Located
on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Golan has been an area of conflict ever since
the establishment of Israel in 1948. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel
occupied most of this area, displacing many of the occupants to Syria. Israel
annexed the Golan in 1981. Today, most of the 16,000 Golanis hold Israeli
identity cards instead of passports, and thus do not enjoy full citizen’s
rights. Around 15,000 Israelis have moved into settlements there. In the peace
negotiations between Israel and Syria the possibility of an Israeli withdrawal
from the Golan is being discussed.
Landmine Problem
In Israel, the Occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip, and
Golan there are numerous minefields, although the exact locations, numbers, and
types of mines are not publicly known. The Israeli State Comptroller’s
Report indicates that for 350 minefields, there is clearly no longer a security
need.[1] Some of these
minefields originate from the period of the British Mandate. Some were laid by
Jordan, Syria or Egypt prior to the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank,
Gaza Strip, and the Golan. In addition, Israel planted landmines along borders,
military areas, and settlements in the occupied areas, as well as electricity
and water stations and
pipelines.[2] These minefields
continue to be a big obstacle to the civil use and development of the land and
its resources. The situation is especially severe for the Golani people whose
livelihood depends on growing crops and grazing cattle. Thus there are numerous
requests for mine clearance from civil bodies like the Agricultural Ministry,
the Israeli Land Administration and the Israeli water company,
Makorot.[3]
A major danger in the Golan is the fact that many minefields are not marked
or fenced and are thus easily entered by
mistake.[4] There are several
areas fenced off covering several kilometers of land, and there are also fenced
off minefields near schools and even in the back yards of some Golani residents.
However, in many instances, there are no warnings or protections for civilians
at all.
For example, in Ein Al-Hamreh there are still several areas with mines that
are not fenced off. It was here that an Israeli soldier was killed by a mine in
1990; in another incident two victims were injured and one killed. Furthermore,
the area between Ein Al-Hamreh and Al-Mansurah (approximately one hundred square
kilometers) is mined, but much of it is not marked; this is a known grazing
area. Minefields also surround the village of Majdal Shams.
According to al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization with ECOSOC
consultative status at the UN, the Israeli Army used to confiscate land for the
purpose of planting mines, and offered compensations to the landowners far below
the actual value.[5] Israel
justified this in the name of military needs. Some other areas are declared
closed to civilians by military order, as they are mined or suspected of being
mined, either by the Israeli army or by the Syrians before
1967.[6]
Residents avoid some areas out of fear that they could contain mines.
Landmines planted directly next to houses, schools, and streets impose
restrictions on the freedom of movement. The situation is worsened by the fact
that, since the Golan is a mountainous area, rain and natural earth movements
cause mines to move from their original places and slide into areas that are
believed to be safe, sometimes even into the back yards of houses.
In addition to agriculture, tourism is an important source of income for many
Israeli settlers in the Golan, as the mountainous area is ideal for hiking and
skiing. But tourism, too, is restricted as a result of mines. Some attractive
areas are closed to civilians, while others are open but still dangerous due to
the insufficient marking of existing minefields. Tourists hiking in the Golan
are at risk of entering a minefield unintentionally.
Israeli mining near electrical stations, water stations, and water pipes
poses dangers for the workers, and leads to difficulties in maintaining and
extending these stations.
Protection of Civilians
Israel as a party to Protocol II of the 1980 Convention on Conventional
Weapons has a duty to protect the civilian population from the effects of mines
it has laid, including marking and monitoring known mined
areas.[7]
Al-Haq argues that Israel also has a legal obligation to provide protections
for civilians in the Golan from landmines emplaced by other belligerents. The
Fourth Geneva Convention provides for the protection of the civilian population,
individually and collectively, who find themselves in the hands of a belligerent
State or occupying Power of which they are not nationals “at any given
moment and in any manner whatsoever” (Art. 4) and in “all cases of
partial or total occupation” (Art
2).[8] While Israel has argued
that these provisions are not applicable in the Golan because an Arab country
was not sovereign, al-Haq disagrees, noting that the Fourth Geneva Convention
was intended to protect the right of people who find themselves “in the
hands of a Party to the conflict or occupying Power of which they are not
nationals” (Art. 4), irrespective of the competing claims to sovereignty
over the territory.[9] It does
not exclusively refer to territory whose “legal sovereign” has been
displaced by the occupant and the term “territory” in the Convention
is not restricted to territory where the displaced government has the formal
title as the “legitimate sovereign.”
Mine and UXO Casualties
Al-Haq has done a survey of mine casualties in the
Golan, but there has not been comprehensive research on mine victims within the
Golan. The Israeli State Comptroller's Report covers mine incidents in Israel
based on military data for the period of December 1997 to May 1998 and reports
one incident in which a “member of the minority” was killed in
southern Golan while entering a known minefield together with another
person.[10]
Four other incidents are included in the State Comptroller Report involving
Israeli soldiers and employees of Makorot. Further information about mine
victims that are not from the Arab Golani community (Israeli soldiers and civil
employees, local Israeli civilians, tourists, and soldiers of the international
peacekeeping forces in the Golan) is not known.
Al-Haq collected information about sixty-six Arab Golani landmine and UXO
victims since the beginning of the Occupation in 1967, of whom sixteen died and
fifty were injured.[11] It was
not possible in all cases to find out what if the explosion was caused by a mine
or by UXO. Al-Haq’s data indicates that among the fifty people who
survived, forty-three were under the age of eighteen. Eight of the sixteen
fatally wounded were under the age of eighteen. One victim lost both eyes and
both legs. One victim lost both eyes and both arms. One victim lost one eye,
one leg and both hands. One victim lost one eye, one leg and one hand. Six
victims lost at least an eye. Six victims lost at least one leg. Sixteen
victims lost one hand. Eighteen people suffered from burns and fragments
entering their body.[12]
The last known human accident with mines occurred in November 1999, when
teenagers brought a landmine they found outside their village to a local sports
club, where it exploded and injured three of them slightly and one seriously in
the foot.[13]
Research has revealed that of the sixteen incidents in which Golanis were
killed by mines or UXO, seven happened while the victims were grazing cattle,
two on agricultural roads and one on agricultural land. The Israeli State
Comptroller’s Report mentions that evidence of agricultural activity were
discovered in nineteen minefields in the
Golan.[14] This has occurred
even though these areas have been officially declared closed for
civilians.[15]
In addition to civilian casualties, there are also frequent incidents of
cattle being killed by mine blasts, thus resulting in serious economic loss.
For example, Sheepherder Najeeb Tareeba estimates that since 1967 he has lost
more than fifty cattle due to landmines. The most recent explosion killed one
of his livestock in February
2000.[16]
The survey indicated a high risk for Golani children, especially small
children, who are more likely to suffer serious or even fatal injuries than
adults. Four-year-old Amir Abu-Jabel was killed by a landmine in 1989 while
playing in the yard of his
house.[17] It appears that rain
probably swept the mine to the area from a nearby minefield. Golani Arab
children are at an even higher risk because they are traditionally responsible
for grazing cattle and helping with the harvest.
Of particular interest to al-Haq was landmine victim Saleh Abu-Arrar. Saleh
is a victim who discussed at length the trials of being a child landmine victim.
With his strong passion for life, Saleh has overcome near blindness and the loss
of his limbs to become a successful accountant in the Golan. Saleh went into
great detail on how he was victimized and what he felt like immediately
afterwards. He described to al-Haq field workers what it was like the morning
after the accident as he lay in the hospital bed. He talked about waking up and
asking his brother to scratch his right leg. His brother scratched his left.
After requesting for his brother again to scratch his right leg, once again he
scratched his left one. At that time Saleh’s brother told him that he had
lost his right leg. When Saleh arrived home from the hospital he remembers
people from the community walking by him thinking that he could not hear them
saying, “Saleh would have been better off dead than to have survived and
be handicapped forever.” Realizing he would never be “normal”
Saleh stopped feeling sorry for himself and is now quite a success story for all
landmine survivors.[18]
Mine Awareness and Victim Assistance
Currently, there are no governmental or local
programs to teach Golani citizens about the dangers of mines. Research in the
Arab Golani community shows first aid for mine and UXO victims was delivered by
the IDF in twenty-two cases and by civilians in the others, one of them being an
Israeli settler.[19] If the
victim lies in a minefield or an area suspected to contain more mines, the IDF
has to bring a vehicle through to the victim. Al-Haq has documentation of one
instance in which a second mine exploded under a military vehicle trying to
reach a mine victim and killed an Israeli
soldier.[20]
The closest hospital to the Golan is in Safed, more than 100 kilometers from
the Golani villages. In the Golan itself there is only a small emergency
clinic. Thus the special medical help needed for serious mine injuries is not
available quickly enough in the Golan to be of effective assistance. In the
Golan there are no governmental or local rehabilitation facilities for mine
victims.
At the time of the accidents many Golani families were either unaware of
their rights or afraid to deal with Israeli authorities and
institutions.[21] Thus many of
them never tried to get any compensation or to make use of the facilities and
benefits provided by the state of Israel to handicapped victims. Even if
victims or their families tried to get compensation, Israel is generally
unwilling to acknowledge any responsibility for mine accidents involving
civilians and thus generally do not pay
compensation.[22] In fact,
nineteen mine victims who had to be treated in a hospital after a mine or UXO
explosion were subsequently investigated by the police on the circumstances of
the accident.[23]
[1] Conclusion from the Israeli State
Comptroller's Report No. 50 A, for the Year 1999, “Mine Laying in the
Israel Defense Forces,” (Published in Hebrew and translated unofficially)
Israel Government Printing Office, Jerusalem. Hereafter cited as “State
Comptroller’s Report,
1999.” [2]
Ibid. [3]
Ibid. [4] Documented during field visits
by al-Haq, 1999-2000. [5] Documented by
al-Haq fieldwork and May 1999
questionnaires. [6] State
Comptroller’s Report, 1999. [7]
See CCW Protocol II (1980), Article 4, paragraph 2 (b) and Article 7, paragraphs
2 and 3. [8] Convention relative to the
Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Aug. 12, 1949, 6 UST 3516, TIAS
No. 3365, 75 UNTS 287. See Commentary on the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War 22 (J. Pictet Ed. 1958); G. Von Glahn, The Occupation of Enemy Territory:
A Commentary on the Law and Practice of Belligerent Occupation 281, 283 (1957);
UK War Office, The Law of War on Land: Being Part III of the Manual of Military
Law 140 (1958); and M. Greenspan, The Modern Law of Land Warfare 216-17, 224- 27
(1959). [9] Roberts, “The
Applicability of Human Rights During Military Occupation,” 13 Rev. Int'l
Study 39 (1987). [10] State
Comptroller’s Report, 1999. [11]
Based on data from questionnaires collected by al-Haq, May
1999. [12] Data obtained from al-Haq
fieldworker in the Golan Heights. Information is based on affidavits and
questionnaires from May 1999. [13]
Al-Haq Affidavit #3 2000, Amir Abu-Jabel's
father. [14] State Comptroller’s
Report, 1999. [15]
Ibid. [16] Al-Haq Affidavit #4, 15
February 2000, Najeeb Saleh Taraba. [17]
Al-Haq Affidavit #3 2000, Amir Abu-Jabel's
father. [18] Al-Haq Affidavit #1, 14
February 2000, Saleh Salman Youssef
Abu-Arrar. [19] Al-Haq Questionnaire,
May 1999. [20]
Ibid. [21]
Ibid. [22] Finding based on analysis of
al-Haq Questionnaire, May 1999. [23]The
results of these investigations are not known to al-Haq because most of the
interviewees did not know the final outcome.
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