Key developments
since March 1999: Israel’s withdrawal from its occupied zone in South
Lebanon in May 2000 revealed a high level of contamination in the area, and
greatly increased risk to civilians. The Landmines Resource Center documented
fifty mine casualties nationwide in 1999; media reports indicated twenty
casualties in one month just in South Lebanon following the withdrawal. Both
Israeli forces and non-state actors used mines in South Lebanon in this
reporting period.
Mine Ban Policy
Lebanon has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
The Prime Minister told Landmine Monitor in January 2000 that Lebanon supports
the treaty’s goals.[1] In
June 1997 the Foreign Ministry said, “Lebanon will sign the treaty
whenever Israel
withdraws.”[2] In
December 1998 the Foreign Ministry said, “Lebanon did not sign the Treaty
due to the Israeli occupation of West Bakaa and South
Lebanon.”[3] According to
the report of a United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) assessment mission
conducted in February 1999, “The Government of Lebanon has indicated its
intention to sign both Landmine Conventions as soon as [UN General Assembly]
Resolution 425 is successfully implemented and the Government of Israel signs
the same Conventions.”[4]
There has been no policy statement from the Lebanese government on the Mine Ban
Treaty since Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon in late May 2000.
Lebanon became the first country to vote against a pro-ban resolution at the
UN General Assembly when on 1 December 1999 it voted against UNGA Resolution
54/54B, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[5] Lebanon had voted
yes on similar resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Lebanese diplomats made no
explanation of the vote. No clarifying comments could be obtained from the
Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Lebanon did not participate in any of diplomatic meetings regarding landmines
in 1999 or 2000. Lebanon is not a party to the Convention on Conventional
Weapons, nor is it a member of the Conference on Disarmament.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, and Use
Although the government has not confirmed it,
Lebanon is not thought to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines. The
Lebanese Army is believed to have a stockpile of AP mines, but its size and
composition are not known.
Since 1975, forces reported to have used landmines in Lebanon include the
Lebanese Army, local militia groups, the Syrian Army, various armed Palestinian
groups, Israel Defense Forces, and the South Lebanon
Army.[6] In 1999 and 2000 the
only known use of antipersonnel mines in Lebanon was in occupied South Lebanon
by Israel and armed non-state actors, likely Hezbollah. An Israeli official
claimed that Hezbollah used mines regularly in South Lebanon in
1999,[7] but a key spokesman
affiliated with Hezbollah stated in March 2000 that they generally do not
classify themselves as landmine
users.[8]
Landmine Problem
Estimates of the number of mines and minefields in
Lebanon vary greatly. The Lebanese Army claims that there are more than 150,000
landmines in 518 minefields in the following
areas:[9]
eighteen minefields or suspected minefields in the Beirut area including Ras
El Nabeh, Ras El Nabeh Cemeteries, Mathaf Olivetti, Sahat Al Abd, Syoufi Garden,
and Sharshabouh District.
Forty-seven minefields or suspected minefields near the Baabda area
including the Faculty of Sciences of Lebanon University, Kfarshima, Salima,
Arbaniyya, Zandouka, Shwet, Araya, Ras El Harf, and Ain El Remmeneh.
Thirty-eight minefields or suspected minefields around Northern Metn
including Wadi Jamajem, Ain Teffaha, Sannin, Sin El Fil, Shalouhi, Saloumi,
Zaghrin, Kossaybeh, Shamoun Buildings, Ayroun, and Dawwar.
Fifty-eight minefields or suspected minefields near Chouf including Deir El
Kamar, Barouk Ceders, Ikleem Al Kharroub, KfarMatta, Ain Ksour, Ain Zhalta, Ain
El Hawtr, Mtoulleh, Bakkifa, Hasrout, and Shourit.
One hundred-fifteen minefields or suspected minefields in the Aley are
including Souk El Gharb, Kayfoun, Aytat, Maaroufieh, Aley Ras El Jabal, Bmakkin,
Ain Ksour, Binnay, Abey, Baysour, Btater, and Ain Drafeil.
Thirty-three minefields or suspected minefields near Kesserwan including
Ouyoun El Siman, Geita, Sakiat El Meftiey, Klayaat, Deir Afs, and Bakaata.
Sixty-five minefields or suspected minefields in the Jbeil are including
Jouroud Al Akoura, Barbara, the Old Tripoli Road, Bejjeh, Shmout, Fghal, and
Afka.
Ten minefields or suspected minefields near Koura including Zghorta
Matawleh, Shanata, Wata Fares, Kateh Fares, and Majdal.
Seventy-eight minefields or suspected minefields near Batroun including
Shabteen, Sourat, Harbouna, Zan, Toula, Douk, Dahr Abi Yaghi, Tannourine, Sghar,
Masrah, Artez, Niha, Koura, and Bekhaaz.
Fifteen minefields or suspected minefields near Bsharry including Mazraat
Bani Assaf, Mnazraat Bani Saab, and Metrit.
One minefield at the Klayat Airbase in Akkar.
Five minefields or suspected minefields near Saida including Tanbourit,
Barti, Zeghedraya, Kfarhatta, Maghdoushi, and Jabal Hemedeh.
Six minefields or suspected minefields near Jezzine (before the withdrawal)
in Mrah Hbas, Ain El Mir, and Wadi Maksabi.
Three minefields or suspected minefields near Nabatieh including Wadi
Jhannam and the Nabatieh Fortress.
Thirteen minefields or suspected minefields West Bekaa including Falouj,
Bireh, Kilya, Zallaya, Maydoun, Ain Tina, Rawda, Yohmor, and Kamed El Lawz.
One minefield at the Baalbeck Fortress.
Six minefields or suspected minefields near Rashayya including Yanta, Jabal
Mzaybleh, Bakka, and Jabal Al Dawaweer.
Six minefields or suspected minefields in the Hasbayya area including
Dallafa, Fakha, Mazraat Ain Al Hajal, Shebaa, and Al Kakour.
The
above Lebanese Army figures contrast with information provided by the Lebanese
government to an UNMAS assessment mission in February 1999: 743 minefields with
approximately 3,183 AT mines and 24,271 AP mines, as of December 1998. Of these
471 minefields and suspected areas were treated. According to sources, 208
treated/cleared mine fields still remain suspected areas of being
unsafe.[10]
The U.S. Department of State has estimated the number of mines in Lebanon
from 8,795 to 35,000.[11]
None of the above numbers of mines and minefields include the formerly
occupied zone in South Lebanon from which Israel withdrew in late May 2000.
UNMAS has noted, “While the information on the landmine and UXO problem in
South Lebanon remain very incomplete, both the data collected during the past
twenty-two years by UNIFIL, and the first maps released by Israel, suggest a
high level of
contamination.”[12] UNMAS
states that many of the more than eighty bases and positions evacuated by the
IDF and its allied militia in South Lebanon are suspected to be contaminated by
nuisance minefields and booby-traps. Other areas with high concentrations of
mines include the former border and zone of confrontation. UNMAS reports that
most minefields in South Lebanon are unmarked and
unfenced.[13] While Israel is
not known to have removed mines that it laid prior to its withdrawal, it has
provided the UN with maps and other details needed for
clearance.[14]
A 21 June 2000 news account said that, according to United Nations experts,
there are about 130,000 mines and other explosive devices scattered over the
area formerly occupied by
Israel.[15]
Mine Action Funding
Lebanon has received funds from Canada, Britain,
France, and the U.S. for mine action programs. U.S. military personnel have
conducted training programs in Lebanon and twenty-two Lebanese military
personnel have attended a one-time advanced humanitarian demining course in the
U.S. The $1.65 million in U.S. funds for 2000-2001 will be used to train
personnel, finance equipment purchases, and sustain on-going programs to remove
mines throughout Lebanon.[16]
In response to the Israeli withdrawal, the UK pledged $120,000 for the UN
Voluntary Trust Fund for emergency mine awareness activities in Lebanon to be
implemented by UNICEF.[17]
Italy announced on 25 May 2000 the donation of five Minex 2FD mine detectors to
the Lebanese Army.[18]
Mine Clearance
The Lebanese Army is responsible for all mine
clearance in the country. The National Demining Office is staffed entirely by
military personnel. The Army reports that it has cleared 303 minefields and
that 4,000 AT mines, 20,000 AP mines, and 40,000 UXO have been
destroyed.[19] The report of
the UNMAS assessment mission in February 1999 states that 471 minefields and
suspected areas were treated, and 2,383 AT mines, 23,693 AP mines and a large
number of UXO were removed between 13 October 1990 and 1 December 1998 by the
Engineer Regiment.[20]
The Army states that it does not have sufficient resources for clearance, and
that the technical skills of its deminers are not fully compatible with
international humanitarian standards because they are based upon military
methods. The Army also claims that mechanical mine clearance methods are not
viable due to difficult terrain, but that mine-detecting dogs may be
suitable.[21] According to the
UN, the Lebanese Army has about 200 trained deminers operating throughout
Lebanon, but not yet in the South. The UN says the deminers are poorly
equipped, with no mechanical means and only a handful of modern mine
detectors.[22]
Following the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, UNMAS reported that the
UNIFIL mine clearance capacity will be strengthened through a Ukranian
contribution of up to forty personnel. UNMAS describes UNIFIL’s mine
marking and clearance capacities as “extremely limited,” consisting
of one Polish platoon to support UNIFIL operations and respond to emergency
requests from local
populations.[23]
The withdrawal of Israeli forces from South
Lebanon has highlighted the critical need for mine awareness education in these
areas. Press reports recount instances of returning civilians entering former
military areas, pulling off roads to park, and removing Israeli minefield
marking signs.[25] Organizations
conducting mine awareness in Lebanon immediately began emergency programs in
South Lebanon that included the distribution of pamphlets, leaflets, posters and
media broadcasts.
A Mine Awareness Committee was established in 1999 at the Landmines Resource
Center of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Balamand with the
support of the World Rehabilitation Fund. The purpose of this committee is to
structure and conduct mine awareness activities in Lebanon and to serve as an
advisory body.
The first mine awareness education training workshop took place on 15-16 June
1999. This workshop allowed the Mine Awareness Committee to develop a mine
awareness kit and guidelines on how to promote the dissemination of information
on the landmine problem. In August 1999, two camps on mine awareness were
organized by NGOs (one in Bekaa and one in Mount Lebanon) to disseminate
information to youth and organizations working with disabled people. In November
1999, Rädda Barnen (Save the Children/Sweden) supported the participation
of five Lebanese NGOs in a mine awareness workshop conducted in Yemen on the
child-to-child approach.
On 3 March 2000, the World Rehabilitation Fund organized a workshop to
encourage the media to join the mine awareness campaign. One of the local
stations, Sawt El Shaab, produced and broadcast a documentary on the landmine
problem in collaboration with the Landmines Resource Center. The program was
presented to the UNDP Media Program and won a prize during the competition run
by UNDP on sustainable development.
From 25-26 March 2000 a mine awareness training workshop for twenty-five
scout leaders from different regions of Lebanon took place to train them on
disseminating information and to train their own troops. Between 16-19 April
2000 Rädda Barnen conducted a child-to-child mine awareness workshop in
South Lebanon. From 25-26 April 2000 another training workshop was conducted
for girl scouts in north Lebanon.
A work plan to conduct a series of mine awareness sessions in schools
primarily in South Lebanon has been developed and approved by the Landmines
Resource Center, the Mine Awareness Committee, the World Rehabilitation Fund,
the National Demining Office, and the Ministry of Education. As of May, more
than 120 community mine awareness sessions had taken place in different regions
of Lebanon in 2000.
UNICEF and UNESCO have also joined the mine awareness campaign in South
Lebanon. From 6-9 June 2000 the Landmine Awareness Committee conducted training
sessions for teachers in South Lebanon.
Landmine Casualties
The departure of the Israeli troops has made it
apparent that South Lebanon is contaminated with landmines as well as unexploded
ordnance.[26] Due to the
withdrawal, heavily mined areas have been opened up to Lebanese civilians,
resulting in a number of landmine related accidents. Only a few hours after the
Israelis left, a 15-year-old boy lost his leg after stepping on a
mine.[27] On the same day a
10-year-old boy lost a foot and two men each lost a
leg.[28] According to Agence
France-Presse, in the first four weeks following the Israeli pullout, five
civilians were killed, including two infants, and fifteen injured by
landmines.[29] Prior to the
withdrawal UNIFIL had reported two mine incidents in its area of operations in
South Lebanon between 16 July 1999 and 15 January 2000. One civilian was
injured near Bayt Lif on 25 October 1999 and another civilian lost a limb on 20
December 1999 after stepping on an AP mine near
Qabrikha.[30]
The Landmines Resource Center has estimated there to be more than 1,500
landmine survivors in Lebanon, as well as approximately 1,000 deaths due to
mines. On 31 December 1999, the Landmines Resource Center completed its data
collection process of the nationwide door-to-door survey of landmine victims
initiated in August 1998. This effort was designed to gain detailed
understanding of the profile of victims and survivors, the nature and location
of injuries and related needs. A database of survivors and casualties was
created and a geographic information system is currently being developed.
The preliminary findings of the survey note that in 1999, fifty casualties
were reported, while sixty incidents were registered, pointing to damage to
livestock. By the end of April 2000, fifteen cases additional were reported.
The survey gave the following geographic distribution of landmine survivors in
Lebanon: 33% were located in the South and in Nabatieh, 31% in Mount Lebanon,
21% in Bekaa, 12% in the North and 3% in Beirut. The survey results showed that
56% of the survivors were harmed by an AP mine, 37% by UXO and 7% by
“strange” objects. 36% of the survivors were injured while engaged
in their daily agricultural activity. 90% of the survivors were males. The
average age was thirty-two years. The survey found that injuries caused by
landmines are occurring at an average rate of one per
week.[31]
The Lebanese Army provided the UNMAS assessment mission with the following
data on the number of victims affected by mine explosions in Lebanon between
1997 and 1999.[32]
YEAR
Civilians
Military
Killed
Injured
Killed
Injured
1990
12
15
-
8
1991
36
78
5
34
1992
11
41
3
14
1993
23
33
-
12
1994
23
32
2
10
1995
16
15
1
5
1996
6
18
1
1
1997
7
17
-
1
Total
134
249
12
85
Survivor Assistance
No major changes have occurred concerning victim
assistance since the publication of Landmine Monitor Report 1999, except
for the planning of an income-generating program for victims in the Jezzine area
(South Lebanon) by the World Rehabilitation Fund that will begin in 2000.
Medical care for landmine victims is provided through the Lebanese health
system. In 2000 there is a shortage in the budget of the Ministry of Health,
which is why medical services for landmine victims have become very expensive.
Programs to assist survivors, families of victims and mine-affected communities
are scarce. Programs addressing the psychological needs of survivors are
practically non-existent. Furthermore there is limited awareness among victims
of available assistance and rehabilitation programs, particularly in rural
areas.
[1] Interview with the Prime Minister and
the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Salim Hoss, 16 January
2000. [2] Letter from Thafer Al Hassan,
General Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, read to the Brussels International
Conference for the Total Ban on Antipersonnel Mines, 24-27 June
1997. [3] Letter from Thafer Al Hassan,
General Secretary of the Foreign Ministry, to Landmine Monitor, Beirut, 18
December 1998. [4] UNMAS, Joint
Assessment Mission Report: Lebanon, 7 June 1999. The two conventions are the
Mine Ban Treaty and Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional
Weapons. The UNGA resolution calls for Israeli withdrawal from South
Lebanon. [5] From 1996-1998, ten to
twenty countries abstained on pro-ban UNGA votes, but none voted
against. [6] James Trevelyan,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Problem in Lebanon,” February
2000. [7] ICBL meeting with Amnon Efrat,
Minister-Counsellor, Israeli Mission to the UN, Geneva, 17 December
1999. [8] Interview conducted in South
Lebanon, March 2000. [9] All data (as of
16 November 1999) was presented by Lebanese Army officers at the Arab Regional
Seminar on Landmines, Cairo, 9-11 April 2000. 300 minefields are confirmed, 218
are suspected to be contaminated. In addition, 303 minefields have already been
cleared. [10] UNMAS Joint Assessment
Mission Report: Lebanon, 7 June
1999. [11] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, p.
A-2. [12] UNMAS, “The Landmine/UXO
Problem in South Lebanon: Preliminary UNMAS Assessment Report,” 6 June
2000. [13]
Ibid. [14] UNMAS told Landmine Monitor
that the IDF handed over 4 maps and 4 files with details on areas mined by
Israel in South Lebanon. Email from Hemi Morete, UNMAS, to Landmine
Monitor/Human Rights Watch, 14 July 2000. See also, “Israel Hands Over
Landmine Field Maps to UNIFIL,” Jerusalem Voice of Israel (state-funded
radio) in Hebrew, 1300 GMT, 31 May 2000; “UN Experts to Meet Lebanese Army
over Landmines in South,” Agence-France Presse, 31 May
2000. [15] Agence-France Presse, Sidon,
Lebanon, 21 June 2000. [16] U.S.
Department of State “Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign
Operations, FY 2001–Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs,” 15 March 2000;
SOLIC Information Paper. [17] UNMAS
Update as of 15 June 2000, Mines, UXO, and mine action in South Lebanon,
received by email. [18] “Rome to
Donate Land Mine Sweepers to Lebanon,” ANSA, Rome, 1127 GMT, 25 May
2000. [19] Information provided by
National Demining Office of the Lebanese Army, 1 April 2000, and used in
presentations by Lebanese Army officers at the Arab Regional Seminar on
Landmines, Cairo, 9-11 April 2000. [20]
UNMAS, “Joint Assessment Mission Report: Lebanon,” 7 June
1999. [21] James Trevelyan,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Problem in Lebanon,” February
2000. [22] UNMAS, “The
Landmine/UXO Problem in South Lebanon,” 6 June
2000. [23] UNMAS Update as of 15 June
2000, Mines, UXO, and mine action in Southern Lebanon, received by
email. [24] Information in this section
comes from the Landmines Resource Center and the World Rehabilitation Fund
landmines’ project unless otherwise
indicated. [25] Samar Kanafani,
“NGOs Race to alert South to Peril of Mines,” The Daily Star Online,
1 June 2000. [26]
Ibid. [27] Kamel Jaber, “Lebanese
Suffer the Legacy of Israeli Land Mines,” Reuters, 29 May
2000. [28]
Ibid. [29] Agence-France Presse, Sidon,
Lebanon, 21 June 2000. [30]“Report
of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Mission Interim Force in
Lebanon,” S/2000/28, 17 January 2000, p.
2. [31] Based on a preliminary analysis
of the survey data by the Landmines Resource Center at the Faculty of Health
Sciences of the University of
Balamand. [32] UNMAS, “Joint
Assessment Mission Report: Lebanon,” 7 June 1999.
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