LM Report 2005

Greece

Key developments since May 2004: Greece has completed its plan for stockpile destruction and approved the budget. Greece is maintaining its minefields on the border with Turkey, but is replacing antipersonnel mines with antivehicle mines. As of 22 April 2005, 7,660 of the 24,751 antipersonnel mines in the Evros minefields on the border had been removed and replaced with antivehicle mines. In June 2005, an army deminer was killed during clearance operations. In 2004, the national clearance battalion surveyed 808,169 square meters of land and cleared a further 511,810 square meters. The annual cost of demining operations in Greece was €3.3 million (US$4.1 million).

Mine Ban Policy

The Hellenic Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it on 25 September 2003, and the treaty entered into force on 1 March 2004. Ratification makes the Mine Ban Treaty part of Greek legislation.^[1] In its Article 7 reports submitted in July 2004 and May 2005, Greece did not include details of any legislative or administrative measures taken to implement the treaty, nor did it specify which parts of the existing criminal code provide the required penal sanctions for treaty violations.

Vassileios Michaloliakos, Deputy Minister of National Defense, led the country’s delegation to the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December 2004. In a statement to the high level segment, he noted that Greece “consistently promotes the objectives of the Ottawa Convention. We feel it is necessary to reiterate our commitment to this effort until the full implementation of the Convention objectives is achieved so as to contribute to a world where human life will be respected and protected.”^{[2 ]} Greece also attended meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees in Geneva in June 2005, but did not make any statements.

Greece submitted an annual Article 7 transparency report on 6 May 2005 for calendar year 2004. Its initial Article 7 report was submitted on 7 July 2004. Both reports are submitted in paragraph format, not the standard formats in widespread use by States Parties.^[3]

Greece has not yet made known its views on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3, and in particular issues related to joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling or transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.

Greece is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II. It attended the Sixth Annual Meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2004 and submitted its annual report required by Article 13.

Production, Trade, Stockpiling and Destruction

Greece is a former producer of antipersonnel mines, and also imported them from Germany and the United States. Although Greece has provided in its transparency reports no information on the status of conversion of production facilities, the Ministry of Defense informed Landmine Monitor that Greece does not possess production facilities for antipersonnel landmines.^{[4 ]} Prior to becoming a State Party, Greece had a moratorium on production and export of antipersonnel mines for a number of years.

Greece declared in its July 2004 Article 7 report a stockpile of 1,566,532 antipersonnel mines, composed of five types: M2 (214,374); DM31 (794,400); M16 (553,359); M14 (3,895); Area Denial Antipersonnel Mine (ADAM) artillery shells (504).^{[5 ]} This figure is unchanged in its May 2005 report. However, Landmine Monitor continues to use a higher figure to account for the individual antipersonnel mines contained in each ADAM 155mm projectile. Each ADAM projectile contains 36 antipersonnel mines, thus the 504 shells cited by Greece contain 18,144 mines, bringing the stockpile total to 1,584,172.

Destruction of the antipersonnel mine stockpile has been included in the overall program of the Greek Army for the destruction of ammunition. The study for this project has already been completed and the budget has been approved. A total of €13 million (approx. $16.2 million)^{[6 ]}has been allocated for ammunition destruction for 2005–2007, and priority has been given to antipersonnel mines. An international tender for the destruction will take place.^{[7 ]} The deadline set by the Mine Ban Treaty for Greece to complete destruction of its antipersonnel mine stockpile is 1 March 2008.

Mines Retained for Research and Training

In its Article 7 reports of July 2004 and May 2005, Greece announced that it will retain 7,224 antipersonnel mines for training and development purposes, as permitted by Article 3 of the treaty. The mines will be used for training in mine detection, mine clearance and mine destruction techniques, and consist of: M2 (1,512); DM31 (1,512); M16 (420); M14 (3,780).^{[8 ]} Greece has not yet reported in any detail on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines―a step agreed to by States Parties in the Nairobi Action Plan that emerged from the First Review Conference.

Landmine and UXO Problem

Greece has maintained minefields along the Evros River on its heavily militarized northern border with Turkey since the mid-1970s. In 2004, Greece revealed that there are 24,751 antipersonnel mines in the Evros minefields, composed of 2,162 M2 and 22,589 M16 mines.^{[9 ]} All minefields in the Evros area are reported to be fenced and regularly maintained. All fenced perimeters are double layered and exceed NATO standards. The General Staff has allocated 10,000 meters of barbed wire, which is to be placed between internal and external perimeters; this work is reported to be in progress.^[10]

In September 2005, the Ministry of Defense stated that border regions with Bulgaria, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are not mine-affected.^{[11 ]} Landmine Monitor Report 2004 detailed contamination of these regions by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from previous periods of conflict. It also reported that there are mine/UXO-suspected areas on the mainland and various islands.^{[12 ]}

In March 2005, heavy rainfall flooded several minefields on the border with Turkey and increased river levels substantially, raising concerns that mines may have been displaced.^{[13 ]}

Mine Action Coordination and Planning

Responsibility for mine clearance rests with the Ministry of Defense. In 2005, a mine action plan was drafted and approved by the Ministry of Defense and the Hellenic Armed Forces.^{[14 ]} Mine/UXO clearance is carried out by the Land Minefield Clearance Battalion, TENX, which was formed in 1954. The battalion consists of 260 men divided into15 teams.^{[15 ]} TENX also includes 20 civilian deminers, of which eight are working on the Evros minefields. Manual clearance methods and dogs are used. Greece reports that it complies with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) and NATO standards for mine clearance equipment, team structure, fencing and marking. Information on mine action is stored on a database accessible only to the Army General Staff and Defense General Staff.^{[16 ]}

In 2004, TENX surveyed 808,169 square meters of suspected land in various locations. A total of 379,590 square meters was deemed not contaminated and safe for civilian use.^{[17 ]}

On 15 March 2005, the civilian deminers’ trade union, Panhellinias Enosis Narkaliefton (PEN), put forward an official request for danger pay at the same level as army deminers.^{[18 ]}

Mine and UXO Clearance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Greece’s deadline to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control is 1 March 2014. In 2005, Greece stated, “Mine clearance is expected to be completed within 2011, i.e. three years prior to the time limit set for our country by the Ottawa Convention.”^[19]

As of 22 April 2005, 7,660 of 24,751 antipersonnel mines in the Evros minefields had been removed and replaced by antivehicle mines. It was estimated that 4,528 antipersonnel landmines would be lifted and destroyed from 16 Evros minefields in 2005. Officials stressed that “standard” antivehicle mines, without antihandling devices, are being used to replace the antipersonnel mines. Clearance of antipersonnel mines in the Evros minefields started in September 2003, immediately following ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty.^{[20 ]}

In 2004, TENX also cleared 511,810 square meters of land in the Grammos mountains and in Rhodes, Kos, Limnos, Chalkis and Zakynthos.^{[21 ]} In 2005, five TENX demining teams worked full time on the Evros minefields, and another five teams worked on an underground store in Thessalonica containing UXO from World War II.^{[22 ]} In May 2005, the process of checking minefields in the Bulgarian border area, which had been cleared following the 1997 agreement with Bulgaria, was nearly complete. It was expected that the border area would be declared free of mines in the near future.^[23]

Since the TENX Land Minefield Clearance Battalion became operational in 1954, 129 square kilometers of land have been cleared, and 287,000 mines and 724,000 UXO have been removed.^[24]

In a demining accident on 14 June 2005, a TENX deminer lost his life in the Evros minefields while disarming a M16 antipersonnel mine.^{[25 ]}

Funding and Assistance

The Defense General Staff estimates that the annual cost of operations is approximately €1.3 million ($1.6 million) for the Evros minefields, and €2 million ($2.5 million) for operations elsewhere.^[26]

In 2004, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the Greek NGO International Mine Initiative (IMI) with €1.9 million ($2.4 million) for demining operations in Iraq and Lebanon.^{[27 ]} Information supplied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Service for International Development Cooperation indicated that from 2001 to 2003 Greece had supported IMI with €6,821,473 (some $8.5 million) for mine clearance operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Lebanon.^{[28 ]}

Landmine Casualties

In 2004, at least 16 people were killed and eight others severely injured in the Evros minefields, which the US Department of State describes as “poorly marked.”^{[29 ]} This is an increase over 12 casualties reported in the media in 2003.^{[30 ]} Several incidents were reported in the media in 2004, including: 30 May, one Moldovan killed and another injured in an Evros minefield; 5 August, one Palestinian killed, and six Palestinians and Moroccans injured, attempting to cross Evros minefields; 4 October, an Iranian was killed and another injured after stepping on a landmine in the area of Gemisti on the Evros border;15 November, three immigrants of unknown nationality killed in the minefield near Kipi, southern Evros; 5 December, two Turkish nationals killed in minefields near Kastanies, northern Evros.^{[31 ]}

Casualties continued to be reported in the media in 2005. On 4 April, a Mauritanian and a Tunisian were killed in an Evros minefield, and an Iraqi was injured and received treatment in Didymoteichon hospital.^{[32 ]} On 28 May, two Georgian men were killed in an Evros minefield while trying to enter Greece from Turkey.^{[33 ]} On 14 June 2005, a Greek soldier was killed by a landmine during an Evros mine clearance operation.^{[34 ]}

The Ministry of Defense estimates that, between 1987 and November 2004, 66 people have been killed and 149 injured by mines on the Evros border with Turkey.^{[35 ]}Since it began operating 51 years ago, TENX has recorded 47 military casualties (30 killed and 17 injured).^{[36 ]} The Army collects data on both civilian and military mine casualties, but this data was not made available to Landmine Monitor.

Survivor Assistance

At the First Review Conference, held in Nairobi in November-December 2004, Deputy Minister of National Defense Vasileios Michaloliakos stated that, “At the national level and until all antipersonnel mines are cleared from our northeastern border, Greece will continue to provide full medical care to illegal immigrants wounded. Moreover, my country looks favorably into the possibility of covering the expenses of prostheses and relevant training for those innocent and unsuspecting people....”^{[37 ]} The Deputy Minister reaffirmed this position in a meeting with Landmine Monitor, declaring that Greece would also provide psychological support to survivors.^{[38 ]} In May 2005, Deputy Minister Michaloliakos reportedly stated that he had acted to obtain resources for prostheses and psychological support for landmine survivors.^[39]

Greece has reported previously that mine survivors receive full rehabilitative assistance, including prosthetic services, and that all expenses are covered through the national health system. While emergency medical care is provided free of charge, Landmine Monitor reported in 2004 that it found no evidence of funding for the provision and repair of prostheses, or for long-term care and rehabilitation.^{[40 ]}

Mine casualties in the southern part of the Evros border area are usually treated at Alexandroupolis University Hospital, and in the central and northern regions at Didymoteichon General and Army Hospitals. Defense medical personnel provide immediate medical assistance and casualties are evacuated from the minefield by TENX.^{[41 ]}

In 2004, the Landmine Monitor researcher held meetings with the Ministry of Health with a view to opening a trauma center for mine survivors. Expressions of support, including financial pledges, were given by the embassies of Canada, Netherlands, Norway and US. However, as of June 2005, the project had not yet materialized. Discussions between the Landmine Monitor researcher and the General Secretary of the Ministry of Public Order also took place on the possibility of granting humanitarian status to mine survivors, who are mostly asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. As of September 2005, the Ministry of Public Order was in the process of reviewing the files of eight landmine survivors with a view to the granting of refugee status.^[42]

^[1] Interview with Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Defense Policy Directorate, International Law Section, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Athens, 13 May 2005. Lt. Col. Makris made the same statement regarding ratification on 30 March 2004.
^{[2 ]}Statement by V.I. Michaloliakos, Deputy Minister of National Defense, Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World (First Review Conference) held from 29 November to 3 December 2004.
^[3] Article 7 Report, 6 May 2005 (for calendar year 2004); Article 7 Report, 7 July 2004 (reporting period not stated).
^{[4 ]}Email from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 14 September 2005.
^{[5 ]}Article 7 Report, p. 1, 7 July 2004.
^{[6 ]}At average exchange rate for 2004: €1 = $1.2438, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.
^{[7 ]}Article 7 Report, paragraph 4, 6 May 2005. The funding for the ammunition destruction includes €5 million ($6.2 million) in 2005, and €4 million ($5 million) each in 2006 and 2007.
^{[8 ]}Article 7 Report, paragraph 2, 6 May 2005; Article 7 Report, p. 2, 7 July 2004.
^{[9 ]}Article 7 Report, 7 July 2004, p. 2; verbal note from Ministry of Foreign Affairs to UN Secretary-General, New York, 23 June 2004.
^[10] Article 7 Report, p. 2, 6 May 2005.
^{[11 ]}Email from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 14 September 2005.
^{[12 ]}See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 462-463.
^{[13 ]}“Mine alert in flooded Evros,” eKathimerini, English Edition, 8 March 2005.
^{[14 ]}Interview with Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Athens, 13 May 2005.
^{[15 ]}Dina Vagena, “Minefields on the Evros,” Epsilon magazine, Kiriakatiki Eleftherotypia (newspaper), 8 May 2005.
^{[16 ]}Interview with Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Athens, 13 May 2005. TENX is an abbreviation of the Greek original for Land Minefield Clearance Battalion.
^{[17 ]}Email from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 18 June 2005.
^{[18 ]}Interview with Kostas Kalantzides, President of PEN, Athens, 15 May 2005.
^[19] Article 7 Report, p. 1, 6 May 2005.
^{[20 ]}Email from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 18 June 2005.
^{[21 ]}Interview with Petros Mavroidis, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Athens, 1 June 2005.
^{[22 ]}Interview with Kostas Kalantzides, President of PEN, Athens, 15 May 2005.
^[23] Interview with Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Athens, 13 May 2005.
^[24] Interview with Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, Athens, 13 May 2005.
^{[25 ]}“Greek soldier killed during demining operation near Turkish border,” Associated Press (Athens), 14 June 2005.
^[26] Email from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 18 June 2005.
^{[27 ]}Fax from Lt. Col. Vassilis Makris, Hellenic National Defense General Staff, 9 August 2005.
^{[28 ]}See Landmine Monitor Report 2004. p. 464.
^{[29 ]}US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2004: Greece,” Washington DC, 28 February 2005.
^{[30 ]}For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 465.
^{[31 ]}“Land mine kills illegal immigrant trying to sneak into Greece from Turkey,” Associated Press (Athens), 30 May 2004; “Landmine kills migrant at Greek border,” Athens News, 6 August 2004; “Palestinian killed in landmine blast on Greece-Turkey border,” Agence France-Presse, 5 August 2004; “Iranian killed on Turkish border trying to enter Greece illegally,” Kathimerini, 5 October 2004; “Three migrants die in minefield,” eKathimerini, 15 November 2004; “Minefields on Greek-Turkish border claim two new victims,” Agence France-Presse, 5 December 2004; “Evros minefields claim 2 more lives,” eKathimerini, 6 December 2004.
^{[32 ]}“Illegal immigrants killed in Greece-Turkey border minefield,” Associated Press, 4 April 2005; “Two killed in Evros minefield,” eKathimerini, 5 April 2005; see also “List of 6336 documented refugee deaths through Fortress Europe,” www.irr.org.uk/, accessed 18 July 2005.
^{[33 ]}“Two immigrants killed in border minefield,” eKathimerini, 30 May 2005.
^{[34 ]}“Greek soldier killed during demining operation near Turkish border,” Associated Press (Athens), 14 June 2005.
^{[35 ]}“Minefields on Greek-Turkish border claim two new victims,” Agence France-Presse (Athens), 5 December 2004.
^{[36 ]}Dina Vagena, “Minefields on the Evros,” Epsilon magazine, Kiriakatiki Eleftherotypia (newspaper), Athens, 8 May 2005.
^{[37 ]}Statement by V.I. Michaloliakos, Deputy Minister of National Defense, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 29 November–3 December 2004.
^{[38 ]}Interview with V.I. Michaloliakos, Deputy Minister of National Defense, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 1 December 2004.
^[39] Richard Galpin, “Migrants risking Greek minefields,” BBC News (Athens), 4 May 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/, accessed 6 May 2005.
^{[40 ]}CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 reports, Form B, 12 November 2003, 12 March 2002 and 11 December 2002.
^{[41 ]}See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 465-466.
^[42] Email from Bart Leerschool, UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Athens, 9 September 2005.