Key
developments since May 2000: Nicaragua is the host of the Third Meeting of
States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, which takes place from 18 to 21 September
2001 in Managua. Since September 2000, Nicaragua has served as co-chair of the
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance. A total of 70,000 antipersonnel mines
have been destroyed from stockpiles since 1999, and stockpile destruction is
scheduled for completion by December 2002. As of April 2001, a total of 2.1
million square meters of land had been cleared, including 64,874 landmines.
More than 70,000 mines were still in the ground at 369 mined areas along the
border with Honduras and 39 sites in the interior. Mine clearance along
Nicaragua’s border with Costa Rica was reported completed in April 2001.
New mine victims including fatalities are reported in 2001.
Nicaragua signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December
1997, ratified on 30 November 1998 and the treaty entered into force on 1 May
1999. On 7 December 1999 President Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo signed
implementing legislation, with penal sanctions for violations of the
law.[1] Nicaragua submitted its
initial Article 7 transparency report on 18 May 2000, and its annual updated
report on 7 May 2001.[2] The
second report utilizes the new optional Form J to report on victim assistance
programs.
Nicaragua attended the Second Meeting of States Parties in
September 2000, with a delegation led by the President of the Comisión
Nacional de Desminado (National Demining Commission - CND), Ramón
Kontorosky of the Ministry of Defense. Nicaragua’s offer to host the
Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, in Managua, from 18 to
21 September 2001, was warmly accepted. A committee responsible for national
level organization for the Third Meeting of States Parties was created in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, appointed President of the Committee and the
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bertha Marina Argüello, the
Committee’s Secretary
General.[3]
Since the
Second Meeting of States Parties, Nicaragua has served as co-chair (with Japan)
of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, Socio-Economic Reintegration and
Mine Awareness. In addition to being a co-chair, Nicaragua has played an
important role in developing and promoting the intersessional work program more
generally. A delegation from the capital and Nicaragua’s Geneva mission
participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000
and May 2001; Nicaragua made a number of important interventions and
presentations during the Standing Committee meetings on mine clearance,
stockpile destruction, and general status of the Convention.
At the close
of the May 2001 intersessional meetings, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
gave a presentation on preparations for the Third Meeting of States Parties and
said she could “confirm to the international community, the honor
Nicaragua feels in seeing how in September, we will host a meeting of committed
countries and organizations destined to strengthen and foster a more effective
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, and to achieve our dream of a mine-free
world.”[4]
At the
fifteenth meeting of the National Demining Commission on 29 January 2001,
Defense Minister Guerra appointed the Deputy Minister of Defense, María
Auxiliadora Cuadra de Frech, as Secretary General of the CND, and created three
subcommittees to oversee mine action in the country, including stockpile
destruction.[5] A fourth
subcommittee was also created to support preparations for the Third Meeting of
States Parties.[6]
Nicaragua attended a regional seminar on stockpile destruction in Buenos
Aires in November 2000. In Buenos Aires, the ICBL challenged governments of the
region to meet three goals by the time of the meeting of States Parties in
Managua: Mine Ban Treaty signatories should complete the ratification process;
States Parties should complete and submit Article 7 reports; and States Parties
should complete destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel
mines.[7] These calls were
issued at the conclusion of the seminar by the hosts, Argentina and Canada, as
the “Managua Challenge.”
Also in November 2000, Nicaragua voted
in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V, calling for universalization
of the Mine Ban Treaty. Nicaragua introduced the resolution along with
Mozambique and Norway, the past, present and future presidents of the meetings
of States Parties.
On 5 Dec 2000, Nicaragua adhered to the Convention on
Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II. It did not attend the
Second Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva
later in December 2000.
Production, Transfer and Use
Nicaragua states that it no longer produces
antipersonnel landmines, and does not have any production
facilities.[8] It imported
antipersonnel mines in the past, and reports Cuban, Czechoslovakian and Soviet
antipersonnel mines in its
stockpiles.[9] No use of mines
was found during the reporting period.
Stockpiling and Destruction
As reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2000,
at the beginning of 1999 Nicaragua had a stockpile of 136,813
landmines.[10] This included
PMN, PMN-2, PP-Mi-Sr-II, OZM-4, PMFH, POMZ-2, POMZ-2M, MON-50, MON-100, MON-200,
and TAP-4 mines.[11]
Nicaragua reports it will complete stockpile destruction by December
2002.[12] From April 1999 to
June 2001, it destroyed 70,000 antipersonnel mines, in seven separate
destructions: three in 1999, two in 2000, and two in 2001. A total of 10,000
mines were destroyed on 25 February2000, and 10,000 more on 12 May
2000.[13] On 29 March 2001,
15,000 antipersonnel mines were destroyed at
Estelí.[14] Another
15,000 antipersonnel mines were destroyed at Estelí on 21 June
2001.[15]
In June 2001,
Landmine Monitor was informed that the current stockpile totals
66,813.[16]
Stockpiled
mines have been destroyed by open burning and detonation in two locations: at
the National Sergeant School near Managua and at the Infantry School at Condega,
in Estelí.[17] Stockpile
destruction at the National Sergeant School near Managua stopped in 2001 due to
its location near a geological fault line and Army concerns about carrying out
destruction explosions in an area where local inhabitants fear
earthquakes.[18] The stockpile
destructions have been attended by government officials, representatives of the
Army, OAS representatives, members of the diplomatic corps, NGO representatives,
media, invited civilians, including children, and military landmine survivors.
Nicaragua plans to carry out its eighth stockpile destruction act on 17
September 2001, the day before the opening of the Third Meeting of States
Parties, when it will destroy 20,000 antipersonnel
mines.[19] This will bring the
number of stockpiled mines destroyed in the three destructions during 2001 to
50,000 mines and the total destroyed since April 1999 to 90,000 mines, leaving a
stockpile of 46,813 mines.
According to its plan, Nicaragua aims to
complete stockpile destruction by December 2002 and will therefore not meet the
“Managua Challenge” issued at the regional seminar in November 2000,
calling for stockpiles to be completely destroyed by the Third Meeting of States
Parties. There is discussion in government circles on this issue, with some
noting that stock destruction could be completed in 2001, and others noting that
no commitments can be made to destroy stockpiles before 2004 unless donors
commit the estimated $27 million needed for mine action in Nicaragua.
In
its initial Article 7 report Nicaragua indicated that it will retain 1,971
antipersonnel mines for training purposes, including 500 PMN, 500 PMN-2, 100
PP-MiSr-II, 50 OZM-4, 50 PMFH, 100 POMZ-2, 500 POMZ-2M, 100 MON-50, 11 MON-100,
and 10 MON-200.[20] The same
information was included in the second Article 7 report. According to its most
recent Article 7 report, the Army transferred 286 landmines to the OAS/IADB
MARMINCA program for canine training on 29 September
1999.[21]
Landmine Problem
Nicaragua states that 135,643 mines were laid in
the country during the 1979-1990 internal conflict including both antipersonnel
and antitank mines.[22] NGOs
including CEI and CEEN point out that this figure can only be an estimate since
it does not account for mines planted during the conflict by Contra resistance
forces or Army tactical
units.[23] UNICEF also has
reported that in addition to mines, a large quantity of unexploded ordnance
(UXO) such as bombs, fragmentation grenades, mortars, and ammunition were also
left in areas where combat took
place.[24]
According to
Nicaragua’s most recent Article 7 report,as of April 2001,
70,769 mines were still in the ground, located in 369 areas along the northern
border, and in thirty-nine sites inside
Nicaragua.[25] According to the
report, location of suspected mine-affected areas is ongoing, and mine clearance
operations “take into account minefields or groups of mines of which
civilians have informed the authorities,” in the departments of Matagalpa,
Madriz, Jinotega, Nueva Segovia, Estelí, Chontales, Boaco, Río San
Juan, Chinandega, Zelaya Norte and Zelaya
Sur.[26] According to the
Commander of the Army Engineers, as of January 2001 there were 22 mine-affected
municipalities out of a total of 143 in the country, with a population of
approximately
834,500.[27]
Nicaragua
reports that mine clearance along 96 kilometers of the southern border with
Costa Rica was completed by April 2001 and the border was declared the
country’s first mine-free
region.[28]
The mine and UXO
problem was illustrated by a recent incident in the Nuevo Amanecer neighborhood
of Ocotal, where locals found a number of abandoned explosive artifacts and
notified Army deminers, who destroyed
them.[29] Included in the
arsenal were 60, 80, and 120 mm mortar grenades and a Russian-manufactured
antipersonnel mine. Local inhabitants, who were relocated there after being
displaced by Hurricane Mitch, were concerned to learn that the Army’s
Military Base No. 3010 had in the past been located there, and that the
possibility of finding more landmines and UXO could not be discarded.
There
is no reliable information available on the socio-economic impact of the
landmine problem in Nicaragua, though it is hoped that an IMSMA database project
will increase understanding of the impact. The Geneva International Center for
Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) developed a field module of the Information
Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA, Sistema de Gestión de
Información para Actividades relatives a Minas) for training activities
in 2000, which was presented in Nicaragua in September 2000 by IMSMA and the
GICHD to users and system administrators from the OAS PADCA and MARMINCA
programs, and government
agencies.[30] IMSMA will permit
users to enter into a single database information on: mine-affected lands and
those suspected of being mine-affected, and their characteristics; progress on
mine clearance in each zone; and complete information on incidents and landmine
victims.[31]
Neither the
director of the National Farmers and Ranchers Association (UNAG, Unión
Nacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos) nor the Ministry of Agriculture could
provide figures on the economic loss in rural agricultural regions due to
landmines. The director of UNAG told Landmine Monitor, “In border areas
and other places once considered strategic, mines are a big problem for farmers,
a mine can be encountered at any time, particularly when they are preparing the
soil for harvest and plowing with
oxen.”[32]
Mine Action Funding
Nicaragua has invited donors to contribute
approximately US$27 million to complete its stock destruction and mine clearance
plans.[33] This does not
include funds needed for victim
assistance.[34] This figure was
first introduced with the April 1999 presentation of Nicaragua’s National
Demining Plan.
The National Plan concept envisions five operational
demining fronts (company-sized 100 person units) as well as three separate
platoon-sized units (approximately 50 persons per
unit).[35] Two of the three
separate units are the canine unit and the independent platoon charged with
minefield marking, stockpile destruction and immediate response to reports of
mines and UXO. A national level hotline has just been installed to facilitate
this latter function. The third platoon-sized unit will be formed once heavy
equipment provided by Japan arrives in Nicaragua. Based on over eight years of
operational experience, the OAS coordinated program requires approximately
$400,000 to fund a front-sized unit for each six-month period of field
operations. Consequently, 6.5 fronts at $800,000 per year over a five year
period (2000-2004), produced a general requirement for approximately $26 to $27
million.
One of the objectives of hosting the Third Meeting of States
Parties in Managua, say government officials, is to impress upon donors both
achievements to date in mine action and the county’s remaining financial
needs.[36]
Some $22 million
has been pledged for the 2000-2004 period, including $6.2 million by Denmark and
$2 million for mechanical mine sweepers by
Japan.[37]Army officers
reported to the CND subcommittee on stockpile destruction and mine clearance
that if certain donors continued to “drag their feet,” the stockpile
destruction and mine clearance plan running through 2004 could not be
guaranteed.[38]
According
to a May 2001 response to Landmine Monitor from the Minister of Defense, in an
unspecified time period donors have contributed the following
funds:[39]
Denmark: More than $6 million for operations fronts one and two;
USA: More than $1.8 million, including at least $1.2 million for two modules
in operations front five and for mine detecting dogs, and $600,000 for
operations fronts one and two;
UK: $1.2 million for two modules in operations front five;
Canada: $1 million for two modules in operations front four;
Sweden: $1 million for three modules;
Norway: $1 million for two modules in operations front four;
France: $70,000 for the independent demining platoon;
Spain: $70,000 for the independent demining
platoon.[40]
Last
year, based on information provided by the Nicaraguan Army, Landmine Monitor
reported the following funding pledges as of January 2000: Denmark - $6.8
million for the period 2000-2004; Sweden - $5 million also for 2000-2004; Canada
- $2 million for 2000-2001; Norway - $2 million for 2000-2001; the US - $2.5
million for 2000-2002; and the UK - $2.5 million for
2003-2004.[41]
In 2000, the
annual budget for the OAS regional program in Central America was $7.6 million,
financed by Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and the
UK.[42] Between June 2000 and
May 2001 financial contributions totalled approximately $6
million.[43] According to the
OAS, Italy and the Russian Federation have joined the donors group in 2001,
while Switzerland is no longer
listed.[44]
Mine Action Coordination
The Comisión Nacional de Desminado (CND),
established in November 1998, is the government body responsible for mine action
in Nicaragua. Previously criticized for its
inactivity,[45] the CND was
reactivated at its fifteenth meeting in January 2001, when a new Secretary
General was appointed, Deputy Minister of Defense María Auxiliadora
Cuadra de Frech, and three subcommittees were established to oversee mine
action: stockpile destruction and mine clearance; victim assistance and
rehabilitation; and education, prevention, and minefield
signalling.[46] Representatives
of the government, NGOs, and international organizations are members of the
subcommittees.[47]
In
January 2001, Minister of Defense José Adán Guerra told Landmine
Monitor that there would be a “de-bureaucratization” of the CND and
that Ministry of Defense officials were determined to improve their performance
with respect to mine action.[48]
He said he proposed “a change of course” for the CND, and added that
he wanted to convert the CND into an institution whose mission and vision go
beyond strictly military components and tasks, and make it an institution
inspired by Nicaragua’s humanitarian commitment to prevention and victim
assistance projects, as well as social and economic reintegration, thereby
making the individual and community the focus of
demining.[49]
NGO members
of the CND note that discussion on core objectives and programmatic directions
have not taken place yet – for example, on the role of community
participation and input into areas to be cleared of mines and their degree of
priority and urgency. The head of OAS PADCA in Nicaragua recognizes that the
participation of municipal authorities and local people who have a first-hand
knowledge of the mine problem would benefit the
CND.[50]
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 Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Mine Clearance
Mine clearance is the responsibility of the
Pequeñas Unidades de Desminado, PUD (Small Demining Units) of the
Engineer Corps of the Nicaraguan Army. Mine clearance is conducted along five
operations fronts. Mine clearance in Nicaragua is scheduled for completion by
December 2004.[51]
In the
year 2000, 6,155 antipersonnel mines and 16,172 UXO were destroyed. Border
clearance advanced 31 kilometers, including clearance of 57 border encampments,
63 electrical towers and four
bridges.[52]
According to
the Article 7 report, as of April 2001, a total of 64,874 emplaced landmines had
been destroyed, and 2,120,137 square meters of land cleared by the approximately
650 Army personnel of the national mine clearance
program.[53]
A total of 241
kilometers of the northern border with Honduras has been cleared, but not some
of the most heavily mined areas. There were approximately 70,769 landmines still
in the ground in 369 mined areas along the northern border and in 39 sites in
the interior of the country.[54]
Border tensions with Honduras continue but when asked to comment, Minister of
Defense Guerra stated, “Relations with our sister Republic of Honduras do
not and will not affect our firm and imperative decision to fully carry out mine
clearance.”[55]
Nicaragua reported in its Article 7 report that mine clearance along 96
kilometers of the southern border with Costa Rica was completed by April 2001,
and the border was declared the country’s first mine-free
region.[56] The government
states this will benefit some 55,607 inhabitants, as well as the ecology and
economy of the region.
Nicaragua plans to clear and destroy 11,684
landmines during 2001 including 3,540 mines in the first operations front; 1,865
in the second operations front; 1,567 in the third operations front 3; 2,360 in
the fourth operations front; and 2,352 in the fifth operations
front.[57] Nicaragua also
expects to declare the departments of Chinandega, Chontales, Boaco, and the
Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) landmine free in
2001.[58]
The national
demining structure includes 635 deminers working in all mine-affected regions of
the country. An additional platoon of 40 to 50 deminers will be formed to
operate heavy demining equipment to be provided by Japan.
The OAS PADCA
continued to provide funds for 100 deminers (each) in operations fronts three,
four and five. Operations front five began mine clearance in the North Atlantic
Autonomous Region (RAAN) in June 2000. A new independent demining platoon
(Pelotón Independiente de Desminado) of 60 deminers completed training
and started work in January 2001. The platoon is responsible for marking
minefields, rapid response to civilian reports of mines and UXO, and stockpile
destruction.
According to the OAS, from June 2000 to May 2001, eleven mine
detecting dogs were active in Nicaragua, funded at a cost of $500,000 by the
US.[59] Questions about the use
of mine detecting dogs continue regarding their capacity to adapt, effectiveness
under harsh weather conditions, effectiveness in steep inclines, and delays on
account of explosions affecting their detection capacities, but, according to
military officials, the use of mine detecting dogs is still considered
favorable.[60]
According to
the OAS, an additional helicopter will be rehabilitated to bring the number in
country to four helicopters (even though only three will support at a time),
which permits complete support for mine clearance units in Nicaraguan
territory.[61] Mine clearance
units report impediments and limitations to clearing operations, the rough
jungle terrain and general absence of adequate roads among others, with some
areas only accessible by river transport. The situation worsened after
Hurricane Mitch in 1998, when numerous roads were washed away or further
deteriorated.
Landmine Monitor Report2000 noted that
civilians, usually impoverished peasants who are former combatants, were hiring
themselves out as mine clearers to landowners wanting to expand their
agricultural and ranching lands. UNICEF reports to be increasingly worried
regarding the high level of acquaintance of some local populations with
landmines and UXO, and particularly that male adults and adolescents have lost
their natural sense of fear towards these
objects.[62] According to
UNICEF, “along the northern borders it is disturbingly common to hear
testimonies of juveniles and even children stating that they themselves have
been ‘clearing’ mines, following the examples of their fathers and
other adults.”[63]
In
Central America, GICHD and the OAS AICMA program are working with focus groups
to review and comment on the new international mine action standards (IMAS).
The first analysis was carried out at a workshop held in Managua in January
2001, with the participation of administrators from OAS AICMA programs in
Central America, Ecuador and
Peru.[64]
Mine Awareness
Mine awareness education in Nicaragua is conducted
by a number of actors, including the Comisión Conjunta de Discapacitados
de Madriz para la Paz y Reconstrucción (ORD/ADRN), CEEN, the Nicaraguan
Red Cross, the OAS and UNICEF.
ORD/ADRN conducts mine awareness and
prevention workshops in Nueva Segovia and Madriz, with the financial support
from the German agency Misereor and Nicaraguan NGO CEI. The Coordinator of
ORD/ADRN told Landmine Monitor that the Commission’s principal task is the
compiling of community derived information about landmines or suspected presence
of landmines.[65] In February
2001 ORD/ADRN in coordination with CEI held a departmental forum on
“integral mine action”in Somoto, in Madriz
department.[66] USAID support
for CEEN’s mine awareness project was terminated in 2000.
In
August 2000, the UK-based NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) conducted a safety and
mine risk education project in northeast Nicaragua, with funding provided by the
American Red Cross (ARC).[67]
In November 2000, MAG completed an operational assessment of the Waspam region
with funding from ARC and Austria. The assessment report provided a set of
recommendations regarding appropriate mine awareness and data gathering based on
the type and extent of the landmine/UXO problem.
The Nicaragua Red Cross,
supported by UNICEF and ICRC, continues with its “child to child”
mine awareness program in communities along the northern border with Honduras.
The program will discard the use of the Superman and Wonder Woman comics, after
much criticism.[68] According
to the Nicaraguan Red Cross, the program reached some 1,500 children during
2000. Army specialists provided training to the Red Cross trainers.
According to the OAS, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration
provides funding for its mine awareness campaigns in Honduras and
Nicaragua.[69] OAS PADCA, the
Ministry of Defense and the Nicaraguan Army have conducted mine awareness
seminars with student councils of secondary schools in the north of the country,
reaching some 3,000 youth. Most of the instruction is carried out by Army
officers.[70] The Ministry of
Education is reportedly preparing indigenous education material to introduce in
schools. According to the CND Secretary General, all CND members will have an
opportunity to review the
materials.[71] The OAS also
uses local and national media in mine awareness education. The OAS and Radio
Corporación broadcast a mine awareness program throughout the country
using the well-known character “Pacho
Madrigal.”[72]
Following the signing of a formal cooperation agreement between UNICEF and
the OAS in October 2000, UNICEF in cooperation with PADCA and the Nicaraguan
Army is implementing a one-year “landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
awareness education in Nicaragua through community liaison”
project.[73] According to
UNICEF, the intention is to contribute to an “integrated mine awareness
campaign in the remaining high-risk communities along the northern border which
await mine-clearance according to the national Demining Plan and to integrate
mine and UXO awareness in the school curriculum at national level.” The
objective of the project is to counteract mine clearance by civilians by
improving information flows between demining units and nearby communities, and
raising mine awareness in those communities. As of April 2001, $35,000 of the
total $70,000 required for the project had been raised. UNICEF also reports it
will carry out a knowledge-attitudes-practices study in mine-affected
communities of 12 municipalities in
Nicaragua.[74]
UNICEF and OAS
AICMA held the “Una Sola Voz” (One Voice) seminar on mine awareness
in Nicaragua, 25-27 April
2001.[75] The goals of the
seminar were to analyze mine awareness education in the country; analyze
materials used in mine awareness education and community participation; define
goals and objectives, actions and priorities; and establish commitments.
According to UNICEF, “Mine action in Nicaragua is characterized by a
continued emphasis on mine clearance, whereas other components, [such as] mine
awareness education, [and] victim assistance receive comparatively less
attention.”[76] UNICEF
adds, “Other aspects that have been repeatedly criticized include: the
limited role for non-governmental agencies and for civil society, insufficient
consultation with communities, and emphasis on the number of mines removed as
criterion of progress as opposed to the enhancement of living conditions for
mine-affected
communities.”[77]
The
Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of the OAS, Nicaraguan
Red Cross, and Correos de Nicaragua (Nicaraguan Postal Service), organized a
national art contest for children and youth to raise awareness about landmines
in the country, as part of the preparations for the Third Meeting of States
Parties.[78] The six winning
entries were announced at an event on 22 June 2001, attended by government
officials and other representatives, including the ICBL coordinator and
coordinator of the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines. Winning entries will be
featured on commemorative stamps as well as posters for the meeting, and funds
raised will be donated to the CND subcommittee on victim assistance.
Landmine Casualties
There is no centralized source of information on
landmine casualties in Nicaragua and it is difficult to get reliable figures on
mine and UXO casualties. It is also still possible that some mine victims are
not registered. The IMSMA database project is expected to improve information
on mine incidents and victims in the
country.[79] The OAS PADCA
program and the Nicaraguan Army also plan to conduct a census of mine victims,
gathering information on the number of victims, place of residence, site of
incidents, and assistance
received.[80]
In 2000 and
up until June 2001, there were 23 mine casualties in Nicaragua, involving twelve
civilians and eleven
military.[81] In 1999,
according to the Army, there were thirty-one mine casualties in Nicaragua,
including eleven deaths and twenty
injuries.[82]
The UN
estimates that 1,500 people have been reported injured by landmines in
Nicaragua, without taking into account
fatalities.[83] The UN notes
that since 1990 the number of victims has gradually decreased to a yearly
average of approximately ten, most of these peasants and many of them
children.[84]
On 26 January
2001, three deminers were injured in San Francisco Libre municipality, near
Managua, after one stepped on a mine while on demining
duty.[85] The deminer had a leg
amputated, while the two others suffered facial wounds. The incident happened at
the Panchito airstrip, which the military reported was surrounded by six
kilometers of mined land. The deminer was awarded a service medal from
President Alemán Lacayo.
On 25 March 2001, a 22-year-old peasant from
El Boquerón, a few kilometers from the Honduran border in Jalapa
municipality, was killed when on his way to Las Pampas with a friend he found a
landmine, picked it up and tried to defuse
it.[86] According to media
reports, there have been a total of seven mine victims in El
Boquerón.[87] After the
incident the National Police warned locals there was a minefield in the area. A
letter written by local citizens, including the father of the deceased youth,
said, “The people of the communities of El Boquerón and Las Pampas
request the help of the military authorities as soon as possible, so that they
determine how to remove these mines, otherwise people will continue to
die.”[88]
On 21 April
2001, an 11-year-old child from Villa Chagüitillo, in Sébaco
municipality was killed when he stepped on an explosive object while gathering
firewood near El Cacao. His 13-year-old companion lost his right leg in the
incident. Military sources reportedly noted that there had been a military base
in the area previously, and that probably because of Hurricane Mitch floods,
explosives had been displaced and lay exposed in the area. Lt. Colonel Herminio
Escoto, head of the Sixth Regional Military Command said that the explosive had
not been a landmine but a fragmentation grenade. He noted that in the past
there had been an Army storage site in El Cacao, but that the area had been
cleared before a German company began construction of a potable water system.
“We are sure that there are no mines in the area,” he
added.[89]
Also on 21 April
2001, a peasant lost a leg after stepping on a landmine in La Chata, El
Cuá-Bocay municipality,
Jinotega.[90] The victim had
moved to the area only in the previous month, and was out gathering fruit when
the incident happened.
In May 2001, a peasant in San Fernando municipality
lost his left leg after stepping on a landmine while working in the
fields.[91] He was treated in
the Ocotal department hospital, and the OAS, which was carrying out mine
clearance activities in the area, provided medicine for his treatment.
Survivor Assistance
The government of Nicaragua claims a “shift
in course” in mine action, towards “placing people and community
rehabilitation” at the heart of new
programs.[92] According to
Handicap International, the present capacity of orthopedic devices in the
country responds to at most 60 percent of the demand from disabled
people.[93]
Nicaragua’s May 2001 Article 7 report includes a completed form J on
victim assistance. Organizations and agencies listed in the report as involved
in first aid and medical care of landmine victims include the OAS, Nicaraguan
Red Cross, Ministry of Health, PAHO, and the Nicaraguan Army. Organizations and
agencies involved in rehabilitation include the OAS, Nicaraguan Army, Ministry
of Health, PAHO, ICRC, Walking Unidos, the US Army (donating equipment for
prostheses and ortheses), Handicap International, PRODINIC, and the Centro
Nacional de Prótesis and Ortesis (CENAPROTO). Organizations reported as
involved in social reintegration include MOVIMUNDO, PRODINIC, INATEC, and
Impedimento Internacional. Handicap International, MOVIMONDO and PRODINIC are
active in economic integration.
According to the report, the government of
Nicaragua, through the CND and together with NGOs and international
organizations, is in the process of developing a national policy on victim
assistance, taking into account rehabilitation and economic
reintegration.[94] The CND,
OAS, ICRC, Nicaraguan Army, Nicaraguan Red Cross, CENAPROTO are contributing
data to the IMSMA database.
On 1 July 2000, Handicap International began a
three-year project in Trinidad, Estelí department, reactivating a
Ministry of Health workshop that had not been operational for a number of
years.[95] The project provides
support to the services of physical medicine and readaptation (one orthopedic
center and four physiotherapy services), including equipment, refurbishing of
infrastructure, training, logistical and financial support. The workshop is
receiving about 25 patients per month. The HI project has a total budget of
$1.3 million, 75 percent funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg
and 25 percent funded by HI Luxembourg. The project calls for a census by the
Ministry of Health of all disabled people. At the orthopedic center, all
disabled patients receive the same assistance, regardless of the cause of their
disability. The equipment costs to the patients is between $10 and $60. In
Cenaprorto, the main orthopedic center in the country, mine and war victims
receive free access to orthopedic items, but other patients must pay between
$600 and $1,000. In June 2001 HI signed a partnership agreement with the
National Demining Commission, under which HI will provide technical advice to
help it to assume its functions.
The OAS Landmine and UXO Victim Assistance
program provided assistance to some 300 persons up to May
2001.[96] Its budget for
2001-2002 is $275,000.[97]
According to the OAS, the program has addressed the needs of landmine victims
who have no social security or Army benefits, with transportation to the
rehabilitation center, lodging, prosthesis, therapy, and medications.
On
18-19 June 2001 theOAS and the International Rehabilitation Center (IRC)
organized the First Regional Conference on Victim Assistance, Rehabilitation and
Technologies, in Managua with the participation of prosthetics technicians from
Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. Minister of Defense and President of the
CND José Adán Guerra said, “One of the most valuable aspects
of the regional conference is the Programa de Educación a Distancia de
las Extremidades Inferiores (Distance Education Program for the Lower
Extremities) which will be implemented by the IRC through the
Internet.”[98]
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) is implementing a Landmine Survivors
Advocate Training Program, focusing on the Americas region for
2000-2001.[99] Landmine
survivors from five countries of the region, including Nicaragua, participated
in the first training session, held in Geneva in May 2001, at the same time as
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings. A second training session will
be conducted during the Third Meeting of State Parties in Managua in September
2001.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contributed
Can$750,000 to the Pan American Health Organization in 1999 as part of a
five-year, Can$3.5 million victim assistance initiative in Nicaragua, Honduras
and El Salvador.[100] This
tripartite project involves PAHO, Canada (through Queen’s University
International Centre for Community Based Rehabilitation), and México.
According to CIDA, the project consists of developing rural rehabilitation
services, long-term sustainable community-based rehabilitation programs,
regional prosthetic and orthotic development and the socio-economic
reintegration of landmine victims.
The Polus Center for Social and Economic
Development, an NGO, opened the “Walking Unidos” prosthetic outreach
program in León, in August
1999.[101] According to the
Polus Center, Walking Unidos, which has an annual budget of approximately
$120,000 and seven full-time staff, was the culmination of three years of
collaboration and planning with private individuals, municipalities, regional
hospitals, clinics and the Nicaraguan government. The project provides above and
below knee prosthetic limbs.
Canada also reported a victim assistance
initiative being implemented by the Canadian NGO Falls Brook Centre, which
received Can$100,000 from CIDA’s Tapping Canadian Creativity Program to
support a project in northern Nicaragua. According to CIDA, the project
provides landmine victims with prostheses and training in solar electrification
to enable them to distribute, install and maintain village-level solar energy
systems. Canada has contributed Can$206,000 to this
project.[102]
[1]Law for the
Prohibition of Production, Purchase, Sale, Import, Export, Transit, Use and
Possession of Antipersonnel Landmines, Law No. 321, published in the
Official Gazette on 12 January 2000. Article I of this law adds
“installation” to the prohibition on antipersonnel mines. Article
III states that the Armed Forces must destroy its stockpiles in the
“period determined by the relevant authorities.” Article VI states
that persons who violate the Law will be charged with “exposing the public
to danger,” and will be charged accordingly. See “Prisión
para vendedores de minas,” Confidencial, No. 158, 5-11 September
1999, p. 5.
[2] While the
reporting period is not specified in either report, the first report contained
information as of 30 September 1999, and the second contained information as of
20 April 2001.
[3] Statement
by H.E. Bertha Marina Argüello, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings, “Presentation on the Logistics
and Preparations for the Third Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban
Convention,” Geneva, 10 May
2001.
[4]
Ibid.
[5] See Consuelo
Sandoval, “Más de 70 mil minas quedan por remover,” La
Prensa, 1 February 2001; Article 7 report, Form A, 7 May 2001; Response by
Defense Minister José Adán Guerra to Landmine Monitor
questionnaire, 24 May
2001.
[6] See also
Nicaragua’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site for the Third Meeting of
State Parties,
http://www.cancilleria.gob.ni/third.html.
[7]
See also OAS, “Informe del Secretario General sobre la
implementación de las Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a la acción contra
las minas en Ecuador y Perú) y 1751 (apoyo a la acción contra las
minas en Centroamérica),” CP/doc.3422/01 rev.1, 7 May
2001.
[8] Article 7 report,
Form E, 7 May 2001.
[9]
Article 7 report, Form B, 7 May
2001.
[10]Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 282. In its September 1999 Article 7 report,
Nicaragua did not report on stockpile totals for Cuban PMFH-1 and Nicaraguan
TAP-4 Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines. Article 7 report, Form B,
30 September 1999.
[11] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 282. See also, Article 7 Report, Form
B, 7 May 2001. The report does not indicate the number of each type of mine in
stock, but says that the numbers of each type would be updated in June
2001.
[12] Article 7 report,
Introduction, 7 May
2001.
[13] In addition,
15,172 stockpiled munitions were destroyed during 2000. Email to Landmine
Monitor (HRW) from Oliver Bodán, CEI, 27 July 2001. According to the
most recent Article 7 report, the 20,000 antipersonnel mines destroyed in 2000
included 4,408 PMN, 5,460 PMN-2, 2,405 PP-Mi-SrII, 459 POMZ-2, 6,182 POMZ-2M,
and 1,086 NVVR. See Article 7 report, Form G, 7 May
2001.
[14] The 15,000
antipersonnel mines destroyed included 5,000 PMN, 5,000 PMN-2, 4,500 POMZ-2, and
500 NVVR. See Article 7 report, Form D, 7 May 2001; Adolfo Olivas Olivas,
“Destruyen 15 mil minas antipersonales en Condega. Aún quedan
más de 81 mil, para declarar a Nicaragua libre de minas,” La
Prensa, Managua, 30 March 2001. Landmine Monitor has photographs of this
event.
[15] “Nicaragua
destruye 15.000 minas antipersonales,” Agence France Presse,
Managua, 22 June 2001; Máximo Rugama Castillo, “Destruyen 15 mil
minas en Condega,” El Nuevo Diario, 23 June
2001.
[16] According to the
PADCA/OAS database and June 2001 meetings with the Army. Email to Landmine
Monitor (HRW) from Oliver Bodán, CEI, 27 July
2001.
[17] Article 7 report,
Form F, 7 May 2001.
[18] Aide
memoire, First meeting of the subcommittee on stockpile destruction and mine
clearance, 7 February
2001.
[19] Article 7 report,
Form G, the 8th Destruction of AP mines Act projected for September 2001, 7 May
2001; Statement by H.E. Bertha Marina Argüello, Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs, to the intersessional Standing Committee meetings, “Presentation
on the Logistics and Preparations for the Third Meeting of States Parties of the
Mine Ban Convention,” Geneva, 10 May
2001.
[20] Article 7 report,
Form D, 30 September
1999.
[21] This included 62
PMN, 65 POMZ, 66 PP-Mi-SrII, 20 PMD-6M, 48 PMN-2, 20 MON-50, and 5 PTMI-K.
Article 7 report, Form D, 30 September
1999.
[22] Article 7 report,
Introduction and Form F, 7 May
2001.
[23] See also, UNICEF,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in Nicaragua
through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April
2001, p. 184.
[24] UNICEF,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in Nicaragua
through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April
2001, p. 184.
[25] Article 7
report, Form C, 7 May
2001.
[26] Article 7 report,
Introduction and Form C, 7 May
2001.
[27] Response from Lt.
Col. Spiro Bassi Aguilar, Commander of the Engineers Corps of the Army, to
Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 22 January
2001.
[28] Article 7 report,
Introduction, 7 May 2001; Jairo Antonio Méndez, “Campesino pierde
pierna al pisar una mina,” La Prensa, 25 April 2001; Statement by
H.E. Bertha Marina Argüello, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings, “Presentation on the Logistics
and Preparations for the Third Meeting of States Parties of the Mine Ban
Convention,” Geneva, 10 May 2001; “Nicaragua destruye 15.000 minas
antipersonales,” Agence France Presse, Managua, 22 June
2001.
[29] Gustavo Vindell
Acuña, “Destruyen explosives en Ocotal. Hallan arsenal en antigua
base militar,” La Noticia, 8 June
2001.
[30] Geneva
International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), Annual Report
2000, 25 April 2001. See www.gichd.ch/imsma/index.htm; also OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1,7 May 2001.
[31] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1,7 May 2001.
[32]
Landmine Monitor interview with Alvaro Fiallos, UNAG Director, 19 January
2001.
[33] See Article 7
report, 30 September 1999, p. 4; Consuelo Sandoval, “Más de 70 mil
minas quedan por remover,” La Prensa, 1 February
2001.
[34] Adolfo Olivas
Olivas, “Destruyen 15 mil minas en Condega. Aún quedan más
de 81 mil, para declarar a Nicaragua libre de minas,” La Prensa, 30
March 2001.
[35] Letter of
Sergio Caramagna, OAS PADCA Nicaragua Director, to Landmine Monitor, 11 January
2001; Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from William McDonough, Coordinator,
PACDA, Organization of American States, 26 July
2001.
[36] According to the
Ministry of Defense, Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Oliver Bodán,
CEI, 27 July 2001.
[37]
According to the Ministry of Defense, Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from
Oliver Bodán, CEI, 27 July 2001. In its Article 7 report, Nicaragua
reported a deficit of $6 million as of April
2001.
[38] Army Engineers
Corps, “Report on Compliance with the National Humanitarian Demining
Program for the Year 2000 and Work Plans for 2001” for the CND
sub-committee on stockpile destruction and mine clearance, 29 January
2001.
[39] Response from
Minister of Defense José Adán Guerra, to Landmine Monitor
questionnaire, dated 24 May
2001.
[40] This funding by
Spain represents part of a $500,000 contribution, which includes funding of
additional demining efforts in Nicaragua and two other Central American
countries as authorized by the regional grant. Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW)
from William McDonough, Coordinator, PACDA, Organization of American States, 26
July 2000.
[41]Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, pp.
284-285.
[42] Email from
Jhosselin Bakhat, Organization of American States, 20 June
2000.
[43] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1, 7 May 2001.
[44] OAS
web site, www.upd.oas.or/demining/contributing.htm, visited June
2001.
[45] See Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p.
287.
[46] Article 7 report,
Form A, 7 May 2001; Response by Defense Minister José Adán Guerra
to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, dated 24 May
2001.
[47] Subcommittee
members include the Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Health, Education
and Culture, Family, Governance, Agriculture and Forestry, Transport and
Infrastructure, Environment and Natural Resources; the Nicaraguan Institute of
Social Security, the Army, the Joint Commission of Disabled for Peace and
Reconstruction of Madriz (ORD/ADRN), CEI, CEEN, MOVIMUNDO, INATEC, Marshall
Legacy, Walking Unidos, the Nicaraguan Red Cross, the ICRC, OAS, UNICEF and
PAHO. Response by Defense Minister José Adán Guerra to Landmine
Monitor questionnaire, dated 24 May
2001.
[48] Interview with
José Adán Guerra, Minister of Defense, Managua, 30 January
2001.
[49]
Ibid.
[50] Letter from Sergio
Caramagna, OAS PADCA Nicaragua Director, to Landmine Monitor, 11 January
2001.
[51] Article 7 report,
Introduction, 7 May
2001.
[52] Response from Lt.
Col. Spiro Bassi Aguilar, Commander of the Engineers Corps of the Army, to
Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 22 January
2001.
[53] Article 7 report,
Introduction and Form G, 7 May
2001.
[54] Article 7 report,
Introduction and Form C, 7 May
2001.
[55] Letter from
Minister of Defense José Adán Guerra to Landmine Monitor, 20
February 2001.
[56] Article 7
report, Introduction, 7 May 2001, p. 2; Jairo Antonio Méndez,
“Campesino pierde pierna al pisar una mina,” La Prensa, 25
April 2001; Statement by H.E. Bertha Marina Argüello, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs, to the intersessional Standing Committee meetings,
“Presentation on the Logistics and Preparations for the Third Meeting of
States Parties of the Mine Ban Convention,” Geneva, 10 May 2001;
“Nicaragua destruye 15.000 minas antipersonales,” Agence France
Presse, Managua, 22 June
2001.
[57] Article 7 report,
Form F, 7 May 2001.
[58]
Article 7 report, Introduction, 7 May
2001.
[59] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1,7 May 2001; Letter by Sergio Caramagna, OAS PADCA Nicaragua Director, to
Landmine Monitor, 11 January
2001.
[60] Response from Lt.
Col. Spiro Bassi Aguilar, Commander of the Engineers Corps of the Army, to
Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 22 January
2001.
[61] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1,7 May 2001.
[62]
UNICEF, “Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in
Nicaragua through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related
projects, April 2001, p. 184. See
www.un.org/Depts/dpko/mine/Portfolio.PDF.
[63]
Ibid, p. 186.
[64] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a PADEP) y 1751 (apoyo a PADCA),” CP/doc.3432/01
rev.1,7 May 2001.
[65]
Interview with Uriel Carazo, Coordinator ORD/ADRN, 10 January
2001.
[66] Carole Thimpson
R., “Discapacitados en Acción sobre Minas. Esfuerzos por involucrar
a especialistas en la destrucción de minas,” La Prensa, 7
February 2001.
[67] Email to
Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Tim Carstairs, Director of Communications, Mines
Advisory Group, 17 July
2001.
[68] Letter by
Esperanza de Morales, President of the Nicaragua Red Cross, to Landmine Monitor,
12 January 2001; interview with Manya Gharhramani, UNICEF Mine Action Officer,
29 January 2001; “Supermán y la Mujer Maravilla: la
pólemica continúa,” Confidencial, week of 29
October-4 November 2000; ICRC, “ICRC mine/UXO awareness programmes
worldwide,” at www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf/, updated 7 May
2001.
[69] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en Ecuador y
Perú) y 1751 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en
Centroamérica),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev. 1, 7 May
2001.
[70] “Aide
Memoire provided to the first meeting of the subcommittee on education,
prevention, signalling and reintegration,” 7 February
2001.
[71] Letter from CND
Secretary General María A. Cuadra de Frech to Landmine Monitor, 20
February 2001.
[72] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en Ecuador y
Perú) y 1751 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en
Centroamérica),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev. 1, 7 May
2001.
[73] UNICEF,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in Nicaragua
through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April
2001, p.186.
[74]
Ibid.
[75] Article 7 report,
Form I, 7 May 2001.
[76]
UNICEF, “Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in
Nicaragua through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related
projects, April 2001, p.185.
[77]
Ibid.
[78] Julia Ríos,
“Niños nicaragüenses pintan su tragedia en campos
minados,” Agence France Presse, Managua, 22 June 2001; see also
www.icbl.org/news/2001/51.html.
[79]
Response from Lt. Col. Spiro Bassi Aguilar, Commander of the Engineers Corps of
the Army, to Landmine Monitor questionnaire, 22 January 2001; OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en Ecuador y
Perú) y 1751 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en
Centroamérica),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev.1,7 May
2001.
[80] Article 7 report,
Form I, 7 May 2001.
[81]
According to the PADCA/OAS database. Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from
Oliver Bodán, CEI, 27 July 2001. There were apparently no incidents
involving military deminers in
2000.
[82] Nicaragua Army
internal report provided to Landmine Monitor, “Resultados Acumulados Del
Programa De Desminado Humanitario,” 28 April
2000.
[83] UNICEF,
“Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness (UXO) Education in Nicaragua
through Community Liaison,” UN Portfolio of mine-related projects, April
2001, p.186.
[84] Ibid. See
also, Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
288-289.
[85] “Tres
heridos en explosión de mina,” La Prensa, 29 January
2001.
[86] Roger Olivas,
“Mina destroza a campesino travieso,” El Nuevo Diario, 29
March 2001; Alina Lorio, “Campesino muere al manipular una mina. En la
comunidad fronteriza de Boquerón se registran siete víctimas de
los artefactos explosivos,” La Prensa, 5 April
2001.
[87]
Ibid.
[88] Alina Lorio,
“Campesino muere al manipular una mina. En la comunidad fronteriza de
Boquerón se registran siete víctimas de los artefactos
explosivos,” La Prensa, 5 April
2001.
[89] Celso
Martínez Orozco, “Mina mata a niño. Otro perdió una
pierna,” La Prensa, 23 April
2001.
[90] Jairo Antonio
Méndez, “Campesino pierde pierna al pisar una mina,” La
Prensa, 25 April
2001.
[91] Róger
Olivas, “Mina desbarata pierna de campesino,” El Nuevo
Diario, 20 May 2001.
[92]
Statement by Defense Minister Guerra on occasion of the XV meeting of the CND,
29 January 2001.
[93] Email
to Landmine Monitor (HI) from Philippe Dicquemare, Programme Director, Handicap
International, 24 July
2001.
[94] Article 7 report,
Form J, 7 May 2001.
[95]
Emails to Landmine Monitor (HI-B) from Philippe Dicquemare, Programme Director,
Handicap International, 24 July 2001 and 31 July
2001.
[96] OAS,
“Informe del Secretario General sobre la implementación de las
Resoluciones 1745 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en Ecuador y
Perú) y 1751 (apoyo a la acción contra las minas en
Centroamérica),” CP/doc.3432/01 rev. 1, 7 May
2001.
[97] ICBL Working Group
on Victim Assistance and Standing Committee on Victim Assistance,
“Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs,”
www.ladnminevap.org/display.html?id=118.
[98]
“Ayudarán más a víctimas de minas antipersonales.
Primera conferencia regional de rehabilitación y
tecnología,” El Nuevo Diario, 19 June
2001.
[99] Landmine Survivors
Network, “Report: Raising the Voices Landmine Survivor Advocate Training
Program,” 5-12 May
2001.
[100] Canadian
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade “Safelane” web
site, Report on Central America, published 29 June 2000, last modified 27 March
2001.
[101] ICBL Working
Group on Victim Assistance and Standing Committee on Victim Assistance,
“Portfolio of Victim Assistance Programs,”
www.ladnminevap.org/display.html?id=119.
[102]
Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
“Safelane” web site, Report on Central America, published 29 June
2000, last modified 27 March 2001.