LM Report 2005

Poland

Key developments since May 2004: Poland changed its policy and has begun the internal process of ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty. The Ministry of Defense said there were no obstacles to destruction of Poland’s stockpile of 997,680 antipersonnel mines and estimated destruction should not take more than two years. Defense officials indicated Poland will keep about 5,000 antipersonnel mines for training purposes. In April 2005, Poland submitted its third voluntary Article 7 transparency report. In 2004, 1,517 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and 52,308 UXO were destroyed in clearance and explosive ordnance disposal operations; in the first quarter of 2005, 564 landmines and 2,368 UXO were cleared by EOD teams. Poland contributed 424 military engineers to missions abroad which include mine clearance duties; this assistance is valued at US$1.74 million.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 but has yet to ratify. From 1997 to 2003, Polish officials insisted that a series of preconditions must be met before Poland could ratify.^[1] However, Poland changed this position in 2004. At the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November-December 2004, Poland officially announced for the first time that “Poland is ready to initiate the process of ratification of the Ottawa Convention.”^[2] It also stated, “Although not all of the preconditions for the ratification specified by Poland in 1997 are fulfilled, we hope that in the future all main state actors and our neighbors will join this important treaty of international humanitarian law.”^[3]

In September 2004, the Ministry of Defense changed its position on ratification based on a study completed by a group of military experts and approved by the General Staff in August 2004. The study concluded that the role of antipersonnel mines in the country’s defense system and in operations outside Poland in which Polish Armed Forces might participate is diminishing. The study also concluded that while the development of alternative means to antipersonnel mines would be a long, costly and difficult process, it would be realistic to introduce in a relatively short time solutions regarding doctrine, training and organization, as well as modified means of warfare, which together could, at least partly, substitute for antipersonnel mines.^[4]

The Minister of Defense declared on 21 September 2004 that “the MoD sees no obstacles for initiating a process of ratification of the Ottawa Convention in our country.” He added that the ratification should be initiated “under the assumption that it will be completed no sooner than in 2006...so the destruction of Polish stockpiles would then, according to Art. 4 of the Convention, be finished in 2010.”^[5]

By June 2005, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense had prepared all the formal documents required for the ratification process.^[6] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is in charge of the ratification process, will submit these documents to the Council of Ministers for interministerial consultations.^[7] Representatives of the Ministry of Defense told Landmine Monitor that they thought it was unlikely that consultations would take place until after the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 2005, because the consultations would need to be repeated again after the elections. They believed that ratification would not occur until 2006, and more likely in 2007.^[8] A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the new post-election Council of Ministers would be able to use the ratification package already prepared. He indicated that the new Prime Minister would send the draft ratification law to the new parliament when it starts work in November, and said he thought the process should not last more than three months if ratification is considered a priority.^[9]

In its statement to the First Review Conference in Nairobi, Poland said, “The role of antipersonnel mines in the Polish defence system has been recently and comprehensively reviewed and redefined. Polish Army experts came to the conclusion that there are no obstacles to resign from this type of military equipment. It is also possible from a technical and financial point of view to provide the Army with an alternative weapon systems.”^[10]

On 3 December 2004 Poland voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 59/84, which calls for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Poland has voted for each of the annual pro-ban UNGA resolutions since 1996.

On 11 May 2005, Poland submitted its third voluntary Article 7 transparency report. This submission included optional Form J with information on Polish mine action assistance.^[11]

In June 2005, Poland attended the meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees in Geneva, but did not make any statements.

Poland joined Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons on 15 October 2003. Poland attended the sixth annual meeting of State Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2004 and submitted an annual report in accordance with Article 13.

NGO Activities

In November 2004, the Polish Red Cross sent out an open editorial, “Ending the landmine era...,” and press kits on the First Review Conference to all national media.^[12] On 9 December 2004, a representative of the Polish Red Cross made a presentation on the outcome of the Review Conference, and the Canadian Ambassador to Poland gave a short history of the Mine Ban Treaty, at a conference titled Contemporary Challenges in International Humanitarian Law, at Warsaw University.

On 31 March 2005, the Polish Campaign to Ban Landmines took part in the NGO Information Evening organized at the College of Europe in Natolin, Warsaw. It presented the goals, history and work of the ICBL and made available informational materials and cards to sign which called on the Prime Minister to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty immediately.^[13]

Production, Transfer and Use

In September 2002, Poland confirmed that it was already complying with the Mine Ban Treaty prohibitions on production and transfer of antipersonnel mines.^[14] In the past, Poland produced three types of antipersonnel mines, and imported a fourth type.^[15] Poland exported antipersonnel mines until 1993.^[16] An export moratorium in 1995 was made permanent by a Cabinet decree on 7 April 1998,^[17] which was then superseded by a law adopted in September 2002.^[18]

In March 2004, the Ministry of Defense re-stated its previous position that any decision to allow transit through Poland of foreign antipersonnel mines would be “of a political character” and that “in regard to the NATO allies probably regulations adopted in frame of the ‘SOFA’ [Status of Forces] agreement will be relevant.”^[19]

The Ministry of Defense has stated that antipersonnel mines are used exclusively for training demining troops, and that no antipersonnel mines are used in joint military operations with other States not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.^[20]

Stockpiling and Destruction

Poland reported that it possessed a stockpile of 997,680 antipersonnel mines at the end of 2004.^[21] In May 2005, representatives of the Ministry of Defense told Landmine Monitor that Poland will keep about 5,000 antipersonnel mines for training purposes.^[22] Poland’s first Article 7 report disclosed a stockpile of 1,055,971 antipersonnel mines at the end of 2002.^[23] During 2003, 58,291 POMZ-2(2M) mines were dismantled due to expiry of shelf life.^[24]

In February 2001, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that Poland possesses Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, and said that these are “meant exclusively for mine-controlled detonation...[which] excludes the possibility of accidental detonation.” The MON-100 is described in the first Article 7 report as “Directional fragmentation mine, if equipped with a MUW fuse attached to a trip wire.”^[25]

In July 2005, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) estimated that destruction of Polish stockpiles should not take more than two years.^[26] The MoD stated in September 2004, “There are no organizational, technical, nor financial obstacles, which would prevent destruction of Polish stockpiles in the given period of 4 years since the entry into force of the Convention for Poland.”^[27] According to the MoD, destruction will not start before ratification.^[28]

Landmine Problem and Clearance

As previously reported in the Landmine Monitor, Poland remains contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II and the Soviet occupation. The most contaminated areas are the Vistula and Odra drainage basins, and forest areas in the southeast. Mines and UXO are discovered most often in urbanized areas during construction work. The majority of the contamination is UXO, and for this reason Poland does not consider itself to be mine-affected.

In June 2005, the MoD reiterated its position that “in Poland there are no contaminated areas or areas which would be suspected of being contaminated. Annually on Polish territory there are only single mines being found. According to the MoD’s statistics, antipersonnel and antivehicle mines represent less than 0.1 percent of all dangerous and explosive items found annually on Polish territory. Therefore the MoD believes that Poland should not be considered as a “mine-affected country.”^[29] Similar statements have been made in Poland's Amended Protocol II Article 13 reports.^[30]

There is no formal civilian mine action program in Poland. Mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) are conducted by the Armed Forces. Data on clearance and EOD is recorded by the Command of Military Engineering Forces.

In 2004, 37 demining and EOD teams (making a total of 237 soldiers) were involved in 8,547 responses to mines and UXO, clearing 1,396 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and 37,667 UXO. Planned clearance was conducted by 184 soldiers at the former military bases of Lambinowice and Okonek, as well as in Doleszowo, Golczewo, and Brozek. During 2004, 2,137 hectares were cleared, destroying in the process 121 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and 14,641 UXO. In the first quarter of 2005, EOD patrols were involved in 768 responses, in the course of which 564 landmines and 2,368 UXO were cleared.^[31]

In 2004, there were no accidents causing casualties during clearance and EOD operations in Poland.

The cost of mine/UXO clearance and EOD in Poland is covered by the government. In 2004, EOD response cost PLN11.4 million (some $3.5 million) and planned clearance cost a further PLN1.6 million ($500,000).^[32]

Support to Mine Action

Poland continued to provide in-kind assistance for mine action in other mine-affected countries. In 2004, 424 Polish military engineers were engaged in peacekeeping and stabilization missions abroad, with duties including mine/UXO clearance, EOD and mine risk education.^[33] Polish EOD teams, including 128 sappers, were directly responsible for mine/UXO clearance and disposal as part of the following missions: UNDOS (Syria, one EOD team), KFOR (Kosovo, one EOD team), SFOR (Bosnia and Herzegovina, two EOD teams), and stabilization forces (Iraq, seven EOD teams).^[34] Poland estimated the value of this in-kind assistance in 2004 at €1.4 million ($1.74 million).^[35]

Landmine/UXO Casualties and Survivor Assistance

In 2004, police sources reported 10 new casualties in Poland, including four people killed and six people injured (one was a child), as a result of handling UXO on military training grounds. It is believed that casualties were collecting scrap metal.^[36] This represents a decrease from the five civilians killed (one child) and 11 injured (five children) in UXO incidents in 2003.^[37]

On 7 May 2004, one Polish national was killed and another injured in a landmine incident in Iraq.^[38] On 9 May 2004, a Polish officer in Iraq was killed by a landmine.^[39] Since 1999, five Polish nationals have been killed and eight injured by mines while engaged in military, peacekeeping or mine clearance operations and other activities outside of Poland.^[40]

The total number of mine/UXO casualties in Poland is not known. Between 1944 and 1994, 658 soldiers were killed and several thousand injured in clearance operations, and between 1945 and 1973, 3,833 civilians (including 3,189 children) were killed and 8,221 (including 6,656 children) injured in mine/UXO incidents.^[41]

The Ministry of Health reports that mine/UXO survivors are entitled to the same standards of public healthcare as all other insured persons. All necessary surgical and rehabilitation services are provided free of charge, including prostheses and most orthopedic equipment, except for crutches and orthopedic shoes, which are partly subsidized.^[42] Military casualties are entitled to medicine and orthopedic equipment free of charge.^[43] On 1 January 2004, a new law gave people permanently unable to work as a result of war-related injuries, including mine and UXO survivors, entitlement to compensation. Entitlement to compensation includes those who did not take part in the hostilities but were affected by direct fighting in the period 1939–1947, and those who were injured by an UXO explosion during and after the war, but not after 1956. Compensation amounts to 50 percent of the lowest monthly pension for persons with disabilities.^[44]

^[1] The main pre-conditions were that all permanent members of the UN Security Council and countries neighboring Poland should first join the treaty, and that the Polish Armed Forces should be supplied with alternative weapons.

^[2] Statement by Poland, Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World (First Review Conference), Nairobi, 3 December 2004.

^[3] Statement by Poland, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.

^[4] Letter from Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Minister of Defense, to Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw, 21 September 2004.

^[5] Letter from Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Minister of Defense, to Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Warsaw, 21 September 2004.

^[6] ICBL interview with Andrzej Misztal, Deputy Director, Legal and Treaty Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 9 August 2005; interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny and Maj. Zbigniew Ciolek, Department of International Co-operation, Ministry of Defense, Col. Slawomir Berdak, Head Expert of the General Board of Support, General Staff, and Lt. Lech Gawrych, Senior Expert, Command of Military Engineering Forces, Warsaw, 31 May 2005.

^[7] According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the documents include a draft implementation plan prepared by the Polish Armed Forces and a draft ratification law with two articles. ICBL interview with Andrzej Misztal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 9 August 2005.

^[8] Interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny, Maj. Zbigniew Ciolek, Col. Slawomir Berdak and Lt. Lech Gawrych, Warsaw, 31 May 2005.

^[9] ICBL interview with Andrzej Misztal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 9 August 2005.

^[10] Statement of Poland, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.

^[11] Forms A, B and H were unchanged and Forms C, D, E, F, G and I were marked not applicable. Only Form J provided new information. Poland submitted an initial voluntary Article 7 report on 5 March 2003, revealing for the first time details of Poland’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines, and a second report on 12 May 2004.

^[12] Andrzej Trybusz, President, Polish Red Cross, “Polozyc kres erze min...,” 15 February 2004, www.pck.org.pl.

^[13] Katarzyna Derlicka, Polish CBL, “Poland: Future eurocrats learn about the ICBL and the role of NGOs,” 15 April 2005, www.icbl.org.

^[14] Statement by Poland, Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 16-20 September 2002.

^[15] Production of the PMD-6 ceased in 1957, of the POMZ-2 in the 1960s, and of the MON-100 in 1988. The PSM-1 was last imported in the 1980s from Bulgaria. Article 7 Report, Forms B and H, 5 March 2003; interview with Col. Lech Zajda, Military Engineering Command, General Staff, and Maj. Artur Talik, Engineering Corps Command, Ministry of Defense, Warsaw, 20 March 2003. The Ministry of Defense added that stocks of the MOP-2 signaling mine were used up in 2002 in training.

^[16] In November 1995 Poland informed the UN that export had been halted de facto following adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 48/75 in December 1993. “Report of the Secretary-General: Moratorium on the export of antipersonnel mines,” UN General Assembly, 3 November 1995, p. 15.

^[17] Article 7 Report, Form A, 5 March 2003; letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 March 2004.

^[18] “Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of August 20, 2002 concerning the imposition of prohibition and restriction on transfer of goods of strategic importance for the state security,” Journal of Laws, 6 September 2002. Translation by Landmine Monitor researcher.

^[19] Information from Ministry of Defense in letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 March 2004; letter from Adam Kobieracki, Director, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 March 2003.

^[20] Information from Ministry of Defense in letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 March 2004; letter from Adam Kobieracki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 March 2003.

^[21] Article 7 Report, Form B, 12 May 2004 which lists 997,680 mines, and Article 7 Report, 11 May 2005 which notes no change in Form B. The stockpile consisted of PMD-6 (686,483), POMZ-2(2M) (277,686), PSM-1 (13,589) and MON-100 (19,922).

^[22] Interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny, Maj. Zbigniew Ciolek, Col. Slawomir Berdak and Lt. Lech Gawrych, Warsaw, 31 May 2005.

^[23] Article 7 Report, Form B, 5 March 2003.

^[24] Article 7 Report, Form B, 12 May 2004.

^[25] Information from the Ministry of Defense in letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 February 2001; Article 7 Report, Form H2, 5 March 2003. The “MUW” is likely the MUV fuze.

^[26] Information from Ministry of Defense, contained in letter from Robert Kupiecki, Director, Department of Security Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2005.

^[27] Letter from Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Minister of Defense, to Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 21 September 2004.

^[28] Interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny, Maj. Zbigniew Ciolek, Col. Slawomir Berdak and Lt. Lech Gawrych, Warsaw, 31 May 2005.

^[29] Information from Ministry of Defense, contained in letter from Robert Kupiecki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2005.

^[30] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Reports, Form B, 15 October 2003 and 8 October 2004 ; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 909.

^[31] Information from Ministry of Defense, contained in letter from Robert Kupiecki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2005.

^[32] Information from Ministry of Defense, contained in letter from Robert Kupiecki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 5 July 2005.

^[33] Article 7 Report, Form J, 29 April 2005.

^[34] Article 7 Report, Form J, 29 April 2005.

^[35] Interview with Col. Marek Zadrozny, Maj. Zbigniew Ciolek, Col. Slawomir Berdak and Lt. Lech Gawrych, Warsaw, 31 May 2005. Average exchange rate for 2004: €1 = $1.2438. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.

^[36] Information from Police Head Command, in a letter from Robert Kupiecki, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 22 July 2005.

^[37] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 910.

^[38] “TV crew members killed by land mine in Iraq – Polish official,” Polish Radio 1, 7 May 2004. An Algerian was also killed in the incident. All were part of a Polish television crew.

^[39] “Two Polish servicemen die in Iraq,” PAP (news agency), 9 May 2004. The second fatality was not mine-related. On 24 March and 8 May, two Polish soldiers were also injured in Iraq in booby-trap explosions.

^[40] For more information see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 911.

^[41] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 911.

^[42] Interview with Zofia Gasiuk, Physician, Warsaw, 15 May 2005.

^[43] Information from Ministry of Health in letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15 March 2004.

^[44] “Act of 20 July 2001 on assistance for civilian victims of war,” entered into force 1 January 2004; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 911.