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Country Reports

LM Report 2001

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	Select a country ... -STATES PARTIES- Australia Bangladesh Cambodia Fiji Japan Kiribati Malaysia Maldives Nauru New Zealand Niue Philippines Samoa Solomon Islands Thailand -SIGNATORIES- Brunei Darussalam Cook Islands Indonesia Marshall Islands Vanuatu -NON-SIGNATORIES- Afghanistan Bhutan Burma (Myanmar) China India DPR Korea Rep. of Korea Lao PDR Fed. Stat. of Micronesia Mongolia Nepal Pakistan Palau Papua New Guinea Singapore Sri Lanka Tonga Tuvalu Vietnam -OTHER- East Timor Taiwan

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JAPAN

Key developments since May 2000: Japan has served as the co-chair of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Standing Committee on Victim Assistance since September 2000. Japan destroyed more than 220,000 antipersonnel mines by the end of February 2001, and expects to destroy an additional 380,000 by the end of February 2002. After increasing significantly to $13.2 million in 1999, Japanese mine action funding decreased to $11.86 million in 2000. On 26 December 2000, Japan announced a new commitment to provide 500 million yen for research and development of new demining technology.

Mine Ban Policy Production, Transfer, Use Stockpiling and Destruction US Antipersonnel Mines in Japan Mine Action Funding Bilateral Mine Action Contributions in 2000

Mine Ban Policy

Japan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 September 1998. The ratification law also constituted domestic implementation legislation, and took effect on 1 March 1999. Japan’s continued commitment toward a mine ban was demonstrated by the appointment on 1 December 2000 of Hisami Kurokouchi, former Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, as Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the Problems of Mines.^[1] In noting her recent appointment, Japan’s Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament stated, “Japan is determined to continue to play a leading role in the global efforts to tackle these persistent problems caused by mines.”^[2]

Japan together with Nicaragua has served as the co-chair of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Intersessional Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, Socio-Economic Reintegration and Mine Awareness since the Second Meeting of States Parties (SMSP) in September 2000. It will continue in that role until the September 2001 Third Meeting of States Parties. Japan and Nicaragua had been co-rapporteurs of that committee from May 1999-September 2000. After her appointment as Special Advisor on Mines, Ambassador Kurokouchi assumed the role of co-chairperson of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance. Japan was an active participant in the December 2000 and May 2001 intersessional meetings.

At the SMSP, Ambassador Seiichiro Norboru remarked, “The partnership effectuated between the governments and civil society has been extremely effective in promoting and accelerating the prohibition of landmines, demining, as well as enhancing victim assistance during the past three years.”^[3]

Japan voted in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

On 21 June 2001, Japan submitted its third annual Article 7 transparency report, which was due on 30 April 2001. It included information under optional Form J.

Japan is a State Party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). Japan attended the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2000. In its statement to the Conference, Japan expressed support for negotiating an international ban on transfer of antipersonnel mines either through the CCW or the Conference on Disarmament.^[4] Japan submitted its annual report as required by Article 13 of Amended Protocol II on 8 November 2000.

NGOs remained active in promoting a mine ban in 2000 and 2001. On the occasion of the Kyushu/Okinawa Summit Meeting from 21 to 23 July 2000, the Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL) organized a symposium on antipersonnel landmines stockpiled in the US base in Okinawa. The symposium was attended by, among others, Tun Channareth, ICBL Ambassador from Cambodia. The Korea Campaign to Ban Landmines also spoke of its mine ban activities and shared concerns regarding stockpiled landmines at US bases. Also during the Summit, JCBL opened a booth in the government-sponsored NGO Center and distributed materials concerning the mine ban, and gave briefings on landmines issue to government officials and journalists.

In November 2000, the ICBL/Landmine Monitor Regional Meeting was held in Tokyo in preparation for Landmine Monitor Report 2001. The meeting was organized by the Association for Aid and Relief, Japan (AAR) in cooperation with JCBL. In a related event, participants went to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to speak at a “Landmine Monitor Seminar for the Universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty,” sponsored and organized by MOFA, the Center for the Promotion of Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of the Japan Institute of International Affairs and AAR. In addition to Japanese government officials and members of Parliament, representatives attended from the governments of Canada, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, Norway, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Finland, Mexico, and Laos.

The Executive Summary of Landmine Monitor Report 2000 was translated and published into Japanese by the JCBL.

Production, Transfer, Use

Japan stopped production of antipersonnel mines in 1997 and manufacturing facilities were decommissioned by 31 March 1999.^[5] Japan has never exported antipersonnel mines and has not used antipersonnel mines since the establishment of the Defense Force in 1954.

Stockpiling and Destruction

Before Japan began its destruction program, it held 1,000,089 antipersonnel mines in stock. At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction in Geneva on 10 May 2001, the Japanese representative announced that Japan had destroyed more than 220,000 antipersonnel mines by the end of fiscal year 2000 (end February 2001), and expected to destroy an additional 380,000 by the end of fiscal year 2001 (end February 2002). A letter from the Japan Defense Agency (JDA) to the JCBL was more specific on the destruction schedule: 222,360 by the end of February 2001, another 382,680 by the end of February 2002, and the final 380,049 by the end of February 2003.^[6] The treaty requires Japan to complete destruction by 28 February 2003.

Japan plans to retain 15,000 antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes.^[7] This is among the highest number of mines retained by any state party. Japan has said that the mines would be utilized over a ten-year period for “training and education for safer and more effective mine detection and mine clearance. Also, if it becomes necessary to develop some equipment for mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction, Japan may test such equipment to ensure their proper functioning.”^[8] Japan reported that it had “consumed” 1,148 of the retained mines in 1999, and 1,339 in 2000, leaving 12,513 at the end of December 2000.^[9]

The following tables show a schedule of the destruction program that Japan intends to implement as well as the number and types of landmines Japan intends to destroy.^[10]

Stockpile Destruction Schedule

Stockpiled as of 1 March 1999	1,000,089
Destroyed for Test as of 31 Dec 99	75
Used for Training Purposes as of 31 Dec 00	2,487
Destroyed by the end of February 2001[11]	222,285
Stockpiled for Training Purposes as of 1 Jan 01	12,513
Stockpiled as of 1 March 2001	762,729
To Be Destroyed by the end of February 2002 (Contracted)	382,680
To Be Destroyed by the end of February 2003 (To Be Confirmed)	380,049

Number of Antipersonnel Landmines by Type

Type	Stockpiled December 1999	Used for training purposes	To be destroyed under 1999 contract	Destroyed January 2000 to February 2001	To be destroyed under 2000 contract	To be destroyed under 2001 contract
63	28,573	2,746	9,232	9,157	8,350	8,320
67	586,232	2,772	151,544	151,544	215,958	215,958
80	326,213	2,782	52,812	52,812	135,310	135,309
87	8,152	2,780	2,772	2,772	2,600	-
M3	49,696	2,772	6,000	6,000	20,462	20,462
Total	998,866	13,852	222,360	222,285	382,680	380,049

The total amount contracted by the Japan Defense Agency in FY 1999 to destroy 222,360 landmines was Japanese Yen (JPY) 419,951,000 (about US$3.5 million, or $16 per mine). The total contracted amount in FY 2000 to destroy 382,680 landmines was JPY 817,126,000 (about US$7,782,000 or $20 per mine). The total contracted amount in FY 2001 had not yet been disclosed at the time this report was written. JPA contracted with three private firms for stock destruction in FY 1999 and FY 2000. The total amount contracted with each firm is indicated in the following table.^[12]

Contracts for Stockpile Destruction FY1999 – FY 2000

Unit: 1,000 USD (1,000 Japanese yen)

(Japanese Fiscal Year is 1 April to 31 March) (1 USD = 120 yen in 1999, 105 yen in 2000)

US Antipersonnel Mines in Japan

Japan did not report in any of its three Article 7 reports the presence of US antipersonnel mines in Japan. The US is believed to have some 115,000 self-destructing antipersonnel mines stored in Japan, and perhaps some portion of the 1.2 million non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines that the US is retaining for use in Korea.^[13] Japan has said that it does not have “jurisdictional authority,” so “it continues to be feasible for the US forces to retain any antipersonnel mines withheld and stockpiled in the US bases in Japan.”^[14] Japan has also said with regard to US transiting of mines across Japanese territory, “because we approve the possession of landmines by the US forces stationed in Japan, it would not be necessary to request a prior notification, and thus the government has no intention of doing so.”^[15]

Mine Action Funding

The following table shows the total amount of mine action funding provided by Japan between 1998 and 2000.^[16] After increasing significantly from $8.7 million in 1998 to $13.2 million in 1999, Japanese mine action funding fell about 10 percent to $11.86 million in 2000. In 2000, nearly 89% of spending went to mine clearance, 10% to victim assistance, and 1.5% to mine awareness; similar priorities were reflected in spending in 1998 and 1999.

After three years, Japan has contributed about 41% of its five-year 10 billion yen target for mine action.

Japan’s Mine Action Funding 1998-2000 (calendar year)

In Thousands of USD

The Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines has encouraged the government to restructure its assistance to allow long-term financial commitment, with a greater emphasis on funding for victim assistance and non-governmental organizations. In a November 2000 statement to the UN General Assembly, the government said, “Since mine action in post-conflict countries usually starts with mine clearance, we have accumulated extensive experience and resources in that area. But Japan thinks that it is time also to emphasize the importance of victim assistance, in order truly to enhance the well-being of people in mine-affected countries.”^[17]

In the year 2000, Japan contributed most of its mine action funds on a bilateral basis, rather than a multilateral basis as in previous years. The most significant portion of bilateral assistance was made to Cambodia. The means by which Japan contributed its funding for mine action are illustrated in the next table.

Means By Which Funds Were Contributed 1998-2000 (calendar year)

In Thousands of USD

The following table shows contributions Japan has made through international organizations and other multilateral channels between January and October 2000

Multilateral Mine Action Contributions in 2000

Total of Multilateral Aid: $3,304,000

In addition to the above, the government of Japan dispatched experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC). The experts included an advisor in charge of maintenance and transportation technology, a senior advisor in charge of capacity building in information systems, and a planning formulation advisor for demining and the support of self-help for demobilized military personnel. Also, the government of Japan dispatched a JICA team for a project formulation study on demining related activities and other sectors to Mozambique from September to October 2000.^[18]

In a November 2000 statement to the UN General Assembly, Japan said that it “expects UNMAS to serve as a focal point for the coordination of mine action and contributed this year 400,000 US dollars to strengthen it.”^[19]

Bilateral Mine Action Contributions in 2000

On 26 December 2000, Japan announced a new commitment to provide 500 million yen for research and development of new demining technology.^[20] The plan also includes increased funding for NGO initiatives in demining. The JCBL expressed concerns about the initiative,^[21] believing that it would benefit primarily private companies and that Japan would not have competitive advantage in development of demining equipment over experienced Western countries.

NGO Mine Action Activities

The JBCL initiated a demining socio-economic impact study in Cambodia. From December 2000 to April 2001, a research group composed of Japanese and Cambodian professors and their students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, in cooperation with Mines Advisory Group, carried out the study, assessing the social and economic impact of demining in three selected communities. JCBL has also offered financial support for mine action-oriented research by the Thai Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Korea Campaign to Ban Landmines.^[22]

Humanitarian Orthotic/Prosthetic Endeavour (HOPE) has collaborated with a Japanese NGO, Phnom Penh no Kai, and British NGOs, Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthopedics, Cambodian Trust, POWER and Laotian Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise (COPE), in implementation of victim assistance projects. HOPE has been providing expertise in prosthetics and orthotics and trained local staff in various districts of Cambodia since 1993 and Laos since 1998.^[23]

Association for Aid and Relief-Japan (AAR) has been implementing victim assistance and mine clearance projects in various regions around the globe. In Cambodia, it has been running the Kien Khleang Vocational Training Center for the physically challenged in Phnom Penh since 1993. It also operates a wheelchair production workshop within the center. In Burma/Myanmar, AAR has been supporting the operation of a vocational training center for the physically challenged in Yangon since 1999. In Laos, AAR operates a wheelchair production project at the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation in cooperation with JICA. In Yugoslavia, AAR distributed orthopedic materials and devices to five workshops in Serbia. In Kosovo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan funded a mine/UXO clearance operation implemented by AAR in cooperation with Halo Trust. A Japanese expatriate assigned by AAR headed the operation. Also in Kosovo, AAR implemented a mine awareness project using a “Child to Child” approach. In Afghanistan, AAR initiated a demining project with funds raised from the sales of a book called “Not Mines But Flowers” in Japan.^[24]

The Japanese Red Cross Society is fully funding and implementing the ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Center in Battambang in the western part of Cambodia. A Japanese prosthetist/orthotist is working in the center to assist in training of local staff. Increased efforts have been made to reach victims in remote villages who are physically unable to visit the center.

Japan Alliance for Humanitarian Demining Support (JAHDS), a consortium comprised of over seventy industrial and charity groups, has been supporting projects in Cambodia, Thailand and Kosovo. It donated vehicles and motorcycles, and provided funds to a British NGO in 2000. It has been developing a mine detector in cooperation with some Japanese companies. They completed a one-year demining project in Cambodia in February 2001, and cleared 25 hectares of mined land.^[25]

Cambodia Mines-Remove Campaign provided funds, amounting to US$5,000 to MAG in support of humanitarian demining in Cambodia. As part of the campaign’s efforts to educate the Japanese public, a study tour to Cambodia as well as workshops and symposiums were organized in Japan. The campaign also organized a cartoon and photographic exhibition, in which 537 cartoons depicting landmine issues by famous illustrators as well as photographs by Japanese photographers were exhibited.^[26]

Japan Demining Action (JDA) has a small team implementing a mine/UXO demining project in Cambodia near the border with Thailand. During the first half of 2000, over one hundred antipersonnel landmines and thirty UXOs were cleared.^[27]

Mulindi Japan One Love Project (MJOLP) is a joint Rwandan/Japanese NGO that supports people with disability in Rwanda. The MJOLP makes prostheses and orthoses free of charge for people who are suffering from mines, polio and other diseases. The MJOLP is constructing a Center for people with disability in Kigali, Rwanda.

^[1] Meeting of Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines, Association for Aid and Relief-Japan, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Special Advisor, Ms. Hisami Kurokouchi, Tokyo, 1 February 2001.
^[2] Statement by HE Mr. Seiichiro Noboru, Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, to the Second Annual Conference of the States Parties to the Amended Protocol II to the CCW, Geneva, 11 December 2000, p. 4.
^[3] Statement by Ambassador Seiichiro Noboru to the Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 11 September 2000, p. 2.
^[4] Statement by HE Mr. Seiichiro Noboru, Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, to the Second Annual Conference of the States Parties to the Amended Protocol II to the CCW, Geneva, 11 December 2000, pp. 3-4.
^[5] Article 7 report, Form E, submitted 27 August 1999.
^[6] Written response to JCBL from the Weapons and Warships Division, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency, 16 February 2001.
^[7] Article 7 reports, Forms D and F, submitted 27 August 1999 and 28 April 2000.
^[8] Statement by Mr. Hisao Yamaguchi to the SCE on Stockpile Destruction, 9 December 1999. See also, written note to JCBL from Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 May 2000.
^[9] Email response to JCBL from Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 June 2001; Article 7 report, Form D, submitted 28 April 2000.
^[10] Written response to JCBL from the Weapons and Warships Division, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency, 16 February 2001.
^[11] Written response to JCBL from the Weapons and Warships Division, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency, 16 February 2001.
^[12] Written response to JCBL from the Weapons and Warships Division, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency, 16 February 2001. 1 USD = 118 yen in 1998, 120 yen in 1999, and 105 yen in 2000.
^[13] See, Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 333. Letter and Fact Sheet from US Department of Air Force, 11^th Wing, to Human Rights Watch, provided in response to Freedom of Information Act request, 26 May 1998. Additional information supplied to Human Rights Watch on confidential basis, 1999.
^[14] Statement of Akio Suda, Deputy Director-General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Proceedings Report No. 6, 25 September 1998, p. 2. For more detail, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 360.
^[15] Statement by Nobutaka Machimura, Parliamentary Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Proceedings Report No. 5, 25 September 1998, p. 9.
^[16] Information provided by Policy Division, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001.
^[17] Statement by HE Mr. Kideaki Kobayashi, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 55^th Session of the General Assembly, Agenda Item 47, New York, 28 November 2000.
^[18] Information provided by Policy Division, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001.
^[19] Statement by HE Mr. Kideaki Kobayashi, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 55^th Session of the General Assembly, Agenda Item 47, New York, 28 November 2000.
^[20] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “New Positive Measures to Clear Antipersonnel Landmines, Key Findings of the Report of the Series of Meetings by Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education, Industries and Trade, Defense Agency and Agency of Science and Technology,” 26 December 2000.
^[21] Letter to Mr. Yoshitaka Akimoto, Chief of Grant Aid Section, Economic Cooperation Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 December 2000.
^[22] For further information contact: JCBL, Mr. Toshiro Shimizu, email: banmines@jca.apc.org.
^[23] For further information contact: HOPE, Mr. Akihiko Kuriyama, email: kuriyama@rehab.go.jp.
^[24] For further information contact: AAR, Ms. Yuki Osa, email: landmine@aarjapan.gr.jp.
^[25] For further information contact: JAHDS, Mr. Hiroshi Tomita, email: fwgi9671@mb.infoweb.ne.jp.
^[26] For further information contact: C.M.C. Kenji Otani, email: c.m.c.@nifty.com.
^[27] For further information contact: JDA, Mr. Shuichi Yamada, email: gojda@aol.com.

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