LM Report 2004

Syria

Key developments since May 2003: In August 2003, the Syrian Mine Action Portfolio was established and is coordinated by UNICEF. In January 2004, the governor of Qunaitra established a governmental committee to promote landmine awareness in affected border areas. In April 2004, Syria attended a regional seminar on military and humanitarian issues surrounding the Mine Ban Treaty in Amman, Jordan.

Key developments since 1999: In cooperation with Syrian authorities, UN peacekeeping forces in the Golan Heights initiated a program to identify and mark all mined areas in their area of operations in 2000. A mine awareness component is included in the Ministry of Health’s “Safe Gardens Project,” initiated in August 2000. In February 2001, the Syrian Army started landmine clearance in Lebanon, and had demined more than 955,000 square meters of land by the end of 2003. Since 1999, at least 12 new mine casualties have been reported in Syria. Although it was previously believed that Syria had not produced mines, Jordan has declared possession of Syrian-made mines.

Mine Ban Policy

Syria has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. While expressing concern about the plight of landmine victims, Syria considers the antipersonnel mine as a necessary defensive weapon and cites Israel's continued annexation/occupation of the Golan Heights as an important reason for not joining the treaty.^[1] According to Syrian officials, Israel has not cooperated in any effort to alleviate the hardship faced by Syrian residents of Golan as a result of the landmines there.^[2] Syria stated in April 2004 that it has given priority in disarmament to weapons of mass destruction as opposed to antipersonnel mines.^[3] Syrian Foreign Ministry officials stated in March 2004 that Syria supports efforts to protect civilians in armed conflict areas, and promotes mine awareness. ^[4]

Syria participated as an observer in the Ottawa Process leading to the Mine Ban Treaty, but spoke out against an immediate and comprehensive ban. Since 1996, Syria has abstained from voting on every annual pro-ban United Nations General Assembly resolution on landmines, including UNGA Resolution 58/53 on 8 December 2003. Syria did not make any public statements about its landmine policy, or participate in any diplomatic meetings on landmines in 1999 or 2000.

Since then, Syria has been more engaged. It has attended two annual Meetings of States Parties, in 2001 and 2002. It has been present at some of the intersessional Standing Committee meetings, including in February 2004. In April 2004, two Syrian Army officers attended a regional seminar on military and humanitarian issues surrounding the Mine Ban Treaty in Amman, Jordan.

Landmine Monitor’s researcher for Syria, the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War, has hosted several seminars on landmines in Damascus since 2002, including in February 2003, and it has conducted awareness-raising activities on the landmine problem in the Golan. In December 2003, eight Syrians, including a landmine victim, participated in a landmines workshop held in the United Arab Emirates.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Syria has not usually been identified as a producer or exporter of antipersonnel landmines. But in 1999 Jordan declared possessing fifty-one wooden antipersonnel mines of Syrian origin in its stockpile.^[5] It is not known how these mines came into Jordan’s possession, but this also calls into question whether Syria has ever exported antipersonnel mines. Syria has not enacted any unilateral measures to prohibit production or export of antipersonnel mines. The size and origin of Syria's mine stockpile is not known. Syria is thought to have last used mines during the 1982 conflict with Israel in Lebanon.

Landmine Problem and Mine Action

The Golan, in southwest Syria, is divided into three areas: Syrian-controlled, Israeli-controlled, and a buffer zone monitored by the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). Each contains mined areas. Information about the size and number of mine fields in Syria is not available. Golan is an area rich in water resources in a country suffering from desertification. Minefields hinder agricultural development; however, no studies regarding the impact of landmines on agriculture in this region are available. Due to the age of the mines and their deteriorating explosives, the mines continue to pose a significant danger.^[6]

A June 2004 UN report states, “Mines continued to pose a threat...this threat has in fact increased.”^[7] In some of the Syrian-controlled areas, minefields are not well marked or fenced and civilian casualties occur on a regular basis.^[8] Civilians sometimes take markers and fences for their own use. The Syrian Army has had to re-fence and re-mark fields several times.

In the Golan, the UNDOF deploys two demining teams, with six soldiers each, to make sure that paths used by UNDOF are safe.^[9] UNDOF, in cooperation with Syrian authorities, began a program in 2000 to identify and mark minefields within its area of operations. According to a December 2002 UN report, “A Minefield Security Program has led to the identification and marking of numerous known as well as previously unidentified minefields in the area of separation.”^[10]

There is little information available on mine clearance activities by Syria and the number of Syrian army personnel trained in demining is not known. On 13 February 2001, the Syrian Army started landmine clearance in Lebanon, in accordance with an agreement with the Lebanese Army, working in three areas: Nabatia al Tahta, Kfare Faloos, and Kawkaba in South Lebanon. The Syrian Army has employed 150 military workers for this project.^[11] Syria stated at a UN Security Council meeting on 13 November 2003 that it had assisted Lebanon in removing mines planted by Israeli forces, and that it had provided Lebanon with “field assistance, expertise, and training...in order to help eliminate the mines and their catastrophic effects on civilians.”^[12] By October 2002, the Syrian Army had cleared 96 areas totaling 842,152 square meters.^[13] Another 113,700 square meters were cleared in the latter half of 2003.^[14]

Mine clearance is taking place on Syria’s border with Turkey as part of security agreements between the two countries. The mines were planted as early as 1952. Turkey began demining the border area in 2001, and declared in July 2003 its intention to clear a minefield 500 meters in width and spanning 700 kilometers of the Syrian border.^[15] In November 2003, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener announced a plan to clear 615,000 mines from the Syrian border.^[16]

Jordan planted nearly 67,000 antipersonnel mines along its border with Syria before 1973. It is not known if the Syrian side of the border with Jordan is mined. Syria stated in April 2004 that it has no antipersonnel minefields on its border with Israel.^[17]

Mine Risk Education

The UNDOF peacekeeping force and UNICEF engage in mine risk education (MRE) activities in their area of operation in the Golan. An MRE component is included in the Safe Gardens project, initiated in August 2000, which aims to create safe and attractive places for children to play in targeted border areas like the Golan. Local communities operate and maintain eight of the “safe gardens,” that directly benefit 3,000 schoolchildren, in partnership with the government.^[18]

Mine risk education is also conducted as a part of the health education program run by the government health centers in the affected areas and in the Healthy Villages program. No external evaluations or studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of these MRE activities.^[19]

On 10 January 2004, the governor of Qunaitra formed a 12-person governmental committee to promote landmine awareness in affected border areas. The committee includes officials from the following fields: education, health, agriculture, youth, children, sports, and social affairs.^[20]

On 4 August 2003, the Syrian Mine Action Portfolio (MAP) was established and held its first meeting. MAP is coordinated by UNICEF and includes the following members: UNDP, UNDOF, UNHCR, Health Official, and the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War.

Landmine Casualties

In February 2003, a twelve-year-old boy visiting relatives in Mashkak village was killed when a mine he had found exploded.^[21]

In the first half of 2004, Landmine Monitor recorded two people killed and one injured in landmine incidents. On 29 March, a 15-year-old Syrian boy lost his right eye and left hand while handling what he thought was a small plastic box on the Turkish border. His father told Landmine Monitor that heavy rainfall could have dislodged the landmine from a minefield on the border and into his farmland.^[22] On 14 July, two men, 29 and 21 years old, were killed as they rode a bicycle near a minefield in al-Makrez village in the Syrian Golan.^[23]

Between 1999 and 2002, at least eight new mine casualties were reported in the Syrian Golan. In 2002, two landmine incidents killed two 10-year-old boys and injured a 17-year-old girl.^[24] In 2001 a 73-year-old shepherd was killed by a mine.^[25] In 1999, three landmine incidents injured two shepherds and two children.^[26]

In Jordan, a Syrian national was injured by a landmine on 13 April 2003 in Al-Mafraq.^[27] In December 2003, two Syrian military personnel were seriously injured during mine clearance operations in south Lebanon.^[28] In April 2001, it was reported that two other Syrian mine clearance experts had been injured during mine clearance operations in South Lebanon since the Israeli withdrawal in May 2000.^[29] Three Syrian workers were injured by a mine while working on a building site in Beirut, Lebanon on 19 March 2001.^[30]

Landmine casualty data is not systematically collected in Syria. There is no centralized register and some casualties go directly to hospitals in Damascus for emergency treatment. According to the coordinator of the Khan Arnaba Community Rehabilitation Center, there have been 387 mine casualties in the Golan area including 122 people killed and 265 injured.^[31]

Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice

The Syrian government continues to provide basic health and social services free of charge. The Qunaitra Health Directorate has 17 health centers and one health point in the mine-affected area of Syrian Golan, serving about 60,000 people.^[32] In March 2002, the government opened a physiotherapy center in the town of Khan Arnaba.^[33] The 120-bed Abaza Hospital in Khan Arnaba established an outpatient clinic in 2002, and will be fully operational, including with surgical facilities, by June 2004.^[34] On 27 February 2003, a community rehabilitation center opened in Khan Arnaba to provide basic rehabilitation services for people with physical and mental disabilities. The center closed after a few months, but is scheduled to re-open in mid-2004 when more staff and equipment arrive.^[35] The building was donated by the Syrian Women’s Union, with the renovation costs covered by the governorate of Qunaitra (about $10,000), and equipment worth $50,000 donated by Swedish organizations.^[36] The completion of these projects will promote emergency and rehabilitation services in mine-affected areas.^[37] Before these facilities opened, survivors had to travel to Damascus to receive specialized medical care and surgery, physical rehabilitation, prosthetics, wheelchairs, and special education.

In 2003, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued a program to support Palestinian refugees with disabilities in Syria with the provision of materials, components and technical support to the orthopedic center in the compound of the Palestinian Hospital in the Yarmouk refugee camp. The center produced 373 prostheses (25 for mine survivors) and 225 orthoses, and distributed 78 crutches in 2003.^[38] Between 1996 and 2002, the center was supported by the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled.

The Syrian Society for the Physically Disabled, founded in November 1998, and the Syrian Society for the Blind, founded in July 1997, are both working in mine-affected areas. Both are very small NGOs based in Qunaitra focusing on assistance to disadvantaged people. Mine survivors have reported receiving assistance from these organizations in the past.^[39]

On 19 July 2004, the President issued a new national law (Number 34/2004) to protect the rights of persons with disabilities that includes provisions for many free health and social services and education and training. There are no specific services for mine survivors. The Ministry of Social Affairs will issue detailed instructions for the implementation of the law.

Two mine survivors from Syria participated in the Raising the Voices training in Geneva in June 2004.

[1] Interview with the Director of International Organizations and Conferences Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 December 2002.
[2] Letter No.144 (41/77) to the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 March 2004.
[3] Statement by Syria, Amman Seminar on Military and Humanitarian Issues Surrounding the Ottawa Convention, 19-21 April 2004.
[4] Letter No. 144 (41/77), 28 March 2004.
[5] Jordan Article 7 Report, Form B, 9 August 1999.
[6] “Report of the Secretary-General on the UN Disengagement Observer Force for the Period from 19 June 2003 to 9 December 2003,” S/2003/1148, 9 December 2003, p. 2.
[7] “Report of the Secretary-General on the UN Disengagement Observer Force for the Period from 9 December 2003 to 21 June 2004,” S/2004/499, 21 June 2004, p. 2.
[8] UN Country Report: Syrian Arab Republic.
[9] Interview with Maj. General Bo Wranker, Force Commander, UNDOF, Damascus, 28 May 2003.
[10] “Report of the Secretary-General on the UN Disengagement Observer Force for the Period from 18 May 2002 to 5 December 2002,” S/2002/1328, 4 December 2002, p. 1.
[11] Lebanese Army Paper, Shirjah International Workshop on Landmines, 8-9 December 2003.
[12] Statement by Syria, UN Security Council 4858th meeting, New York, 13 November 2003.
[13] Presentation by Syrian Ministry of Defense, Workshop by Arab Network of Researchers on Landmines and ERW, Damascus, 9 October 2002.
[14]“More than 8,000 landmines removed over last 6 months,” Daily Star (Beirut), 12 January 2004.
[15]“Turkey Is Preparing to Clear Land Mines Planted on its Borders with Syria,” Teshreen, (Damascus), 17 July 2003; “Turkey to sweep mines on Turkish-Syrian border,” Xinhua (Ankara), 16 July 2003.
[16]“Turkey: Land Mines Near Syria To Be Cleared,” New York Times, 5 November 2003; “Turkey decides to clear mines on Syrian, Iraqi borders,” TRT 2 television (Ankara), 4 November 2003.
[17] Statement by Syria, Amman Seminar, 19-21 April 2004.
[18] Interview with Dr. Hossam Doghoz and Dr. Rabee Othman, Project Directors, Safe Garden Project, Damascus, 4 February 1999.
[19] Interview with Dr. Khaldoun Al-Asaad, Assistant Director, Qunaitra Health Directorate, Damascus, 7 February 2002.
[20] Administrative Order No. 402-10-12, Governor of Qunaitra.
[21] Presentation by Dr. Hosam Doughouz, Coordinator, Khan Arnaba Community Rehabilitation Center, to the regional symposium, Damascus, 19-20 February 2003.
[22] Telephone interview with the father of the injured boy, Damascus, 20 May 2004.
[23] Telephone interview with Dr. Rabee Othman, Qunaitra Health Directorate, Qunaitra.
[24] Presentation by Dr. Rabee Othman, Medical Officer, Beir Ajam, to the regional symposium organized by the Arab Network of Researchers on Landmines and ERW, Damascus, 19-20 February 2003.
[25] Al-Haq, Press Release 92, 7 June 2001.
[26] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 696; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 754.
[27] Email from Mona Abdeljawad, LSN (Jordan), 5 June 2003.
[28] “Two Syrian Soldiers Wounded by ‘Israeli’ Mine in S. Lebanon,” The Daily Star, 16 December 2003.
[29] Dalal Saoud, “Mine, bombs kill 2 in south Lebanon,” UPI (Beirut), 29 April 2001.
[30] “Mine wounds three Syrian workers in Beirut,” Reuters (Beirut), 19 March 2001.
[31] Email from Dr. Hosam Doughouz, Coordinator, Khan Arnaba Community Rehabilitation Center, 31 July 2004. Other sources report 216 mine casualties (108 killed and 108 injured) from 1993 to February 2003, see Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp. 696-697.
[32] Interview with Dr. Khaldoun Al-Asaad, Assistant Director, Qunaitra Health Directorate, Damascus, 15 May 2002.
[33] Interview with Dr. Hosam Doughouz, Coordinator, Community Rehabilitation Center, Khan Arnaba, 27 February 2003.
[34] Interview with Dr. Rabee Othman, Qunaitra Health Directorate, 28 February 2004; interview with Dr. Khaldoun Al-Asaad, Qunaitra Health Directorate, 15 May 2002.
[35] Interview with Dr. Rabee Othman, Qunaitra, 28 February 2004.
[36] Presentation by Dr. Hosam Doughouz, Khan Arnaba, to the regional symposium, Damascus, 19-20 February 2003; interview with Major General Bo Wranker, UNDOF, 28 May 2003.
[37] Presentation by Ahmad Said, Director, Qunaitra Social Services, to the regional symposium, Damascus, 19-20 February 2003.
[38] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programs, "Annual Report 2003," Geneva, 9 March 2004, pp. 17 and 26.
[39] Presentation by Ahmad Said, Director, Qunaitra Social Services, to the regional symposium, Damascus, 19-20 February 2003.