Key developments since May 2004: In August 2004, Ecuador destroyed
1,970 antipersonnel mines it had retained for training, leaving it with a total
of 2,000 mines. In 2004, seven new mine casualties were reported; no casualties
for 2005 were reported as of September.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Ecuador signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997,
ratified on 29 April 1999, and became a State Party on 1 October 1999. Ecuador
has not adopted legal measures to implement the treaty nationally, including
penal sanctions, as required by Article
9.[1 ]
As of September 2005, Ecuador had not yet submitted its annual Article 7
transparency report, due 30 April 2005, and had not responded to requests for
information from Landmine Monitor. It has prepared six Article 7 reports since
March 2000.[2]
Ecuador attended the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December
2004. Ecuador did not participate in the June 2005 intersessional Standing
Committee meetings in Geneva.[3 ]
From 16-21 November 2004, Ecuador hosted the VI Conference of Ministers of
Defense of the Americas. The Quito Declaration issued at the conclusion of the
meeting stated the Ministers’ satisfaction that “the Hemisphere is
the region with the fastest and most valuable achievements in humanitarian
clearance, as well as implementing the Convention [Mine Ban Treaty] and Amended
Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional
Weapons.”[4 ]Ecuador hosted a
regional mine action seminar in Quito from 12-13 August 2004.
Ecuador has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties
have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1,
2 and 3. Thus, it has not made its views known on the issues of joint military
operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of
antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling
devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.
Ecuador is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on
Conventional Weapons, but it was absent from the Protocol’s Sixth Annual
Conference of States Parties in November 2004 and did not submit its Amended
Protocol II Article 13 Report for 2004.
Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling and Destruction
Ecuador has not produced antipersonnel mines and has no production
facilities.[5 ]It has not exported
antipersonnel mines,[6 ]and instituted
an export moratorium in 1995.[7]According to its Article 7 reports, Ecuador imported antipersonnel mines
in the past from Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, the former Soviet Union,
Spain and the United States.[8 ]
There were no reports of mine use in Ecuador in 2004 or the first half of
2005. Ecuador has acknowledged using antipersonnel mines during the Cenepa
border war with Perú in 1995, and has stated that all the mines were laid
prior to the signing of the Peace Accord with Perú on 26 October
1998.[9 ]
Ecuador completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines in
January 2002, destroying a total of 258,844
mines.[10 ]
On 11 August 2004, Ecuador destroyed 1,970 of the 3,970 antipersonnel mines
it had retained for training; this was done in the presence of the Organization
of American States (OAS), Ecuadorian Red Cross, ICBL and diplomatic
representatives.[11 ]There is no
information available on what types of mines were destroyed and what types are
included in the 2,000 now retained. Since August 2000, Ecuador has reduced the
number of mines retained for training significantly from 16,000 to 4,000 to
3,970 to 2,000.[12 ]Ecuador has not
yet reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its
retained mines, a step agreed by States Parties in the Nairobi Action Plan that
emerged from the First Review Conference.
Landmine Problem
Ecuador’s mine problem along its border with Perú is a result
of the 1995 Cenepa border conflict. Five areas are mine-affected: Cordillera
del Cóndor region in the provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora
Chinchipe; Cusumaza-Bombuiza region in Morona Santiago province; the Tiwinza
square kilometer inside Peruvian
territory;[13 ]Loja province; and El
Oro province.[14 ]
Ecuador contributed information to the Five Year Review Document for the
First Review Conference claiming that 6,682 mines were emplaced in four
provinces and seven cantons (provinces are divided into cantons), totaling an
estimated area of 426,481 square
kilometers.[15 ]A 1999 UN report
noted Ecuadorian military information that there were in excess of 90,000 mines
on the Ecuadorian side of the Cordillera del Cóndor
region.[16 ]In 2003, 60 dangerous
areas were reported in Limón Indaza canton, affecting some 2,597
inhabitants. In Tiwinza canton, 22 dangerous areas affected some 2,660
inhabitants, mainly indigenous
Shuar.[17 ]
The OAS Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA,
Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonal) reported that 24 mined areas
were identified in Loja province, affecting 28,570 inhabitants in Zapotillo,
Guásimo Norte, Sector los Cocos, Laguar and Macará. In Morona
Santiago, impact studies determined that 15 Shuar communities are affected by
the presence of antipersonnel mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Most
of these communities are in Tiwinza canton. Five areas of Morona Santiago are
affected by antipersonnel mines: Teniente Ortiz, Soldado Monge, Soldado
Cisneros, Remolinos and Etsa.[18 ]In
Zamora Chinchipe province, an estimated 2,500 antipersonnel mines affect an area
estimated at 143,210 square
meters.[19]
According to the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Contraminas, Centro
Peruano de Acción contras las Minas Antipersonales), the Ecuadorian
authorities reported in May 2004 that some antipersonnel mines might be still in
the ground on either side of the Chira River, due to changes in the banks of the
river.[20 ]
Mine Action Program
The Ecuadorian Mine Clearance Center (CENDESMI, Centro del Desminado del
Ecuador), established by Executive Decree 1297 on 22 September 1999, and the
Army’s General Command for Mine Clearance are responsible for mine action
in the country. CENDESMI has an administrative unit, operations unit and
national school of demining.
CENDESMI is responsible for clearance operations, training and mine victim
assistance. It works in coordination with the OAS AICMA, following a 19 March
2001 agreement.[21 ]In May 2003,
the Inter-American Defense Board established a permanent team of international
monitors, the Mission of Assistance to Mine Clearance in South America
(MARMINAS, Misión de Asistencia a la Remoción de minas en
América del Sur) to support mine clearance in Ecuador and
Perú.[22 ]
The Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) was installed at
the OAS office in January 2002 to assist CENDESMI in the planning, coordination
and direction of the national humanitarian demining plan. IMSMA is the main
source of information for CENDESMI and the General Command; it is publicly
available from the OAS.[23]
In 2004, the Engineers Brigade No. 23 Cenepa of the Ecuadorian Army employed
a total of 95 deminers.[24 ]For
2004, Ecuador’s clearance objectives were to clear 15 mine-affected zones,
complete clearance in Loja province, destroy 665 antipersonnel mines, and clear
a total of 17,017 square meters.[25 ]
For 2005, the objectives were clearance of 12 dangerous zones totaling
33,340 square meters in Morona Santiago province, and destruction of 331
antipersonnel mines.[26 ]The 2005
objectives were included in local media reports. Media also reported that
inhabitants of Tiwinza cantón (Morona Santiago province) had requested
that a suspected mined area near border marker 147 be checked for mines. Due to
the threat of antipersonnel mines, several development projects were reported to
be on hold, and the productivity of land in 17 indigenous communities was
affected.[27 ]
The possibility of remaining mine contamination in the Chira River
area[28 ]was discussed at a joint
meeting with CENDESMI and Contraminas, military and OAS international
supervisors on 12 April 2005. The area to be cleared totaled 9,000 square
meters; Ecuador reported that nine antipersonnel mines had been lost in the
area.[29 ]
Mine risk education is carried out by the Army, OAS and Ecuadorian Red
Cross.[30 ]
Mine Clearance
Ecuador is required by Article 5 to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined
areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1
October 2009. However, Ecuador contributed information to the Five Year Review
document for the First Review Conference noting that “Demining operations
are projected to be completed by
2010.”[31 ]
Ecuador’s head of delegation at the Review Conference, Ambassador
Diego Stacey, made an intervention emphasizing the link between mine clearance
and development, and noting the role of the treaty in “promoting peace and
in fostering confidence-building measures;” he cited the example of joint
demining activities by Ecuador and
Perú.[32 ]
Ecuador and Perú jointly submitted an informative note to the First
Review Conference regarding the completion of joint clearance operations in El
Oro province (Ecuador) and Tumbes department (Perú) in March 2004, and
the anticipated start of joint operations in the Cordillera del Cóndor
region in early 2005.[33 ]Ambassador Stacey also reported the clearance of 4,575 mines with the
participation of 40
deminers.[34 ]
The overall results of mine clearance efforts in 2004 and 2005 have not been
reported by Ecuador. Mine clearance operations in Loja province were scheduled
for completion in mid-2004.[35 ]As
of September 2005, Landmine Monitor had not received confirmation from Ecuador
or OAS AICMA that this clearance had been completed.
OAS AICMA reported that, as of June 2005, Ecuadorian authorities cleared
98,960 square meters of land in Morona Santiago province; 4,381 antipersonnel
mines, 61 antivehicle mines and two ERW were
destroyed.[36 ]
Funding and Assistance
The US Department of State reported that in 2004 it provided $500,000
through OAS AICMA for joint cross-border clearance with
Perú.[37 ]In 2005, the State
Department provided $263,985 to Ecuador through OAS AICMA for the joint border
clearance project.[38 ]In August
2005, the State Department indicated that US mine action funding for Ecuador
would be discontinued in 2006 due to termination of the cross-border
project.[39 ]A July 2005 Ecuadorian
media report claimed the US had suspended “military assistance for mine
clearance” because of Ecuador’s refusal to enter into an Article 98
Agreement.[40 ]The US State
Department denied this
claim.[41 ]
The OAS AICMA Ecuador website lists Canada, Italy, Japan and the US as
current donor countries for the Ecuador
program.[42]
Landmine Casualties
In 2004, OAS AICMA reported seven new mine casualties in Ecuador; no
landmine casualties were reported in 2003. A 20-year-old indigenous Shuar man
and his five-year-old brother were killed and five others, including three
children, were injured in a single incident while handling an antipersonnel mine
found in the Cordillera del Cóndor
region.[43 ]OAS AICMA reported no
landmine casualties in the first half of 2005.
As of July 2005, the OAS AICMA Ecuador register of landmine casualties
includes 19 civilian mine casualties, including four people killed and 15
injured, from nine incidents dating from January 1981 to May 2004: eight in Loja
province, eight in Morona Santiago, and three in Zamora Chinchipe
province.[44 ]The register also
includes three military survivors, including a veteran of the Cenepa conflict,
but the date of the incidents is not
recorded.[45 ]
The total number of mine casualties in Ecuador is not known as there is no
systematic data collection mechanism for landmine incidents. According to the
US Department of State, there were about 120 landmine casualties in Ecuador
between 1995 and 1999.[46 ]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
The military in Ecuador has a healthcare system that provides integrated
care to military landmine casualties through the Armed Forces Social Security
Institute (Instituto de Seguridad Social de las Fuerzas Armadas). Civilians
injured by landmines do not receive the same level of attention; existing
services remain inadequate.[47]
The OAS AICMA Ecuador program provides support to mine/UXO survivors,
including transport from their communities to a rehabilitation center, lodging,
medical care, prostheses, physical therapy, medicines and surgery if required.
In 2004, the five recent survivors received medical and psychological
examinations and continue to receive treatment with the support of OAS
AICMA.[48]
One mine survivor from Ecuador participated in the Survivors Summit and
First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December 2004.
On 26 June 2005, five mine survivors, members of the Héroes del
Cenepa sports club, participated in the Hope & Possibility 5-Mile Run/Walk,
with support from the Achiles Track Club of New York and the Ecuadorian Army;
the OAS and Marathon Sport, supplied the
uniforms.[49 ]
Ecuador submitted the voluntary Form J with its annual Article 7 Report for
2004 to report on victim assistance
activities.[50 ]
Ecuador has legislation to support the victims of the Cenepa
conflict.[51]
[1 ]Ecuador’s Article 7
reports, Form A (national implementation measures) mention only the
establishment of the Mine Clearance Center by Executive Decree No. 1247, 23
September 1999.
[2]Article 7 reports were
submitted on 23 June 2004, 31 May 2002, 5 March 2001, 23 August 2000, and 29
March 2000. A report dated 30 April 2003 has not been posted on the UN website.
[3 ]Ecuador has participated
regularly in the past. Its absence in June 2005 apparently related to the
change in government earlier in the year, and reduced staff in the Division of
Frontiers and Sovereignty. Email to Landmine Monitor from Helena Yánez,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 17 August 2005.
[4 ]Declaración de Quito,
Point 24, VI Conferencia de Ministros de Defensa de las Américas, Quito,
16-21 November 2004.
[5 ]Article 7 Report, Forms E and
H, 23 June 2004.
[6 ]Telephone interview with Col.
Roberto Tandazo, 31 March 2000.
[7]“Report of the Secretary
General: Moratorium on the export of antipersonnel landmines,” A/50/701, 3
November 1995, p. 13.
[8 ]Article 7 Report, Form B, 23
June 2004; Article 7 Reports, Form B, 29 March 2000 and 5 March 2001. In March
2005, a former commander-in-chief of the Ecuadorian military revealed new
details on the sale of weapons by Chile to Ecuador during the 1995 Cenepa
conflict, which included 30,000 Claymore mines. This sparked a formal protest
from Perú. Lenka Zajec, “Perú prostestará ante Chile
por la venta de armas a Ecuador,” La República (Lima), 30
April 2005.
[9 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 23
June 2004. Based on its Article 7 reports, it appears Ecuador used
antipersonnel mines in 1998 after signing the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1997.
See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 401.
[10 ]Article 7 Report, Form G, 30
April 2003. CENDESMI was the institution in charge of stockpile destruction,
while the Army carried out the destruction by open detonation. Ecuador revised
its stockpile and stockpile destruction information in its 2003 Article 7
report. Previously, Ecuador reported completion of destruction of a stockpile
of 260,302 antipersonnel mines by January 2002. Article 7 Report, Form G, 31
May 2002. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp. 235-236. Initially,
in March 2000, Ecuador reported a stockpile totaling 271,802 antipersonnel
mines. Article 7 Report, Form B, 29 March 2000.
[11 ]Landmine Monitor was present
at the destruction event. The 3,970 mines consisted of T-AB-1 (2,100), VS/50
(1,459), PRB M-409 (300), PRB M-35 (80), P-4-B (25) and PMD-6M (6). Lot numbers
were not reported. Article 7 Report, Forms B and D, 23 June 2004.
[12 ]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 402-403.
[13 ]Under the Peace Accord,
Perú gave one square kilometer in Tiwinza as “private
property” to Ecuador for commemorative purposes. Perú retains
sovereignty.
[14 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 30
April 2003 (report provided to Landmine Monitor). See also Article 7 Reports, 5
March 2001 and 29 March 2000.
[15 ]United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 57.
[16 ]UNMAS, “Assessment
Mission Report,” 15 November 1999, p. 11.
[17 ]OAS AICMA, “Portafolio
2003-2004,” August 2003, pp. 16-17. Not to be confused with the Tiwinza
square kilometer territory provided to Ecuador by Perú in Peruvian
territory. For impact studies in 2003 and other surveys of the mine problem,
see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 403-404.
[18 ]Teniente Ortize: 30
dangerous areas covering 54,110 meters, approximately 1,382 mines; Soldado
Monge: 34 dangerous areas covering 31,825 square meters, approximately 1,065
antipersonnel mines; Soldado Sisneros: one dangerous area covering 800 square
meters, approximately 14 antipersonnel mines; Remolinos: three dangerous areas
covering 902 square meters, approximately 78 antipersonnel mines; Etsa: between
border markers 137 and 138, one dangerous area covering 2,400 square meters,
approximately 100 antipersonnel mines. OAS AICMA, “Estudios de
Impacto” (updated 5 September 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 26 September
2005.
[19]OAS AICMA, “Estudios
de Impacto” (updated 5 September 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 26 September 2005.
[20 ]Interview (MAC) with Wilyam
Lúcar Aliaga, Coordinator, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005.
[21 ]OAS AICMA,
“Antecendentes,” www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 20 September 2005;
OAS, “Destroying Land Mines in Ecuador, Peru,” Newsletter,
May-June 2001.
[22 ]OAS, “Update on
Regional Mine Action Efforts,” May 2003.
[23]Statement by Ecuador,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 5 February 2003.
[24 ]Statement by Ecuador,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 11 February 2004.
[25 ]United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 57.
[26 ]United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 57.
[27 ]“Las minas frenan el
desarrollo regional,” El Comercio (San José), 27 May 2005;
“La suspension del desminado frena proyectos productivos en Morona
Santiago,” El Comercio (San José), 26 May 2005.
[28 ]The area is located between
CG-22-1 and CG-25-1, Zapotillo canton, Loja province.
[29 ]Intervention by Perú,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 13 June 2005.
[30 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, pp. 406-407.
[31 ]United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 57.
[32 ]Intervention by Ecuador,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 29 November 2004.
[33 ]“Nota informativa de
la República del Ecuador y de la República del Perú sobre
la implementación de la Convención de Ottawa,” circulated at
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 1 December 2004.
[34 ]Intervention by Ecuador,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 29 November 2004.
[35 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 406.
[36 ]OAS AICMA, “Estudios
de Impacto” (updated 5 September 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 26 September
2005.
[37 ]Email from Harry Murphey
McCloy Jr., Senior Demining Advisor, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement,
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, 30 September
2005.
[38 ]Emails to Landmine Monitor
from Richard G. Kidd, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of
State, 24 August and 19 September 2005; email from Harry Murphey McCloy, Bureau
of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, 30 September 2005.
[39 ]Emails
to Landmine Monitor from Richard G. Kidd, Office of Weapons Removal and
Abatement, US Department of State, 24 August and 19 September 2005.
[40 ]“El Retiro de la ayuda
military de EEUU a las FFAA nos afecta: Solón Espinoza,” El
Comercio/Agence-France Presse (Quito), 4 July 2005.
[41 ]Emails to Landmine Monitor
from Richard G. Kidd, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of
State, 24 August and 19 September 2005. According to the US Department of
State, the “State Department leads the United States’ worldwide
campaign to secure bilateral non-surrender (“Article 98”) agreements
protecting American citizens from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and
provides the public with information in order to clarify the United
States’ position on the ICC.” www.state.gov/t/pm/art98, accessed 26
September 2005.
[42]OAS AICMA, “Paises
Donantes,” www.aicma-ec.org,
accessed 20 September 2005.
[43 ]OAS AICMA, “Cuadro de
Registro de Víctimas de Minas Antipersonal en el Ecuador” (updated
5 July 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed
14 August 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 408.
[44 ]OAS AICMA, “Asistencia
a Víctimas” (updated 5 July 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 12 July 2005.
[45 ]OAS AICMA, “Cuadro de
Registro de Víctimas de Minas Antipersonal en el Ecuador” (updated
5 July 2005),www.aicma-ec.org accessed 14
August 2005.
[46 ]US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” Bureau of Political-Military Affairs,
Fifth Edition, Washington, August 2004, p. 50.
[47]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 408-409.
[48]OAS AICMA, “Cuadro de
Registro de Víctimas de Minas Antipersonal en el Ecuador” (updated
5 July 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed
12 July 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004 pp. 408-409.
[49 ]OAS AICMA, “Asistencia
a Víctimas” (updated 5 July 2005), www.aicma-ec.org, accessed 12 July 2005.
[50 ]Article 7 Report, Form J, 23
June 2004.
[51]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 240.
About Us
Our Research Products