Key developments since May 2003: In September 2003, Ambassador
Petritsch of Austria was designated as the President of the First Review
Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty. Austria served as co-chair of the Standing
Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention from September 2002
to September 2003. In 2003, Austria provided funding for mine action of
€775,056 (about $877,000), a decrease from €2.06 million in 2002,
but a similar level to 2001. An independent evaluation in 2003 of Austrian
funding for mine action in Mozambique over the past years criticized both the
donor and the recipient (UNDP) for poor performance. Austria re-structured its
mine action assistance program with the establishment of the Austrian
Development Agency on 1 January 2004.
Key developments since 1999: Austria became a State Party to the Mine
Ban Treaty on 1 March 1999. It completed stockpile destruction and adopted
national legislation prohibiting antipersonnel mines prior to entry into force
of the Mine Ban Treaty. Since 1999, Austria has continuously played a key role
in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional work program and in promoting
universalization and full implementation of the treaty. It developed the
reporting format for Article 7 reports. It served as co-rapporteur then
co-chair of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the
Convention from September 2001 to September 2003. In September 2003,
Ambassador Petritsch of Austria was designated as the President of the First
Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty. Austria decided not to retain any
antipersonnel mines for training and development. From 1999 to 2003, Austria
provided about $6.67 million in mine action funding.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Austria signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and
ratified it on 29 June 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999.
Austria was one of the first countries to support a comprehensive ban on
antipersonnel mines. Austria first announced its commitment to achieving an
immediate and total ban in September 1995, and destroyed its stockpile of
antipersonnel mines by the end of that year. In December 1996, a national law
banning antipersonnel mines was
passed.[1] This law serves as
implementation legislation for the Mine Ban Treaty in Austria. Austria was a
leader in the Ottawa Process, preparing the three draft texts that served as the
basis for the negotiation of the treaty, and hosting a preparatory meeting in
February 1997.[2]
Since 1999, Austria has continuously played a key role in the Mine Ban Treaty
work program. It has participated in all annual Meetings of States Parties,
acting as Friend of the President of the Meetings in 2001 and 2002, and as
Vice-President to the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in September 2003. It has
been actively engaged in all intersessional meetings. It served as
co-rapporteur then co-chair of the Standing Committee on General Status and
Operation of the Convention from September 2001 to September 2003. Austria has
been particularly active in the contact groups on universalization, Articles 7
and 9, and resource mobilization.
Austria was one of five countries that offered to host the first Mine Ban
Treaty Review Conference, which will be held in Nairobi in 29 November-3
December 2004. In September 2003, Austria’s Ambassador to the UN in
Geneva, Wolfgang Petritsch, was designated as President of the Review Conference
(known as the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World). In February 2004,
Ambassador Petritsch described gaining “the necessary political and
financial commitment to continue to eliminate the humanitarian impact of
anti-personnel mines” as the biggest challenge facing the Review
Conference.[3] As
President-Designate, Ambassador Petritsch has presided over two formal
preparatory meetings (in February and June 2004) and two informal meetings (in
December 2003 and September 2004), and has overseen the development of key draft
documents for the Review Conference, including a Final Declaration, a Five-Year
Review, a Five-Year Action Plan, and a Program of future meetings. To promote
the Nairobi Summit and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, he has traveled
to Croatia, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Romania, Kenya, United States, Jordan,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bhutan, India, Lithuania, and Ethiopia.
In the context of Austria’s universalization efforts, Ambassador
Petritsch criticized the new US policy on landmines, issued at the end of
February 2004.[4] At the
Conference on Disarmament in February 2004, he suggested that the time might be
ripe for India and Pakistan to accede to the treaty, and encouraged all other
non-members to join the treaty.[5]
During 2003, Austria continued to concentrate its efforts to encourage States in
Central Asia and the Caucasus to join the treaty, and has reported on these
efforts in detail.
In September 2003, Austria made a statement recognizing the importance of
condemning the use of antipersonnel mines by non-State actors, but recommending
a cautious approach, with action in relation to non-State actors taking place
outside the Mine Ban Treaty, in order not to distract States Parties from
fulfilling their obligations.[6]
In December 2003, Austria voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution
58/53, which calls for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty. It has supported similar resolutions in previous years.
As chair of the Human Security Network in 2002-2003, Austria issued a
declaration supporting treaty universalization, and the Austrian Minister of
Foreign Affairs wrote in the name of the Network to foreign ministers of all
States not yet party to the treaty. Replies and non-replies were followed up,
encouraging all to attend the Fifth Meeting of States Parties and the
intersessional meetings. Under the Austrian chair, the Network also adopted a
work plan for 2003–2005 that included member countries acting as
“regional champions” of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[7]
Austria submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report, for calendar year
2003, on 30 April 2004. It indicates that all data is unchanged from the
previous report, with the exception of mine action funding, which is reported on
the voluntary Form J. This is Austria’s sixth Article 7
report.[8] Austria was largely
responsible for developing the Article 7 reporting format that was adopted at
the First Meeting of States Parties in May 1999.
Austria has participated in State Party deliberations on matters of
interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1 and 2. Regarding the
issue of the legality of permitting transit of antipersonnel mines across
national territory, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in April 2000 that,
as a neutral country, Austria is keen to prevent any violations of the Mine Ban
Treaty and has denied transit to NATO countries either across its territory or
through its airspace of any transport containing any weapons, in spite of NATO
requests to do so during the 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.[9]
Regarding the issue of antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes and
antihandling devices, Austria has offered its legal interpretation of Article 2
of the Mine Ban Treaty, which supports the view that any mine, regardless of how
it is labeled, is banned if its design is such that it will detonate as a result
of an unintentional act of a person. But Austria has also welcomed practical
suggestions for taking the issue “beyond legalistic debate” in the
context of the Mine Ban Treaty, and encouraged all countries to express their
views “in the hope of
convergence.”[10] At the
Fifth Meeting of States Parties, the Austrian delegation repeated that it favors
a pragmatic solution based on best practices to deal with differences of
interpretation on this issue: “There is a shared conviction among all of
us that the humanitarian problems caused by such mines need to be addressed....
What really matters is that the problems are dealt with comprehensively [and]
what this debate boils down to is only the question under which legal
framework” they are dealt
with.[11] In March 2004, Austria
was reported to be positive toward Germany’s proposal on this issue in the
Convention on Conventional
Weapons.[12] In May 2000, the
Ministry of Defense stated that Austria “possesses only such types of
anti-tank mines (including anti-vehicle mines) as are compatible with” the
national law, the Mine Ban Treaty, and other international
treaties.[13]
Austria is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on
Conventional Weapons (CCW), and attended the Fifth Annual Conference of States
Parties to the Protocol in November 2003. Austria submitted its annual report
under Article 13 of the Protocol on 4 November 2003. Austria has submitted
annual reports and attended annual conferences of States Parties in previous
years. It has also participated actively in the CCW Group of Governmental
Experts meetings, supporting the adoption of a new protocol on explosive
remnants of war.
Production and Transfer
Production, export and use of antipersonnel mines were formally renounced in
September 1995 under an order that was superseded by national legislation in
1997. According to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, production ceased in 1945,
with the exception of command-detonated directional fragmentation
(Claymore-type) mines, which continue to be
produced.[14] The Ministries of
Defense and Foreign Affairs confirmed in March 2000 that the Army’s stocks
of directional fragmentation mines had been modified to prevent
tripwire-activation.[15]
Export of mine components is not banned by Austria’s War Materials Act,
which governs weapons transfers. The Ministry of the Interior stated in
December 2000 that licenses had been issued only for components for
treaty-compliant command-detonated devices. An attack in December 2001 on the
Indian parliament with grenades made by a Pakistani company under license from
an Austrian company drew attention to the possible use of these grenades as
components in a bounding antipersonnel mine. A parliamentary enquiry failed to
fully clarify the matter.[16] In
May 2003, the Ministry of the Interior stated that foreign-licensed production
of Austrian “war material” would require approval under Article 1(1)
of the War Material Act and that existing law prohibits assistance to others in
carrying out prohibited acts, as set out in Article 1.1c of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[17]
Stockpiling and Destruction
Austria’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines included 116,000 US M14
mines (classified in Austria as Schuetzenminen M14), plus small quantities of
prototypes.[18] Stockpile
destruction was completed in 1996. Austria decided not to retain any
antipersonnel mines for training and development, as permitted by Article 3 of
the Mine Ban Treaty (and its national legislation). At the Standing Committee
meetings in May 2003, Austria pointed out that in its experience and that of
other countries, mine clearance training can be undertaken without live mines.
Therefore, “We think that States Parties should not retain any APLs at
all.”[19] Where States
Parties do opt to retain mines under Article 3 of the treaty, Austria has stated
that the quantity should not be “so high that the commitment of a State
Party to comply with the core treaty obligations can be put into
doubt.”[20] Austria has
supported the common understanding that, if mines are retained, they should be
numbered in the hundreds or thousands, or less, and not in the tens of
thousands.
Mine Action Funding
In 2003, Austria disbursed €775,056 (US$876,976) for mine action
projects, and pledged a further €400,000 ($452,600) for disbursement in
2004.[21] This compares with mine
action funding in 2002 of €2,061,701 ($1.96
million).[22] Funds were
distributed to three countries and four other items:
Afghanistan: €104,453 ($118,189) in technical support to OMAR for mine
clearance
Bosnia and Herzegovina: €382,842 ($433,186) consisting of
€342,842 to the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims
Assistance (ITF) for mine clearance, and €40,000 to NPA for mine
clearance
Nicaragua: €70,000 ($79,205) to Horizont 3000 for rehabilitation and
mine risk education in Rio Coco
Fifth Meeting of States Parties: €30,022 ($33,970) as support for
human resources
ICBL: €59,149 ($66,927) for the Landmine Monitor
Evaluation of the Austrian mine action program: €29,779 ($33,695)
UNICEF and Austrian Red Cross: €98,811 ($111,805) for the World
Without Mines fundraising event, to be used in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.[23]
In addition, the 2003 budget included €200,000 ($226,300) to be
expended in 2004 on victim assistance projects in Ethiopia, and €200,000
($226,300) to be expended in 2004 on mine clearance in Mozambique. The 2004
budget includes €651,589 ($737,273) allocated for mine clearance in
Afghanistan.[24]
In the five years from 1999 to 2003, Austria contributed about $6.67 million
to mine action (1999: $950,000, 2000: $1,992,445, 2001: $888,000, 2002:
$1,960,000, 2003: $876,976). Countries receiving Austrian mine action funding
in that period include: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Croatia, Mozambique, Namibia, and Nicaragua, as well as
Kosovo.[25] Of the total mine
action funding, $1,334,284 has been identified as victim assistance, comprising,
in 2001: $342,526 (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Nicaragua, and Uganda); in
2002: $912,553 (Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Nicaragua); and in
2003: $79,205 (Nicaragua).
Austrian projects in Mozambique, which have experienced slow progress in
recent years, were subject to an independent evaluation in 2003. Between 1995
and 2002, Austria donated about $3.3 million to multilateral and bilateral mine
action projects in Mozambique, concentrated in Sofala province. This included
multilateral projects totaling $2.1 million, primarily involving the UN
Development Programme (UNDP). However, UNDP provided the evaluation team with
only limited documentation after a long delay, and was unable to provide a full
account of the project funding. The evaluation found that, although mine
contamination was named as one of the main problems in the larger Austrian
projects of reconstruction (1996-1998, 1999-2001) and poverty reduction
(2002-2004), little mention was made of mine action planning and operations in
the available documents. The team concluded that mine action was not integrated
into the Austrian program in Mozambique. There were many anomalies; for
example, a donation was made in 1997 even though 1995 funds had not yet been
spent, and operations did not start until 1998. The team was informed of
contributions to a UNICEF project in 1997, and donation of mine detectors with a
value of $500,000, only after its field visit, and was unable to evaluate these
projects.[26]
The evaluation team also identified bilateral funding of $700,000 given to
the DESSOF project. DESSOF was established by the Austrian Development
Corporation and Austrian officials in Beira in 2001. Although the major purpose
was initially said to be demining, the evaluation found little record of any
demining carried out. The head of DESSOF and his deputy were released at the
end of 2002 for, among other reasons, “abuse of funds.” An
investigation is ongoing. Other activities were carried out, and stakeholders
described the program as “a success, but...not meeting the strongest need
[mine clearance].”[27]
Finally, the evaluation team recommended that Austria continue to support mine
action in Mozambique, specifically in Sofala, but that mine action be integrated
in the development program and that monitoring and control be
strengthened.[28]
Landmine Monitor reported previously that funds designated for Mozambique in
2002 were held over to 2003. The Austrian regional coordinator indicated that
no funds were disbursed in 2003, and two new projects were funded to start in
January 2004 (local capacity building in Beira, and demining by Handicap
International in Sofala).[29]
Funding policy and structure
In May 2003, Austria announced that the separate status of mine action which
had arisen from Austria’s early involvement in the mine issue would be
changed, and previous single-year funding of mine action would also change.
Mine action was now recognized as an aspect of sustainable development, and
development programs have the advantage of multi-year
funding.[30]
This restructuring resulted in the establishment of the Austrian Development
Agency on 1 January 2004 as a limited liability company wholly owned by the
Republic of Austria. It took over all projects in development cooperation. All
policy and administration for developing countries were geared to three primary
aims: poverty reduction, promotion of peace and human security, and protection
and preservation of the environment. The Agency is managed by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and works to the Ministry’s three-year program. However,
the 2004-2006 program does not explicitly mention mine action or victim
assistance.[31]
Under the previous structure, the absence of a separate budget for mine
victim assistance was explained in terms of Austria’s “integrated
approach...and comprehensive character of our
projects.”[32] In May 2003,
Austria’s delegation at the Standing Committee meetings advised
mine-affected states to include the care of mine victims within their public
health development priorities for negotiation with Austrian development
agencies.[33]
Mine Action
In 2003, as in previous years, Austria continued to provide mine and UXO
clearance teams as part of the international forces in Kosovo and the Golan
Heights. Austria reports that it has a pool of some 75 personnel trained for
humanitarian demining operations, using Schiebel, Vallon, MD8, Minelab and Minex
equipment.[34] In September 2004,
the Ministry of Defense reported that Austria has an Explosive Ordnance Disposal
team (five soldiers) continuously deployed within the KFOR unit in Kosovo,
engaged in mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO)
clearance.[35]
Nongovernmental Funding of Mine Action
Funds raised by a charity concert organized by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, reported in last year’s Landmine Monitor, were channeled by
UNICEF to a mine risk education project in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(€134,833 – $152,564) and by the Austrian Red Cross to the
International Committee of the Red Cross also for mine risk education in Bosnia
and Herzegovina (€66,667 –
$75,434).[36]
In 2003, several Austrian NGOs made contributions to mine action. CARE
Austria donated €163,000 ($184,435) for clearance of UXO by the Mines
Advisory Group in Laos, and €91,339 ($103,350) for mine risk education in
Laos.[37] Horizont 3000 received
Austrian funding and contributed a total of €110,000 ($124,465) for victim
assistance projects in
Nicaragua.[38] Hope 87 received
Austrian and Japanese funding to continue its ongoing victim assistance projects
in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[39]
The Entwicklungshilfe-Klub contributed €10,178 ($11,516) to a project to
provide houses for mine survivors’ families in
Cambodia.[40] In previous years,
contributions to mine action have been made also by Austrian Aid for Mine
Victims, Caritas, Dreikoenigsaktion, Médecins Sans Frontières,
Rotary Club branches.
In 2004, Austrian Aid for Mine Victims received an award for advertisements
used in its public awareness-raising campaign, which was supported by an
Austrian advertising agency.[41]
Austrian Aid for Mine Victims has pledged €5,000 ($5,658) in 2004 for
victim assistance.
On 9 July 2003, a parliamentary inquiry was initiated by the Austrian
Socialist Party into the affairs of Gemeinsam gegen Landminen (GGL, formerly
Menschen gegen Minen-Austria). The inquiry centered on the decision of the
German parent-organization to dissociate itself from the Austrian branch, and on
suggestions that funds raised for Mozambique had not been transferred or used
for the intended purpose.[42] On
30 July 2003, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that it was aware of
GGL, but had no involvement with GGL and no knowledge of its fundraising or
other activities.[43] A lengthy
press report on 19 January 2004 referred to the “fundraising
scandal” involving the Swiss branch of
GGL.[44] It described GGL’s
fundraising activities in Austria as also “suspicious,” and quoted
the German parent-organization as saying that “projects are announced that
don’t even exist or make no sense. We have not received a single Euro
from the Austrian organization
yet.”[45] A criminal
investigation of GGL-Austria was started, and its progress was reported by the
same newspaper on 25 April 2004. GGL-Austria said that it had stopped using the
original fundraising consultant, and wanted “to bring transparency to the
use of the funds.” There were 43,000 registered donors to GGL-Austria,
and about €500,000 ($565,750) was collected in 2003 (in 2002, donations
were “marginal”). Half the funds raised were used for overhead
costs, and the rest assigned to project costs. Eventually, €35,000 (under
10 percent of the funds raised) were passed to the Swiss Foundation for Mine
Action.[46] On 7 May 2004,
Handicap International terminated its partnership agreement with GGL-Austria, in
view of the ongoing criminal
investigation.[47]
Research and Development
In March 2004 it was reported that researchers at Vienna Technical University
are developing various robots to locate, excavate and deactivate
mines.[48]
Since 1999, two Austrian companies have been involved in mine-related
R&D. The SCHIEBEL company coordinated the ARC aerial system for technical
and post-clearance survey of minefields, and developed the ARC Camcopter. In
2003, this was successfully field-tested in Croatia, and a public demonstration
was given on 27 November near Vienna. This three-year project ended in December
2003. The total cost was €5.9 million, including €3 million donated
by the European Commission.[49]
SCHIEBEL is also involved in the Demand multi-technology project.
The Hadi-Maschinenbau company developed and produced the FMR 2000
ground-preparation machine, which has been used in mine clearance in Bosnia and
Herzegovina.[50]
Casualties
On 17 July 2003, two bomb disposal experts were killed and another seriously
injured while trying to excavate a World War II bomb in
Salzburg.[51] The Landmine
Monitor is not aware of any mine casualties in Austria in the period 1999-2003.
In November 1999, seven Austrian tourists were killed and three were injured by
mines in Croatia.[52]
[1] Federal Law on the Prohibition of
Antipersonnel Mines, 10 January 1997. The law entered into force on 1 January
1997. It is more stringent than the Mine Ban Treaty in some respects
(destruction of stockpiles within one month of entry into force, prohibition of
antimagnetic devices), but less stringent in others (omitting the ban on
assisting others in prohibited
activities). [2] See Landmine Monitor
Report 1999, pp. 524-528. [3]
“Conference on Disarmament hear statements on fifth anniversary of
Mine-Ban Convention,” M2 Presswire, 26 February
2004. [4] Statement by the Permanent
Mission of Austria to the UN in Geneva, “US Landmines
Policy–Disregard for Multilateralism?” 27 February
2004. [5] “CD hear
statements,” M2 Presswire, 26 February
2004. [6] Statement on universalization
by Austria, Fifth Meeting of States Parties, Bangkok, 15-19 September
2003. [7] See Landmine Monitor Report
2003, p. 101. Members of the HSN are Austria, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland,
Jordan, Mali, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland and
Thailand. [8] See Article 7 reports
submitted: 30 April 2004 (for calendar year 2003); 29 April 2003 (for calendar
year 2002); 3 May 2002 (for calendar year 2001); 30 April 2001 (for calendar
year 2000); 28 April 2000 (for the period 30 April–31 December 1999); 29
July 1999 (for the period 1 March-30 April
1999). [9] Interview with Wernfried
Koeffler and Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Vienna, 19 April 2000. [10] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 102, and Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp.
91–92. [11] “Addressing the
humanitarian problems of mines that may pose similar risks to the civilian
population as AP-mines,” Statement by Austria, Fifth Meeting of States
Parties, Bangkok, 15–19 September
2003. [12] Telephone interview with
Alexander Kmentt, Counselor, Permanent Mission to the UN, 11 March 2004.
[13] According to the Ministry of
Defense in January 2001, the Army had two types of antivehicle mine, the Pz 75
and the Pz 88. The latter is equipped with an antihandling device, but it is
said to explode only when tipped a certain degree after excavation, so cannot be
activated by unintentional disturbance and is Mine Ban Treaty-compliant. The
other mine is the DFC 19, which is a command-detonated antivehicle mine.
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 572, and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
607. [14] Directional fragmentation
charges are considered prohibited as antipersonnel mines by the Mine Ban Treaty
if victim-activated by a tripwire. If command-detonated, they are not
prohibited. The Chamber of Commerce stated early in 1999 that the Austrian
Federal Army holds only command-detonated directional fragmentation
“charges.” [15] See Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 569. Until 1999, Austria continued to export
Claymore-type mines with tripwires. The Ministry of the Interior stated that,
at the time, it considered the mines not to be prohibited by domestic law.
These mines were reportedly exported to Brazil, Netherlands, Norway,
Switzerland, Sweden, and, in 1999, to an unnamed Arab country. See Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 571, and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
606. [16] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 605, and Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp.
90-91. [17] Letter (no. GZ
11.200/160-III/3/03) from Dr. Ernst Strasser, Minister of the Interior, to Dr
Andreas Kohl, President of the National Assembly, 20 May 2003. See Landmine
Monitor Report 2003, p. 102. [18] See
Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 529, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
571. [19] Intervention on Article 3 by
Austria, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the
Convention, Geneva, 16 May 2003. [20]
See Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p.
102. [21] Article 7 Report, Form J, 30
April 2004. Exchange rate of €1 = $1.1315, used throughout this report.
US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 2 January
2004. [22] Article 7 Report, Form J, 29
April 2003. The 2002 funding included €273,725 contributed in 2002 from
the mine action budget for 2003. [23]
Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2004. The ITF does not record receipt of
Austrian funds in 2003. ITF, “Annual Report 2003,” p.
16. [24] Article 7 Report, Form J, 30
April 2004. [25] See previous editions
of the Landmine Monitor Report. [26] A.
Gloor, M. Heiniger & Hebeisen, “Evaluation of the Austrian Mine Action
Programme 1998-2002. Field study about projects supported by Austria in
Mozambique (since 1995),” October
2003. [27] In October 2003, the deputy
head of DESSOF was reported to have been arrested for the theft of $130,000 from
the Austrian-financed demining project. “Demining official
detained,” Agencia de Informacão de Moçambique, 13 October
2003. [28] “Evaluation of the
Austrian Mine Action Programme 1998-2002,” October
2003. [29] Email from Christian
Zeininger, Regional Coordinator in Mozambique, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25
February 2004. [30] See Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 103. [31]www.ada.gv.at , accessed on 5 and 11 March
2004. [32] Email from Gerhard Doujak,
Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 January
2002. [33] Intervention by Austria,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 13 May 2003. For Austria’s previous funding policy, see Landmine
Monitor Report 2001, p. 607. [34] CCW
Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Forms E, G, 4 November
2003. [35] Email from Lt. Col.
Monsberger, Military Policy Division, Ministry of Defense, 10 September
2004. [36] Email from Birgit Schneider,
Austrian National Committee for UNICEF, 12 January 2004; email from Helga Kohl,
Austrian Red Cross, 16 January
2004. [37] Fax from Reinhard Trink,
Emergency Director, CARE Austria, 13 January
2004. [38] Email from Elenore Köck,
Horizont 3000, 14 January 2004. This project started in October 2000 and ended
on 20 June 2004. [39] Email from Fikret
Karkin, HOPE 87, 15 January 2004. HOPE stands for Hundreds of Original Project
for Employment. This project started in November 2002, and ended on 31 March
2004. [40] Email and telephone interview
with Franz Christian Fuchs, Entwicklungshilfe-Klub, 9 January 2004. The funds
were donated via the German NGO Misereor. This project started in
1999. [41] “Europäisches Gold
für Österreichs Werber” (“European Gold for Austrian
Advertisers”), Der Standard (daily newspaper), 3 August
2004. [42] Parliamentary Inquiry by the
SPO (Austrian Socialist Party), No. 635/J-NR/2003, to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 9 July 2003. [43] Letter (no.
535/AB XXII.GP) from Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Minister for Foreign Affairs, 30
July 2003. [44] MgM-Switzerland was
reported to have raised CHF6.8 million from 2000-2002 for demining projects in
Angola and Mozambique, of which only CHF80,000 was transferred. See report on
Switzerland in this edition of the Landmine Monitor
Report. [45]
“SpendungSpenden-Sammlung im Minenfeld” (“Fundraising in the
Minefield”), Kurier (daily newspaper), 19 January 2004. Translated by
Landmine Monitor researcher. [46]
“Anti-Minen-Verien im Zwielicht: Jetzt ermittelt auch die Kripo,”
(“Anti-mine organization under suspicion: now the Crime Squad
investigates”), Kurier (daily newspaper), 25 April 2004. Translated by
Landmine Monitor researcher. [47] Letter
from Jean-Baptiste Richardier, Executive Manager, Handicap International, to
Wolfgang Schachinger and Alexander Petz, GGL-Austria, 7 May
2004. [48] “Austrian researchers
develop landmine-deactivating robots,” German News Digest, 10 March
2004. [49] Email from Mehrdad Khalili,
SCHIEBEL Gmbh, 28 April 2004; emails from Petra Hoermann-Wambacher, SCHIEBEL
Gmbh, 9 and 21 January 2004. See also www.cordis.lu
. [50] For details of R&D projects,
see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 575, Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 610,
and Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p.
96. [51] “Wartime bomb explodes in
Austria, killing two,” Reuters, 18 July
2003. [52] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 672.
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