Key
developments since May 2000: The Australian government announced a
collaborative program with the Australian Network of the ICBL to encourage
universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty in the Southeast Asia region. Australia
was named President of the Review Conference of the CCW. Australia became
co-rapporteur of the Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Stockpile
Destruction. It destroyed another 6,460 previously unrecorded antipersonnel
mines and revised downward the number of antipersonnel mines retained for
training purposes to 7,845. Australia provided clarification that it is a
former producer of antipersonnel mines. Approximately US$6.8 million was
committed or spent on mine action programs in the 2000/2001 fiscal year.
Australia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997, enacted implementation legislation (the Anti-personnel Mines Convention
Act 1998) on 10 December 1998, and deposited its instrument of ratification on
14 January 1999. The treaty entered into force for Australia on 1 July
1999.
Australia participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties (SMSP)
in September 2000 with a delegation led by H.E. Les Luck, Australia’s
Ambassador for Disarmament and Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
and which also included the Coordinator of the Australian Network of the ICBL.
In a statement to the plenary, Ambassador Luck urged States Parties to redouble
their efforts on universalization and announced, “In addition to our
diplomatic representations in the South Pacific, we are working with the
Australian Network of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines to develop a
collaborative program to build support for the Convention among the countries of
South-East Asia.”[289] He
also called for more regular evaluation of mine action assistance programs to
make them more effective and thus “help the people that most need
assistance.”
Australia has been an active participant in the
intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty, attending the December 2000 and
May 2001 meetings. At the SMSP, Australia was named co-rapporteur of the
Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, along with Croatia. Australia is
also part of the “Universalization Contact Group” recognized at the
SMSP. Australia voted for the UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V in support
of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Australia submitted its third Article 7 transparency
report covering the calendar year 2000 on 21 May 2001. The report describes
additional stockpile destruction of 6,460 antipersonnel mines, a reduction of
mines retained for training by 2,155 to 7,845 antipersonnel mines and includes
detailed reporting on victim assistance programs using the new Form J.
The
Australian Government supports the Landmine Monitor initiative and contributed
US$100,000 for Landmine Monitor Report 2001.
A Landmines Working Group
was established in late 2000 to share information on developments in the region
and to consult on activities to be pursued under the collaboration program. The
group meets regularly and includes representatives from the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence, AusAID and the Australian
Network of the ICBL. Activities include, among other things, seminars and
workshops, and the provision of legal and technical advice on ratification
processes and Mine Ban Treaty obligations. Starting in April 2001, AusAID will
contribute $105,260 (A$200,000) over two years to fund activities under the
program.[290]
The Hon.
Senator Kay Patterson, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, continues as
Australia’s Special Representative on Demining.
Australia participated
in the March 2001 UN Asia-Pacific Regional Disarmament Conference in Wellington,
New Zealand, which featured a session on landmines in the region.
CCW
Australia participated as a State Party in the
Second Annual Conference of States Parties to the Amended Protocol II of the
Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in December 2000. While acknowledging
its obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty, Australia reiterated its firm support
for Amended Protocol II. In a statement to the plenary, Australia said the
protocol fulfils an important function because it engages a number of key
producers and users of antipersonnel mines and because it places restrictions
on, and regulates the use of, all mines, both antipersonnel and antivehicle, as
well as booby traps and manually-placed
munitions.[291] At the
preparatory meeting in April 2001, Australia was named President of the
forthcoming Review Conference, with Ambassador Les Luck taking on this
task.
NGO Activities
The Australian Network of the ICBL participated in
the SMSP and most of the intersessional meetings. The joint government-NGO
“Destroy-a-Minefield – Rebuild Lives” initiative, now run by
World Vision Australia, continued with its fundraising and public awareness
campaign. In April 2001, Cambodian campaigners Ny Nhar and Man Sokheum, a
seventeen year-old landmine survivor, toured Australian cities to promote
“Destroy-a-Minefield.” In April and May 2001, the Australian
Network, with assistance from AusAID, hosted a visit to Australia by another
Cambodian campaigner and landmine survivor, ICBL Ambassador Tun
Channareth.
In May 2001, World Vision’s “40 Hour Famine”
gave five percent of funds raised to support mine clearance projects primarily
in Cambodia. Lauren Burns, Australian Olympic Gold Medallist in Taekwondo, was
appointed World Vision’s Ambassador for Landmines in January
2001.[292] In November 2000,
World Vision Australia hosted an international seminar, “Breaking the
Curse: the fight against landmines,” in Melbourne.
On 17 October 2000,
the Australian Network joined with AusAID at the NSW Parliament House to host an
official welcome reception for the Cambodia team to the Paralympic Games. Ten of
the team’s eleven athletes were landmine survivors. Government and
diplomatic representatives and campaigners attended the welcome. The team was
presented with two metal detectors bought with funds raised by the Christian
Centre for Social Action and students from Santa Maria College. Minelab
Electronics donated two more detectors. The event received good media coverage
and a public appeal raised US$5,508 (A$10,465) for the team and US$19,340
(A$36,746) for mine clearance in
Cambodia.[293]
Other recent
initiatives include a petition by the Australian Council for Overseas Aid
(ACFOA) and several Australian NGOs and Sri Lankan community groups, which
collected around 10,000 signatures urging the Australian Government to
energetically lobby Sri Lanka to join the Mine Ban Treaty and for the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam to observe the terms of the
treaty.[294] AusAID provided
funding to display the “Minefields” art exhibition by Australian
artist George Gittoes at the UN Palais des Nations during the SMSP. The
“Minefields” exhibition was also displayed in Sydney in October 2000
during the annual refugee week.
Production
Australia was previously listed by Landmine Monitor
as a country that has never produced antipersonnel mines; however, in September
2000 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Landmine Monitor that this
was incorrect. According to the statement, “The St Mary’s Ammunition
factory, which is now closed, did produce live anti-personnel mines, most
recently during the period of the Vietnam War. The factory also produced
practice (ie inert) mines. This production ceased in the early
1980s.”[295]
Stockpiling and Destruction
Australia destroyed its entire known stockpile of
128,161 antipersonnel mines in five days in September and October 1999, using a
method for stockpile destruction it devised using ammonium nitrate mixed with
diesel fuel.[296] Australia
believes this method is cost-effective and innovative and is willing to share
its expertise and technical data with other countries. Two officers of the
Australian Defence Force visited Peru in June 2000 to provide assistance in
Peru’s stockpile
destruction.[297]
Australia’s
most recent Article 7 report, submitted in May 2001,details additional
stockpile destruction in the reporting period because an improved accounting
system in 2000 revealed that “a quantity of APLs had inadvertently been
omitted” from the initial Article 7 report. These mines, which numbered
6,460, were subsequently destroyed in October and November
2000.[298]
In the Article 7
report, Australia also reported a reduction in the number of antipersonnel mines
retained for training purposes as permitted under Article 3 of the treaty from a
total of 10,000 to 7,845.[299]
The stockpile now consists of 4,009 M14 antipersonnel mines and 3,836 M16
antipersonnel mines in a central location with small numbers in ammunition
depots throughout the country. The report notes, “Stock levels will be
regularly reviewed and assessed. Only a realistic training quantity will be
held, and this will be depleted over time. Stocks in excess of this figure will
be destroyed on an ongoing basis.”
Australia became co-rapporteur of
the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction in September 2000 and will
become co-chair of this committee in September 2001.
Australia retains for
operational use a stockpile of command-detonated Claymore mines.
Mine Action Funding
The Australian government, through its
international development agency AusAID, has committed or spent approximately
US$36.7 million on humanitarian mine action from fiscal year 1995/1996 through
2000/2001.[300] Approximately
US$6.8 million (A$12,932,758) was committed or spent in the 2000/2001 fiscal
year.[301] This is an increase
from A$11,907,969 in fiscal 1999/2000.
Australia has committed
approximately US$19.9 million for the period 2001/2002 through
2004/2005.[302]
Between
November 1999 and November 2000, public donations to the Destroy-a-Minefield
initiative amounted to over US$105,260 (A$200,000) with the government providing
one dollar for every two dollars raised by the
public.[303] From January to
July 2000, the initiative funded mine clearance operations in Cambodia by HALO
Trust and Mines Advisory Group. Phase two of Destroy-a-Minefield commenced in
October 2000 and will continue until December 2002 under the management of World
Vision Australia. In this phase, Chirgwin Services Group, one of two Australian
commercial landmine and UXO clearance companies, cleared the new site of the
“Sunrise Orphanage” just outside Phnom
Penh.[304]
In 2000/2001, the
Australian Defence Force (ADF) is providing on a rotating basis two military
personnel to work as technical advisers to the UN’s Accelerated Demining
Program in Mozambique. The ADF and AusAID meet the costs of this in-kind
commitment
jointly.[305]
There is a
clear geographic priority for mine action funding with particular emphasis on
Australia’s immediate region. From 2001 to 2005 special attention will be
given to mine action funding in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. AusAID staff will
visit all projects to evaluate their effectiveness and assess the impact of
Australia’s humanitarian mine action
activities.[306]
Mine Action Programs
Summary of Expenditure and Commitments for
2000/2001
(US$)[19]
1 January 1996 to 30 June 2001 (in Australian Dollars)
Country
Implementing Organization
Care
Rehabilitation
Social Reintegration
Economic
Reintegration
Other
Angola
ICRC
250,000
Angola
AUSTCARE/Handicap International
953,806
Cambodia
Local NGO
9,888
Cambodia
Australian Red Cross /ICRC
650,000
Cambodia
Australian Red Cross
2,781,699
Cambodia
Local NGO
6,859
Cambodia
Local NGO
3,354
Global
ICRC
2,000,000
Global
ICRC
2,000,000
Global
Medical Association for Prevention of War
44,000
Laos
National Rehabilitation Center
24,362
Laos
World Vision Australia
716,263
Mozambique
Handicap International
72,000
Mozambique
UNDP
5,900,000
Total
$15,412,231
2,250,000
7,180,018
78,859
3,354
5,900,000
Research and Development
The Australian Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO), Minelab Electronics, Tenix Defence Systems, and ADI’s
Engineering and Vehicles Division are developing the “Bushmaster,” a
troop carrier equipped with advanced landmine detection equipment. The
government has contributed US$1.79 million (A$3.4 million) to the
project.[21]
A
Queensland-based ballistics company, Metal Storm, is developing an “area
denial” weapon that could be used instead of antipersonnel
mines.[22] In a deal between
the Australian Army and the US Department of Defense, funding of US$42.6 million
(A$81 million) was made available to Metal Storm in November 2000 to continue
the project.[23]
From 27-29
March 2001, DSTO hosted the “Second Australian-American Joint Conference
on the Technologies of Mine Countermeasures” in
Sydney.[24] Research into mine
and UXO clearance problems and technologies continues at the University of
Western Australia under Professor James
Trevelyan.[25]
Landmine Casualties
While Australia is mine-free, Australian civilians
and military have fallen victim to mines while overseas. No casualties were
recorded during the reporting period. Comprehensive national disability laws
exist including the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
[289] His Excellency Les
Luck, Ambassador for Disarmament and Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, Australian National Statement to the Second Meeting of States Parties
to the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 11-15 September 2000, pp.
4-5.
[290] Email from Todd
Mercer, Executive Officer, International Security Division, Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2 March 2001.
[291] Penelope Burtt, Deputy
Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Australian National
Statement to the Second Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II of
the Convention on Conventional Weapons, Geneva, 11 December
2000.
[292] Email from Diane
Shelton, World Vision Australia, 2 March
2001.
[293] Media coverage
included six current affairs and news programs on television, forty-two radio
stations, and thirteen metropolitan newspapers. See “Cambodian
Paralympians Call for Action on Landmines,” Memorandum 50,
International Campaign to Ban Landmines Australian Network Inc, November 2000.
Email from Diane Shelton, World Vision Australia, 2 March
2001.
[294] “Sri Lanka
Petitions Update,” Memorandum 50, International Campaign to Ban
Landmines Australian Network Inc, November
2000.
[295] Letter from
Richard Maude, A/g Assistant Secretary, Arms Control and Disarmament Branch,
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch
(Landmine Monitor Coordinator), 7 September
2000.
[296] For more details
see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
375.
[297] His Excellency Les
Luck, Ambassador for Disarmament and Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, Australian National Statement to the Second Meeting of States Parties
to the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 11-15 September
2000.
[298] Article 7 report,
Form G, submitted 21 May
2001.
[299] Article 7 report,
Form D, submitted 21 May
2001.
[300] “Mine
Action Expenditure – Notional Cash Flow and Commitments January 1996 to
December 2005,” AusAID report dated 4 July 2001.
[301]
Ibid.
[302]
Ibid.
[303] Email from Brian
Agland, Humanitarian and Emergencies Section, AusAID, 15 January
2001.
[304] The other
commercial company is Milsearch Pty Ltd. The orphanage was established by
expatriate Geraldine Cox and is well known to many Australians. “Canberra
Rotary helps to remove landmines from Cambodia,” Media Release,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator the Hon Kay
Patterson, 28 November
2000.
[305] Email from Brian
Agland, Humanitarian and Emergencies Section, AusAID, 15 January
2001.
[306]
Ibid.
[19] “Mine Action
Expenditure – Notional Cash Flow and Commitments January 1996 to December
2005,” AusAID report dated 4 July
2001.
[20] Article 7 report,
Form J, 21 May 2001.
[21]
“Speeding up the war against landmines,” Media Release 16/2000,
Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 7 December
2000.
[22] “Metal Storm
closer to developing landmine alternative,” AAP Newsfeed, 3 July
2000.
[23] Lisa Southgate,
“Metal Storm bags $81m,” The Australian, 3 November 2000, p.
26.
[24] See
http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/corporate/conferences/minwara/index.html.
[25]
See http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/demining.
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