LM Report 2003

Brazil

Key developments since May 2002: Brazil completed destruction of its stockpiled mines in January 2003, months ahead of the treaty-mandated deadline of 31 October 2003.

Mine Ban Policy

Brazil signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 30 April 1999, and the treaty entered into force on 1 October 1999. Brazil enacted national implementation legislation, Law 10.300, which took effect on 1 November 2001.^[1] Brazil reports that it has not produced or exported antipersonnel landmines since 1989.^[2]

Brazil was a very active participant in the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. It made a number of interventions on treaty interpretation issues during these meetings, including stockpiling and transit of foreign-owned antipersonnel mines, the meaning of “assist,” and verification measures.^[3]

Brazil submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 17 March 2003, covering the period from December 2001 to January 2003. This is the country’s fourth Article 7 report.^[4]

Brazil voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Brazil is a State Party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Convention Weapons (CCW), and participated in the Fourth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2002. Brazil submitted its annual Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report on 11 December 2002, for the period September 2001 to September 2002.

The Brazilian Campaign Against Landmines (CBCM, Campanha Brasileira Contra Minas Terrestres) participated in Landmine Monitor and ICBL activities in Santiago, Chile in November 2002 and in the Third World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, holding several workshops on landmines and children and youth. CBCM distributed postcards to be sent to Cuban President Fidel Castro, urging Cuba to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty. On the anniversary of the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, 1 March 2003, CBCM mobilized campaigners to urge the Ministry of Defense to reduce the number of antipersonnel mines Brazil has chosen to retain for training and development under Article 3.

Stockpiling and Destruction

In its March 2003 Article 7 Report, Brazil reported that it had completed destruction of stockpiled mines in January 2003, months ahead of the treaty-mandated deadline of 31 October 2003. Brazil stated that a total of 27,397 Belgian-manufactured MAP NM M409 stockpiled antipersonnel mines were destroyed between December 2001 and January 2003.^[5] All of the antipersonnel mines held in stocks by the Army were destroyed by 5 July 2002, and a total of 1,013 mines held by the Navy were destroyed in January 2003.^[6]

The 27,397 total apparently includes the 13,194 stockpiled mines that Brazil previously reported were destroyed from September to December 2001. Apart from the stockpiled mines, Brazil destroyed 455 mines in training activities in 2000 and 2001.^[7]

In an anomaly, Brazil indicated that at the end of 2001 its stocks included 4,132 T-AB-1 mines, and subsequently stated it is retaining 3,063 of those mines.^[8] It has not, however, reported on the destruction of the other 1,069 T-AB-1 mines.

Both the 2003 and 2002 Article 7 reports list stockpile destruction sites. The 2002 report lists eight destruction sites around the country (in Brasília–DF, Curitiba–PR, Fortaleza–CE, Juiz de Fora–MG, Miranda–MS, Osasco–São Paulo, Salvador–BA, and Santa Maria–RS).^[9] The 2003 report lists six locations (in Brasília-DF, Miranda-MS, Osasco-São Paulo, Santa Maria-RS, and two new locations, Paracambi-RJ, and Recife-PE).^[10] Landmine Monitor also obtained a detailed report on the destruction effort from the Ministry of Defense, dated 6 June 2003.^[11]

Brazil is retaining 16,545 mines for training, more than any other State Party except Turkmenistan.^[12] While Brazil has not provided a detailed explanation of the need for such a large number of mines, it has stated, “The retention of these mines for training will allow the Brazilian Armed Forces to participate adequately in international demining activities.”^[13] In a July 2003 letter to the ICBL, Brazil states that it “is an active contributor to international humanitarian mine clearance and has opted to retain mines under Article 3 in order to safeguard the training capacity of the Brazilian Armed Forces.”^[14] In July 2002, a Ministry of Defense official told Landmine Monitor, “Brazil has more than 200 operational [Army] units with possibilities of being designated to peacekeeping operations. For this reason, it is necessary to keep a reduced number of mines for training soldiers and graduates. As you can see, the quantity of mines retained is almost symbolic.”^[15]

In its March 2003 Article 7 Report, Brazil stated that 450 M409 and 5 T-AB-1 mines had been destroyed during training activities in 2000 and 2001, and none in 2002. Brazil has said that all of the retained mines will be destroyed in training activities by 2009.^[16]

Mine Action

Brazil has stated that there are no mined areas in its national territory.^[17]

In 2002 and early 2003, Brazil continued to participate in international humanitarian mine action efforts on a bilateral and multilateral basis. Brazil reported that ten military technical experts were on duty in the Central America demining program (OAS MARMINCA) during the period from September 2001 to September 2002.^[18] During the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002, Brazil stated that its personnel accounted for nearly forty percent of experts participating in MARMINCA since its inception, an in-kind contribution of approximately $4 million.^[19] A Brazilian officer assumed responsibility for the international supervisory team of MARMINCA in January 2003.^[20] In July 2003, a Brazilian official indicated that 50 percent of MARMINCA’s international experts were Brazilians, and noted that Brazil had also taken part in humanitarian mine clearance in Angola.^[21]

Brazil reportedly reached an agreement with Mozambique that called for Brazil to send an expert to Mozambique in January 2003 for a one-year period, at a cost of $120,000, to assist in mine clearance in the south of the country. ^[22] In February 2003, Landmine Monitor was informed that, due to bureaucratic delays, the expert had not yet left for Mozambique, but it was expected he would arrive in May 2003.^[23]

[1] The law “prohibits and establishes as criminal offences all activities on national territory involving antipersonnel landmines, including use, development, production, transfer, stockpiling and any commercial activities,” with the exception of those carried out by the Armed Forces according to Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty. It includes four to six years imprisonment or a fine with the possibility that the penal sanction will increase by a third if a public servant is responsible (civilian or military), and will increase by half in the case of repeat offenders. See Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2002.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form E, 17 March 2003.
[3] Brazil’s Interventions on Article 1(c) and Article 8 to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 7 February 2003, are available at: www.gichd.ch. The important intervention on Article 1 is similar to that reported in detail in Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 130-131.
[4] See Article 7 Report, 30 April 2002 (for calendar year 2001); Article 7 Report, 30 April 2001 (for the period: March 2000-December 2000); Article 7 Report, 29 March 2000 - date of the letter of transmittal is 4 September 2000 (for the period: October 1999-March 2000).
[5] Article 7 Report, Form G, 17 March 2003.
[6] Statement by Ambassador Celina M. Assumpção do Valle Pereira, Fourth Meeting of States Parties, 17 September 2002; letter from Col. Maurizil Othon Neves Gonzaga, Advisor, Division of International Organizations, Ministry of Defense, 30 July 2002; Letter to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, from Frederico S. Duque Estrada Meyer, Minister Counselor, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN in Geneva, No. 344, 1 July 2003.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form G, 30 April 2002.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2002; Article 7 Report, Form G, 17 March 2003.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form F, 30 April 2002.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form F, 17 March 2003.
[11] Jose Wellington Castro Ferreira Gomes, Chief of Technical Division, Logistics Department, Ministry of Defense, “Relatorio do Programa de Destruciao de Minas Terrestres AP Contempladas pela Convenção de Ottawa,” 6 June 2003.
[12] While the total number of mines retained was the same in the April 2002 and March 2003 Article 7 reports, the numbers of the mines reported retained differed slightly. In April 2002, Brazil reported that 13,449 M409 mines and 3,096 T-AB-1 mines would be retained, while in March 2003, it reported that 13,482 M409 and 3,063 T-1-AB-1 mines would be retained. Brazil explained that the quantities concerning two specific lots “have been wrong and they were modified.” Article 7 Report, Form B, 17 March 2003.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form D, 17 March 2003.
[14] Letter from Frederico S. Duque Estrada Meyer, Permanent Mission of Brazil, 1 July 2003.
[15] Email from Col. Maurizil Othon Neves Gonzaga, Advisor, Division of International Organizations, Ministry of Defense, 30 July 2002.
[16] Article 7 Report, Form D, 30 April 2002.
[17] Article 7 Report, Form C, 17 March 2003.
[18] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 27 September 2002.
[19] Statement by Ambassador Celina M. Assumpção do Valle Pereira, 17 September 2002.
[20] Organization of American States, “Update on regional mine action efforts,” May 2003, p. 2.
[21] Letter from Frederico S. Duque Estrada Meyer, Permanent Mission of Brazil, 1 July 2003.
[22] “Moçambique: Brasil vai participar no programa de desminagem,” Lusa (Brasilia), 11 December 2002.
[23] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Fernando Apparicio da Silva, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in Geneva, at the Standing Committee meetings, Geneva, 7 February 2003.