another three years.
In September 1999, the Romanian company Romtechnica offered AP mines for sale
at a military sales exhibition in the United Kingdom. The Romanian authorities
explained the incident as a simple error in documentation. The incident is
still under investigation by the UK’s Ministry of Defense. Romania is a
signatory of the Mine Ban Treaty; it has an export moratorium in place.
Stockpiling and Destruction
Landmine Monitor
estimates that Russian has 60-70 million AP mines in stockpiles, second only to
China. Belarus has acknowledged having millions of AP mines, and Landmine
Monitor believes the number is likely in the 10-15 million range. Ukraine, a
treaty signatory, is known to have about 10 million AP mines. Although they
will not reveal information, it is likely that others with large stockpiles of
antipersonnel mines include Yugoslavia, Finland, Turkey and treaty signatories
Romania and Greece.
As of early 2000, the biggest stocks held by States Parties were Italy (4.8
million), Albania (1.6 million), Sweden (1.2 million), and Bulgaria (778,455).
However, these numbers are out-of-date, as rapid destruction programs are
underway in all these countries, except Albania which requires financial
assistance.
Millions of mines continue to be destroyed. Since March 1999, five countries
in the region have completed the destruction of their stocks. These include
Bosnia and Herzegovina (460,727), Denmark (266,517), France (1,098,281), Hungary
(356,884) and the United Kingdom (2.1 million). Previously, Austria, Belgium,
Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland had completed destruction of
operational stocks of AP mines.
Destruction is underway in Albania (8,400), Bulgaria (107,417), Croatia
(3,434), Czech Republic (45,575), Italy (2.1 million), Moldova (unknown number),
Netherlands (254,526), Slovak Republic (127,781), Slovenia (8,104), Spain
(642,684), and Sweden (2 million). Again, these numbers are going to be out of
date for many of these countries since active destruction programs are in
progress. Macedonia and Portugal are the only States Parties in the region that
have not begun destruction, but both have developed plans for destruction.
With regard to mines retained for training purposes, as permitted under
Article 3; three countries in the region have indicated they will retain
none—Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. Hungary had stated in its Article
7 report that it would retain 1,500 AP mines, but an official subsequently told
Landmine Monitor that no mines will be retained. Norway indicated in its
Article 7 report and during SCE meetings that it would retain none, but
subsequently the Defense Ministry stated a small number, about 100, would be
retained. Some other countries report they will retain small amounts, such as
Ireland (130) and Macedonia (50).
Those countries in the region that will retain more than 1,000 AP mines
include Croatia (17,500), Italy (8,000), Slovak Republic (7,000), Slovenia
(7,000), Belgium (5,770), Denmark (4,991), Czech Republic (4,900), UK (4,519),
France (4,514), Netherlands (4,076), Bulgaria (4,000), Spain (4,000), Germany
(3,006), Portugal (3,000), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2,165).
Several countries have revised downward the number of mines they will retain,
including: Bulgaria (4,000 from 10,446) and Spain (4,000 from 10,000). The
Slovak Republic reports that it is considering a downward revision as well.
The ICBL has expressed concern about the stockpiling of U.S. antipersonnel
mines in a number of countries in the region, including States Parties Germany
and Norway, as well as the United Kingdom at Diego Garcia, and treaty signatory
Greece.
Another issue of concern for the ICBL has been certain antivehicle mines
(AVMs) with antihandling devices or sensitive fusing mechanisms which cause them
to act like AP mines, and thus are banned under the treaty. Several countries
have taken the initiative to destroy such mines. Hungary has destroyed 100,000
UKA-63 antivehicle mines with tilt rods, and Slovakia has destroyed all its
stocks of the PT-Mi-K antivehicle mines with antilift firing mechanisms. Yet
the Czech Republic has apparently decided to keep its PT-Mi-K mines, as well as
other AVMs with tilt rod fuzes. Likewise, Sweden apparently has several types
of AVMs with tilt rod fuzes, but has not said if it intends to destroy them.
France reports that it has destroyed a dozen different types of AVMs with tilt
rod fuzes and various antihandling devices, but is retaining other types of AVMs
of concern, as is Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the UK.
In May 2000, the German Ministry of Defense reported that the DM 39, a weapon
that seems to be able to serve as either an antihandling device or as an AP
mine, is no longer in use, and destruction of stocks should be finished within
the year. In 1997, the Netherlands had originally planned to modify its Gator
mixed mine system (imported from the United States in 1991) by removing the AP
mines and replacing them with antivehicle mines with antihandling devices, but
has now decided to destroy the entire Gator mixed mine system.
Landmine Problem
Of 53 countries in
Europe and Central Asia, 23 are mine-affected, as well as Abkhazia, Chechnya,
Kosovo, and Nagorny-Karabakh. Eight of these are States Parties (Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovenia,
and Tajikistan) and five are signatories (Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Moldova and
Ukraine). Ten mine-affected countries in the region have not yet joined the
treaty (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,
Russia, Turkey and Yugoslavia).
The most serious problems are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Yugoslavia
(including Kosovo), Chechnya, and Nagorny-Karabakh. Bosnia and Herzegovina
reported a total of 18,293 suspect or mined areas in the country. In Croatia
estimates of mined or suspected mined areas have been revised downward to 4,500
square kilometers (from 6,000). In Kosovo, a total of 620 minefields have been
identified. Yugoslavia laid an estimated 50,000 mines. NATO bombing left at
least 15,000 unexploded cluster munitions which function like AP mines.
Albanian officials state that the entire Albania-Kosovo 80 kilometer-long border
is affected by antipersonnel and antitank mines laid by Serbian forces. The
Nagorny-Karabakh Minister of Agriculture said that thirty percent of the
territory’s agricultural lands are not being used because of the danger of
mines. In Abkhazia, HALO Trust completed a minefield survey and estimated over
18.3 square kilometers of land were potentially mine-threatened.
World War Two mines and UXO still need clearance in Belarus, Latvia,
Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia. These countries are included here as
mine-affected while those in Western Europe are not as they have a lesser
problem with mines fromW.W.II (for example, Belgium and France). Other
countries have problems from munition dumps left by the former Soviet Union.
Mine Action Funding
Thirteen of the top
seventeen donors for global mine action are from this region, including Norway,
Sweden, UK, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Italy, Switzerland, Finland,
Belgium, Austria and Ireland. Combined contributions totaled about $120 million
in 1999; between 1990-1999, they spent about $485 million on mine action
programs. Victim assistance is included in these totals for most of the
countries, but they do not, for the most part, include money spent on research
and development. Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the five biggest recipients of
mine action funding in the world; most funding is now channeled through the
(Slovenian) International Trust Fund. Funding for Chechnya, on the other hand,
has been almost non-existent, even before the most recent conflict. Money spent
on mine action in Croatia increased eighty percent over 1998, to a total of $24
million, with the Croatian government providing about 90 percent of the
funds.
Mine Clearance
Significant mine
clearance programs are underway in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999 approximately 3.7 square kilometers of land
were cleared and another 573,229 square meters surveyed. In Croatia; a total of
23.59 square kilometers of land was cleared of mines or declared not to contain
them and in 1999. In Kosovo, a Mine Action Coordination Center became
operational five days after KFOR entered the province. As of 1 July 2000 almost
eight square kilometers of land had been cleared, as well as more than 16,000
houses and 776 schools.
In Abkhazia, 460,077 square meters of land had been cleared, and 2,448
antipersonnel mines destroyed, as of May 2000. HALO Trust suspended mine
clearance operations in Chechnya in December 1999. HALO began operations in
January 2000 in Nagorny-Karabakh.
From April to October 1999, Bulgaria completed demining of its territory,
including the borders with Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia, destroying 17,197
mines from 76 minefields. Through the Stability Pact of South Eastern Europe,
Turkey is proposing a region-wide agreement to clear common borders. In 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.
Mine Awareness
Where there are
significant mine clearance programs, there are also significant mine awareness
programs. In Bosnia, between June-December 1999, the Red Cross organized 1,470
mine awareness presentations, which reached 36,500 people; through a UNICEF
program all teachers in the country have received mine awareness training. In
1999, the ICRC and Croatian Red Cross organized mine awareness programs in all
fourteen of Croatia’s mine-affected counties, reaching 66,612 people. In
Kosovo, there are eleven organizations carrying out mine awareness activities;
some of which began with awareness training in refugee camps in Macedonia and
Albania before the return to Kosovo. As of 31 May 2000, 463 villages in high
and medium impact areas have been provided mine awareness education. In
Abkhazia, systematic mine awareness has been underway since 1999, aimed at
school children in mine-affected communities. At the height of the war in
Chechnya, mine awareness ground to a halt, but by late spring 2000 a handful of
local NGOs had begun activities again.
Mine Casualties
In Bosnia and
Herzegovina, mine casualties have decreased significantly. Ninety-four
casualties were recorded in 1999, down from 149 in 1998, 286 in 1997 and 625 in
1996. In Croatia, 51 casualties were reported in 1999, down from 77 in 1998.
In Nagorny-Karabakh, casualties have dropped from a high of eighty-two in 1995
to thirty in 1999.
After the end of the war in Kosovo, as refugees returned to the province
there were many mine casualties. In the first four weeks, it is estimated that
150 people were killed or wounded. From June 1999 through May 2000, there have
been 492 people involved in mine accidents. In Albania, there were 136 mine
casualties from June 1999 to July 2000. While impossible to know the real
number, there have been hundreds of new mine victims in Chechnya.
Survivor Assistance
In Europe, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Yugoslavia, and Estonia have disability laws. Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia and Cyprus have a national coordination body on disability.
In some countries and areas in the region with mine incidents, immediate
emergency medical treatment for victims appear to be non-existent. This
situation is particularly dramatic in Chechnya. Belarus, Albania, and
Azerbaijan are mentioned as having limited first aid services. In the affected
countries, modern health care services are available only in urban centers.
All countries for which data is available have rehabilitation services,
though available only in the capitals for Albania, Azerbaijan and Yugoslavia.
Victims in Bosnia and Herzegovina have to pay for their own rehabilitation,
although services are generally accessible. Needy Croatians receive some
rehabilitation services at no cost, but for proper care Croatians have to travel
to Slovenia. In Abkhazia and Azerbaijan, the government in cooperation with the
ICRC provides services. In Russia, governments appear to leave rehabilitation
to NGOs. Prostheses are well distributed and free in the whole of Belarus.
Ukrainian victims must wait a long time for a prosthesis. Abkhazia covers all
victims’ expenses related to rehabilitation; Azerbaijan only provides free
wheelchairs. Psychological support is given to children in Georgia and to all
Abkhazians although not on a regular basis. Chechen medial and rehabilitation
services have collapsed. Only these countries have implemented socio-economic
reintegration activities: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and
Russia.
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