Key developments
since May 2002: On 20 February 2003, El Salvador completed destruction of
its stockpiled antipersonnel mines, ahead of its treaty-mandated deadline of 1
July 2003. During field research in September 2002, the International Demining
Group identified 33 sites suspected of being affected by unexploded
ordnance.
Mine Ban Policy
El Salvador signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4
December 1997, ratified on 27 January 1999, and the treaty entered into force
for the country on 1 July 1999.
The Interagency Committee on International Humanitarian Law (CIDIH-ES,
Comité Interinstitucional de Derecho Internacional Humanitario de El
Salvador) coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has prepared a proposal
for reforms of national legal measures that would include sanctions to prevent
and suppress activities prohibited by the Mine Ban
Treaty.[1] The draft
legislation had not been presented to the Legislative Assembly as of June
2003.[2]
El Salvador participated in the Fourth Meeting of States Parties of the Mine
Ban Treaty in September 2002, and attended intersessional Standing Committee
meetings in February and May 2003.
Landmine Monitor received an advance copy of El Salvador’s Article 7
Report dated 4 March 2003, which covers the period from 1 April 2002 to 28
February 2003. As of July, it had not been posted on the United Nations
website. This is the country’s third Article 7
Report.[3]
On 22 November 2002, El Salvador voted in favor of UN General Assembly
Resolution 57/74, promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty.
El Salvador is a State Party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the
Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it did not attend the Fourth
Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2002.
Production, Transfer and Use
El Salvador reports that it has not produced
antipersonnel mines and has no facilities to produce any type of
mine.[4] El Salvador is not
known to have exported antipersonnel mines in the past. El Salvador imported
considerable quantities of antipersonnel mines, including M-14, M-26, and M18A1
Claymore mines, all manufactured by the United
States.[5] The guerrillas of
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) made significant
numbers of homemade antipersonnel mines or improvised explosive devices. Both
the government and FMLN forces used mines throughout the 1980-1992 conflict.
Stockpiling and Destruction
El Salvador previously reported that in the period
from March 1993 through 1994, the Division of Arms and Explosives (DAE,
División de Armas y Explosivos) of the National Civilian Police (PNC,
Policía Nacional Civil) destroyed all remaining antipersonnel mines
stockpiled by the Armed Forces of El Salvador. In April 1997, El Salvador
reported this destruction to the Secretary General of the Organization of
American States (OAS).[6]
In May 2001, however, Landmine Monitor received a detailed response from the
Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Salvadoran Armed Forces which reported
that El Salvador had a stockpile of 5,657 antipersonnel landmines, including
4,937 M-14 and 720 M-26 antipersonnel mines, stockpiled in different parts of
the country.[7] El Salvador
reported that it destroyed 1,291 mines between June 2000 and August 2001,
including 64 M-14 mines and a previously unreported 1,227 M-18 Claymore
mines.[8]
On 20 February 2003, El Salvador completed destruction of its stockpiled
antipersonnel mines, ahead of its treaty-mandated deadline of 1 July 2003. A
total of 5,248 mines were destroyed on this date, including 4,759 M-14 mines and
489 M-18 mines. Destruction took place at La Hacienda El Ángel II,
Tapalhuaca, in the department of La
Paz.[9] The final stockpile
destruction event was witnessed by the Vice-Minister of Defense, General
Álvaro Rivera Alemán, General Héctor Gutiérrez of
the Chiefs of Staff, and other high-ranking officials and members of the
media.[10] No representatives
from civil society are believed to have witnessed the event.
Thus, El Salvador reports that a total of 6,539 mines were destroyed,
including 5,248 mines in February 2003 and another 1,291 mines between June 2000
and August 2001.[11]
It appears that Salvadoran stockpiles consisted of mines that had been
cleared after the peace
accords.[12] At the destruction
ceremony, the Army reportedly stated that the mines were obtained from mine
clearance operations by the Belgian company International Danger Disaster
Assistance (IDAS) between March 1993 and January
1994.[13]
In an intervention at the May 2003 Standing Committee on Stockpile
Destruction, the representative of El Salvador made a detailed presentation on
the destruction process: “The mines were placed in metal barrels in pits
1.2 meters deep, and detonated using electronic
initiators.”[14] According
to the March 2003 Article 7 Report, rules established by the Ministry of the
Environment and Natural Resources were
followed.[15]
El Salvador has reported that it will retain 96 antipersonnel mines for
training and development, as permitted under Article 4 of the treaty (50 M-14
and 46 M-26 mines).[16] These
mines have been transferred from the Logistics Support Command to the Armed
Forces Engineer Command.[17]
Landmine and UXO Problem
Salvadoran representatives have repeatedly stated
that the country is mine-free. At the Standing Committee meetings in February
2003, Salvadoran representative Mario Castro said, “We celebrate the news
that Costa Rica has been declared mine-free, and thus joins El Salvador as a
mine-free country in the Central American region. I remind you that my country
was declared and certified as mine-free in 1994 by the UN, following completion
of the National Demining Plan carried out by the Armed Forces, FMLN, ONUSAL,
UNICEF, with the services of the Belgian company IDAS. Though there have been
some isolated accidents since 1994, these have involved UXO [unexploded
ordnance], many of them
homemade.”[18] El
Salvador’s March 2003 Article 7 report also notes that the country was
declared 97 percent mine-free following the completion of the National Demining
Plan in 1994.[19]
However, in 1998-2000, a UK-based mine clearance NGO, the International
Demining Group (IDG), and its Salvadoran NGO partner, the Foundation for
Cooperation and Community Development of El Salvador (CORDES, Fundación
para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Comunal de El Salvador), identified
approximately 150 square kilometers of land for consideration for survey and/or
demining operations in the departments of Chalatenango, Cabañas,
Cuscatlán and Usulután. This included 53 previously unknown or
unrecorded UXO/mine
locations.[20]
According to IDG, the UXO problem in rural areas remains a significant
issue.[21] IDG believes the
March 1993-January 1994 clearance operation lacked accurate information on the
number and configuration of mined areas. In addition, Hurricane Mitch in late
1998 and the severe earthquakes in January and February 2001 may have caused the
dispersal and dislodgment of UXO and
landmines.[22]
IDG carried out further field research in September 2002, in cooperation with
local authorities.[23] IDG
identified 33 sites suspected of being UXO-affected: in the department of
Chalatenango; in the Guazapa Volcano area (department of San Salvador); and in
the Cinquera region (department of
Cabañas).[24] The
majority of UXO found were fragmentation hand grenades, 51mm and 88mm grenades,
and M79 grenades.[25]
In addition, IDG was informed that in October 2002, a farmer called the
Division of Arms and Explosives of the PNC to remove and destroy a homemade
quitapié (foot-removing mine) in the San Diego farm, in the town
of San Vicente, San Idelfonsom, and that in November 2002, a student found a
mine in the woods.[26]
In July 2003, IDG concluded, “The danger caused by antipersonnel mines
has practically been eliminated from the ending of the National Demining Plan in
1994. Nevertheless, uncleared UXO remains abandoned in several sites of the
former conflict areas, including those which were ‘assisted’ in the
post conflict demining process.”
IDG also said that risk education “is an urgent
requirement.”[27]
Mine Action Assistance
Since 1997, El Salvador has contributed twenty
military mine action supervisors to the MARMINCA mine clearance efforts by the
OAS in Central America, including four supervisors in 2002, and four more in
2003, to Honduras and Nicaragua. El Salvador also provided two military
personnel to the UN mission in Kuwait
(UNIKOM).[28]
In June 2003, Nicaragua’s Minister of Defense, José Adán
Guerra, announced that 840 soldiers from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and
the Dominican Republic would carry out mine clearance and humanitarian
assistance in central and southern Iraq as part of an international force under
Spanish command and paid for by the United
States.[29] El Salvador’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs, María Brizuela de Ávila, subsequently
stated that the Salvadoran contingent would number 100, including deminers, road
engineers and health
workers.[30] The OAS has
cautioned that landmines in Iraq are quite different from those known in Central
America and the soldiers may face problems in clearance
operations.[31]
Mine/UXO Action
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, an
interagency committee on the Ottawa Convention (Comité Nacional
Intersectorial para el seguimiento de la Convención de Ottawa) was
established in November 2001, with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the National Civilian Police
(PNC).[32]
In 2002, the Salvadoran Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled
(ISRI, Instituto Salvadoreño de Rehabilitación de
Inválidos) was added to the
committee.[33] The committee is
the official body charged with liaising with national and international
organizations in order to give information on demining and mine survivor
rehabilitation.[34]
The Ministry of Defense and the Division of Arms and Explosives (DAE) of the
PNC are the authorized national institutions responsible for clearance of any
mines and UXO.[35]
In November 2001, IDG presented a mine/UXO survey project to the government
for its consideration.[36] On
13 January 2003, the Director-General of Foreign Policy at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Marisol Argueta, responded with recommendations for changes to
the project. IDG complied, and added information from the fieldwork carried out
in Chalatenango and
Cuscatlán.[37] After
further input from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IDG is now preparing the
final version of the project to present in August
2003.[38]
According to the PNC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is no need
for risk education campaigns in El Salvador because the country is considered 97
percent free of mines.[39] In
its 2003 Article 7 report, El Salvador again states “not applicable”
with respect to measures adopted to warn the
population.[40] However, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged that the local population is not
informed or qualified to take action when finding UXO, and in general does not
report UXO findings to the
PNC.[41] Although no programs
exist, the PNC is mandated to provide risk education
programs.[42]
Landmine and UXO Casualties
No official information is available on landmine
casualties in El Salvador. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local
media has reported 22 UXO casualties between 1998 and
2002.[43] In one reported
incident on 29 April 2002, a municipal worker in San Salvador lost his hand and
damaged his left eye after inadvertently detonating a homemade grenade
(“granada hechiza”) while cleaning out a sewage drain with a
shovel.[44]
Survivor Assistance
In El Salvador, persons with disabilities,
including landmine survivors, are treated within the regular health care system.
However, in many villages and poor urban areas access to medical care and
rehabilitation is limited.[45]
El Salvador has initiated a program of decentralization of health services,
establishing 28 centers of integrated basic health care services (SIBASIS,
Servicios Básicos de Salud
Integral).[46] With the support
of the Canada-Mexico-PAHO tripartite project, rehabilitation services are
available at six of the 28
SIBASIS.[47] In May 2003, it
was reported that a technology transfer and decentralization of rehabilitation
services agreement was sought with Canada, in order to bring those serviced to
an additional two SIBASIS, leaving 30 SIBASIS for the
future.[48]
The Salvadoran Institute for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (ISRI)
provides services to persons with disabilities in ten health care centers.
According to the Director of ISRI, these centers have the infrastructure and
equipment, as well as specialized medical and technical personnel, to provide
rehabilitation services.[49]
The four-year Canada-Mexico-PAHO tripartite project “Care for victims
of AP mines in Central America” concluded in El Salvador in March
2003.[50] The project included
a component of training for prosthetic technicians. In 2002, 261 people were
fitted with prosthetic and orthotic devices free of charge. PAHO provided
funding support as well as materials for the manufacture of the
devices.[51]
The Association of the Organization of Disabled of El Salvador (PODES,
Asociación Promotora de la Organización de Discapacitados de El
Salvador) has been producing prosthetic and orthotic devices since 1993, and has
22 employees, including 16 war disabled. In 2002, PODES assisted 287 people,
including 33 landmine
amputees.[52] Between 1993 and
February 2003, PODES assisted 1,749 people, including 652 landmine
survivors.[53]
The Center for Professional Rehabilitation of the Armed Forces (CERPROFA,
Centro de Rehabilitación Profesional de la Fuerza Armada) assists
military and former military personnel. CERPROFA provides clinical care,
prostheses, and financial support to disabled military
personnel.[54]
From 1997 to March 2003, the Association of War Wounded of El Salvador
(ALGES, Asociación de Lisiados de Guerra de El Salvador) enlisted 4,889
members in fourteen departments across the country in various programs,
including skills training programs and medical
assistance.[55] In February
2003, a government official told Landmine Monitor that a census by ALGES had
identified approximately 3,700 landmine survivors in El Salvador, including
amputees, and blind and deaf
persons.[56] He also stated
that there are over 30,000 individuals affected by the internal armed conflict,
including landmine
survivors.[57]
The Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) began work in El Salvador in June 2001.
LSN’s program now has four community-based outreach workers: three in San
Salvador and one in La Libertad department. The community workers, who are
landmine survivors, work with individual survivors to assess their needs, offer
psychological and social support, and educate families about the effects of limb
loss. In February 2003, LSN reported that it was assisting approximately 100
amputees, of which 60 percent were landmine
survivors.[58] More than 30 of
the survivors have received direct material support from LSN. Almost all of the
survivors have participated in the group activities organized by the network in
2003 to promote social interaction among survivors, while also educating them on
human rights and other issues related to limb
loss.[59]
The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR) launched a Lower Extremity
Distance Learning Program in Central America with 23 students from El Salvador,
Guatemala and Nicaragua. The pilot program was completed in July
2002.[60] Students that
graduated from the program are training to provide rehabilitation for persons
with disabilities in Santana
department.[61]
The Trust for the Americas of the OAS, with the Ministry of Labor and the
National Council for the Integrated Care of the Disabled (CONAIPD) continued its
program of vocational training and assistance with job placement for persons
with disabilities.[62]
Disability Policy and Practice
El Salvador reportedly recognizes its
responsibility in providing assistance and rehabilitation to landmine survivors,
in the long term, including socioeconomic
reintegration;[63] however, its
efforts are “insufficient because of a lack of resources for
rehabilitation services, technical support, vocational training and productive
integration.”[64]
The Law for Equal Rights and Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (Ley
de equiparación de oportunidades para las personas con discapacidad),
passed in 2000, regulates the rights of persons with disabilities, including
landmine survivors, to medical and rehabilitation services, education, access to
public places, transport, communications, and vocational training and economic
reintegration.[65]
The Law for the Protection Fund for the Disabled and Wounded as a Result of
the Armed Conflict (Ley del fondo de protección de lisiados y
discapacitados a consecuencia del conflicto armado), passed in 1996, provides a
variety of benefits including medical and rehabilitation services, pensions,
subsidies and economic benefits, and vocational training and economic
reintegration programs. The Law benefits both military and civilian victims of
the conflict, including mine
casualties.[66]
The National Council for the Integrated Care of the Disabled (CONAIPD,
Consejo Nacional de Atención Integral a las Personas con Discapacidad) is
the official body responsible for developing policies and coordinating and
monitoring institutions and organizations working with people with disabilities
in El Salvador.[67]
[1] Letter to Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL
Coordinator, from María Eugenia Brizuela de Ávila, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of El Salvador, Ref: DGPE/D.M./No. 560, 18 May
2003. [2] Telephone interview with
Francisco Gonzales, Department of Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
27 March 2003. [3] See also Article 7
Report, 29 April 2002 (for the period: 1 September 2001-31 March 2002); Article
7 Report, 31 August 2001 (for the period: 1 June 2000-31 August
2001). [4] Article 7 Report, Forms E and
H, 4 March 2003. [5] See Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 242. [6] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
269. [7] Response to Landmine Monitor
questionnaire by General Alvaro Antonio Calderón Hurtado, Chair of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Salvadoran Armed Forces, 8 May
2001. [8] Article 7 Report, Form D, 4
March 2003; “Informe Ejecutivo, Finalización del Plan de
Destrucción de Minas en Arsenal por la Fuerza Armada de El
Salvador,” undated document provided to Landmine Monitor in March
2003. [9] Jesús Corvera,
“Destruyen más de 5 mil minas,” El Diario de Hoy (San
Salvador), 21 February 2003; David Marroquín, “Destruyen 5 mil
minas antipersonales,” La Prensa Gráfica (San Salvador), 21
February 2003; Article 7 Report, Form A, D and F, 4 March 2003; intervention by
El Salvador at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 May
2003. [10] Jesús Corvera,
“Destruyen más de 5 mil minas,” El Diario de Hoy, 21 February
2003. [11] Article 7 Report, Form D, 4
March 2003. In comparing numbers in the 2001, 2002, and 2002 Article 7 reports,
it appears that El Salvador reported on the destruction of 64 M-14 mines twice,
both in August 2001 and in April
2002. [12] Statement by Dr. José
Rolando Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance
and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 13 May 2003, available at
www.gichd.ch. [13]
Jesús Corvera, “Destruyen más de 5 mil minas,” El
Diario de Hoy, 21 February 2003. [14]
Statement by El Salvador at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction,
Geneva, 15 May 2003. [15] Article 7
Report, Form F, 4 March 2003. [16]
Article 7 Report, Form B and D, 4 March
2003. [17] Article 7 Report, Form D, 4
March 2003. [18] Intervention by
Minister Counselor Mario Castro, at the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance,
Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 5 February 2003.
Landmine Monitor has a copy of the
intervention. [19] Article 7 Report,
Form C, 4 March 2003. The report also states, “There are no minefields in
El Salvador.” Article 7 Report, Forms F and G, 4 March
2003. [20] Verification was accomplished
by breaching into the suspected areas, then detecting, neutralizing and
recovering mines. According to IDG, during these investigations, antipersonnel
mines, booby-traps, hand grenades, mortar rounds and a rocket were cleared. All
of these were in operational or “live” condition. Within every
location investigated, mines and UXO were recovered. International Demining
Group, “El Salvador: this Hard Land,” London, May 2001, available at
www.demininggroup.org; see also,
Graeme Goldsworthy and Dr. Frank Faulkner, “This Hard Land: A Renewal of
Humanitarian Mine Action in El Salvador,” in “Landmines in Central
& South America,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 5.2, Summer 2001, pp.
22-23; Ana Lidia Rivera, “La muerte a flor de tierra,”
Vértice, El Diario de Hoy, 20 May 2001.
[21] IDG, “This Hard Land,”
May 2001. [22]
Ibid. [23] Interview with Tania Gochez,
IDG, San Salvador, 28 January 2003. [24]
IDG, “Pilot Program for a Level I and II Survey on Humanitarian Mine
Action.” 2003, p. 7. [25]
Interview with Tania Gochez, IDG, 28 January
2003. [26] “Encuentran bomba de
500 Libras,” La Prensa (San Salvador), 4 January
2003. [27] Email to Landmine Monitor
(MAC) from Graeme Goldsworthy, IDG, 11 July
2003. [28] Telephone interview with
Francisco Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 March
2003. [29] “Enviará
Centroamérica unos 840 soldados a reconstrucción de Irak,”
Notimex (Managua), 12 June 2003. [30]
Ruth Melany Cruz, “Tropa salvadoreña a desminar en Iraq,” La
Prensa Gráfica, 17 June
2003. [31] “OEA prevé
dificultades para soldados del istmo,” La Prensa Gráfica, 17 June
2003. [32] Minister of Foreign Affairs
Report, 11 February 2002. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
241. [33] Interview with Francisco
Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 January
2003. [34] Minister of Foreign Affairs
Report, 11 February 2002, p. 4. [35]
Ibid., p. 1. [36] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2002, p.245; IDG, “This Hard Land,” May
2001. [37] Interview with Tania Gochez,
IDG, San Salvador, 28 January 2003. [38]
Telephone interview with Tania Gochez, IDG, (San Salvador), 24 June
2003. [39] Interview with Luis Fernando
Repreza Aguilar, Commissioner, Division of Arms and Explosives, San Salvador, 28
January 2003; telephone interview with Francisco Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 27 March 2003. [40] Article 7
Report, Form I, 4 March 2003. [41]
Telephone interview with Francisco Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27
March 2003. [42] Interview with Luis
Fernando Repreza Aguilar, Division of Arms and Explosives, 28 January
2003. [43] Telephone interview with
Francisco Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 March
2003. [44] Guadalupe Hernández,
“Empleado municipal pierde su mano derecha. Mi mente la tengo para seguir
adelante,” El Diario de Hoy, 8 May
2002. [45] For more details see Landmine
Survivors Rehabilitation Database – El Salvador, available at
www.lsndatabase.org; see also Landmine
Monitor Report 2001, pp. 341-342. [46]
Statement by Dr. Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim
Assistance, 13 May 2003. [47] Telephone
interview with Francisco Gonzales, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24 June
2003. [48] Statement by Dr.
Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 13 May
2003. [49] Email from Dr. José
Rolando Martínez Panameño, Director, ISRI, 6 June
2003. [50] Statement by Dr.
Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 13 May
2003. [51]
Ibid. [52] Telephone interview with
José Leonidas Argueta Rolda, Executive Director, PODES, San Salvador, 26
June 2003 and email received 27 June
2003. [53] Interview with José
Leonidas Argueta Roldan, PODES, San Salvador, 28 February 2003; see also
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
247. [54] Interview with General Alvaro
Rivera Alemán, Vice-Minister of Defense, San Salvador, 27 January
2003. [55] Telephone interview with
Armando Martinez, ALGES, San Salvador, 27 June
2003. [56] Landmine Monitor (MAC)
interview with Dr. José Rolando Martínez Panameño, Geneva,
6 February 2003. [57] Statement by Dr.
Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 13 May
2003. [58] Email communication from
Jesús Martínez, LSN El Salvador, 4 February 2003; see also
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
247. [59] Email to Landmine Monitor
(HRW) from Michelle Hecker, Country Officer, LSN, 29 July
2003. [60] ICBL, “Portfolio of
Landmine Victim Assistance Programs,” available at
www.landminevap.org.
[61] Telephone interview with Francisco
Gonzalez, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, San Salvador, 24 June
2003. [62] ICBL, “Portfolio of
Landmine Victim Assistance
Programs.” [63] Statement by El
Salvador at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 May
2003. [64] Statement by Dr.
Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 13 May
2003. [65] Statement by Dr.
Martínez Panameño, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 4
February 2003. [66]
Ibid. [67] Email from Dr. José
Rolando Martínez Panameño, ISRI, 6 June 2003.
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