Key developments
since March 1999: As of May 2000, the UN reports nearly 3.1 square
kilometers of land cleared and returned to productive use, impacting forty-nine
villages. The survey program has conducted a socio-economic impact survey of 95%
of the villages in the three northern governorates. Supplies and funds valued at
about $8 million were provided for mine action from April-October 1999. The UN
in mid-2000 expressed concern about incidences of freshly laid mines being found
in previously cleared minefields.
Mine Ban Treaty
The region of northern Iraq has been autonomous
from Baghdad since the 1991 Gulf War. Northern Iraq is under the nominative
political leadership of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), an entity
comprised primarily by the two major Kurdish political parties, the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). There is no
formal diplomatic recognition of the KRG, the KDP, or PUK.
As regional, informally recognized entities, neither the KRG nor the major
parties have signed the Mine Ban Treaty. However, the leadership in northern
Iraq has maintained a long-standing opposition to the employment of landmines
due to the debilitating effect they have had in the region. Leaders of both the
KDP and PUK, in similarly worded letters to the UN Secretary General, have
committed to ensuring that the principles and obligations of the Mine Ban Treaty
are realized. The letter from Masoud Barzani, President of the KDP, was dated 3
October 1999 and the letter from Jalal Talabani, PUK General Secretary, was
dated 26 January 2000.
Mr. Jalal Talabani, General Secretary of the PUK, told Landmine Monitor that
the KRG, “were it to be allowed, would have no hesitation in ratifying the
[Mine Ban] treaty
unconditionally.”[1] He
said the PUK has foresworn the use of landmines, but also notes that some mines
remain in place “given our precarious situation, and our vulnerability to
attack. We do not use them for offensive purposes, for we have none.” Mr.
Talabani stated that the PUK does not “in any way, shape, or form
stockpile landmines.”[2]
Dilshad Miran, the London representative of the KDP told Landmine Monitor last
year, “We are totally against landmines in all their
forms.”[3]
Recent Use
There is credible evidence that landmines were
used in northern Iraq during past periods of factional fighting, but there is no
evidence of recent use of antipersonnel mines by the KDP or PUK. However, it
appears that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to use
antipersonnel mines in northern Iraq.
Since 1991 there has been sporadic fighting in the region that has involved
the KDP, PUK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Iraqi military, and
the Turkish military. The PKK maintains operational bases in northern Iraq from
which it has in the past launched cross-border operations into Turkey, resulting
in incursions by Turkish military
forces.[4] KDP and Turkish
forces are often allied in operations against the
PKK.[5] This situation has
generated frequent accusations of landmine use by the PKK. On 17 July 1999, the
Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan radio claimed that the PKK emplaced landmines in July
along roads in the Chaman border area. A local man was reported injured by one
of these mines.[6] The Turkish
General Staff reports that between 1994 and present nearly 15,000 landmines have
been seized from PKK bases, primarily located in northern
Iraq.[7]
A United Nations report in June 2000 noted that the UN Office for Project
Services “remains concerned about the incidences of freshly laid mines
being found in previously cleared
minefields.”[8] The
report does not identify the user of mines.
Landmine Problem
Northern Iraq remains one of the more heavily
mined areas in the world. Huge numbers of mines were employed in the region by
the Iraqi Army in 1980-88 during the Iran-Iraq
War.[9] According to surveys
conducted by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the
British NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG), more than 470 square kilometers of land
is mined in the region, affecting approximately 1,500 villages in the three
northern governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Suleymaniyah. Mines have been placed
in locations that affect roads, power lines, agricultural land, former Iraqi
military barracks, and villages vacated and destroyed by Iraqi forces during the
Anfal Campaigns of the late
1980s.[10]
Landmines take their heaviest toll on rural people, farmers, herders, those
gathering firewood, and
children.[11] Internally
displaced Kurds are unable to return to villages destroyed during the Anfal
Campaigns, thus hampering resettlement and reconstruction.
No Iraqi records of minefields are available to the Mine Action Program (MAP)
in northern Iraq. MAP reports a total of more than 3,200 mined areas in the
region,[12] with the greatest
concentration of mines along the Iran-Iraq border, specifically in the districts
of Penjwin, Sharbazher and
Qaladiza.[13] Other mined areas
include former Iraqi military installations, destroyed villages,
grazing/agricultural areas, and
roads.[14] However, the primary
impact of landmines in northern Iraq is upon villages currently inhabited, or
those de-populated during Anfal.
Mine Action Coordination
The General Directorate for Mine Clearing,
affiliated with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Cooperation of the KRG,
is the primary local authority office charged with humanitarian mine action
activities in northern Iraq. The KRG, KDP and PUK work closely with UN
organizations and local and international NGOs. Current initiatives include
exploring avenues of promoting capacity building within the KRG administration
so that, with time, all responsibility for such programs can be handed over to
KRG partners.
Since late August 1997 the United Nations Office for Project Services has
managed and executed the Mine Action Program in northern Iraq under UN Security
Council Resolution 986 Food for Oil Program. The MAP mission is to conduct
landmine/UXO surveys, marking and clearance using manual, explosive detecting
dog (EDD) and mechanical methods. The MAP also supports a network of medical
facilities for treatment and rehabilitation of victims, and provides mine
awareness training to UN staff in northern
Iraq.[15]
The MAP is one of the largest employers in northern Iraq. Staff includes
1,230 local and forty-eight expatriates. Through grants and other forms of
cooperation with local partners, MAP supports the employment of an additional
666 local humanitarian staff. UNOPS estimates the impact of MAP upon the local
economy is between $600,000 and $800,000 per month through salaries and local
materiel procurement.[16]
Mines Advisory Group has been operating continuously in northern Iraq since
1992, longer than any other international humanitarian mine action organization.
MAG has conducted mine awareness, clearance, marking, survey, and explosive
ordnance disposal
operations.[17]
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) began operating in northern Iraq in 1995
in Suleymaniyah Governorate. During 1999 NPA mine action capacity in northern
Iraq was comprised of one explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team and two
demining teams.[18]
Numerous local NGOs are active in the mine action arena in northern Iraq.
The table below provides an overview of these
organizations[19]:
Organization
Primary Mission
Began
Donors
Solidarity
Landmine Clearance
1996
Swedish International Development Agency, Kurdish expatriate
community
KLA UK, European Community Humanitarian Organization (ECHO), SCR 986, UN
HABITAT, UNICEF
Mine Action Funding
Primary funding for UNOPS mine action in northern
Iraq is provided by the UN Oil for Food Program. Established by UNSC Resolution
986 as “a temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the
Iraqi people,” the Security Council has continued the program in 180-day
periods. The program began in 1997, and Phase VI ended on 20 November
1999.[20]
As of 31 October 1999, supplies and funds for the mine clearance program
valued at $18.5 million had arrived in the three northern governorates since the
start of the program, of which $16 million had been utilized or
distributed.[21] Approximately
$8 million of those totals was provided and utilized in the period from
April-October 1999.[22]
NPA received approximately $1 million in funding for programs in northern
Iraq from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Affairs.[23]
Funding for Handicap International/Belgium (HI) victim assistance programs in
northern Iraq comes primarily from UNOPS and UNICEF. In 1999 HI received
$185,000 from UNOPS, as well as $53,000 from Belgium’s Direction
Générale de la Coopération Internationale (General
Directorate for the International Cooperation, DGCI) and $40,000 from the
Netherlands’ Stichting Vluchteling. A total of $529,000 has been
requested for programs during 2000.
MAG, like many other NGOs, is unable to access funding under Resolution 986.
MAG's sources of funding include SIDA, DFID, Swedish Peace and Arbitration
Society, Stichting Vluchteling, Anti-Landmijn Stichting, and SCIAF. In part due
to the political situation, funding is increasingly unsure.
Surveys and Assessment
As of May 2000 UNOPS reports that an extensive
database of mined areas has been developed for northern Iraq. The goal of this
database is to facilitate more efficient planning, prioritization and allocation
of resources. The survey program has trained local socio-economic impact
surveyors, and has conducted a socio-economic impact survey of 95% of the
villages in the three northern governorates. Results of the survey indicate
more than 3,200 mined areas, covering approximately 491 square kilometers of
land needed for resettlement or agricultural use, or the development of basic
infrastructure including electricity, water and reconstruction. A database has
been established to record information pertaining to mined areas and mine
incidents. This database is available to local authorities, UN agencies, and
NGOs. The UNOPS MAP has trained and deployed twenty-four landmine/UXO
socio-economic impact survey teams, and eight Level Two Survey teams.[24]
MAG set up and ran an in-country survey, community-based data gathering and
database from 1992. This has become the DCU (Data Co-ordination Unit) which has
records of over 3,700 minefield reconnaissance/surveys for over 750 of the most
heavily mine- and UXO-contaminated areas. This information was opened to NPA
when it arrived in 1996 and to UNOPS in 1997 which set up its own data recording
system. MAG's data has been complemented as teams region-wide have completed
surveys, demarcation and clearance programs. Since the early days, MAG has been
operating survey and demarcation teams to help identify suspect areas and make
available more land for farming through ‘area reduction.’ Between
1992 and 1996, MAG conducted what was probably the largest minefield marking
program in the world: MAG has so far demarcated 1,150 minefields covering some
110 million square
metres.[25]
Mine Clearance
The UNOPS MAP in northern Iraq conducts the Level
Two (Technical) Survey, area reduction, marking, and clearance. The MAP has
identified twenty-five types of landmines in the region, with Valmarra 69
bounding and VS 50 antipersonnel mines the most
common.[26]
Primary contractors supporting MAP are European Landmine Solutions (ELS) and
Mechem. ELS operations in northern Iraq began in January 1998. ELS is working
to develop and expand indigenous capacity for long term mine clearance. By
early 1999 ELS had recruited, trained and deployed survey and demining teams,
together with section and team leaders and medical support staff, and had
integrated explosive detection dogs into the operations. The company now manages
a program with over 800 local and 18 international staff
members.[27]
Mechem, a South African demining firm, is
providing explosive detecting dog support to the MAP. Mechem began operations
in 1998 with six dogs, and currently employs twenty-four dogs and twelve
handlers. The primary duties of Mechem include support to Level Two survey
teams and quality assurance of areas cleared by ELS. Mechem is also training
local dog/handler teams. The first locally-trained teams are expected to become
operational in August
2000.[28]
MAP mine clearance teams are currently working in twenty-five minefields,
having returned twenty-four to productive use. Selection of minefields to be
cleared is done in close cooperation with local authorities and other
humanitarian sectors to ensure proper prioritization. Priorities for clearance
are: land needed for resettlement; settled land producing high numbers of
victims; agricultural land; areas necessary for basic needs, such as water and
fuel; land needed for reconstruction and infrastructure
development.[29]
As of May 2000 the MAP reports 3,088,215 square meters of land cleared and
returned to productive use. A total of 1,905,973 square meters of land have
been technically surveyed and prepared for follow-on clearance operations. MAP
reports that 2,367 landmines and 5,137 pieces of UXO were destroyed. Forty-nine
villages with a combined population of approximately 2,600 have been positively
impacted by these clearance
efforts.[30]
The MAP has trained 596 local deminers who are currently working in fifteen
clearance teams. Twenty explosive detecting dogs and handler counterparts have
been trained, with forty additional teams expected to complete training by
August 2000.[31]
MAG has been conducting mine clearance operations since early 1993. MAG
currently employs over 600 local staff and has built capacity to such a degree
that expatriate supervision is now at a very limited level. MAG operates 17
Mine Action Teams across the region. These Mine Action Teams are multi-skilled
and highly mobile and flexible, they can be split into sub-teams where necessary
to work small urgent tasks, or built together to conduct larger clearance work.
In 1999, 18 minefields were cleared; 1,191,081 square meters were declared safe;
nearly 5,000 mines were destroyed. Since 1992, MAG has declared safe over 4
million square meters of land from mines and
UXO.[32]
NPA reports that during 1999 a total 552 antipersonnel mines and 65 UXO were
removed and destroyed by manual demining effort. 171,845 sq.meters of land
including that of area reduction (73,318) cleared. Seven priority minefields
were cleared and handed over to the local population in the target area. As
part of explosive ordnance disposal efforts, 20,211 UXO, 216 antipersonnel
mines, and two antitank mines were removed and destroyed. 2,753,796 square
meters of land cleared through battle area clearance. The work covered 45
villages in the area.[33]
Regarding PUK capabilities to enact mine action themselves, Mr. Talabani
stated, “We simply do not have the capacity, in terms of manpower or
expertise, to undertake this ourselves.” But he noted that the PUK
assists the UN organizations and international mine action NGOs in planning and
implementing programs. Mr. Talabani also decried the inability to import
state-of-the-art mine clearance technology and machinery. He said, “The
fact that the international community fails to act to counter the restrictions
upon our access to effective and safe mine-clearing technology is an
international shame.”[34]
Mine Awareness Education
Most known mined areas in the region are marked
either by signs or by strips of wire placed along the mine-affected
area.[35] The UNOPS MAP
provides mine awareness training for UN staff in northern Iraq.
MAG is the primary provider of mine awareness training to the population of
northern Iraq. MAG pioneered and continues in northern Iraq the ‘Child to
Child’ approach as applied to mine awareness, involving children passing
on mine awareness messages to their peers. MAG also operates 8
Education/Teacher Training Teams which are achieving the integration of mine
awareness into the Education Departments' school curriculum. 2,500 primary
school teachers have so far been trained to pass on the message. School
instructors and supervisors have also been trained. MAG also runs five Religious
Representative Teams which work with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious
Affairs and over 500 local Mullahs to bring mine risk education to those adult
male populations at risk from mines. A further Farsi-speaking team runs mine
awareness around Hajihomoran where Kurdish refugees continue to repatriate from
Iran - their children have never been to their homelands and are specially at
risk.[36]
MAG has worked with UNICEF and local officials to produce a mine awareness
book for schools to help children identify landmines and teach them how to avoid
them.[37] During 1999, MAG mine
awareness teams provided training and visits as shown
below:[38]
SITE TYPE
Number Visited
Collective Villages/Nomadic Group (Mine Awareness Teams)
Commune Workshops (Religious Representative Teams)
82
Training Departments (Religious Representative Teams)
19
Schools, Departments, Institutes (Teacher Training Teams)
39
Follow-up Visits to Schools (Teacher Training Teams)
649
Teacher/Supervisor Workshops (Teacher Training Teams)
223
Victim Assistance
According to data provided by the UNOPS MAP
socio-economic survey, a total of 9,289 victims have been injured or killed by
landmines in northern Iraq since 1980. MAP provides assistance to established
prosthetics centers and victim workshops, and assists in the establishment of
new assistance facilities. Through twelve first aid posts, MAP supports
regional trauma centers that are the first stop for landmine victims following
injury.[39]
According to PUK General Secretary Talabani, “The local hospitals have
developed capabilities and expertise to deal with the problem, but I emphasize
that this remains limited, relative to the scale and urgency of the problem we
face in the region.”[40]
Limited ability to import necessary medical equipment and medicines, as well as
lack of access by Kurdish doctors to international medical developments, are
great obstacles to development of indigenous victim assistance capacity.
HI is providing orthopedic support to war victims in Suleymaniyah and
Halabja. The purpose of the program is to enhance and expand the quality and
coverage of existing ortho-prosthetic and physiotherapeutic services for
disabled people. HI has been active in Suleymaniyah since 1991 in response to
the large number of amputees identified there, primarily victims of numerous
landmine incidents along the Iranian border. Because of ongoing conflict, and
lack of access to prosthetic centers in Baghdad, these victims did not have
access to proper care.[41]
HI has identified the need for wider rehabilitation services, and development
of orthotics production and advocacy/social rehabilitation of the disabled are
current priorities. The Ministry of Public Health in Suleymaniyah, the Rozh
Society for Disabled People and the Handicapped Union (local NGOs) are favored
partners for development of holistic approaches to rehabilitation of the
disabled in the regions.[42]
The first HI orthopedic workshop was the Vincent Orthopedic Workshop located
in Suleymaniyah in facilities provided by the local health department. Opened in
1991, this workshop produces below-knee and above-knee prostheses, as well as
some ortho-prostheses. It also produces crutches, walking aids and orthotics.
Since 1991, more than 3,900 prostheses and 900 orthotics have been delivered,
and more than 4,000 devices have been repaired or inspected. More than 2,000
pairs of crutches have been produced and
delivered.[43]
The second workshop supported by HI is the Halabja Prosthetic Limb Center
located in the town of Halabja near the Iranian border. The workshop produces
below-knee and above-knee permanent prostheses, as well as some orthotics. Since
re-opening in March 1998, with funding assistance from UNOIP, more than 350
disabled persons have received long-term care through orthopedic activities at
this workshop. This funding also supported renovation of the facility, purchase
of equipment and training for
staff.[44]
[1] Interview with Mr. Jalal Talabani,
General Secretary, PUK, 25 June
2000. [2]
Ibid. [3] Landmine Monitor 1999
interview, 9 January 1999. [4]
“Iraq condemns Turkish attack,” BBC News, 6 December
1999. [5] “Turkey continues
anti-Kurdish raid in N. Iraq,” BBC News, 8 December
1997. [6] News Archive, Stratford-Iraq,
17 July 1999, http:// www.stratfor.com
/meaf/news/an990717.htm. [7] "Almost All
the Land Mines Used by the PKK Are Italian," Milan Il Giornale in Italian, 1
July 1999, p. 10. [8] UN Security
Council, Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 5 of Security
Council resolution 1281 (1999), S/2000/520, 1 June 2000, p. 13. The report
addresses distribution of humanitarian supplies throughout
Iraq. [9] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, p.
97. [10] Norwegian People’s Aid,
“Mine Action Proposal 2000,” p.
7. [11]
Ibid. [12] UNOPS, “Executive
Summary, UNOPS Mine Action Program in Northern Iraq,” June
2000. [13] Norwegian People’s Aid,
“Mine Action Proposal 2000,” p.
7. [14] UNOPS, “Executive Summary,
UNOPS Mine Action Program in Northern Iraq,” June
2000. [15]
Ibid. [16]
Ibid. [17] Mines Advisory Group,
“Activities Summary, 1st January 1993 – 31st January
2000.” [18] Norwegian
People’s Aid, “Mine Action Proposal 2000,” p.
4. [19] Correspondence from Mr. Sayed
Aqa, Field Director, Survey Action Center, February
2000. [20] United Nations Office of the
Iraq Programme, “Oil for Food – The Basic Facts,” June
2000. [21] United Nations Office of the
Iraq Programme, “180 Day Report of the Secretary General to the Security
Council (Phase VI),” paragraph
107. [22] Ibid. Also, UN Office of the
Iraq Programme, “180 Day Report requested by SCR 1210 (S/1999/573) (Phase
V),” paragraph 104. [23]
Correspondence from Norwegian People’s Aid, June
2000. [24] UNOPS, “Executive
Summary, UNOPS Mine Action Program in Northern Iraq,” June
2000. [25] Information provided via
email by Tim Carstairs, Communications Director, MAG, 27 July
2000. [26]
Ibid. [27] European Landmine Solutions,
http://www.landmine-solutions.com/operations.htm. [28]Correspondence
from Mr. Sayed Aqa, Field Director, Survey Action Center, February
2000. [29] UNOPS, “Executive
Summary, UNOPS Mine Action Program in Northern Iraq,” June
2000. [30]
Ibid. [31]
Ibid. [32] Information provided via
email by Tim Carstairs, Communications Director, MAG, 27 July
2000. [33] Norwegian People’s Aid,
“Mine Action Proposal 2000,” p. 7 with additional information
provided by NPA via email on 31July
2000. [34] Interview with Mr. Jalal
Talabani, General Secretary, PUK, 25 June
2000. [35] Gilles Paris, “The
Sanctuary Of Iraqi Kurdistan,” Le Monde, 19 December
1998. [36] Information provided via
email by Tim Carstairs, Communications Director, MAG, 27 July
2000. [37] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, p.
97. [38] Mines Advisory Group,
“Activities Summary, 1st January 1993–31st January
2000.” [39] UNOPS,
“Executive Summary, UNOPS Mine Action Program in Northern Iraq,”
June 2000. [40] Interview with Mr. Jalal
Talabani, General Secretary, PUK, 25 June
2000. [41] Correspondence from Handicap
International, Belgium, June 2000. [42]
Ibid. [43]
Ibid. [44] Ibid.
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