LM Report 2001

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GUATEMALA

Key developments since May 2000: Clearance of unexploded ordnance in the northern areas of El Quiché department was completed in March 2001; clearance of all 13 departments considered high risk is scheduled for completion by 2004. There were no reported casualties in 2000 or 2001. Guatemala submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 2 March 2001.

Mine Ban Policy

Guatemala signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 26 March 1999 and the treaty entered into force on 1 September 1999. In 1997 Guatemala passed national legislation to ban antipersonnel mines, Legislative Decree 106-97, which prohibits the production, purchase, sale, importation, exportation, transit, use or possession of antipersonnel mines or UXO (explosive artifacts) or their composite parts.^[1]

Guatemala submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 2 March 2001, covering the years 1999 and 2000.

Guatemala attended the Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2000, as well as the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. In November 2000, Guatemala participated in the Regional Seminar on Stockpile Destruction in the Americas, in Buenos Aires. Also in November, Guatemala voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V supporting the Mine Ban Treaty.

Guatemala is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not yet ratified Amended Protocol II on landmines. Guatemala participated in the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2000, as an observer.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Guatemala has not produced or imported antipersonnel landmines, and it has no stockpile.^[2] According to its Article 7 report, Guatemala has not retained any antipersonnel mines for training purposes.^[3] Guatemala has stated that it did not use landmines during its long-running internal war, and there is no concrete evidence to the contrary. The guerrillas of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union (URNG) made limited use of crude, homemade mines and improvised explosive devices during the war.

Mine Action Funding

The OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, through its Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA, Acción Integral Contra las Minas Antipersonal), is responsible for coordinating and supervising the Assistance Program for Demining in Central America (PADCA, Programa de Asistencia al Desminado en Centroamérica), with the technical support of the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB). The IADB is responsible for organizing the team of international supervisors in charge of training and certification. This supervising team is known as the Assistance Mission for Mine Clearance in Central America (MARMINCA, Misión de Asistencia para la Remoción de Minas en Centroamérica). PADCA and MARMINCA are active in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

In 2000 the annual budget for the OAS regional program was $7.6 million, financed by Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and the UK.^[4] Between June 2000 and May 2001 financial contributions totalled approximately $6 million.^[5] According to the OAS, Italy and the Russian Federation have joined the donors group in 2001, while Switzerland is no longer listed.

According to the OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, the annual budget for the OAS Guatemala program was $750,000 and the government of Guatemala contributed an additional $115,000.^[6] The Association of Volunteer Firefighters (Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios) is responsible for administering these funds.

Guatemala contributes to mine clearance efforts in the region, as do Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, the United States and Venezuela.^[7] Guatemala currently contributes personnel to PADCA.

Landmine/UXO Problem

In February 1999, a senior Guatemalan military official told Landmine Monitor that there were probably only hundreds of landmines that still posed a threat in Guatemala.^[8] In its March 2001 Article 7 report, Guatemala stated that no zones were mined or were suspected of being mined.^[9]

Unexploded ordnance still poses dangers to civilians. Thirteen departments are considered at high-risk (Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Escuintla, Huehuetenango, Petén, Quetzaltenango, Quiché, Retalhulehu, San Marcos, Solola, Suichitepequez and Totonicpan) and another two departments are considered low-risk (Jutiapa and Santa Rosa).^[10] In 1997 the government estimated that there were between 5,000 and 8,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance in Guatemala.^[11] In February 2001, the PADCA Guatemala Coordinator estimated 5,000 UXO remained.^[12] Most of the UXO contaminated land is agricultural, however, explosive artefacts have been found within communities. The economic impact of UXO is reflected in the low level of agricultural productivity in the 13 high-risk departments. The population in these departments is estimated at 300,000.^[13]

Mine/UXO Clearance

In 1995, a Demining Coordinating Committee (Comisión Coordinadora de Desminado) was established by Legislative Decree 60-95.^[14] In 1997, Guatemala established an Executive Coordinating Unit (UCE, Unidad Coordinadora Ejecutiva), which prepared a “National Plan for Demining and the Destruction of Unexploded Ordnance.”^[15] It is under the auspices of this plan that the OAS and IADB are now assisting Guatemala with its demining and UXO clearing efforts.

According to the OAS, PADCA clearance operations continued in 2000 and 2001 with the participation of the Association of Volunteer Firefighters, the Guatemalan Army, reintegrated former UNRG members and MARMINCA personnel.^[16] Clearance in Ixcán, El Quiché department, was completed in January 2000 and the Demining Coordinating Committee officially handed this cleared land over to the community.^[17] In March 2000 clearance of five municipalities in Ixil, in the northern part of El Quiché department started.^[18] This clearance in Ixil was completed in March 2001. In April 2001, clearance began in the southern part of El Quiché department, and clearance of all of El Quiché department was due for completion in June 2001.^[19] Clearance in San Marcos department started in June 2001.

According to the national demining plan, clearance of the high-risk 13 departments is scheduled for completion by 2004.^[20] Program completion is projected for 2005.^[2]2

The civilian Association of Volunteer Firefighters (Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios) plays a key role in mine action, with 38 people engaged in activities including mine awareness education, obtaining information from the community on suspected mined areas, investigating and locating mines and other explosive artifacts. They mark the mines and UXO and the Army destroys them where they are found.^[22] In 2000 the firefighters located 80 UXO, which the Army subsequently destroyed.^[23] According to the firefighters, there is a concern that community members remove UXO themselves, which they sometimes present to the Army for destruction or else just throw away.^[24]

Mine Awareness

According to the OAS, the high concentration of UXO across the country and the lack of a documented registry required an integrated mine risk awareness campaign through which dangerous zones can be identified.^[25] Firefighters and former combatants are currently conducting this campaign, in conjunction with clearance operations.

The Association of Volunteer Firefighters conduct mine awareness education using TV, radio, and the print media, with support of the OAS and with some logistical and financial assistance provided by the government. In 2000, the firefighters conducted mine awareness education in 163 communities in northern El Quiché department.^[26] To date an estimated 50,000 people in these in 163 communities have received mine awareness education from the volunteer firefighters.

In October 2000 the OAS PADCA Guatemala program together with a local communications company, Grupo 2, shared a UNICEF Award for Communication for the “Let’s not play with death” public awareness campaign.^[27] President Alfonso Portillo attended the awards ceremony on 3 October 2000.

Landmine Casualties

There were no new mine or UXO casualties reported in 2000 or 2001.^[28] Officials caution that they cannot be certain “because sometimes people go to hospitals but do not give the information to us.”^[29] According to the volunteer firefighters, since 1994 approximately 15 people have been hurt by landmines or UXO; before that no records were kept.^[30]

Survivor Assistance

UNICEF has been supporting the rehabilitation of mine victims in Guatemala since 1999 through the provision of training for the Ministry of Health, in prosthetics and orthotics, occupational therapy and vocational rehabilitation and reintegration.^[31] According to UNICEF, the objectives of the Mine Victim Assistance in Guatemala project are to undertake community-based education, information training and communication programs on rehabilitation treatment for mine victims.^[32] For 2001 the project had a budget of $194,444.^[33]

The Asociación Guatemalteca de Rehabilitación (AGREL), founded in 1960, reports that it provides rehabilitation services for 30 patients a day, including amputees from the internal armed conflict.^[34] AGREL is attempting to outfit a new prosthetic and orthotic workshop that attends to low-income populations and those without social security, and to have new technicians trained.

The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR), a U.S. NGO, has designed short-term courses for professionals from the rehabilitation sector and is targeting specific facilities and organizations to receive technical assistance and training.^[35] Based on a survey in Escuintla district near Guatemala City, CIR was designing a specific victim assistance and rehabilitation program that it would replicate throughout the country in coordination with the Ministry of Health. CIR also designed a workshop to assist with the development of a coordinated National Program for Community Based Rehabilitation.

The OAS, along with Transitions, a Guatemalan NGO, has supported an independent hostel for disabled youths, who receive health care, and educational and employment counselling and training.^[36] This program also supports a resource library, and offers counselling and support to the wider community of disabled people.

On 18-19 June 2001, Guatemalan prosthetics technicians attended the First Regional Conference on Victim Assistance, Rehabilitation and Technologies, organized by the OAS and the CIR, in Managua.^[37]

Canada and Israel continued their support to a two-year victim assistance project in the country.^[38] A total of Can$200,000 (about US$134,000) has been disbursed to the Queen’s University [Canada] International Centre for Community Based Rehabilitation to educate community members and health professionals on the principles and strategies of community-based rehabilitation. The Development Study Centre of Israel is providing training on social and economic rehabilitation of survivors.

The Army provides assistance for its war-wounded veterans through the Centro de Atención al Desacapacitado del Ejercito de Guatemala (CADEJ).

^[1] This and a range of other national implementation measures are described in the Article 7 report. Article 7 report, Form A, 2 March 2001.
^[2] Article 7 report, Form B, Form D and Form H, 2 March 2001.
^[3] Article 7 report, Form D, 2 March 2001.
^[4] Email from Jhosselin Bakhat, Organization of American States, 20 June 2000.
^[5] OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implentación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1, 7 May 2001.
^[6] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, Guatemala City, 26 February 2001.
^[7] OAS web site, www.upd.oas.or/demining/contributing.htm, visited June 2001.
^[8] Interview with General Pérez Molina, IADB, Washington DC, 19 February 1999.
^[9] Article 7 report, Form C, 2 March 2001.
^[10] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, Guatemala City, 24 July 2001.
^[11] Republic of Guatemala, Legislative Commission for Peace Studies, Executive Coordination Unit, “National Plan for Demining and the Destruction of Unexploded Ordnance,” November 1997.
^[12] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, Guatemala City, 26 February 2001.
^[13] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, Guatemala City, 24 July 2001.
^[14] “La Comisión Coordinadora para el "Programa para la Reducción de Riesgos a los Habitantes de Zonas Afectadas por el Enfrentamiento Armado, a través del Rastreo y Desactivación de Minas y otros Artefactos Explosivos.” Article 7 report, Form A, 2 March 2001.
^[15] The National Demining Commission created in 1995 by Legislative Decree 60-95 is a high level Commission and its President is a Deputy of the Guatemalan Congress. The Deputy occupying the Presidency changes on an annual basis as the Guatemalan Congress redistributes leadership for National Commissions. Given the high level and institutional turnover, in 1997 a small executive coordination unit (the Executive Coordinating Unit) was established to provide both continuity and to operationalize the mine action efforts of the Guatemalan and international institutions who participate in the national program. The Commission would normally meet within the Congress. The Executive Coordinator is “off site,” physically present in the Mine Action Center with PADCA representatives. The arrangement facilitates day-to-day planning and execution of the mine action program by operational level representatives of the Association of Volunteer Firefighters, the Army Engineer Corps, former URNG combatants serving as guides, the OAS Coordinator and IADB technical supervisors. Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from William McDonough, Coordinator, PACDA, Organization of American States, 26 July 2001.
^[16] OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implentación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1, 7 May 2001.
^[17] Article 7 report, Form A, 2 March 2001.
^[18] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA, 24 July 2001.
^[19] Ibid.
^[20] Ibid.
^[2]1 Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from William McDonough, Coordinator, PACDA, Organization of American States, 26 July 2001.
^[22] Interview with Officer Sergio Vasquez, Public Relations Officer for Mine Clearance, Association of Volunteer Firefighters, Guatemala City, 10 March 2000.
^[23] Interview with Miguel Antonio Panadero, Director of Public Relations, Association of Volunteer Firefighters, Guatemala City, 8 February 2001.
^[24] Ibid.
^[25] OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implentación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1, 7 May 2001.
^[26] Interview with Miguel Antonio Panadero, Association of Volunteer Firefighters, 24 July 2001.
^[27] OAS News, “Guatemala Mine-clearing program wins UNICEF award,” October 2000; OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implentación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1, 7 May 2001.
^[28] Interview with Guillermo Pacheco, OAS PADCA Guatemala Coordinator, Guatemala, 26 February 2001.
^[29] Telephone interview with Officer Sergio Vasquez, 3 April 2000.
^[30] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 274.
^[31] UNICEF, “Country Programmes: Guatemala,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April 2001, p.131.
^[32] UNICEF, “Mine Victim Assistance in Guatemala,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April 2001, p.132.
^[33] Ibid.
^[34] ICBL Working Group on Victim Assistance and Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, “Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs,” www.landminevap.org.
^[35] ICBL Working Group on Victim Assistance and Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, “Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs,” www.landminevap.org.
^[36] OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la implentación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1, 7 May 2001; Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from William McDonough, Organization of American States, 26 July 2001.
^[37] “Ayudarán más a víctimas de minas antipersonales. Primera conferencia regional de rehabilitación y tecnología,” El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua), 19 June 2001.
^[38] Canadian Foreign Affairs “Safelane” web site, Report on Central America, published 29 June 2000, last modified 27 March 2001.

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