Key developments since May 2004: In February 2005, the UK sent a
mission to the Falkland Islands as part of its ongoing feasibility study for
clearance of mine contamination resulting from the UK-Argentine war of 1982.
The UK and Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the Islands, made a joint
statement to the Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 on the two
countries’ feasibility study. Joint Working Party meetings took place in
October 2004, and April and July 2005.
Landmine Problem
The only mine-affected area under the UK’s “jurisdiction or
control,” in the terms of the Mine Ban Treaty, is the Falkland Islands
(Malvinas). The Falkland Islands were mined by British and Argentine forces
during the war of 1982.[1 ]
The Falkland Islands government believes that more than 100
minefields[2 ]containing 16,000 mines
cover a total area of 20 square kilometers. The UK has claimed that there are
117 minefields containing an unknown number of
mines.[3 ]The mine contamination
includes four types of antipersonnel mine and four types of antivehicle
mine.[4 ]The mined areas are mainly
beaches and peat areas, and are marked and fenced; the local population is said
to have been warned to avoid the mined
areas.[5 ]Three minefields, however,
are said to be within one mile of the capital, Port
Stanley.[6 ]When depositing its first
Article 7 report in August 1999, the UK included minefield maps for the Falkland
Islands.[7]
In June 2005, the UK made a statement on the Falklands to the Standing
Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies:
“Our own studies have shown that there are approximately 100 mined areas
on the Falkland Islands which most likely contain both anti-personnel and
anti-vehicle mines. The size of the affected areas vary [sic], most being a few
hundred square meters. In accordance with our obligations under this Convention
and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, all mined areas are fenced
and marked to exclude civilians. Despite the presence of mines on the Falklands
for 23 years there has never been a civilian casualty and all islanders,
including children, are educated on how to avoid
them.”[8 ]
Mine Clearance
The UK is committed by Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty to destroy all
antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as
possible, and no later than 1 March 2009. Argentina continues to claim
sovereignty over the Islands and, therefore, responsibility under Article 5 for
clearance of antipersonnel mines from the
Islands.[9 ]Argentina’s
deadline for clearance of all antipersonnel mines from mined areas under its
jurisdiction or control is 1 March 2010.
As documented in the Final Report of the First Review Conference of the Mine
Ban Treaty, “Some clearance of anti-personnel mines was conducted
immediately after the 1982 conflict, lifting about 1,400 mines but was stopped
after several injuries to those involved. A total of 149 mines were destroyed
between 1997 and 2001. A further 50 were destroyed as they were exposed to the
surface. The 101 minefields are marked and
fenced.”[10 ]
At the First Review Conference in November-December 2004, Argentina and the
UK jointly submitted a document entitled “Information of the Argentine
Republic and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the
Implementation of the Ottawa Convention,” which stated:
On 11 October 2001, the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland signed an Exchange of Notes Agreement under the
sovereignty formula, whereby they undertake to carry out a Feasibility Study on
the clearance of landmines in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas).... This
study will assess the costs and risks of each of the options considered
technically feasible, and will include a cost-benefit analysis of the clearance
activities, establishing an order of preference among the options.... The study
is to be carried out by both Governments by means of a Joint Argentine-British
Working Party. The first meeting of the Joint Working Party was held in Buenos
Aires in December 2001. The second meeting of the Joint Working Party took
place in London in October 2004.... At the London meeting both countries agreed
to continue to work together to enable the completion of the feasibility
study.[11]
At the intersessional meetings in June 2005, the UK stated, “In order
to fulfill our obligations under Article 5 of the Convention we have, and
continue to, work closely with the Argentinean government in finding a
solution.... This [Joint Working] Party meets regularly, the last meeting of
which took place at the end of April in Buenos
Aires.”[12 ]A further meeting
took place in London in July 2005. According to a press report, the feasibility
study is expected to be completed by April
2006.[13 ]
In February 2005, the UK sent a mission to the Islands as part of its
ongoing feasibility study; the delegation included the Deputy Director of the
NGO Landmine Action UK. Landmine Action has proposed “a Kyoto-style
pollution credit scheme. In this context―as part of a ten-year deadline
extension request―UK could commit to clear an equivalent area of mined
land in the most heavily mine affected countries by the initial deadline of
March 2009.”[14 ]
As of September 2005, there had been no formal reaction to this proposal by
the UK government. According to the Falkland Islands government,
“Falkland Islanders have lent their support to a proposal by the charity
Landmine Action that priority should be accorded to landmine clearance in
countries where mines pose greater danger to human life. Councillor Mike
Summers said that mines in the Falklands were not intrusive and that there were
more pressing needs for landmine clearance in other parts of the
world.”[15]
[1 ]See Landmine Monitor Report
2004, p. 855.
[2 ]Reports of the total number of
mined areas have apparently varied between 81 and 120 during the past few years,
both with the Falkland Islands government and the UK government. Some of this
can be attributed to several mined areas being grouped into one.
[3 ]CCW Amended Protocol II Article
13 Report, Form B, October 2003; Article 7 Report, Forms C and F, 15 March 2005.
[4 ]Antipersonnel mines present
include: P4B (Spanish origin), SB33 (Italian), FMK1 (Argentine), No. 4
(Israeli). Antivehicle mines present: C3B (Spanish), SB81 (Italian), No6 Mk1
(Israeli), Mk1/6 (US). Fax from Ministry of Defence, 9 February 2004.
[5 ]Article 7 Report, Form I, 15
March 2005.
[6 ]Simon Conway, “The
Falkland Islands-a get out clause for the unscrupulous,” Landmine
Action Campaign, Issue 10, Summer 2005, p. 3.
[7]See report on Argentina in
Landmine Monitor Report 2004. Article 7 Report, Enclosure 2, 26 August
1999.
[8 ]Statement by John Freeman, UK
Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Standing Committee on
Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 14
June 2005.
[9 ]For instance, Argentina
included an interpretative statement (“Declaración
Interpretativa”) on its claims of sovereignty over the Islands when
ratifying the Convention, reaffirming “its rights of sovereignty over the
Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime areas
which form an integral part of the territory.” It also declared that
since the islands were under “illegal occupation” by the UK,
Argentina was “effectively prevented from having access to the
antipersonnel mines . . . in order to fulfill the obligations undertaken in the
. . . Convention.” Similar statements were included in its April 2004
Article 7 report, as in previous years.
[10 ]United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines and on Their Destruction, Nairobi, 29 November-3 December 2004,
APLC/CONF/2004/5, p. 66. In March 2005, the UK reported that 50 mines which had
become exposed were destroyed in 2004. Article 7 Report, Form G, 15 March 2005.
In its previous Article 7 report, the UK stated that the same number of exposed
mines was destroyed in 2003.
[11]“Information of the
Argentine Republic and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on
the Implementation of the Ottawa Convention,” APLC/CONF/2004/MISC.3.
[12 ]Statement by John Freeman,
UK Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Standing Committee
on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 14
June 2005.
[13 ]A. Gillan, “How
Falkland islanders plan to help the world by keeping their landmines,”
Guardian, 11 June 2005, p. 10.
[14 ]Simon Conway, “The
Falkland Islands―a get out clause for the unscrupulous,” Landmine
Action Campaign, Issue 10, Summer 2005, p. 3.
[15]“Falkland Islanders
Show Support for Landmine Action Charity,” www.falklands.gov.fk, 12 June
2005.