Key developments since May 2004: In June 2005, a Kuwaiti official
told the ICBL that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense had
both recommended acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty. The Minister of Defense said
in October 2004 that Kuwait does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.
In 2004, 20 new mine/UXO casualties were reported, representing a significant
increase from the two casualties reported in 2003.
Mine Ban Policy
The State of Kuwait has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. However, in
June 2005, the head of the five-person Kuwaiti delegation to the Mine Ban Treaty
intersessional meetings in Geneva told the ICBL that, after studying the issue,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense had both recommended
acceding to the treaty. He said the next step would be submission of the
proposal for accession by the Foreign Minister to the National
Assembly.[1 ]
Kuwait attended the First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December
2004. Its delegation consisted of two high-ranking officers from the Ministry
of Defense, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and two
Nairobi-based diplomats. While Kuwait did not make a statement to the high
level segment of the First Review Conference, its delegation told Landmine
Monitor that the country supports the Mine Ban Treaty and all measures to ban
antipersonnel mines, as well as international efforts in demining and victim
assistance. They expressed confidence that Kuwait would join the
treaty.[2 ]
The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) undertook an advocacy mission to Kuwait
in October 2004, and met with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh
Jaber bin Mubarek Al-Sabah and senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs
officials.[3 ]The Deputy Prime
Minister expressed his support for joining the Mine Ban Treaty and said that
Kuwait would begin internal consultations on accession.
Kuwait was not present for the vote in December 2004 on UN General Assembly
Resolution 59/84, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[4 ]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
Kuwait is not known to have produced or exported antipersonnel mines.
Officials from the Ministry of Defense told Landmine Monitor that Kuwaiti forces
have never used mines.[5 ]The
Minister of Defense told UNMAS in October 2004 that Kuwait does not have any
stockpiles of antipersonnel
mines.[6]
Prior to March 2003, the United States stockpiled several thousand
antipersonnel mines in pre-positioned stores in Kuwait. Additional mines were
brought in from Qatar prior to the invasion of
Iraq.[7 ]It is not known whether
antipersonnel mines are now stored at US bases in Kuwait, which are used to
support operations in Iraq.
Landmine/UXO Problem and Mine Action
As a result of the 1990-1991 Gulf War, open and rough sandy desert areas and
wet coastal mudflats remain contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance
(UXO). In addition, parts of the desert and the coastal islands used for
military exercise contain mines and UXO. The most important UXO contamination
lies in and around El-Ederah and on Bubiyan
Island.[8 ]
The Ministry of Defense is responsible for coordinating all demining
operations. The Engineering Corps of the Land Force deals mainly with landmines
and UXO in desert areas, and the Demining Unit of the Ministry of Interior
addresses landmines and UXO in populated areas. Both bodies respond to calls
from public and private organizations. The Fire and Safety department of the
Kuwait Oil Company is responsible for the coordination of mine clearance in
company areas and has direct contact with the Engineering
Corps.[9]
Demining activities were ongoing in 2004 to mid-2005 in al-Sulaibiyah
(southwest of Kuwait city) and in El-Ederah in the northwestern part of the
desert, according to a media report.[10 ]In March 2005, the Ministry of Interior reported that 25 grenades and five
pieces of small arms ammunition had been detected in one of the old buildings in
Hawalli residential area in Kuwait
City.[11 ]On 4 May 2004, a private
demining company working in the western part of Bubiyan Island discovered Mk.188
Rockeye submunitions; the area is believed to have been used for the dismantling
and disposal of ammunition in the
past.[12 ]
Clearance reports for 2004-2005 were not made available to Landmine
Monitor.[13 ]However, the level of
annual clearance activity may be gauged by official reports in previous years:
in 2003, 28,262 pieces of ammunition were collected from 154.6 square
kilometers; in 2002, 30 mines were detected and destroyed; in 2001, 26 mines
were detected and destroyed.[14 ]About 1.1 million antipersonnel mines and 0.6 million antivehicle mines
were cleared and destroyed by mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal
teams in Kuwait from 1991 to 2002.[15 ]
Landmine/UXO Casualties
In 2004, 20 new mine/UXO casualties were reported in Kuwait, including five
people killed and 15 injured. On 19 March, two people were killed and six
injured when an antivehicle mine exploded in a scrap metal site in the Amghara
area north of Kuwait City.[16 ]On 1
December, three military personnel were killed and nine injured in a
rocket-propelled grenade explosion during a training exercise in al-Edairea area
in the northwestern part of Kuwait.[17 ]This represents a significant increase compared to the two people killed
in reported landmine incidents in
2003.[18 ]
Casualties continue to be reported in 2005 with four people killed and four
injured in landmine and UXO incidents to the end of April. On 12 March, an
Egyptian was killed in a grenade explosion in a residential area in Kuwait City.
The Russian-made grenade was part of a stock of 25 grenades and five small arms
left by Iraqi forces in an old
building.[19 ]On 16 March, a woman
lost a hand and a leg after a grenade she was playing with exploded in al-Rauda,
a residential area in Kuwait City. The grenade had been brought to the house
from a military site in the northern part of the
country.[20 ]On 23 March, two
shepherds were killed in separate antipersonnel mine incidents. The first
incident took place on the al-Salmi road, in the southwest of Kuwait and the
second in Qashaniyah in northern
Kuwait.[21 ]On 26 April, one person
was killed and another injured in a mine incident in al-Salmi area, in the
southwest of Kuwait.[22]
On 20 April 2005, a major in the Kuwaiti Army was injured during mine
clearance at a farm in al-Sulaibiyah, southwest of Kuwait
City.[23 ]A soldier was injured on
the same day by a cluster bomblet, during demining in the northwest of
Kuwait.[24 ]
The total number of mine casualties in Kuwait is not known. Between March
2000 and the end of 2003, there were at least 24 mine/UXO casualties (four
people killed and 20 injured) on Kuwaiti
territory.[25 ]The most
comprehensive information is the 2002 report by the Kuwait Institute for
Scientific Research (KISR) on civilian war casualties in Kuwait. Landmine
injuries accounted for 1,026 (43 percent) of the 2,386 war injuries and 85 (20
percent) of the 421 deaths. UXO accounted for 175 injured and 119
killed.[26 ]KISR is planning to
update the database to include data until 2005; however, this is dependent on
funding.[27 ]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
There are no specific programs for landmine survivors in Kuwait. However,
healthcare and medical and rehabilitative services are generally free; 95
percent of services are provided by government institutions. Facilities include
rehabilitation centers, prosthetic workshops, occupational therapy,
psychological support and vocational training programs. Military mine
casualties are treated in separate military hospitals; however, civilians can be
treated in a military hospital on an emergency
basis.[28 ]
The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs
and Labor (MoSAL), constitute a national level coordination body to focus on
disability issues. Persons with disabilities are entitled to a pension through
MoSAL. The Handicapped Care Administration of MoSAL provides support for people
with disabilities and their families. Services include special accommodation
providing medical care, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, education and
sports. MoSAL also has a vocational training center for people with
disabilities.[29]
The Kuwaiti Society for Landmine Victim Assistance was formed in 2002;
however, it has not implemented any
activities.[30 ]Other organizations
assisting persons with disabilities include the Kuwait Red Crescent Society and
Awqaf Fund for the Disabled and Individuals with Special Needs.
No progress has been made on the establishment of a national fund for
persons with disabilities as recommended by civil society groups on 3 December
2003, the International Day of Disabled
Persons.[31 ]
In September 2004, the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation
Commission approved the payment of US$551,439 to 30 mine/UXO survivors injured
in Kuwait after 2 March 1991. In March 2005, compensation for another two
mine survivors was approved.[32]
Kuwaiti members of parliament participated in the First Arab Parliamentary
Symposium on Disability Legislation, held in Amman on 16-17 March 2005, which
discussed implementation of the proposed Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with
Disabilities.[33]
The 5th Conference of the Gulf Disability Society was held in Kuwait, from 9
to 11 April 2005, with approximately 250 participants from the Arab region. The
Kuwait Society for the Handicapped, Higher Council for Disabled Affairs and
MoSAL organized the
conference.[34]
[1 ]Email from Amb. Satnam Singh,
ICBL Diplomatic Advisor, 28 June 2005. This email reported on retired Amb.
Singh’s meeting with Lt. Col. Ahmed Abdallah Al-Ali, Legal Advisor,
Ministry of Defense, in Geneva during the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional
meetings 13-17 June 2005.
[2 ]Interview with members of the
Kuwaiti delegation, Nairobi, 29 November 2004. On 8 March 2005, a high-ranking
officer (who did not wish to be named) confirmed to Landmine Monitor that Kuwait
was on its way to joining the treaty. Email from Raafat Misak, Landmine Monitor
Researcher, 6 September 2005.
[3 ]Amb. Satnam Singh, UNMAS
consultant, “Mission Report - Saudi Arabia/Kuwait, 22-28 October
2004,” (undated).
[4 ]Kuwait voted in support of
annual pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996, 1997 and 1998. However, it was absent
from the votes for four of the next five years, and abstained from voting in
2002.
[5 ]See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, pp. 684-685.
[6]Amb. Satnam Singh, UNMAS
consultant, “Mission Report - Saudi Arabia/Kuwait, 22-28 October
2004,” (undated). Officials told Landmine Monitor that 45,845
antipersonnel mines removed from the ground following the Gulf War and stored
for a period were subsequently destroyed. See Landmine Monitor Report
2004, p. 1026.
[7 ]Charles Aldinger, “U.S.
Army moves arms near Kuwait in mobility exercise,” Reuters
(Washington DC), 5 September 2002.
[8 ]See Landmine Monitor Report
2004, p. 1026.
[9]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2000, p. 941.
[10 ]“Cluster bomb incident
in NW,” Al Qabes (daily newspaper), 21 April 2005.
[11 ]“Detection of UXO in
Hawally,”Al Qabes, 12 March 2005.
[12 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1027.
[13 ]Clearance figures were
requested in a meeting between the Landmine Monitor researcher and the Ministry
of Defense on 8 March 2005, and a request letter was also remitted to the
Ministry of Defense.
[14 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1026.
[15 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2003, p. 626.
[16 ]“Big explosion in
Amghara area (6 victims),” al-Qabes, 20 March 2004.
[17 ]“RPG accident in
Edairea,” al-Talee (weekly newspaper), 2 March 2005.
[18 ]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1027.
[19 ]“Detection of UXO in
Hawally,” al-Qabes, 12 March 2005.
[20 ]“Grenade
accident,” al-Seyasa (daily newspaper), 16 March 2005.
[21 ]“Two shepherds killed
in two separate areas,” al-Qabes, 23 March 2005.
[22]“Mine accident in Al
Salmi,” al-Raae al-Aam (daily newspaper), 27 April 2005.
[23 ]“Accident in
Sulaibiyah Farm,” al-Qabes, 21 April 2005.
[24 ]“Cluster bomb incident
in NW,” al-Qabes, 21 April 2005.
[25 ]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1027-1028.
[26 ]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 686.
[27 ]Email to Landmine Monitor
(HI) from Rafaat Misaak, KISR, 30 May 2005.
[28 ]For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1028.
[29]For more information, see
“Kuwait Information Page for People with Special Needs,” www.safat.com/mihn.html; see also
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1018; Landmine Monitor Report
2000, p. 943.
[30 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2002, p. 686.
[31 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, pp. 1028-1029.
[32]“Governing Council of
UNCC approves awards of $376.9 million for compensation at its fifty-third
session,” M2 Presswire (Geneva), 23 September 2004; “U.N.
approves first Gulf War compensation,” Reuters, Geneva, 23
September 2004; “U.N. OKs Compensation for Kuwait Invasion,”
Associated Press (Geneva), 11 March 2005.
[33]Amman Declaration on
Disability Legislation, Amman, Jordan, 16-17 March 2005.
[34]Rehabilitation International
(RI), “Secretariat Headlines,” Issue 1, April 2005, p. 6.