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Table of Contents
Country Reports
PERÚ, Landmine Monitor Report 2005

Perú

Key developments since May 2004: Perú named for the first time the three penitentiary centers it had mined in the departments of Puno, Cajamarca and Lima. In June 2005, the Police stated that 1,361 electrical towers in Huancavelica, Ica and Lima previously demined are still considered dangerous and mine-affected. No mine risk education has been carried out in Perú since October 2003. There were no known landmine casualties in 2004, in contrast to 2003 when 21 mine/UXO casualties were reported. At the First Review Conference, Perú was identified as one of 24 States Parties with the greatest needs and responsibility to provide adequate survivor assistance. Perú presented its survivor assistance objectives for the period to 2009.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Perú signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 17 June 1998 and became a State Party on 1 March 1999. There is no specific legislation in place to implement the Mine Ban Treaty. A number of provisions in Perú’s criminal code apply to possession and trade of weapons, such as antipersonnel landmines, and include criminal sanctions. From 2002 to 2004, the Parliamentary Commission of Justice and the Review Commission of the Criminal Code worked on an initiative to reform the criminal code to include an article on sanctions relating to landmines.[1 ] To expedite the implementation of national legislation, on 22 November 2004, Congressman Alcides Chamorro submitted law project 11994-2004, a “Law that penally sanctions conduct prohibited by the Ottawa Convention” (“Ley que sanciona penalmente conductas prohibidas por la Convención de Ottawa”). The law was still before the Parliamentary Commission as of September 2005.[2]

On 2 May 2005, Perú submitted its sixth Article 7 report, covering the period March 2004 to March 2005. It included voluntary Form J on victim assistance.[3]

Perú participated in the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Nairobi in November-December 2004, where its Geneva-based ambassador announced that Perú and Ecuador would carry out a joint mine clearance operation in Cordillera del Cóndor and called for technical assistance and cooperation to support this effort.[4 ] The countries submitted a memorandum to the Review Conference regarding joint clearance operations.[5 ]

Perú attended the intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2005, where it made presentations on mine clearance and victim assistance.

Perú has made few formal statements on issues of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and 3, concerning joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes and antihandling devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training purposes. However, it has been generally sympathetic to ICBL views on these matters, and as co-chair of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, strove to encourage dialogue and common understandings.[6 ]

Perú is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons and attended the Protocol’s Sixth Annual conference of States Parties in November 2004. It did not submit an Amended Protocol II Article 13 report for 2004.

On 4 November 2004, a former Peruvian soldier, Julio Montoya, who lost his leg in a mine incident while on patrol in 1999, completed a 127-day walk from Boston to Miami to raise awareness about the needs of people with disabilities.[7]

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Destruction

Perú is a former producer of antipersonnel mines.[8 ] The Ministry of Defense has told Landmine Monitor that Perú never exported antipersonnel mines.[9 ] In the past, Perú imported mines from Belgium, Spain, the former Soviet Union, the United States and the former Yugoslavia.

In December 2001, Perú completed destruction of its stockpiled antipersonnel mines, far in advance of its March 2003 deadline. Based on all of its Article 7 reports, which have contained different and sometimes contradictory information, it appears that from 1999 to December 2001, Perú destroyed a total of 338,356 antipersonnel mines.[10 ]

In May 2005, Perú reported that it has retained 4,024 antipersonnel mines for training purposes, the same number of mines reported since April 2003.[11 ] In May 2005, a military official explained to Landmine Monitor that the mines are held by different Combat Engineer Units of the Army for use in “show and teach” instruction on the safe storage and transportation of mines, so the mines are not destroyed during training.[12 ] However, Perú 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. The number of mines retained is significantly lower than the 9,526 antipersonnel mines Perú initially announced it would retain in May 2000.

Use

Perú has acknowledged that it used antipersonnel landmines to protect high-tension electrical towers and public infrastructure during and after the internal conflict of 1980-1992 with guerrillas of the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). Perú has continued to maintain that it never laid mines along the border with Ecuador before, during or after the 1995 Cenepa conflict.[13 ]

According to media reports, on 23 July 2005 armed assailants used a landmine to blow up a vehicle in the community of Yarajanca, in Tocache province, San Martín department, in central Perú. The assailants reportedly set off the landmine as the vehicle approached and then ambushed the occupants.[14 ] National Police Chief Marco Miyashiro told media that the assailants were members of a “narcosenderista” [drug trafficking-Shining Path] column. The Nuevo Progreso district judicial authority, his driver, and a police officer were killed; a physician and two other police officers were seriously injured.[15 ]

This incident is similar to mine incidents reported in June and July 2003, in which the Shining Path reportedly used landmines in various villages in Huanta Province, Ayacucho Department.[16 ]

Landmine and UXO Problem

Mine contamination in Perú is concentrated in three areas:

  • the northern border with Ecuador, where both countries used mines during the 1995 Cenepa conflict; five departments (Tumbes, Piura, Cajamarca, Amazonas and Loreto) were mine-affected;[17 ]clearance in Tumbes was reported as completed by December 2003;[18 ]
  • the territory inland from the Pacific coast and Andean highlands, where the police used mines to protect infrastructure (primarily high-tension electrical towers) between 1989 and 1993 during the internal conflict with the Shining Path and MTRA guerrillas, primarily in the departments of Ica, Huancavelica, Junín and Lima.[19 ] For the first time, in its May 2005 Article 7 report, Perú named the three penitentiary centers it had mined in the departments of Puno, Cajamarca and Lima;[20 ]
  • the southern border with Chile, where the Chilean military government mined its side of the border in the 1970s and 1980s; displacement of mines by climatic conditions to the Peruvian side of the border has been reported.[21 ]

However, in June 2005, Perú reported on casualties from mines—and also, for the first time, from unexploded ordnance (UXO)—in five departments not previously identified as having a landmine or UXO problem.[22 ] The five departments—La Libertad, Ancash, San Martín, Huanuco and Ayachuco—are not on the border with Ecuador, nor do electricity towers pass through them.

In June 2004 and June 2005, Perú reported that there were over 30,000 mines in the Cordillera del Cóndor region bordering Ecuador, affecting 400,000 people; the populations most at risk were the Huambisa and Aguaruna indigenous people, since they use jungle paths to reach their crop sites.[23 ] In the dense jungle areas of Amazonas department, Shuar and Ashuar indigenous people live on both sides of the border, and Huambisa and Aguaruna live on the Peruvian side.[24 ] The Organization of American States (OAS) reported that the types of antipersonnel mines laid in Perú along the border with Ecuador include PMD-6, PMD-6M, PRB/M-35, PRB/M409 and the Peruvian-manufactured MGP-30.[25 ] Perú added in its May 2005 Article 7 report that an undetermined number of T-AB-1 mines are suspected to be at the source of the Cenepa River, and in the Santiago, Achiume and Tiwinza river areas on the border with Ecuador.[26 ]

Perú's Article 7 report of 2 May 2005 states that 9,948 CICITEC mines were emplaced around electricity towers and other infrastructure.[27 ] There are 40 mines around an electricity tower in Junín department, 927 mines around public infrastructure in El Callao, 2,906 around the EPRCMS Yanamayo penitentiary in Puno, 2,886 mines around the penitentiary center EPS Huacariz in Cajamarca, and 3,189 mines around the EPRCE Miguel Castro Castro penitentiary in Lima.[28 ]

According to the national mine action center Contraminas, mines around electrical towers are the largest single cause of mine casualties in Perú. Of the 302 casualties from antipersonnel mines reported from 1989 to March 2005, 173 resulted from incidents around the electrical towers and 128 casualties resulted from incidents along the border with Ecuador.[29 ]

An additional danger is reported by the National Police to have been created by attempts to clear mines around electrical towers, with explosive remnants (particularly detonators, “tren de encendido”) being blown outside the security perimeter. These remnants were said to have resulted in numerous civilian accidents, including three casualties in 2003.[30 ] In January 2005 a nine-year-old boy suffered injuries to his right hand and leg following an accident caused by remnants near a tower in Junín department.[31 ]

During a May-June 2005 Landmine Monitor visit to communities in Junín and Huancavelica departments, where clearance operations had been conducted in mined areas around electrical towers, fencing around several towers was seen to be in poor condition and partly removed during previous clearance operations. Warning signs remained around most towers. Remnants of mines were visible.[32 ] In June 2005, National Police regarded 1,371 of the 1,712 towers mined as remaining dangerous despite previous clearance efforts, and quality control of most of the clearance operations had not been carried out.[33]

Staff of the National Penitentiary Institute (Instituto Nacional Penitenciario, INPE) reported that in March 2005 the Ministry of Justice had requested that all mine-affected INPE penal centers provide information about the extent of the mine problem at each location. Landmine Monitor was informed in May 2005 that the current administration at INPE was only recently informed that some INPE penal centers were mined. The Second Vice-President of INPE assured Landmine Monitor that mine clearance of penal centers would be a priority, and that INPE would take steps to comply with the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible.[34 ]

Landmine Monitor visited the EPRCE Miguel Castro Castro penal center in Lima. The entire outer perimeter wall of the center is surrounded by a minefield approximately three meters in width. The fencing is marked and in good condition, but does not fully reach the ground. There were no indications that the minefield had been maintained; it was littered with garbage and the remains of a dog. Although civilian homes are located within 400 meters of the front facing mined perimeter wall, civilian access to the minefields is limited by both marked fencing and outer ditches.[35]

Mine Action Program

Contraminas, the Peruvian Center for Mine Action (Centro Peruano de Acción contras las Minas Antipersonales), is responsible for planning and policy-making for mine action, including humanitarian demining and mine risk education. The ministries of foreign affairs, defense, education, interior, health and National Council for the Integration of Disabled Persons (Consejo Nacional para la Integración de la Persona con Discapacidad en el Perú, CONADIS) are represented on the Executive Committee of Contraminas.[36 ] According to the coordinator of Contraminas, the biggest challenge it faces is that it has limited staff and does not have its own budget.[37 ] Also, the Technical Secretariat of Contraminas has other responsibilities in addition to mine action.[38]

Mine clearance operations are implemented on the northern border with Ecuador by the Peruvian military, with support from the OAS Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines (Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonal, AICMA) and international supervision and verification from the OAS Mission for Assistance to Demining in South America (Misión de Asistencia a la Remoción de minas en América del Sur, MARMINAS). As of May 2005, 100 Army deminers in two companies were based in Bagua, Amazonas department in two units, supported by two supervisors from MARMINAS. Army deminers have received training and support from Spain, and on a permanent basis from the US through its Southern Command. In 2005, training courses were held on first aid, communications and demining procedures.[39 ]

Mine clearance of the high-tension electrical towers is the responsibility of the electricity companies. Clearance is carried out by DIVSECOM,[40 ]a specialized unit of the national police, and in previous years by Industrial Services of the Navy (SIMA). In May 2005, DIVSECOM had 78 deminers. Training and refresher courses have been provided by OAS.[41]

Informal meetings were held in 2003 to develop a national mine action plan. In September 2005, Contraminas reported that a mine action plan covering 2002 to 2006 was approved but is not publicly available.[42 ] The Article 7 report of May 2005 refers to a program of humanitarian demining of electricity towers and a program of mine clearance on the border with Ecuador, but does not provide a timetable or logistical details.[43]

The Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA), donated by Switzerland, is housed and operated by Contraminas. It includes the location of mine-affected electrical towers, a registry of landmine and UXO casualties, and information on healthcare services in the areas with landmine and UXO survivors.[44 ] Contraminas also holds maps of mined electrical towers provided by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. OAS AICMA has access to the IMSMA database, which is not available to the public.[45 ]

In 2004 and the first half of 2005, no new survey activity was reported. In 2003, OAS called for more surveys to be conducted.[46]

Mine and UXO Clearance

Perú’s treaty-mandated deadline for destruction of all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control is 1 March 2009.

At the First Review Conference in November-December 2004, Perú's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Astete Rodríguez, asked for international technical assistance and cooperation to support future efforts of Perú and Ecuador to address the landmine problem on their shared border.[47 ] In June 2005, Perú described the difficult situation for mine clearance in the Cordillera del Cóndor: the rough jungle terrain, climate, difficult access, and the way mines were sown in that area.[48 ] In previous years, OAS and the Peruvian Army had reported that it would take until 2010 to declare Perú “mine safe,” due to technical issues and extremely difficult geographic and climatic conditions in the majority of the mine-affected areas in the country.[49 ] However, in April 2004, Contraminas informed Landmine Monitor that Perú expected to meet the treaty deadline.[50 ]

Information on clearance operations completed and planned in Perú appears to be fragmentary. Perú's Article 7 report states that three CICTEC mines were destroyed in clearance operations between March 2004 and March 2005. The mines were cleared from 13,000 square meters around the ETEVENSA thermoelectric plant in Ventallina, El Callao (Lima) where mine clearance operations had previously been conducted.[51 ] The Article 7 report does not refer to other clearance operations in the reporting period. However, in August 2004, DIVSECOM reported completing clearance of UXO at a police base in Vitarte, Lima, removal of fuzes from areas around 53 electricity towers and from 20 percent of the previously demined area around a former police training ground in Ventanilla, El Callao (Lima).[52 ]

Border with Ecuador

At the First Review Conference, Perú announced that joint clearance operations in El Oro province (Ecuador) and Tumbes department (Perú) had been completed in March 2004. Joint operations were to commence on the Cordillera del Cóndor mountain range region in early 2005.[53 ] Operations had not commenced by September 2005, due to a lack of OAS channeled financial support and because Perú did not possess a necessary evacuation helicopter.[54]

In May 2005, a military official reported that “during 2005 the first focus of operations would be reconnaissance of high-risk zones on the border region at the source of the Santiago River, where there were reports of mines, grenades, and booby traps.” The Army requested US$380,000 for clearance in this area. As of September 2005 the Army had not received the requested funds from the OAS and clearance had not commenced.[55 ]Contraminas reported that the Army and Contraminas were nearing completion of an impact study at the source of the Santiago River, funded with OAS contributions from 2004.[56 ]

According to Contraminas, the Ecuadorian authorities reported in May 2004 that some antipersonnel mines might be still in the ground on either side of the Chira River in Piura department, due to changes in the banks of the river.[57 ] The possibility of remaining mine contamination in the Chira River area was discussed at a joint meeting with Contraminas and the Ecuadorian Mine Clearance Center (Centro de Desminado del Ecuador, CENDESMI), military and OAS international supervisors in early 2005. The area to be cleared totaled 9,000 square meters; Ecuador reported that nine antipersonnel mines had been lost in the area.[58 ]

High-tension Electrical Towers, Public Infrastructure and Penitentiary Centers

Perú's Article 7 reports of May 2004 and May 2005 state that, in Junín, one electrical tower affected by an estimated 40 CICITEC and DEXA antipersonnel mines, remains to be cleared.[59 ] In September 2005, Contraminas said that the electrical tower had been demined in 2003, by an individual privately contracted by ETECEN, but that the clearance had not been certified by Contraminas.[60 ]

Approximately 60,000 antipersonnel mines were cleared from 1,711 electrical towers between mid-2002 and February 2004.[61 ] At the First Review Conference, Perú stated that quality control of clearance around the electrical towers would be completed by the end of 2005.[62 ] While quality control of an initial 50 towers was completed in November 2004, by July 2005 agreement for quality control to be carried out at the other towers had not been reached between the Ministry of Energy and Mines, ETECEN state electricity company, the DIVSECOM police demining unit and Contraminas. The Police stated that the towers in Huancavelica, Ica and Lima, demined by SIMA, are still considered dangerous, and that 1,361 towers should still be considered as mine-affected.[63 ]

In June 2005, it was expected that quality control of the entire network would take approximately one year.[64 ] It would be implemented by DIVSECOM, observed by the Association of Victims and Survivors of Landmines (AVISCAM),[65 ]and certified by Contraminas. A radius of 60 meters around each tower will be swept for mines and explosive remnants.[66]

Border with Chile

On 6 July 2005, the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs of Perú and Chile discussed progress in clearance by Chile along the common border, and reconfirmed that clearance would be completed by Chile’s 2011 treaty-mandated deadline.[67 ] The Chilean Army’s Sixth Division began demining in Chile’s northern Region I bordering with Perú at the Chacalluta airport, Arica, on 3 August 2004 at a ceremony attended by former Chilean Minister of Defense Michelle Bachelet, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army General Juan Emilio Cheyre, diplomats, Landmine Monitor Chile and media.[68 ] Clearance at the northern end of Chacalluta Airport in Arica was concluded 30 April 2005; as of June, verification and certification had not been undertaken.[69]

Mine Risk Education

No mine risk education (MRE) has been carried out in Perú since October 2003 when Contraminas concluded an MRE project in Lima, Junín, Huancavelica and Ica departments.[70 ] Although Perú reported in 2004 that the MRE project had been evaluated,[71 ]a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official reported that as of May 2005 the evaluation was not complete. Lack of funding delayed the evaluation, but the project will be completed by the end of September 2005.[72 ]

According to the National Police, further MRE activities will be carried out in Lima, Junín, Huancavelica and Ica, at the same time as quality assurance of the electrical towers. This project is on hold pending an agreement with ETECEN for quality assurance of the clearance.[73 ]

In June 2004, Perú reported that an MRE project, first carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional office in Lima in areas where there are mined electrical towers, would be replicated in the border regions with Ecuador. The project would target a total population of 19,187 Aguaruna and Huambisa indigenous peoples of the Jíbaro linguistic group in the districts of Cenepa and Santiago (Amazonas department).[74 ] In May 2005, Perú reported that a proposal for MRE developed in 2004 in the Cordillera del Cóndor region of the northern border had been sent to Contraminas.[75 ]

In May 2005, members of the European Commission delegation in Lima told Landmine Monitor that a long-awaited EC contribution to mine action along the Perú-Ecuador border would soon be approved for €1 million (approx. $1.25 million), to be provided to the OAS in September or October 2005 for use in mine action along the border.[76 ]Funds would go to support humanitarian demining and MRE workshops in schools and MRE radio messages, but final plans had yet to be made. This project had not begun as of September 2005.[77]

Funding and Assistance

According to the OAS, in 2004 Canada contributed $1,500 for a regional seminar in Lima. Italy contributed $19,305 to Perú and $61,095 for mine action in Perú, Colombia and Ecuador.[78 ]

The US Department of State reported that it provided $500,000 in 2004 through OAS AICMA for joint cross-border clearance with Ecuador.[79 ] The US Department of State discontinued its funding through OAS AICMA of the joint border mine clearance program, because the program failed to meet stated objectives.[80 ] In September 2005, OAS AICMA reported that operations in Perú could be suspended in October 2005 due to a lack of funding.[81 ]

In September 2005, Contraminas reported that the OAS had not yet received a contribution from the European Commission and thus did not have funding available to support mine action in Perú. Contraminas’ operational budget for 2005 consists of funds remaining from 2004.[82 ]

Landmine Casualties

In 2004, there were no known new landmine casualties in Perú. In 2003, at least 21 mine/UXO casualties were reported, including seven people killed and 14 injured.[83 ]

According to ICRC, in 2004 and the first three months of 2005, seven people were injured by UXO (grenades).[84 ] On 23 January 2005 a 9-year-old boy was injured by explosive remnants of an antipersonnel mine in the Jararanga-Piñascochas sector, Junín department.[85 ] In February 2005, a man in Lima lost the fingers of his right hand after handling the fuze of a “pineapple” type grenade found in the garbage.[86 ] No other mine casualties were reported during the first half of 2005.

As part of Perú’s commitment to the Nairobi Action Plan, Contraminas told Landmine Monitor that it would conduct field visits to obtain information on landmine survivors.[87 ] However, in June 2005, Contraminas reported that it did not have the resources to carry out the census of mine/UXO casualties and will instead rely on information from the Army and the Police.[88]

In June 2005 Perú presented information on a total of 376 mine/UXO casualties between 1991 and January 2005 registered in the Contraminas IMSMA database: 298 antipersonnel mine casualties and 78 UXO casualties. A breakdown of registered casualties to March 2005 indicates that more than 49 people were killed and 253 injured; eleven were female, and 44 were under 18 years old. Casualties were registered in the departments of Amazonas (118 mine casualties); Tumbes (four UXO casualties); Cajamarca (two UXO); La Libertad (one UXO); Ancash (one mine); Lima (58 mine and 13 UXO); Ica (five mine and one UXO); San Martín (three UXO); Huanuco (16 UXO); Junín (62 mine and 11 UXO); Huancavelica (40 mine and 12 UXO); Ayacucho (seven mine and 15 UXO); Tacna (three mine); the location of four casualties was not identified.[89 ] The data is based on information provided by ICRC, Policy, Army, Ombudsman’s Office, AVISCAM and the database of the national registry of identification (Registro Naciónal de Identificación de Estado Civil).[90 ]

Statistics on mine casualties are believed to be under-reported.[91 ] Landmine Monitor was informed of unregistered mine/UXO casualties during field visits in May 2005. Reasons suggested for the under-reporting include the lack of a formal survey, fear of being labeled as a member or sympathizer of the Shining Path insurgency, and fear of being threatened by the electricity company for trespassing on private land.[92 ] According to Julio Montoya, who collects data as part of his advocacy work for mine survivors, about 1,600 soldiers injured by landmines and improvised explosive devices since the Cenepa conflict have been treated at the Military Hospital in Lima.[93 ]

Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice

At the First Review Conference in Nairobi, Perú was identified as one of 24 States Parties with significant numbers of mine survivors, and with “the greatest responsibility to act, but also the greatest needs and expectations for assistance” in providing adequate services for the care, rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors.[94 ] Perú participated in a workshop in Managua, Nicaragua, on 26-27 April 2005, which was convened by the co-chairs of the Standing Committee of Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, to assist State Parties in developing a plan of action to meet the aims of the Nairobi Action Plan in relation to victim assistance.[95 ]

Perú included the voluntary Form J with information on mine casualties and survivor assistance with its annual Article 7 Report.[96 ]

At the June 2005 Standing Committee meetings, Perú made a detailed presentation on the situation relating to survivor assistance in the country, its objectives for 2009 and plans to achieve those objectives. The objectives include: completion of the mine/UXO database; monitoring the situation of survivors; supporting rehabilitation facilities in coordination with civil society groups; creating a fund for psychosocial rehabilitation, in coordination with public institutions and civil society; providing direct assistance to each survivor by 2009. The lack of national or international funding to achieve its goals was highlighted throughout the presentation.[97 ]

All public health centers in the country reportedly have the capacity to provide first aid, and state hospitals have the capacity to deal with trauma cases and provide psychological support. In May 2005, the Ministry of Health was reviewing hospital capacities in Junín and Lima departments, and reported that awareness of mental health and psychosocial rehabilitation was “just starting,” not only for landmine/UXO survivors but for all persons affected by the armed conflict who had not yet received any psychological support. The Ministry of Health’s capacity to provide rehabilitation outside Lima is very limited, and the aim is to decentralize available services. In the central Andean highlands the aim is to strengthen the capacity at the health post level, improving first aid and emergency treatment, and transportation to regional hospitals. At the regional hospital level, the aim is to provide training in rehabilitation for staff, and improve the equipment that is available.[98 ]

Based on field visits by Landmine Monitor in June 2004 and May 2005, it would appear that assistance available to civilian mine casualties remains unchanged and facilities are still poor in rural areas. The May 2005 visit by Landmine Monitor to rural communities in Huancayo province, Junín department, and the adjacent municipality of Pampas, Huancavelica department, indicated that, in general, survivors receive first aid and immediate medical care, but many had not received rehabilitation or vocational retraining, nor were they aware of their rights according to national disability laws. In some cases, the electricity company ETECEN had provided transport and supported medical treatment, but not rehabilitation.[99 ]

The Army and the National Police provide medical assistance, physical rehabilitation, prostheses and psychological support for their personnel injured by landmines. In June 2004, Contraminas was reportedly coordinating with the ministries of defense, interior and health to make the services available to police and army personnel also available to civilian mine survivors; however, services remain inaccessible to civilians.[100 ]

In February 2004, Contraminas reported that it had started a pilot project to provide integrated assistance to 20 landmine survivors, with the support of OAS AICMA and ICRC; however, Landmine Monitor was advised in May 2005 that the pilot project had been cancelled due to a lack of funding. Rather than developing a pilot project, Contraminas now plans to provide healthcare and rehabilitation coverage for all landmine and UXO survivors, with the support of the OAS, after the survivor register has been completed.[101]

Facilities available to assist mine survivors include the National Rehabilitation Institute (Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, INR) in Lima, which offers integrated services for a fee, including physical rehabilitation, psychological support and vocational training. The National Council for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (CONADIS) is responsible for the Center for Technical and Occupational Training (Centro de Formación Técnica y Ocupacional, CEFODI) in El Callao, which provides vocational training for persons with disabilities.[102]

Members of AVISCAM participated at the First Review Conference in November-December 2004 and in the victim assistance workshop in Managua in April 2005. AVISCAM has 42 members; 30 are former policemen and 12 were injured during mine clearance or laying. AVISCAM plans to create a home in Lima, where survivors can stay during treatment and receive support.[103]

Perú has legislation and measures to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, including mine survivors; however, a lack of resources limits their effectiveness.[104 ]CONADIS is the inter-ministerial body responsible for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, including policies on the socioeconomic reintegration of mine/UXO survivors.[105 ]

The state Integrated Health Insurance (Seguro Integral de Salud, SIS) provides broad health coverage to young people and others in extreme poverty. According to a Ministry of Health official, SIS provides complete treatment to children, including some rehabilitation, while adults receive only emergency treatment; however, the work of SIS is limited by a lack of funds.[106]


[1 ]Interview with Alcides Chamorro, former President of the Commission of Justice and President of the Review Commission, Lima, 9 March 2005; Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Coordinator, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005. Once completed, the proposed reforms would then go to the National Congress for consideration.

[2] Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Coordinator, Contraminas, Lima, 14 September 2005.

[3] Previous reports were submitted on 6 May 2004, April 2003 (no date specified), 16 May 2002, 4 May 2001 and 2 May 2000.

[4 ]Intervention by Perú, Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World (First Review Conference), Nairobi, 3 December 2004. Also announced at “Un paso más hacia un hemisferio libre de minas antipersonal,” the Americas Regional Mine Action Seminar, Quito, 12-13 August 2004.

[5 ]“Nota informativa de la República del Ecuador y de la República del Perú sobre la implementación de la Convención de Ottawa,” circulated at the First Review Conference, Nairobi, 1 December 2004.

[6 ]In May 2002, Perú made an intervention with respect to Article 2 on the issue of antivehicle mines with antihandling devices, in which it encouraged States Parties to evaluate their positions taking into account humanitarian aspects, and to make an “authentic interpretation” of the Mine Ban Treaty according to its spirit as well as its letter. Intervention by Perú, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 31 May 2002. Notes taken by Landmine Monitor (MAC).

[7] “Montoya completes epic Boston to Miami journey,” Manning Times, 4 November 2004.

[8 ]The National Police produced the “DEXA” mine until production facilities were closed in 1994, while the Navy produced the “CICITEC” MG-MAP-304 and the “CICITEC” MGP-30 mine until production facilities were closed in 1997. Article 7 Report, Form H, 2 May 2005; Article 7 Report, Forms E and H, April 2003; ICRC, “Programa de Sensibilización de los Peligros de las Minas Antipersonal,” Lima, 2002, p. 7.

[9 ]Telephone interview with Gen. Raúl O’Connor, Director, Information Office, Ministry of Defense, 19 April 2000.

[10 ]Two destructions of a total of 11,784 antipersonnel mines between March 2000 and March 2001 are sometimes not included in Perú’s destruction totals. Perú destroyed the bulk of its stockpile—321,730 mines—between 30 May and 13 September 2001. Perú declared stockpile destruction complete in September 2001, but then destroyed another 926 mines in December 2001 that it had intended to retain for training. See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 658.

[11 ]The mines retained are: PMD-6 (500), CICITEC (775), M18-A1 Claymore (600), M35 C/ESP M5 (100), M-409 (525), PMA-3 (500), PMD-6M (500) and POMZ-2M (500), all retained by the Army; CICITEC mines (24) retained by the National Police. See Article 7 Report, Form B, 2 May 2005.

[12 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Jaime Sanabria Kriete, Army General Headquarters, San Borja, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[13 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 6 May 2004.

[14 ]“Reaparecen asesinos terroristas,” El Expreso (Lima), 24 July 2005; “Assailants kill judge, police officer in Perú,” EFE (Lima), 24 July 2005. In one report the landmine was described as an antipersonnel mine.

[15 ]“Narcoterristas en Tocache: Emboscan y matan a juez y policía,” La República (Lima), 24 July 2005; “Reaparecen asesinos terroristas,” El Expreso (Lima), 24 July 2005.

[16 ]See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 657. In some cases, it was not clear if the incidents involved antivehicle mines, antipersonnel mines, improvised explosive devices or booby-traps.

[17 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 16 May 2002.

[18 ]In April 2003, Perú provided information on suspected mine-affected areas, including Sector La Coja, Pueblo Nuevo, Lechugal, and Tiwinza. The department in which these areas are located was not specified in the Article 7 report, but a document provided to Landmine Monitor by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that they are in the department of Tumbes. See Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, April 2003; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aide Memoire, “Tratamiento dispensado por el Perú al tema de las minas antipersonal,” Lima, March 2003.

[19 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 6 May 2004; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 659-660.

[20 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 6 May 2004.

[21 ]See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 303.

[22 ]Presentation by Perú, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005.

[23 ]Interventions by Perú, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 22 June 2004 and 13 June 2005. In May 2000 the Peruvian government estimated there were approximately 120,000 antipersonnel mines laid along the border with Ecuador.

[24 ]These people were displaced by the border conflict and their ability to return to a traditional way of life was constrained by the landmine and UXO problem. UNMAS, “Assessment Mission Report,” 3 December 1999, pp. 3, 13.

[25 ]OAS AICMA, “Portafolio 2003-2004,” August 2003, p. 54.

[26 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, 2 May 2005.

[27 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 2 May 2005.

[28 ]Article 7 Report, Form C, 2 May 2005. In 2004, Perú reported 9,911 mines: the difference is three fewer mines around EPS Huacariz in Cajamarca. See Article 7 Report (for the period March 2003 to March 2004), Form C, Table 1, 6 May 2004. EPRCE is the Establecimiento penal régimen cerrado especial.

[29 ]Contraminas, “Datos Completos IMSMA/Víctimas 1989-2005.” One casualty is unaccounted for.

[30 ]National Police and ETECEN, “Plan de Operaciones Desminado Humanitario de las Torres de Alta Tensión 2004,” January 2004, p. 4.

[31 ]Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 664, for previous reports of explosive remnants and of poor standards of clearance of mines around electricity towers.

[32 ]Landmine Monitor field visit to communities in Huancayo (Junín) and Pampas districts (Huancavelica), 30 May-1 June 2005.

[33] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Juan Hidalgo Quevedo, Chief, Antimine Division, DIVSECOM, National Police, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[34 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Susana Silva Hasembank, Second Vice-President, Instituto Nacional Penitenciario, Lima, 27 May 2005.

[35] Landmine Monitor visit to EPRCE Miguel Castro Castro, Lurigancho, Lima, 2 June 2005.

[36 ]See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 661.

[37 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[38] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Tennessii Schiavi Vergani, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[39 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Jaime Sanabria Kriete, Army General Headquarters, San Borja, Lima, 26 May 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 661-662.

[40 ]DIVSECOM (División de Seguridad Contraminas) was formerly known as JEFAMDEAP (Jefatura de Activación de Minas y Dispositivos de Autoprotección), which was formerly known as DIVSAM-DEXA (División de Seguridad de Activación de Minas - Dispositivos Explosivos de Autoprotección). SIMA is the Servicio Industrial de la Marina.

[41] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Juan Hidalgo Quevedo, Chief, Antimine Division, DIVSECOM, National Police, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[42 ]Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, 14 September 2005.

[43] Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2005.

[44 ]Landmine Monitor interview (MAC) with Jorge Chiquillanqui Inca, IMSMA Administrator, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[45 ]Statement by Perú, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Comvention, Geneva, 3 February 2003.

[46] OAS AICMA, “Portafolio 2003-2004,” August 2003, p. 56. For previous survey activity, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 660-661.

[47 ]Presentation by Perú, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.

[48 ]Intervention by Perú, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 13 June 2005; these difficulties were also reported by Peru at the Standing Committee meeting on 22 June 2004.

[49 ]OAS, “Landmines Removal in Perú,” project document, 30 November 2002; OAS AICMA, “Portafolio 2003-2004,” August 2003, p. 58.

[50 ]Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 15 April 2004.

[51 ]Article 7 Report, Form G, 2 May 2005. This is the first report of an original clearance operation having been carried out at the thermoelectric plant in Ventallina.

[52 ]Report No. 093-2004-DIRSEPUB PNP/DIVSECOM.EPO, 12 August 2004.

[53 ]“Nota informativa de la República del Ecuador y de la República del Perú sobre la implementación de la Convención de Ottawa,” circulated at First Review Conference, Nairobi, 1 December 2004. For details of the agreement to demine the Perú-Ecuador border, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 662. No update was given at the Standing Committee meetings in June 2005.

[54] Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 14 September 2005.

[55 ]Telephone interview with Col. Jaime Sanabria Kriete, Army General Headquarters, San Borja, Lima, 17 September 2005.

[56 ]Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 14 September 2005.

[57 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[58 ]Intervention by Perú, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 13 June 2005.

[59 ]Article 7 Reports, Form C, 2 May 2005 and 6 May 2004.

[60 ]Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 14 September 2005.

[61 ]Intervention by Perú, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 11 February 2004. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 663.

[62 ]Intervention by Perú, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.

[63 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Juan Hidalgo Quevedo, DIVSECOM, National Police, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[64 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Juan Hidalgo Quevedo, DIVSECOM, National Police, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[65 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Carlos Estrada Salinas and Víctor Luis Lazo Collado, AVISCAM, Lima, 27 May 2005.

[66] National Police and ETECEN, “Plan de Operaciones Desminado Humanitario de las Torres de Alta Tensión 2004,” January 2004, p. 5.

[67 ]Declaración Conjunta de los Ministros de Relaciones Exteriores y de Defensa del Perú y Chile, Lima, 6 July 2005.

[68 ]Chilean Ministry of Defense Press Release, “Ministra de Defensa Nacional encabeza operación de levantamiento de campos minados en zonas fronterizas,” Santiago, 31 July 2004.

[69] Ministerio de Defensa Nacional, Comisión Nacional de Desminado Humanitario, “Situación de las operaciones de desminado humanitario en Chile,” Santiago, June 2005, p. 16.

[70 ]Results of the 2003 MRE program are reported in Article 7 Report, Form I, 2 May 2005.

[71 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Tennessii Schiavi Vergani, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[72 ]Interview with Tennessii Schiavi Vergani, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lima, 12 September 2005.

[73 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Col. Juan Hidalgo Quevedo, DIVSECOM, National Police, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[74 ]Intervention by Perú, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 22 June 2004.

[75 ]Ministry of Foreign Affairs document 111-ME/SG-UDENA-2004; Article 7 Report, Form A, 2 May 2005.

[76 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Manuel de Rivera, Carmen García Audi, Delegación de la Comisión Europea en el Perú, Lima, 2 June 2005.

[77] Interview with Tennessii Schiavi Vergani, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lima, 12 September 2005.

[78 ]“Statement of contributions received to May 2005 for the period 1992-2005,” OAS AICMA, Non-official document provided to Landmine Monitor, May 2005.

[79 ]Email from H. Murphey McCloy, Senior Demining Advisor, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, 30 September 2005.

[80 ]Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Richard G. Kidd, Director, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State, 24 August 2005.

[81 ]OAS AICMA report to the OAS Hemispheric Security Commission, Washington DC, 21 September 2005.

[82 ]Interview with Wilyam Lúcar Aliaga, Contraminas, Lima, 14 September 2005.

[83 ]For details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 667.

[84 ]Landmine Monitor interview (MAC) with Dafne Martos and Fanny Díaz, ICRC Regional Delegation for Perú, Ecuador and Bolivia, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[85 ]Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2005.

[86 ]“Reciclador pierde tres dedos tras manipular granada en Independencia,” El Comercio (Lima), 14 February 2005.

[87 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Jorge Chiquillanqui Inca, IMSMA Administrator, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005.

[88] Presentation by Perú, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005.

[89 ]Presentation by Perú, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005.

[90 ]Presentation by Perú, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005; Contraminas, “Datos Completos IMSMA Víctimas 1989-2005;” Article 7 Report, Form J, 2 May 2005; Presentation by Perú, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005; Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Jorge Chiquillanqui Inca, IMSMA Administrator, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005. Landmine Monitor has a copy of the database to May 2005.

[91 ]ICRC, “Programa de Sensibilización,” Lima, 2002, pp. 7-8.

[92 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Donofré Chuco Castro, General Secretary, Unidad de Comunidades Campesinas de la Sierra Central del Perú UCSICEP, Huancayo, Junín, 30 May 2005, and Landmine Monitor (MAC) interviews with local residents in Chucos and Chuquitambo, Huancayo province, Junín, 30-31 May 2005.

[93 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Julio Montoya, mine survivor, Lima, 2 June 2005.

[94 ]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, 9 February 2005, p. 33.

[95 ]“Workshop on Landmine Advancing Victim Assistance in the Americas,” Managua, 27-28 April 2005.

[96 ]Article 7, Form J, 2 May 2005.

[97 ]Contraminas, Presentation to the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 16 June 2005.

[98 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Dr. Celso Vladimir Bambarén Ataltrista, Director General, National Defense Office of the Ministry of Health, San Isidro, Lima, 3 June 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 667.

[99 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interviews with survivors and family members in the communities of Mullaca, Puquio, and Sapallanga, 30-31 May 2005.

[100 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Jorge Chiquillanqui Inca, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 667-668.

[101] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Jorge Chiquillanqui Inca, Contraminas, Lima, 26 May 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 668.

[102] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 668.

[103] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Carlos Estrada Salinas and Víctor Luis Lazo Collado, AVISCAM, Lima, 27 May 2005.

[104 ]For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 669; see also US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004; Perú,” 28 February 2005.

[105 ]Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Dr. Celso Vladimir Bambarén Ataltrista, Director General, National Defense Office of the Ministry of Health, San Isidro, Lima, 3 June 2005.

[106] Landmine Monitor (MAC) interview with Dr. Celso Vladimir Bambarén Ataltrista, Ministry of Health, San Isidro, Lima, 3 June 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 668.