LM Report 2005

Latvia

Key developments since May 2004: Latvia acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 July 2005. It submitted a third voluntary transparency report in June 2005, with revised stockpile totals. In 2004, explosive ordnance disposal teams destroyed 3,426 items of UXO, including 42 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Latvia acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 July 2005. Latvia will become the 145th State Party on 1 January 2006 when the treaty enters into force for it. Latvia has not yet reported what national measures it will take to implement the treaty domestically.

Latvia submitted its third voluntary (pre-accession) Article 7 report on 16 June 2005 for calendar year 2004.^[1] Latvia’s initial Article 7 report as a State Party will be due by 30 June 2006.

Latvia did not attend the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Nairobi in November-December 2004. It participated in the treaty’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2005, but did not make any interventions.

In December 2004, Latvia voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 59/84, which calls for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Latvia has voted for every pro-ban UNGA resolution since 1996.

A contingent of Latvian demining personnel participates in the NATO training operation in Iraq.^[2] Latvia has not made its views known on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3, and the issues of joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training.

Latvia joined the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on 22 August 2002. Latvia attended the Sixth Annual Conference of States Parties to the protocol in November 2004 and submitted a national annual report in accordance with Article 13. In terms of compliance with Amended Protocol II, Latvia states, “All mines and other military devices in the Republic of Latvia inventory comply fully with the technical provisions of Amended Protocol II. Latvia has ratified all points of the Amended Protocol II, only point 2 section b will come into force on December 2, 2007.”^[3] Latvia is referencing the requirement that all non-remotely-delivered antipersonnel mines produced before 1 January 1997 shall be made detectable prior to their use.^[4] This deferral is now presumably irrelevant due to Latvia’s accession to the Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits the use of such mines and requires their destruction.

Production, Transfer and Stockpiling

In July 2004, Latvia’s President wrote to the ICBL, “Latvia does not contribute in any way to the use, production or proliferation of anti-personnel landmines.”^[5] Latvia has declared “no APM production facilities” in its voluntary Article 7 reports.^[6] Latvia has prohibited export and transit of antipersonnel mines since 1995. A Law on the Circulation of Arms was passed on 6 June 2002 and entered into force on 1 January 2003, which prohibits the export and transit of antipersonnel mines.^[7]

Latvia inherited a small stockpile of Soviet antipersonnel mines. It has inconsistently reported the total number of mines in each of its three voluntary transparency measures reports. Latvia’s June 2005 Article 7 report declared a stockpile of 4,666 antipersonnel mines: 2,910 PMN-2 blast mines; 996 OZM-4 bounding fragmentation mines; 331 Defence Charge-21 (Claymore type); 222 MON-100 directional fragmentation mines; 190 MON-200 directional fragmentation mines; 17 MON-50 directional fragmentation mines.^[8] Latvia’s previous submission in May 2004 declared 4,447 antipersonnel mines, of six types. Its May 2003 report declared 2,980 antipersonnel mines of one type.^[9] Officials have offered no explanation for these varying submissions.

Latvia has also inconsistently reported the number of antipersonnel mines it intends to retain for research and training purposes. In its June 2005 Article 7 report, Latvia does not list any mines as retained for training.^[10] In July 2004, Latvia told the ICBL that the “existing limited number of anti-personnel mines (about 4,500) in the stockpiles of the National Armed Forces is estimated to be used up within the next seven to eight years as part of training exercises.”^[11] Latvia’s May 2004 Article 7 report stated that it will retain all 2,912 of its PMN-2 mines.

During 2004, 21 antipersonnel mines were transferred for research and training purposes (two PMN-2; one OZM-4; 14 Defence Charge-21; two MON-100; two MON-50),^[12] and during 2003, 36 mines were transferred (15 Claymore-types and 21 MON-50s).^[13] Latvia has not reported the specific purposes for which mines are retained and used.

Landmine/UXO Problem and Mine Action

In its Article 7 reports and its CCW Article 13 reports, Latvia has stated that there are no known or suspected minefields, and no mine clearance programs.^[14] However, it reports that in some areas, mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World Wars I and II and the Soviet occupation are still found “in considerable quantity.”^[15] Press reports indicate substantial contamination in old battle areas including Blidene, Kursisi, Pampali, Zirni, Tinuzi, Pope, Inesi, and in the Zvarde and Cekule ex-Soviet military areas.^[16] At a former ammunition depot in Cekule, 240 hectares (2,400,000 square meters) are said to be contaminated to a depth of four meters; the depot is fenced but not guarded although the municipal police are said to patrol the area on a regular basis.^[17] However, it is believed that UXO can be gathered by anyone searching for scrap metal or by criminal elements.^[18] Mines and UXO are also found in other areas, including Riga city, and the number of discoveries has increased recently with the increase in construction work.^[19]

Mine/UXO clearance is the responsibility of the Latvian Armed Forces; it is performed by a company of 84 men, divided into a command unit of nine men and three platoons of 24 EOD specialists and one communication officer each. Platoons are located in Ogre, Saldus and Rezekne; on average, they receive six calls a day.

In 2004, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams found and destroyed 3,426 items of UXO, including 42 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.^[20] In 2005 through 1 July, a further 2,426 UXO were destroyed. A large number of UXO were found after a storm in the Baltic Sea. On the former Soviet aviation bombing test site in Zvarde, 95 percent of all aircraft bombs lying on the surface had been removed as of July 2005.^[21]

An EOD center was established in 2003 in Adazhi as a bilateral project with Norway, and also receives substantial assistance from Austria, Denmark and Sweden. On 18 July 2005, the center started its first international program, a joint training course for Latvian and Lithuanian EOD specialists. The language of instruction was English. In August 2005, Norwegian personnel arrived at the EOD center for training in dealing with improvised explosive devices. It was expected that EOD specialists from other countries will be trained there starting from 2006. The school was developed over a period of several years, with Norway supplying equipment and training teaching staff, and Latvia paying for the construction of buildings, staff and maintenance costs.^[22]

The EOD center has previously reported conducting mine risk education (MRE), although Latvia’s three Article 7 reports do not record any MRE programs.^[23]

Support to Mine Action

In 2004-2005, as in previous years, Latvian EOD personnel participated in international military and peacekeeping operations, including Iraq (since May 2003) and Afghanistan (since February 2005).^[24] As of July 2005, there were six men on a four-month mission in Afghanistan. The main tasks of the mission were to secure airfields and patrol; during this work, 13.8 tons of UXO and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) were destroyed.^[25]

Landmine/UXO Casualties

On 13 April 2005, two civilians were killed on the Adazhi military test site in a UXO explosion, reportedly while collecting metal from shells.^[26] Since 1999, at least four other civilians have been killed or injured in UXO incidents.^[27]

^[1] It previously submitted reports on 1 May 2003 and 14 May 2004, each for the previous calendar year.

^[2] Article 7 Report, Form G, 16 June 2005.

^[3] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form C, 8 October 2004.

^[4] Latvia exercised its right for a nine-year deferral period from the detectability requirement upon its adoption of Amended Protocol II on 22 August 2002. However, none of the antipersonnel mines voluntarily declared by Latvia in its Article 7 reports are known to be of low metal content and are listed in international reference publications as “easily detectable.”

^[5] Letter from Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia, to Jody Williams, ICBL, Riga, 16 July 2004.

^[6] Article 7 Report, Form E, 16 June 2005.

^[7] Letter from Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia, to Jody Williams, ICBL, Riga, 16 July 2004; Latvia Response to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Questionnaire, 20 December 2002, p. 3.

^[8] Article 7 Report, Form B, 16 June 2005.

^[9] Article 7 Report, Form B, 14 May 2004. The six types are: PMN-2 (2,912); OZM-4 (997); MON-50 (19); MON-100 (224); MON-200 (190); “Defence charge 21, Claymore-type” (105). Previously, only 2,980 PMN mines were reported. Article 7 Report, Form B, 1 May 2003.

^[10] Article 7 Report, Form D.1, 16 June 2005. Form D.1 (mines retained for training) is left blank, while Form B (stockpiled mines) lists 4,666.

^[11] Letter from Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia, to Jody Williams, ICBL, Riga, 16 July 2004.

^[12] Article 7 Report, Form D.2, 16 June 2005.

^[13] Article 7 Report, Form D.2, 14 May 2004.

^[14] Article 7 Report, Forms C and F, 16 June 2005; CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Reports, Form B, 26 November 2003 and 8 October 2004.

^[15] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form B, 26 November 2003 and 8 October 2004. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 830–831.

^[16] Agris Blūmfelds, “Grīziņkalnā skeitparks un...mīnas” (“In Grīziņkalns skatepark and ...mines”), Rīgas Balss (daily newspaper), 7 November 2003.

^[17] Email from Capt. Andris Rieksts, Commander of EOD Company, Latvian National Armed Forces, 19 September 2005; Agris Blūmfelds, “Grīziņkalnā skeitparks un...mīnas” (“In Grīziņkalns skatepark and...mines”), Rīgas Balss (daily newspaper), 7 November 2003.

^[18] Interview with Capt Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, Ogre, 13 July 2005.

^[19] Agris Blūmfelds, “Grīziņkalnā skeitparks un...mīnas” (“In Grīziņkalns skatepark and ...mines”), Rīgas Balss (daily newspaper), 7 November 2003. During the first months of 2004, there were more calls to neutralize explosives than in the same period of 2003. Interview with Lt. Col. Guntis Aizporietis, EOD Center, Adazhi, 15 April 2004.

^[20] Email from Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, 19 September 2005.

^[21] Interview with Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, Ogre, 13 July 2005.

^[22] Email from Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, 19 September 2005.

^[23] Email from Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, 19 September 2005. For details of Latvian EOD capacity and previous MRE, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1051.

^[24] Email from Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, 19 September 2005.

^[25] Interview with Capt. Andris Rieksts, Latvian National Armed Forces, Ogre, 13 July 2005; and email of 19 September 2005.

^[26] Inga Šņore, LTV Panorama (Latvian TV news), 14 April 2005.

^[27] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1052.