The
Falklands/Malvinas are administered by the United Kingdom but claimed by
Argentina, and have been a disputed territory between those two countries since
the nineteenth century. The landmine problem in the Falklands/Malvinas stems
from the 1982 conflict between the two countries, during which both parties to
the conflict laid thousands of antipersonnel and antitank mines, including
remotely-delivered antipersonnel and antitank mines.
Both Argentina and the United Kingdom are now States Parties to the 1997 Mine
Ban Treaty. Since the islands are under the authority of the United Kingdom,
the UK is obliged under Article 5 of the treaty to clear the island territory of
AP mines by 1 March 2009, ten years after the treaty entered into force. (See
also Argentina and UK country reports).
Landmine Problem
The November 1999 UK estimate of the landmine
problem, described in the Hansard Parliamentary record is that:
[A]round 16,600 mines remain in the Falkland Islands. The Argentine armed
forces laid 127 minefields on the Falklands in 1982. [UK] Ministry of Defense
estimates that 18,000 mines of all types were laid, including 14,000
anti-personnel mines. British forces carried out some clearance immediately
after the conflict, lifting about 1,400 mines, but stopped after several
injuries to those involved. The remaining 101 minefields are marked and fenced,
and therefore not an immediate hazard. The garrison conduct a public campaign to
warn of the dangers. They make regular patrols and destroy mines which become
exposed on the surface of the ground. The Argentines have given us their
minefield records.[1]
In July 1999, Retired Argentine Colonel Manuel Dorrego, who was in charge of
laying mines after the Argentine army took control of the islands, told media
that after Argentina surrendered he personally handed over to British troops
records of the locations of minefields which included coordinates, distances and
density (mines per square meter) as well as types of mines
laid.[2] He stated, “We
thought that we were going to stay in the islands, and that after a while, we
would have had to remove the landmines ourselves. We never had doubts about
keeping records.”[3]
Retired Brigadier General Carlos Roberto Matalón, Chief of the 10th
Company of Engineers of the Argentine Army, noted in a letter published in La
Nación in May 1999 that his Company had laid 12,000 mines during the
war and that he, along with Colonel Dorrego, handed a complete record of the
locations of the minefields to British Mayor
MacDonald.[4]
The UK’s first and second Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency
reports state that there are “117 minefields containing either
anti-personnel, anti-vehicle mines or a combination of
both.”[5] When the first
Article 7 report was deposited three items were also submitted: Stanley
Minefield Record Map revised 12/06/90; Stanley Minefield and Area Situation;
and Camp Minefield Situation map dated
01/02/94.[6]
A former British army officer involved in the last minefield clearance in the
Falklands/Malvinas in 1986, gave a more comprehensive listing of the types of
mines found there to Landmine Monitor, which is contained in Table I.
Table I: Mines remaining in the Falklands/Malvinas
Mined areas are reportedly very clearly fenced off. Access is denied to peat
cutting areas, for example the main peat cutting area on Stanley Common. Peat
is used as the main fuel for cooking and heating.
Mine Clearance
Argentina’s former President Carlos
Saúl Menem submitted a statement on the Falklands/Malvinas to the
National Assembly at the same time as the MBT ratification instrument, which was
accepted without amendment. It states that “Argentina is impeded access
to AP mines in the Malvinas in order to comply with the Mine Ban Treaty because
of the illegal occupation by the United
Kingdom.”[8] A similar
statement was made by Fernando Petrella, Argentine Permanent Representative to
the UN, in a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan dated 16 December
1999.[9]
Argentina has offered assistance to mine clearance operations on the islands.
Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN, Minister Ana María
Ramírez, said in a statement to the UN General Assembly in November 1999
that the offer of Argentina “was accepted by the British government and
currently both Foreign Affairs Ministries are interchanging ideas regarding the
characteristics that would be involved in a bilateral agreement to carry out a
feasibility study, [which is] necessary prior to mine removal
tasks.”[10]
Earlier in the year, at the First Meeting of State Parties held in Maputo in
May 1999, Argentine Minister Pedro Villagra Delgado, Director of International
Safety, Nuclear and Space Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
noted that “my government and the UK government agreed, through the
Argentine-British Action Agenda signed in London on 29 October 1998, to work
together on evaluating the feasibility and cost of removing landmines that are
still planted in the Malvinas Islands. We hope to promptly conclude a
memorandum of understanding on how to carry out this
evaluation.”[11]
In May 1999 former Argentine Minister Foreign Affairs, Hon. Guido di Tella,
and UK Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Robin Cook, held a meeting in London
where the mines issue was not formally on the agenda but it was intensely
discussed, with members of the Legislative Council of the Falklands present for
the first time.[12] Media
reported that private clearance companies from the U.S. and Europe had offered
their services for mine clearance in the islands but that the UK military wanted
to do the mine clearance themselves. On the other hand, Argentina made an offer
to help finance the work but only if it is not carried out by the UK military.
General Charles Guthrie of the United Kingdom told media that both countries
were working on a landmine clearance feasibility
study.[13]
On 14 July 1999, both governments restated their commitment to cooperate on
mine clearance in a Joint Statement by former Foreign Affairs Minister di Tella
of Argentina and Foreign Affairs Minister Cook of the UK. A paragraph of the
Joint Statement said, “As agreed in October 1998 by the president of the
Argentine Republic and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the two
governments will continue to work together to evaluate the feasibility and the
cost of the removal of the landmines still present in the Malvinas
Islands.” The Joint Agreement was sent to the Secretary General of the
United Nations, to be distributed as an official document in the next ordinary
session of the General
Assembly.[14]
The Joint Statement also noted, “We are fully committed to the Mine Ban
Treaty, which requires us to clear all anti-personnel mines from the Falklands
Islands within 10 years of entry, unless we can show good reasons why an
extension should be granted. Such reasons may include humanitarian,
environmental and technical considerations. Mine clearance in the Falkland
Islands is both difficult and dangerous and we shall be keeping these points in
mind.”[15]
In March 2000, Geoff Hoon, UK Secretary of State for Defense visited Buenos
Aires for an official visit. According to reports in the Argentine media, the
conditions for Argentine assistance in the clearance of landmines in the islands
were allegedly discussed and the UK agreed to the offer of Argentine economic
assistance.[16] Newspaper
reports quoted high-ranking officials at the Argentine Ministry of Foreign
Affairs as saying that there was a possibility of reaching an agreement on joint
mine clearance operations of the islands through an international bidding
process called by both the Argentine and UK
governments.[17]
Mine Awareness
According to the UK’s April 2000 Article 7
Report, warning measures include the following:
The minefields are surrounded with a three strand fence and there are signs,
marked “Danger Mines” at regular intervals around the perimeter, in
addition to the NATO standard mine warning triangles;
Local schools are given mines and unexploded ordnance briefings at least
once a year until the children leave school aged 16;
As a force protection measure, all inbound passengers on the Royal Air Force
flight receive an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit briefing in the Arrivals
Lounge at the Falkland Islands principal airfield (Mount Pleasant
Airfield);
The JSEOD unit liaises closely with the Falkland Islands government to
ensure passengers arriving on cruise ships and civilian charter aircraft are
aware of the dangers of
mines.’[18]
The
1998 Hidden Killers report by the U.S. Department of State listed a total of
fourteen casualties to landmines in the
Falklands/Malvinas.[19] It is
not known when the last casualty occurred.
[1] Hansard (Official UK Parliamentary
record), 30 November 1999, col.
160W. [2] “Mine removal in the
islands would cost over US$ 100 million,” La Nación, 21 July 1999,
p.8. [3]
Ibid. [4] “Minefields,”
Letters from Readers, La Nación, 21 May 1999,
p.50. [5] UK Article 7 Reports, Form I,
submitted 26 August 1999 and 17 April
2000. [6] UK Article 7 Report, Form C,
submitted 26 August 1999. [7] Alejandra
Conti, “Malvinas: there are minefields,” La Nación, 17 June
1999, p. 4. [8] Landmine Monitor has a
copy of the interpretative statement. See also Response by Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 30 March
2000. [9] Landmine Monitor has a copy of
the letter. [10] Statement by Argentine
Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN Minister Ana María
Ramírez to the UN General Assembly 54th session, New York, 18 November
1999. [11] Statement by Minister Pedro
Villagra Delgado to the First Meeting of State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty,
Maputo, 3-7 May 1999. See also the UK government’s Hansard (UK
Parliamentary record), 30 November 1999, col.
160W. [12] “Progress intended in
mine clearance in Malvinas,” La Nación, 24 May 1999, p.
11. [13] La Nación, 24 May
1999. [14] “The Statement,”
La Nación, 15 July 1999, p.
3. [15] Hansard (UK Parliamentary
record), 30 November 1999, col.
160W. [16] Andrea Centeno, “London
Trusts e la Rua,” La Nación, 10 March 2000, p.
3. [17] Andrea Centeno, “London
will propose removal of mines from Malvinas,” La Nación, 9 March
2000, p. 14; Andrea Centeno, “London Trusts De la Rúa,” La
Nación, 10 March 2000, p. 3. [18]
UK Article 7 Report, Form I, submitted 17April
2000. [19] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: the Global Landmine Crisis, September 1998, p. A-4.