LM Report 2003

Switzerland

Key developments since May 2002: In 2002, Swiss funding for mine action increased to more than $9 million, with nearly half going to the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining. Countries receiving Swiss funding for the first time were Afghanistan, Angola, Colombia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka. Switzerland served as Secretary-General of the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002, and became co-chair of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction.

Mine Ban Policy

Switzerland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 24 March 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Legal implementation of the treaty was achieved on 1 April 1998 by modification of prior legislation. Swiss law prohibits transit of antipersonnel mines through Switzerland for any purpose, including peacekeeping operations.

Final approval of an amendment to Swiss law based on the Mine Ban Treaty definition of an antihandling device is expected in June 2003.^[1] Switzerland reported in April 2003 that “the Swiss Parliament is in the process of harmonizing” national law with Articles 2.3 (antihandling device) and 3.1 (retained mines) of the treaty.^[2]

Production of antipersonnel mines ceased in 1969 and export of antipersonnel mines was banned in December 1996. Destruction of 3.85 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines was completed by 15 March 1999, with none retained for permitted training and development purposes. Switzerland has urged States Parties that find it necessary to retain some mines, to make clear the precise purposes.^[3] Two types of directional fragmentation (Claymore-type) mines are possessed by Switzerland, but have not been included in Article 7 reports because “the element of indiscriminate effect has been eliminated.”^[4] How this has been achieved has not been reported.

Switzerland served as the Secretary-General of the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 in Geneva. At the Fourth Meeting, Switzerland became co-chair of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction. As co-chair, Switzerland worked extensively and effectively to encourage States Parties to meet their four-year stockpile destruction deadlines, the first of which occurred in March 2003. Switzerland actively participated in the various Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. It also participated in the Universalization, Article 7 and Resource Mobilization Contact Groups, as well as in the President’s Consultations on the 2004 Review Conference in January and May 2003.

During a Standing Committee meeting in February 2003, Switzerland associated itself with the statements of other countries that Article 1 clearly bans joint military operations that may involve use of antipersonnel mines. Switzerland appealed to all States Parties to respect “the words and spirit” of Article 1.^[5]

Switzerland submitted its Article 7 report for calendar year 2002 on 30 April 2003. Four previous Article 7 reports have been submitted. The reports are brief, since the country is not mine-affected, has destroyed its mine stockpiles, and has retained no mines for training purposes.^[6]

As a new member of the United Nations, for the first time Switzerland co-sponsored and voted in favor of the annual pro-Mine Ban Treaty resolution, UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, in November 2002. During discussion in the First Committee on 2 October, Ambassador Christian Faessler, Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, said that, “Without the new partnership between States, the ICRC and Non-Governmental Organizations it would not have been possible to negotiate and adopt the Mine Ban Convention in such a short period of time.”^[7]

Switzerland is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II, and submitted the annual report required by Article 13 of the Protocol on 15 October 2002. Switzerland attended the Fourth Annual Conference of States Parties to the Protocol in December 2002. Switzerland presented a non-paper in which it proposed improvements to the Article 13 reporting format. The delegation observed that demining and victim assistance required cooperation between States party to the Protocol, States party to the Mine Ban Treaty, and NGOs, and reminded the conference that the Ottawa process is open to all States, whether or not they are parties to the Mine Ban Treaty.^[8]

The Swiss-based NGO, Geneva Call, made statements at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, and at the Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. Geneva Call drew attention to the need to engage non-State actors in order to truly universalize a landmine ban. In May 2003, Geneva Call reported that 20 armed groups had signed the Geneva Call ban commitment.^[9]

Mine Action Funding and Assistance

In 2002, Switzerland provided mine action funding of US$9,061,714. This compares to $8.43 million in 2001.^[10] Of the 2002 total, nearly half ($4.35 million) went to general support for the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

Countries receiving Swiss mine action funding in 2002 for the first time were Afghanistan, Angola, Colombia, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. Countries continuing to receive Swiss funding in 2002 were Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad, Croatia, Eritrea, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Kosovo). Funding ceased for Yemen.^[11]

Countries

• Afghanistan - $101,000 for mine clearance equipment and operations, and core support for mine action center, by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
• Albania - $484,714 for mine clearance by SFMA, and core support for mine action center via UNDP
• Angola - $400,000 for mine clearance in Huambo region, by the HALO Trust
• Azerbaijan - $15,000 for core support for the mine action center, via UNDP
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - $267,070 for mine clearance, support to mine dog center, mine risk education, by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and Handicap International (HI)
• Chad - $371,430 for demining in Ounianga Kebir, by HELP
• Colombia - $67,500 for core support for mine action center and mine risk education, via the GICHD
• Croatia - $230,000 for three demining operations, by CROMAC
• Eritrea - $488,000 for mine clearance equipment and operations, and core support for the mine action center, by the HALO Trust, and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
• Ethiopia - $45,000 for core support for mine action center, by UNDP
• Lebanon - $115,000 in support of the Landmine Resource Center for mine awareness
• Mozambique – $1,160,000 for demining in North and Matalane regions, by HALO Trust, National Demining Institute, Accelerated Demining Programme, and UNDP
• Somalia -$35,000 for an information advisor for mine action center, via UNDP
• Sri Lanka - $296,000 for core support for the mine action center, and mapping, by SFMA
• Sudan - $165,000 for demining in Nuba region, by UNDP
• Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Kosovo) - $135,000 for an information advisor, and mine risk education by HI

Organizations

• GICHD - $4,350,000 as general support
• Various - $120,000 for side events at the Fourth Meeting of States Parties
• GICHD - $60,000 for the sponsorship program
• ICBL - $50,000 for the Landmine Monitor Report 2002
• HI - $46,000 for a victim assistance publication
• Ministry of Defense - $30,000 for stockpile destruction workshop
• Geneva Call - $30,000 for project engaging non-State actors in a mine ban

In 2002-2003, Swiss mine action personnel were involved in Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Yemen, and the Kosovo province of Serbia and Montenegro. Switzerland has established a pool of demining specialists, which is expected to cover ten international deployments in 2003. Further trainings are carried out each year.^[12]

NGO Mine Action and Funding

In 2002, the NGO, Handicap International Switzerland, contributed a total of CHF781,014 ($500,650) to mine action.^[13] This included: CHF201,694 ($129,291) for demining in Mozambique, CHF71,746 ($45,991) for mine risk education (MRE) in Ethiopia; CHF69,362 ($44,463) for victim assistance in Southeast Asia; CHF59,108 ($37,890) for MRE in Angola; CHF57,779 ($37,038) for victim assistance in Algeria; CHF56,308 ($36,095) for victim assistance in Cambodia; CHF22,021 ($14,116) for MRE in Bosnia and Herzegovina; CHF14,996 ($9,613) for demining in Kosovo; CHF2,000 ($1,282) for MRE in Afghanistan; and CHF1,000 ($641) for victim assistance in Chechnya. It also included CHF225,000 ($144,000) to raise public awareness about the Mine Ban Treaty during the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, held in Geneva, Switzerland.^[14]

In 2002, the Swiss NGO Pro Victimis provided $221,894 for mine action programs. In Albania, it provided CHF10,000 ($6,410) for the transportation of a mine clearance machine. In Sri Lanka, Pro Victimis gave $175,100 to the HALO Trust for demining. In Uganda, it provided CHF8,000 ($5,128) to Stiftung Hope for victim assistance. It also gave CHF55,000 ($35,256) to the Geneva Call.^[15]

In 2002, the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), formerly known as the Swiss Federation for Mine Action, raised more than US$3 million. It directly managed mine action projects in three countries and started to prepare a mine and UXO clearance program in Tajikistan. In Afghanistan, FSD provided emergency response support to the World Food Program ($1.18 million). In Albania, it conducted mine/UXO clearance ($1.14 million), and in Sri Lanka it undertook a general assessment and mine clearance ($470,000 million).

As a standby-partner of the WFP, FSD trained WFP voluntary personnel for urgent missions in hazardous areas in mine awareness. FSD was also involved in WFP planning for an emergency situation in Iraq. Together with its partner organization Geneva Call, FSD participated in field missions to the Philippines and northern Iraq. In Switzerland, FSD organized numerous conferences and participated as co-organizer in the Expo02 Mine Action Week “Landmines: some moments are eternal” to raise public awareness. FSD experts continued to train and certify Swiss army staff as supervisors for humanitarian demining operations.^[16]

Landmine Casualties

In August 2002, a Swiss mine clearer suffered minor injuries in an explosion during mine clearance operations in central Afghanistan. A US Special Operations soldier was also injured in the accident.^[17]

[1] Email from Sascha Fuls, Global Arms Control and Disarmament Section, Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport [hereafter Ministry of Defense], 28 May 2003. For more details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 466.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form A, 30 April 2003.
[3] Statement by Thomas Greminger, Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 16-20 September 2002.
[4] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 7 March 2001.
[5] Intervention by Ambassador Christian Faessler, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 7 February 2003 (Landmine Monitor notes).
[6] See Article 7 reports submitted on 30 April 2003 (for calendar year 2002), 30 April 2002 (for calendar year 2001), 28 March 2001 (for calendar year 2000), 11 April 2000 (for calendar year 1999), and 4 August 1999 (for the period 1 March-20 August 1999).
[7] Statement by Amb. Christian Faessler, Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, First Committee of the General Assembly, UN, New York, 2 October 2002.
[8] Statement by Colonel Erwin Dahinden, Fourth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 11 December 2002.
[9] Statement by Geneva Call, Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 16-20 September 2002; Statement of Geneva Call, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 3 February 2003; Statement of Elizabeth Reusse-Decrey, President of Geneva Call, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 15 May 2003.
[10] UN Mine Action Investments database, “Annual Donor Report for Switzerland: 2002,” accessed on 7 May 2003. For funding policy, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 805.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Switzerland Response to OSCE questionnaire, 12 December 2002, pp. 3-4.
[13] Exchange rate US$1 = CHF1.56, used throughout this report. Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 6 January 2003.
[14] Emails from Paul Vermuelen, Handicap International Switzerland, 9 and 12 May 2003.
[15] Email from Stéphanie Roy, Pro Victimis, 23 May 2003.
[16] Email from Hansjorg Eberle, Director General, Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, 12 June 2003.
[17] “U.S. soldier wounded in demining accident in central Afghanistan,” Associated Press, 27 August 2002.