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ANGOLA, Landmine Monitor Report 2001
 
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ANGOLA

Key developments since May 2000: Both government and UNITA forces have continued to use antipersonnel mines, even though the Angolan Parliament approved ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty in July 2000. Major mine action NGOs report clearing some 5.8 million square meters of land in 2000. INAROEE reported that 1,335 antipersonnel mines, 51 antivehicle mines, and 75,017 UXO were destroyed through clearance operations. UNICEF reports that mine awareness campaigns reached more than 237,000 people in 2000. During 2000, there were 840 landmine and UXO casualties recorded.

Related Report:

Mine Ban Policy

Angola signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997. On 25 July 2000, the Angolan Parliament approved ratification of the treaty, with 147 votes in favor, one against and one abstention. Before the vote, the Vice-Minister of External Relations, Toko Serrao, addressed the parliament: “The entry into force of this convention is considered a historic achievement in the struggle to ban the use of antipersonnel mines. However given the provisions in Law 6/90 regarding international treaties it appears to us important that the Ministry of National Defence States its position on this issue.”[87]

On 24 August 2000, the Angolan government sent a letter to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines informing that Parliament had approved the Mine Ban Treaty, and stating, “The following step, according to our Constitution, is the ratification act of the President of the Republic, which may occur shortly. As soon as this is done, the Angolan Government is in good condition to deposit its instrument of ratification with the United Nations in New York.”[88]

In October 2000, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote that “the administrative procedures for ratification of the convention are in hand, and we expect very soon to be able to deposit the said instrument.”[89] The instrument of ratification had not been deposited with the UN in New York as of 31 July 2001.

According to Angola’s mine action office, the National Institute for the Removal of Explosive Obstacles (INAROEE), in October 2000 the Ministry of Defence circulated to all its commanders a decree stating that following the National Assembly ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, the military should refrain from using antipersonnel mines during their operations.[90] However, as detailed below, Angolan forces have continued to use antipersonnel mines.

During the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in September 2000, Angolan Ambassador Joao Filipe Martins justified his government’s continued use of antipersonnel mines and stated, “We ask your understanding for the few antipersonnel mines that the national army, the FAA – Armed Forces of Angola, have planted around strategic facilities, when the troops of Mr. Jonas Savimbi wanted to seize power by force, ignoring democratic institutions and bombing villages, communes and certain big cities of the country in an indiscriminate and blind manner. Allow us, Mr President, to affirm here that mining or re-mining land has never been a right of the Angolan state...but rather...the unique way to survive for those that suffer from the injustice and murderous madness of the rebels. The mines that the Angolan army have used are marked and well located, they do not represent any danger for the population nor any difficulty to find them or destroy them. We are asking that certain elements of the international civil society will show a little bit of respect for the Angolan government....”[91]

The incongruity of Angola moving toward ratification at the same time that it admits continued use of antipersonnel mines is a cause of concern and requires close attention on the part of States Parties and others. Clearly, ongoing use by a government that becomes a State Party, no matter what the justification, would require action by other States under Article 8 of the Mine Ban Treaty.

In November 2000, Angola voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33v, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Angola attended the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000, but not in May 2001. The head of INAROEE attended the second day of the two-day Bamako Seminar on Universalization and Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, held on 15-16 February 2001 in Mali.

There has been increased discussion and debate in Angola over the use of landmines in Angola. INAROEE, international NGOs and local NGOs marked the run up to the third anniversary of Angola’s signing of the Mine Ban Treaty by arranging three days (27 to 30 November 2000) of pro-ban events in Luanda, culminating in an evening of theater and debate in the National Assembly building, which was attended by parliamentarians and the Minister of Social Assistance, Albino Malungo.[92]

Angola is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, Transfer and Stockpiling

Angola is not a known producer or exporter of landmines. Seventy-six different types of antipersonnel mines from 22 countries have been found or reported in Angola.[93] Little is known about the size or composition of Angola’s current landmine stockpile.

Likewise, little is known about stockpiles of antipersonnel mines held by UNITA rebels. The government’s forces have continued to capture landmines during their operations against the rebels. In August 2000, Landmine Monitor was shown a collection of freshly captured antipersonnel mines among other weapons taken from UNITA in Moxico province. These mines were mostly from the USSR, South Africa and Romania.[94]

New Use of Mines[95]

In July 2000, UN Under Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari stated, “From 1994-1998, substantial progress was made in demining some of the most affected areas of the Angolan territory. With the resumption of war, landmines were again planted in some areas that have been de-mined and in some others, thus making it difficult for the population to resettle and use the land for farming and especially food production.”[96] As noted above, at the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, the Angolan government openly admitted to ongoing use of antipersonnel mines.[97]

In its report on human rights in Angola for 2000, the US State Department said, “The Government and UNITA continue to use antipersonnel landmines to strengthen defensive positions and, in the case of UNITA, to prevent residents within its own areas from fleeing to government-held areas.... Landmines are a major impediment to the freedom of movement. UNITA used landmines primarily on roads and trails to disrupt transportation, and to control village populations.  Government mining generally was confined to strategic positions around towns for defensive purposes.”[98] 

In 2001, there appears to have been a decline in use of antipersonnel mines by the government.[99] There have been no reports of planting of mines in areas previously cleared. Landmine Monitor obtained credible eyewitness accounts of government forces in Malange and Moxico provinces laying mines at night around their defensive positions and nearby route ways; such mines were reportedly then lifted the next morning.[100]

HALO Trust told Landmine Monitor that in 2001, this practice of laying mines at night and retrieving them in the morning has occurred in Huambo and Bie provinces. But he also said that, on several occasions, FAA troops had handed mines over to HALO when the troops had completed their operations.[101]

UNITA has continued to lay antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, mostly to impede transportation on primary, secondary and tertiary roads. In Moxico province there is evidence that in February and March 2001, UNITA rebels planted mines in Cangumbe, Ngombe and Chito 1 during their military operations, resulting in two accidents leaving four injured and one dead, respectively.[102] On 3 July 2001, on the road from Saurimo to Lucapa, a vehicle carrying civilians struck an antivehicle mine, killing two people and injuring four others; local residents blamed UNITA.[103]

UNITA rebels have also continued to conduct military operations in northern Namibia, including laying antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. According to the US State Department report for 2000, “UNITA used landmines in Namibia, which resulted in dozens of deaths and numerous injuries of civilians and security force officers.”[104]

There have also been a growing number of antivehicle mine incidents that were probably the work of criminal groups, using the mines to ambush vehicles for looting.[105]

Landmine Problem and Survey and Assessment

Through the end of 2000, 2,610 minefields had been identified, of which 517 had been cleared.[106] According to INAROEE, Cuando Cubango, Moxico, Bie and Malange provinces have very high density of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO); Bengo, Benguela and Cuanza Sul and Huambo have a high density; Lunda Sul, Cabinda, Cunene, Huila, Zaire, Uige and Cuanza Norte have a moderate density; and Luanda, Namibe and Lunda Norte have a low density. [107] It should be noted that there are areas that have not been registered yet due to the war, which is also having an impact on the access NGOs have to clear minefields.

Mine Clearance and Funding

Major mine action donors reported to the UN $14.7 million in funding for Angola in 1999.[108] According to information provided to Landmine Monitor by donors and by mine action organizations operating in Angola, in 2000 mine action funding totaled roughly $13 million.[109] Mine action organizations have reported receiving about $13 million in 2001 as well. As noted below, the Angolan government for the first time provided INAROEE with $8 million in 2001.

Some mine clearance organizations have struggled with reduced funding, erratic funding and/or donor reluctance to commit long term in Angola. A number of organizations had to suspend programs in 2000 or 2001 due to lack of funding.

Despite ongoing hostilities mine clearance has continued across Angola. In 2000, INAROEE reported that 1,335 antipersonnel mines, 51 antivehicle mines, and 75,017 UXO were destroyed.[110]

INAROEE

The Angolan government’s mine action office, INAROEE, remained in crisis in 2000-2001, as donors refuse to provide demining funds to the government while it continues to lay mines. Although INAROEE’s Director Helder Cruz presented a demining plan for 2000, requesting $13 million from donors, no money was forthcoming except for NGOs to employ ex-INAROEE staff. In August 2000, the UNDP/UNOPS closed down its support program because of a lack of funding, redeploying its manager to Guinea-Bissau. NPA has continued to loan a technical expert. INAOREE has now become a coordinating office for the operators in the field although coordination is weak. The government for the first time provided INAROEE with a much needed cash injection of $8 million in 2001 according to Leonardo Sapalo of INAROEE.[111] However, most of these funds have already been spent on outstanding bills.

The Angolan military remains active in demining during its military operations and in areas recently retaken from UNITA control. Operations have taken place in Moxico, Malange and Bie provinces in 2001.

Commercial Demining

During 2000 and 2001 there has been little commercial demining activity in the country. The only commercial firm active is the South African firm BRZ International Ltd, which operated in Angola through a joint venture with an Angolan commercial security firm Mamboji Lda. BRZ conducted some clearance work in 2000 at Soyo for the oil industry.[112]

NGO Mine Action Initiatives

HALO Trust. The British NGO HALO Trust is operating in Huambo, Bie and Benguela provinces. HALO has a staff of 350, of which one is an expatriate. Its funding comes mainly from the US government and the EU.[113] In 2001, HALO received funding of Euro 400,000 for Huambo, expects Euro 400,000 for Bie, and has a proposal for Euro 400,000 under consideration for Benguela. HALO has also obtained a grant for $800,000 from the US Department of State, I£143,000 from the Irish government; $400,000 from the Dutch government and $100,000 from the Japanese Tokyo Broadcasting System’s “Committee of Project ‘Mine Free’” with the Association for Aid and Relief, Japan.[114]

As of the end of June, during 2001, HALO had cleared 447 antipersonnel mines and 57 antivehicle mines, and destroyed 3,878 items of stray ammunition, and 589 items of unexploded ordnance. Battle area cleared was 731,347 square meters, manually cleared was 148,443 square meters, and surveyed was 175,412 square meters. In addition, the mine awareness teams have briefed 40,581 people.

Intersos. In November 1999 the Mine Action Unit of Italian NGO Intersos commenced an 18-month training and demining project in Huila province, aimed at clearing land for returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).[115] In agreement with the Matala Municipal authorities and the UN, clearance priority sites of minefields and UXO have been identified in the MICOSSI and Kanangondo Municipalities. Upon request of the local Communities, Municipal and Provincial Administrators and the UN, INTERSOS also expanded its role to other activities, such as surveys at the provincial level, and Battle Area Clearance (BAC) and UXO demolitions in the near provinces. In December 2000, the MAU was also charged by the Italian Cooperation with a new BAC intervention and fencing in the town of Menongue Cunado Cubango Province, for a value of about US$165,000.[116]

Menschen gegen Minen (MgM).[117] MgM, a German-based NGO, received $1,246,000 in 2000 for work in Bengo province and for Cunene province. Funding has come from the Dutch, German and US governments, Johanniter International, Action Medeor, World Food Progarm, and from individuals.[118] MgM Angola has a staff of approximately 100 nationals, supported by two expatriate staff (the program manager and the dog handler/trainer).

By the end of 2000, MgM reported having cleared the following: 1,270,576 square meters of land, 114 kilometers of road, 704 landmines (11 of which were antivehicle mines), and 1,102 UXO.[119]

In a project supported by the World Food Program for the year 2000, with US funding, MgM was to carry out mine action to assist in the relocation of an estimated 28,500 IDPs living in Cambambe II camp, outside Caxito, to their home area of Dembos. But attacks in the area resulted in operations shifting to Ambriz, a northern coastal town on the border with Zaire Province. A number of site visits had been planned to the Dembos area but only one had been achieved by the end of 2000, due to new disturbances in neighboring areas.

Operations were then focused on Ambriz, which has long been a center for military operations: in the 1970s, it was used by the South Africans during their support of FNLA operations; in 1993-1994, it was captured and held by UNITA; after that the FAA constructed a camp outside the town, which they ringed with a mine belt; also a minefield was placed at the entrance to the town to deter further attacks. There are now ten indicated mined areas around the town of Ambriz, and two minefields to be proved by the Onzo river bridge, close to the village of Tabi.

The major part of operations focused on the clearance of agricultural land around the old FAA camp. The local administration barred the clearance of the barrier minefield ringing the town for “security reasons” or this minefield would have been of the highest priority because of its proximity to housing, schools, and access to fields.

Other operations cleared access routes to the minefields, and opened access to isolated villages cut off from main arterial routes. This allowed commercial traffic to these towns, alleviating the problems for the local population of carrying their produce many kilometers to market. The villages of Fda Loge, Capulo and Kianga were given access to the main road infrastructure, and work has now started on the reconstruction of the salt pans at Capulo.

For safety of operations and medical evacuation reasons, the Mechanically assisted Manual (MaM) demining team also reopened the Ambriz airport, with the first flight landing in mid-August 2000. The airport is in constant use now.

With regard to operations in 2001, MgM noted that operations were temporarily suspended in March due to problems with funding. MgM stated, “Although there were enough funds for basic operations, there was not enough available for the safety aspect of demining.”[120]

By the end of May 2001, two teams were deployed to Ionde in north-east Cunene, on the road to Cuando Cubango. MgM also carried out a survey of the ammunition storage site (Paiol) at Bairro Madeira.[121]

In Ambriz, demining recommenced on a cluster of minefields around an old FAPLA base at Yanga dia Vata, and by the end of May 2001 nine individual minefields had been cleared, another three were in the process of being cleared, and one yet to be started. With the eradication of these minefields, only two more remain for clearance, which will then leave the whole of the northern coastal area of Bengo free of mines. Clearance included 10,563 square meters of land, 16 mines and 8 UXO.[122]

At the end of May, however, UNITA attacked Ambriz, which jeopardized MgM presence in Bengo Province. They hoped to be able to keep a small team in Caxito and possibly deploy some of the other teams to their home area in Sumbe and Gabela, in Kwanza Sul.[123]

Mines Advisory Group (MAG).[124] MAG continues its operations in Cunene province in the south of the country funded in the first six months of 2001 by the National Lottery Charities Board ($170,000); during the second six months of 2001, Bread for the World ($220,000); Misereor ($22,000) and Intermon ($23,000) have committed funds for MAG operations. MAG plans to continue to deploy four mine action teams in the province undertaking landmine and UXO clearance and mine awareness activities. At the time of publication this project had a budget shortfall of $734,250. MAG employs 69 national staff in Cunene, including its Portuguese-speaking national training team. Since 1998, a drought -- declared as an emergency by UNDP -- has ravaged the province. Since March 2001, this pressure on resources has been increased by an influx of 7,000 IDPs from the neighboring province of Kuando-Kubango and from Rundu in Namibia, displaced from fighting in the border areas with Namibia.

From January to December 2000, MAG Cunene cleared 1,713 bombs, 3,870 projectiles, 4 missiles, 92 rockets, 310 grenades and 61 mines. In addition to carrying out clearance in areas for these populations, MAG is working with the Spanish agency ACH (Accion Contra Halambre) to help create safer access to water across the province. MAG also works in Cunene with the International Federation of the Red Cross and WFP.

In October 2000, MAG restarted its suspended operations in Moxico province, based in Luena the provincial capital. At the time of writing, it was becoming possible to operate safely further and further outside the city. By May 2001, MAG had cleared 5,472 square meters, resulting in 45 antipersonnel mines destroyed, three antivehicle mines and 3,888 pieces of UXO.

MAG also provides community-based data gathering and liaison that provides tasking and prioritization used by NPA's mechanical capacity in the city. MAG has also deployed two, eleven-person emergency response teams. It is funded for the first six months of 2001 with $210,000 from the German government and $46,150 from Jersey Overseas Aid. Some $197,000 from OCHA and $46,150 from Jersey Overseas Aid have been provided to help cover the second six-month period.  MAG reported a shortfall of $778,850 to the end of the financial year, June 2002. In Moxico, MAG employs 87 national staff.

In both provinces MAG works closely with the provincial government and MINARS (Ministry of Social Rehabilitation) and other development agencies to coordinate priority setting, data reporting and other information sharing. MAG works closely with Medico International (social rehabilitation), CAPDC (a national social rehabilitation NGO supported by Medico International), Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation/Veterans International (survivor assistance), Trauma Care Foundation, NPA, ACH and many other development agencies to provide an integrated and holistic response to the problems facing these communities affected by conflict. In doing so, MAG follows the ICBL's principles of mine action from a development perspective as laid out in the “Bad Honnef Guidelines.”

Norwegian People’s Aid. NPA remains the NGO with the most extensive mine clearance operations in Angola.[125] It operates in Malange, Kwanza Norte, Moxico and the southern regions. In 2000, NPA cleared 3,426,389 square meters of land, destroying 642 antipersonnel mines, 39 antivehicle mines and 73,907 UXO.[126]

The NPA Mine Action Program employs some 500 Angolans and nine expatriate staff. Its manual demining program consists of four groups with a total of 350 deminers. The Mine Detection Dog (MDD) team is made up of twelve free running dogs and eleven Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) dogs and handlers. A free running dog is used in open areas where they search systematically for mines or other explosives, while in the REST method dogs are based in the camp and samples from possible mine-affected areas are brought back to the dogs.

There is also a Landmine Survey Team, which is now completely nationalized, one seconded to INAROEE and three (as of May 2001) Level One Survey teams. The survey has been completed in thirteen provinces, however there is a need to resurvey in some provinces due to the ongoing war.

The mechanical demining team has three Aardvark and two Hydrema flail machines. Additionally, in 2000 the organization had a battle area clearance team, but now this is replaced with a mobile workshop.

In 2000, NPA received funding totaling NOK 50.5 million (US$7 million).

By the end of 2000, there were some problems in securing the funding for mine clearance and related activities in 2001. However, all NPA mine action operations in Angola are now funded and all teams are working. Funding for 2001 is approximately the same level as in 2000, and is provided by Norway (NORAD), US (State Department), Sweden (SIDA), the Dutch Foreign Ministry, and Statoil.

NPA in Angola is currently introducing a new project based on the objective of meeting the target group needs. Through development of Standard Operating Procedures for task impact assessment and task selection procedures for all mine action programs NPA seeks to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Santa Barbara. This German NGO has been in Angola since 1997. In 2000, Santa Barbara operated in Pocolo, Huila province during one month and cleared 15,000 square meters of farmland and destroyed one mine. They also spent seven months on road clearance in Hoque in Huila clearing 150,000 square meters and destroyed 38 mines.[127] While in Xangongo, during four months of farmland clearance, they cleared 15,000 square meters, destroying three mines. Xangongo, Cunene remains the base camp for their operations.[128]

In 2001 operations continued around Xangongo, during which some 50,000 square meters have been cleared in the first months of the year, in which 35 mines have been destroyed. In 2000, the Italian government provided $180,000 and the German Business Donor Circle $200,000 for Santa Barbara’s operations. In 2001 Santa Barbara has continued to be funded by $170,000 provided by the German Business Donor Circle.[129]

The Assistance to Mine-Affected Communities (AMAC) project based at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) takes a community-based approach to mines, emphasizing people's abilities to cope with the problem. Established in 1999, the project has been engaged mainly in research and documentation, but since late 2000 has also been involved in capacity-building, offering workshops and training courses for a variety of audiences. In July-August 2000 the AMAC project conducted a community study at a camp for IDPs in Songondo II in the outskirts of Luena. AMAC was invited by Medico International to conduct this study.[130]

Mine Awareness

In 2000, UNICEF used the Programa de Educacao e Prevencao de Acidentes de Minas (PEPAM) as its mine awareness program, working through INAROEE with NGO support. The Angolan NGOs Gac-Huambo, Gac-Bie, Trindade-Bengo, Club de Jovens in Huila, Anxame de Abeila-Moxico, the Palancas Negras in Malange, CDR and Tumbuanza in Uige all conducted awareness campaigns. UNICEF estimated that between January and November 2000 these groups conducted 2,377 awareness campaigns reaching some 267,366 people.[131]

In 1999, UNICEF commissioned an in-depth evaluation of the PEPAM mine awareness program in Angola; the evaluation was jointly funded by UNICEF, CIET and Canadian DFAIT. Between August and October 1999, CIET interviewed 1,166 schoolchildren and 2,157 “caregivers” in 21 communities in Huila and Uige provinces. Although the findings were broadly positive, the evaluation report noted that PEPAM students were less likely than other children to stay out of a known mined area, to recognize high-risk sites, and to tell their family members what to do if one encounters a mine.[132]

Between 21 February and 11 March 2000, the preliminary results of the evaluation were discussed in focus groups of program beneficiaries, teachers and managers. The results of the completed study were then widely disseminated and discussed by UNICEF with its partners in Angola. Changes to the mine awareness program as a result included the adaptation of messages to encourage behavior change rather than providing information on merely the dangers of mines, the development of a simple monitoring tool, and the development of information and materials in local languages.[133] It was proposed that CIET carry out a follow-up evaluation in 2001 to assess progress from the 1999 evaluation in Huila and Uige provinces as well as establish baselines in other provinces.[134]

Handicap International (HI) is also involved in mine awareness and mine risk education (MRE), aimed at contributing to the reduction of mine casualties, especially among women and children. HI provides technical support to INAROEE’s provincial coordinators in Bie, Huambo, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Kwanza Norte and Kunene. At the grassroots level, it carried out direct MRE activities in communities, schools and camps for the internally displaced in order to teach the populations how to live with the danger of mines and UXO in the provinces of Bengo and Kuando Kubango. In the course of these activities, HI gathers data about landmine and UXO accidents, trains “awareness agents” and key people in local networks (churches, traditional leaders, local authorities, journalists, etc.), and produces materials for these activities.

MAG is currently running the community liaison and mine awareness capacity in Luena and in Cunene. After MAG’s program suspension in 1998, these teams had continued working with funding and administrative support from SCF-US and Medico International.[135]

World Vision, CARE, IFRC, and Africare have also conducted mine awareness during 2000 and 2001.[136]

Landmine Casualties

Angola continues to have a high landmine casualty rate. In the year 2000, a total of 407 landmine incidents were recorded, 79 fewer than in 1999.[137] The 407 incidents resulted in 840 casualties, including 388 people killed and 452 injured. The provinces recording the highest number of casualties were Malange with 172, followed by Moxico with 132, Bie with 113, and Uige with 106. Of the 840 casualties, 415 were caused by antipersonnel mines (49 percent), 270 by antivehicle mines (32 percent), 131 by UXOs (16 percent), and 24 were unknown (3 percent).[138]

Seventy percent of the casualties were civilians.[139] Displaced people fleeing the conflict represented over 50 percent of the total number of casualties. The age group most affected were 19- to 35-year-olds (representing 45 percent of all victims). There has been a decline in recorded casualties of children, from 82 in 1999 to 65 in 2000.[140]

Landmines continue to kill and maim in 2001. In June 2001, the NGO Huila Youth Group reported that since January in northern and eastern Huambo province there had been 27 landmine incidents resulting in seven deaths.[141] In Luena, Moxico province from January to May 2001, 29 mine incidents occurred.[142]

In June 2001, the director of an NGO, Fundo de Apoio Social, was killed when her vehicle hit a mine on a road three kilometers from Huambo. Several other people were reportedly killed or injured. The incident occurred in an area that had recently been mined by government troops to protect an Angolan military-industrial complex.[143]

On 15 July 2001, the governor of the southern Angolan province of Cunene, Pedro Mutinde, was seriously injured in a landmine explosion in the Humbe region, located in the central part of the province. Also slightly wounded were the Angolan Consul to the Namibian province of Oshakati, Quintino Chamuefelin, and a financial official of the provincial government of Cunene, who were in Mutinde's car. According to the report, the accident happened when the governor's car triggered a landmine laid in the 1980s by South African troops.[144]

Survivor Assistance

In August 2000, the Angolan government hosted a Southern African Development Community (SADC) seminar in Luanda on mine victim assistance with participants from across SADC.[145] However, no NGOs working on the issue in Angola were formally invited.[146]

Angola remains a desperately poor country in which few facilities are available for the physically disabled. Civilian survivor assistance in Angola consists mostly of physical rehabilitation, provided by international NGOs. However, the provision of any type of assistance, particularly outside major cities, has been significantly affected by the ongoing conflict. The Ministry of Health operates ten centers providing rehabilitation services for the disabled, including landmine casualties. These centers are supported by the ICRC (3), Handicap International Belgium (3), German Technical Cooperation (2), Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation/Veterans International (1), and INTERSOS (1).

In 2000, the ICRC focused on improving patient services, including making centers more accessible and achieving a better quality of fit and longer durability of prostheses. Physical rehabilitation services were provided for patients, who received 2,366 prostheses (80 percent of the amputees were mine victims). Access to the center in Luanda was improved through providing transportation for 99 amputees from Malange and by covering part of the travel costs of 350 other patients. Two thousand posters were also distributed in the main provinces. The ICRC also provided components for 3,500 prostheses to the seven centers supported by NGOs. During 2000, the ICRC phased out its production of prosthetic components in Haumbo and these were replaced by low-cost imported components that were of better quality and had a longer lifespan. The ICRC provided training for 55 technicians, including fourteen physiotherapy staff.[147]

The Angolan government and other NGOs are opposed to imported components from Europe.  Apparently, the government expressed these views to the ICRC.  From 2002, the components will no longer be provided free but NGOs will have to pay for them.  The preferred option is local production and building local capacities.

Handicap International (Belgium)[148] operates three physical rehabilitation workshops in the country (Benguela, Lubango, and Negage), as well as a project producing prosthetic rubber feet in Viana. In 2000, the three orthopedic centers provided 899 disabled persons with a prosthesis, repaired 868 prostheses and distributed 1,813 pairs of crutches. The Viana prosthetic foot workshop is able to produce and distribute 700 feet per month. The technical staff is trained and competent in management and implementing production. In 2000, a total of 7,827 prosthetic feet were produced and 5,440 feet were distributed to all the orthopedic centers (10) in Angola. Orthopedic centers supported by HI-B in Angola have reached a good technical level in prosthetic production, and in patients’ physical rehabilitation. In 2001, HI-B continues the support to the Benguela, Negage and Lubango orthopedic centers, and the Viana foot factory. The budget for 2000 was US$1,502,000. The main donors include AUSTCARE, DGCI, Italian Cooperation, EU (DG8), Netherlands Cooperation, UNHCR, and Irish Aid. The estimated budget for 2001 is US$1,310,000.

The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation/Veterans International (VVAF/VI) has through its Regional Community Rehabilitation Center in Luena treated 900 people, including 2,000 physiotherapy treatments since 1997. In 2000, the center fitted 200 patients, including 65 new landmine survivors.[149]

INTERSOS is implementing an 18-month project supporting a prosthetic and rehabilitation center in Menongue, Cuando Cubango province. Funded by the European Union (430,000 Euros – approx US$374,000) and Italian Cooperation (300,000 Euros – approx US$260,000) and INTERSOS itself with the local NGO Mbwembwa (70,000 Euros – approx US$60,000). The program has trained nine nurses to be orthopedic technicians (four) and physiotherapists (five). Mbwembwa organised training and assisted patients on reintegration into the community and on becoming productive in the local economy.[150]

For many landmine survivors in Angola the opportunities for earning a living are very limited. The future consists of being cared for by their families; many have been reduced to begging. In a country with one of the highest rates of landmine casualties in the world – it is estimated that one in every 415 Angolans has a mine related injury – the availability of services to assist in social and economic rehabilitation are either non-existent or inadequate to meet the need.[151]

The HI-B rehabilitation centers in Benguela and Lubango provide assistance in socio-economic reintegration and vocational training. In Lubango, five groups of disabled people have been granted micro-credits to establish businesses. The centers also provide psychosocial support to patients. HI-B has identified local NGO ADRA to take over the supervision of the micro-credit project.  ADRA will train the Ministry of Social Reintegration's staff in management of micro-credit.  Over the coming four years, 150 disabled persons, including landmine survivors, and their families should benefit from the project.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) project for disabled people including landmine survivors in Luena focuses on socio-economic reintegration. Activities include: upgrading carpentry skills for all students trained since 1996 (16 amputees) as well as business management training; a partnership with the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration (MINARS) in dressmaking (16 students) was completed in June 2001; a micro-credit project for amputee women (starting with five women, increasing to 20) started in May 2001; a literacy course for 40 women aged 18-30 starting in June 2001; visiting recent amputees in the hospital; and follow up with amputees assisted in the past. The project is funded with US$55,000 from TROCAIRE.[152]

Since 1996, Medico International (MI) has shared the premises at the Regional Community Rehabilitation Center in Luena with VVAF/VI and JRS. MI's program focuses on community development with the aim of full reintegration of mine survivors into the community. The program is being implemented, since January 2000, by a local NGO, Support Center for the Promotion and Development of Communities (CAPDC). Activities include the development of sports and cultural activities. Another part of the program involves a “Client-Team,” that works with survivors at home, with their families and neighborhood, in the hospitals, invites them to the Prostheses Workshop, accompanies them during fitting and training (more than 500 so far) and undertakes follow-up visits. The team also organizes referrals for vocational or for literacy-training, and access to assets and training for agriculture and small animal husbandry etc. The program also helps the children of mine survivors with school enrolment, and due to the emergency situation operates community kitchens for malnourished children and adults, many of whom are mine survivors.[153]

In early 2001, the UK-based Jaipur Limb Campaign, which provides assistance to disabled in Mozambique, visited Angola to conduct a feasibility study. The Anglican Church in Luanda hosted their visit, which was supported by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.[154]

In 2000, following an assessment visit by representatives of the European Union, the national authorities adopted a new five-year plan for physical rehabilitation.[155]

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[87] Statement by Vice Minister of External Relations, Toko Serrao, to the National Assembly, 25 July 2000. Translation from Portuguese to English by ICBL. Law 60/90 requires consultation with all relevant state bodies before an international treaty is entered into.
[88] Letter from Ambassador Jose Goncalves Martina Patricio, Permanent Mission of the Angola to the UN, New York, to Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator, ICBL, 24 August 2000.
[89] Ministerio das Relacoes Exteriores, “Assunto: Minas Anti Pessoal, ao Handicap Internacional,” N Ref. 1821/SGMRE/00, 6 October 2000.
[90] Interview with Leonardo Sapalo, INAROEE, Bamako, 15 February 2001.
[91] Mission Permanente de La Republique D’Angola Aupres D L’Office Des Nations Unies A Geneve, “Declaration De La Delegation Angolaise A La Deuxieme Conference Des Etats – Parties A La Convention D’Ottawa Sur L’Interdiction Des Mines Anti-Personnel,” Geneva, 12 September 2000. (Unofficial translation from French by Landmine Monitor.)
[92] The Landmine Monitor researcher attended the National Assembly event in Luanda on 30 November 2000. INAOEE, ICRC, Handicap International (France), CARE, National Assembly, UNICEF, MEC, Julu, Minessa, World Vision, Lardef, Gac and CDR supported the event.
[93] Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), mine action NGO, on its website at:
www.angola.npaid.org/minelist_complete_angola.htm, seen on 10 July 2001.
[94] Landmine Monitor was shown these mines by FAA commanders at Catumbela, Benguela, 15 August 2000.
[95] For detail on use in Angola, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 131-143 and Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 113-117.
[96] Introductory Statement by Ibrahim Gambari, for “Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Office in Angola,” New York, 27 July 2000.
[97] Mission Permanente de La Republique D’Angola Aupres D L’Office Des Nations Unies A Geneve, “Declaration De La Delegation Angolaise A La Deuxieme Conference Des Etats – Parties A La Convention D’Ottawa Sur L’Interdiction Des Mines Anti-Personnel,” Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[98] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2000: Angola, February 2001.
[99] Landmine Monitor bases this on the testimony it has received from mine action organizations, humanitarian aid workers, and local communities.
[100] Interviews in Malange city and in Luena, May 2001.
[101] Telephone interview with Alan MacDonald, Angola Desk officer, HALO Trust, Thornhill, 13 July 2001.
[102] Interview with a deminer in Luena, May 2001.
[103] “Mina Mata,” Jornal de Angola, 5 July 2001.
[104] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2000: Angola, February 2001.
[105] Telephone interview with Alan MacDonald, Angola Desk officer, HALO Trust, Thornhill, 13 July 2001.
[106] Interview with Leonardo Sapalo, INAROEE, Bamako, 15 February 2001.
[107] Ibid.
[108] UN Mine Action Service, Mine Action Investment Database.
[109] See mine action funding sections of country reports on Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and US, as well as EC. Landmine Monitor Report 2000 compiled information showing commitment of $17.4 million to mine action in Angola in 2000, though some of those funds may have been spent in 2001. Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 136-138.
[110] Information provided by INAROEE to Landmine Monitor, Luanda, August 2001.
[111] Interview with Leonardo Sapalo, Bamako, 15 February 2001.
[112] Information provided by BRZ International, Pretoria, 1 July 2001.
[113] Telephone interview with Alan MacDonald, Angola Desk officer, HALO Trust, Thornhill, 13 July 2001.
[114] Ibid.
[115] Funded by the European Union and Italian government with 1.7 million Euros.
[116] Information provided by Intersos, Luanda, May 2001.
[117] “Final Project Report, MgM/WFP B12-nl-b, SO 5887.01,” Luanda, 26 February 2001. Unless otherwise indicated, the information on MgM came from this Report.
[118] MgM website at: www.MgM.org
[119] “Overview of Results,” Operations Angola 2000, (Ref: BK12us, B11d, B12nl-wfp, JOIN-00), MgM, undated.
[120] “Demining Activity Report,” MgM, April to June 2001.
[121] Ibid.
[122] Ibid.
[123] Ibid.
[124] Information provided via Email from Tim Carstairs, Communications Director, MAG, to Landmine Monitor, 20 July 2001. He noted that the information was compiled in consultation with MAG program managers, team leaders and others in their projects in the field.
[125] Norwegian People’s Aid website at: www.angola.npaid.org.
[126] Data supplied by Steinar Essen, former Program Manager at the Mine Action Program in Angola, Norwegian People’s Aid, July 2001.
[127] Information provided by Thomas Roth in e-mails to Landmine Monitor, 7 July 2001 and 25 July 2001.
[128] See: www.stiftung-sankt-barbara.de.
[129] Information provided by Thomas Roth in e-mail to Landmine Monitor, 7 July 2001
[130] For more information on this specific project and other projects of AMAC go to www.prio.no/amac.
[131] Data provided by UNICEF Luanda, 1 December 2000.
[132] Aparna Swaminatham et al., “Angola Mine Awareness Evaluation: Summary,” UNICEF, DFAIT and CIET, 31 July 2000, p. vii.
[133] Ibid, p. xxvi.
[134] Ibid, p. xxvi.
[135] Email from Tim Carstairs, MAG, to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 20 July 2001.
[136] Information provided by INAROEE, Luanda, 20 June 2001.
[137] INAROEE, Relatorio de Accidentes com Minas Terrestres Ano 2000 (INAROEE: Luanda, 2001).
[138] Ibid.
[139] 590 were civilians, 233 were soldiers and seventeen were unknown.
[140] INAROEE, Relatorio de Accidentes com Minas Terrestres Ano 2000 (INAROEE: Luanda, 2001).
[141] “Angola: Land mine incidents claim seven lives in Huambo since January,” ANGOP (state news agency), 25 June 2001.
[142] “Dados Estatistica de amputados: CAPDC Luena,” 16 May 2001.
[143] Information provided by MSF Netherlands, based on meeting with US Embassy, 6 June 2001, and confirmed by other sources in Huambo.
[144] “Angolan Provincial Governor Injured by Landmine Explosion,” (Luanda), Xinhua News Agency, 16 July 2001.
[145] INAROEE, Caminho Seguro, Julho-Setembro 2000, p.6.
[146] Interviews with UNICEF and NPA, Luanda, 5 August 2000.
[147] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Unit – Annual Report 2000, www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf
[148] The following information on the work of Handicap International (Belgium) is provided by Pierre Hublet, HI-B, in an email dated 23 July 2001; also telephone interview with Bruno Leclerq, HI-B, 13 July 2001.
[149] Information provided by Mike Kendellen, Program Manager for Post War Rehabilitation, VVAF, in email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) on 24 July 2001.
[150] Information provided by Intersos, Luanda, June 2001.
[151] Angola has a population of about 11 million people. See also, Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 150.
[152] Interview with Mr. James Ngawo, JRS Landmine Survivors Project Coordinator, 15 May 2001.
[153] Email from Sebastian Kasack, medico international, to Landmine Monitor, 26 July 2001.
[154] Jaipur Limb Campaign News, Issue no. 7, July 2001.
[155] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Unit – Annual Report 2000, www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf.