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.