Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

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48 congo, democratic republic of 407 “Desactivan vía minada.” Caracol Noticias, 1 June 2003 408 “Desactivan cargas explosivas.” Caracol Noticias, 3 June 2003. 409 “Destruyen campos minados en Cauca.” Caracol Noticias, 24 March 2004. 410 “Un muerto y un herido en zona rural de Mesetas (Meta) por explosión de cilindro bomba”, El Tiempo, 7 March 2004, accessed 5 May 2004 at: http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/coar/ACC_MILITARES/accionesarmadas/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-1546694.html. 411 “Ejército destruye campo minado en Viota”, Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, 10 April 2003; “Desmantelados campos minados”, Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, 14 April 2003; “Trampa mortal en Zambrano,” Caracol Noticias, 15 April 2003; “Explosive material and weapons confiscated”, Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, 19 May 2003; “Desactivan vía minada”, Caracol Noticias, 1 June 2003; “Desactivan cargas explosivas”, Caracol Noticias, 3 June 2003; “Destruyen campos minados en Cauca”, Caracol Noticias, 24 March 2004. 412 “Los Costos de la Guerra”, Cambio, 16 August 2004. 413 See the statistics of the Anti-personnel Mine Observatory in the following website: http://www.derechoshumanos.gov.co/minas/modules.php?name=informacion&file=article&sid=22 414 “Colombia: 7.4 per cent of GDP spent on conflict in last five years”, Cambio, 16 August 2004. 415 International Committee of the Red Cross, Special Report: Mine Action 2002. Geneva: 3 October 2003, p. 36. 416 Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, “El Ejército decomisa: armamento, munición y explosivos”, July 2004; Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, “Balance operacional del primer semestre de 2004”, 30 June 2004. http://www.ejercito.mil.co/detalleInforme.asp?numDocumento=7623; FBIS Report (Colombia), “Highlights: Colombia Military/Guerrilla/Paramilitary Activities 5-7 Mar 04”, 7 March 2004; Army News Agency, “Overwhelming military offensive operations against the terrorists”, 31 January 2004. 417 Government of Colombia, Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2004. 418 Agencia de Noticias del Ejército, “El Ejército decomisa: armamento, munición y explosivos” July 2004. 419 Government of Colombia, Article 7 Report, pp.139, 141. 420 The website is: http://www.derechoshumanos.gov.co/minas/ Congo, Democratic Republic of Background The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) drew in forces from seven other nations 421 and since August 1998 has resulted in more than 3.5 million deaths and displaced 3.4 million residents since August 1998. 422 After the Lusaka Peace Accords were signed in August 1999, the U.N. Mission in the DRC (MONUC) arrived in November 1999 to monitor the cease-fire and assist in the disarmament, demobilization, and repatriation of foreign forces. In April 2003, President Joseph Kabila promulgated the transitional constitution, scheduled to govern the DRC until national elections scheduled for June 2005. The actual scope and impact of the MOTAPM and ERW problem is not assessed. However, preliminary data collected by the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC) confirms that mine warfare has been a feature of conflict in the country. Most of the belligerents, including international allies, laid AV and AP mines, especially along the successive front lines. 423 In addition, ERW is scattered in many places where fighting took place. 424 According to MONUC, the ERW problem is “more widespread” than the mine problem in the DRC. 425 Assessment Many kinds of munitions were used during the conflict in the DRC. Both MOTAPM and anti-personnel mines were used throughout most of the provinces, most of them planted in 1999 and 2000, with more than 300 contaminated areas. 426 In April 2004, the Fondation Suisse de Deminage (FSD), stated that a survey was urgently needed of areas strewn with ERW in Ituri District, northeastern DRC. According to FSD, the extent of ERW and mine contamination was unknown, but the Mine Action Centre erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004 had catalogued 300 “dangerous area reports”. These were mostly based on accident reports, and it appeared that Ituri District, North and South Kivu provinces and the former combat zones were heavily affected. In its project report, “Extension du project de deminage en Republic Democratic du Congo 2004” (Extension of the Mine- Clearance Project in the DRC 2004), FSD said the imminent return of internally displaced people and refugees would coincide with a massive rise in accidents caused by ERW and mines. The types of MOTAPM found in the DRC include the Belgian PRBM 3 and PRBM 1, US M6A2 and M15, UK GS MK5, Yugoslav TMM1, TMA 3, TMA 4, TMRP 6 and Russian TM46, TM 57 and TM 62P3. 427 According to a recent interim investigation report by Danish Church Aid (DCA) there is a “massive presence” of ERW and mines are in the District of Tanganyika, particularly in the territories of Nyunzu, Kalemie and Moba. 428 As of 12 July 2000, ICRC’s Kisangani office had recorded 2,046 projectiles, 35 fuzes, and 63 grenades removed from the local area. These were made up of a wide variety of ERW types originating from the US, the former USSR, and other suppliers, such as the Balkan countries and China. 429 There have been a few assessments of the ERW/mine problem. From 28 June to 12 July 2000, Handicap International (HI) undertook an exploratory mission to evaluate ERW/mine contamination in Kisangani, in cooperation with OCHA. 430 In addition, in 2003 and 2004, the UNMACC, along with UN agencies and local NGOs, undertook an assessment in the Equateur, Kasai and Kivus Provinces. 431 They identified hundreds of ERW/mine victims, showing that the problem is more serious than initially anticipated. 432 As a result, a UNICEF mine risk education specialist was co-located within the UNMACC to develop an MRE plan of action. 433
Official statistics on the ERW/mine situation in the DRC, as of May 2004, are updated monthly in the IMSMA database. 434 The system is operated by the MACC and is presently the sole source of the database for mine related information in the DRC. The database contains detailed information, and goes back as far as 1964. In 2004 there were 19 victims of MOTAPM, ERW and APM. Amongst the total recorded casualties since 1964 where the type of device was known, most have been attributed to UXO (46 per cent) 435 , with antipersonnel mine accounting for 42 per cent. Some 46 casualties (5 per cent) 436 have been recorded from MOTAPM and 89 casualties (nearly 10 per cent) have been attributed to cluster munitions. 437 Impact ERW and MOTAPM contamination presents a risk to refugees and IDPs planning to return to their homes in the DRC. This concerns approximately 3.4 million IDPs, 438 200,000 refugees in the DRC 439 and 380, 000 Congolese refugees in neighbouring countries. 440 In order to respond to the ERW and mine risk, the Mine Awareness Trust (MAT) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in support of UNHCR, conducted a three-month mine risk education (MRE) campaign. 441 MOTAPM also present a risk for peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, and hamper development activities. 442 According to the IRC, MOTAPM are laid on bush roads by insurgents to blow up vehicles and are a threat to the humanitarian staff. 443 The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) reported that only three of the 19 NGOs in Bunia were prepared to leave the city by road without being escorted by UN troops, due to the perceived threat of mines. In many cases, humanitarian aid still cannot be delivered safely to those in need. 444 Several NGOs had asked the FSD to verify the practicability of routes, roads, and airstrips in Ituri and elsewhere in the country. 445 Efforts to address these problems Through Security Council Resolution 1291 (2000), MONUC has the mandate to coordinate mine action activities in DRC. 446 MONUC has established a Mine Action Coordination Centre. MONUC concentrates its activities in eastern DRC, and has identified the reopening of major roads as a key priority. The Mechem company of South Africa is still continuing verification and clearance of the Bunia-Beni road (Ituri): the operation was due to be completed by mid-May 2004. Mechem will then address additional requirements as identified by MONUC in Ituri, starting with the road from Ika Barrier to Fataki (Ituri). 447 Locally recruited deminers of the FSD mobile emergency mine/UXO clearance teams started working at the end of January 2004 in the Bunia area (Ituri District). 448 In a clearance operation in August 2003, MONUC EOD advisers in the eastern town of Kindu destroyed 45 items of AXO, each with 35kg of explosives, found in the open at the national police training camp in Kindu. 449 In July 2004, MONUC deployed a South African engineering team to help clear key locations in eastern DRC of ERW. It was reported that several rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and mortar bombs had been destroyed, a large number of which had been abandoned in schools following fighting in Bukavu. Outside Bukavu, ERW were also reported in Adikivu, close to the South Kivu airport to the north. 450 MONUC has been working in collaboration with other UN agencies, most notably UNMAS and UNICEF. 451 UNMAS conducted a mine action fact-finding mission to the DRC, and developed a mine action programme to deal with ERW and landmines in the country in order to assist MONUC and the MACC. UNICEF’s main activities in the DRC for 2004 were mine clearance and mine risk education. 452 UNICEF conducted MRE training for Mechem and FSD staff in April 2004, and on community liaison and data collection. 453 Mechem has been involved in three main clearance projects, under the auspices of MONUC: 454 in the Kindu and Kisangani airfields, in La Forestiere and Manono airfields, and in and around airfields and roads in Bunia. Legislation congo, democratic republic of 49 The DRC has been State Party to the Ottawa Convention since 2 May 2002. The Government of DRC has not signed or ratified the CCW. 421 Carter Dougherty, “Making gems work for peace -not war”, San Francisco Chronicle (20 November 2003), D1. 422 Les Roberts, “Mortality in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo Results from Eleven Mortality Surveys”, International Rescue Committee Health Unit, 2001. 423 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2003, 19 November 2002. 424 Annual Report 2002 for the Programme Mine Action Assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, http://www.mineaction.org/misc/resultdisplay.cfm?doc_ID=1056 425 According to Marco Kalbusch, Mine Action Liaison Officer, MONUC, telephone interview 13 September 2004, referenced in Landmine Monitor 2004, p. 346. 426 “DRC: Survey of Landmines and Unexploded Ordinance Urgently Needed, Swiss Group Says”, Nairobi, All Africa news agency, 14 April 2004; United Nations Security Council , Twelfth report of the Secretary-General on the UN Organization Mission in DR Congo, 18 October 2002. 427 Bernard Hacourt and Tony West, “Kisangani Evaluation Report”, Handicap International, 28 June to 12 July 2000 (M15 and TM46); for the other MOTAPM types see Landmine Monitor 2004, p. 348 (also based on HI information). 428 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, DRC: The district of Tanganyika – threatened by the presence of mines, 16 July 2004. 429 Bernard Hacourt and Tony West, “Kisangani Evaluation Report”, (Brussels: Handicap International, 28 June to 12 July 2000). 430 Handicap International, “Kisangani: Evaluation Report”, Brussels, HI Belgium, 28 June to 12 July 2000. 431 Mine Action Support Group Newsletter, New York: Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations, April 2004. erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004
Page 1 and 2: Explosive remnants of war and mines
Page 3 and 4: Contents List of common acronyms Fo
Page 5 and 6: Foreword The last decade has seen s
Page 7 and 8: have been subject to significant ex
Page 9 and 10: Controlling the impact of ERW - ‘
Page 11 and 12: ■ Men may consistently be underta
Page 13 and 14: around 95 per cent of IEDs in Iraq
Page 15 and 16: ■ In Kenya in 2003, possible MOTA
Page 17 and 18: However, in June 2004, it was repor
Page 19 and 20: albania 17 34 “Afghan drivers com
Page 21 and 22: problem. After the Kosovo crisis in
Page 23 and 24: Angola Background The 30 years of w
Page 25 and 26: The impact of ERW seems significant
Page 27 and 28: affected by ordnance and munitions
Page 29 and 30: Belarus Background Belarus is affec
Page 31 and 32: Bosnia and Herzegovina Background T
Page 33 and 34: Herzegovina is a State Party to the
Page 35 and 36: undertaken with a local partner, th
Page 37 and 38: to prevent children from finding th
Page 39 and 40: Chad Background Chad’s ERW proble
Page 41 and 42: Chechnya Background Chechnya is an
Page 43 and 44: Chile Background Chile used AP and
Page 45 and 46: China Background Chinese territory
Page 47 and 48: 352 “Japanese chemical weapon inj
Page 49: other IEDs have been found througho
Page 53 and 54: in another accident involving a boo
Page 55 and 56: Background The Czech Republic has E
Page 57 and 58: Ecuador Background The long-standin
Page 59 and 60: 536 “Intervención de la Delegaci
Page 61 and 62: ■ In January 2004, 300 metal tube
Page 63 and 64: numerous 122mm artillery projectile
Page 65 and 66: Estonia Background The ERW found in
Page 67 and 68: agencies have warned that ERW and m
Page 69 and 70: On 1 April 2004, the JSEOD operatio
Page 71 and 72: Thessalonica line from 1915 to 1918
Page 73 and 74: 2003. 737 Munitions whose storage t
Page 75 and 76: Background Greece was invaded and o
Page 77 and 78: Background Guatemala’s ERW proble
Page 79 and 80: Guinea Background Conflicts with ar
Page 81 and 82: 843 “PAAMI 2001-2004,” April 20
Page 83 and 84: Hungary Background Hungary is conta
Page 85 and 86: areas and would need another six mo
Page 87 and 88: From 1989 to 1999, a total of 1,082
Page 89 and 90: used them extensively as part of un
Page 91 and 92: ordnance threat. The following exam
Page 93 and 94: 960 NMAA MRE Strategy 2004, p. 8. 9
Page 95 and 96: Jordan Background MOTAPM were first
Page 97 and 98: 1013 Jordan Article 5 Summary, pres
Page 99 and 100: 1016 Dominic Wabala, “Police Offi
Page 101 and 102:
month in October 2001. During this
Page 103 and 104:
Kyrgyzstan Background The presence
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While it was reported that widespre
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averaging more than 200 per year. I
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The NSP further divides contaminate
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Lebanon Background Lebanon’s prob
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Background Internal conflicts in Li
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and Egypt. Photographs from clearan
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There have been political disputes
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Morocco Background After the depart
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Myanmar/Burma Background Myanmar ha
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Namibia hosts a large number of ref
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In 2004, UNICEF began monitoring mi
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■ Widely dispersed ERW throughout
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Niger Background Niger’s landmine
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Oman Background MOTAPM and anti-per
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for more than 50 years. 1423 A dive
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LOC in Kashmir region many of the l
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Although ERW and MOTAPM contaminati
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Panama Background Panama’s ERW pr
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1519 UN Mine Action Website: Portfo
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philippines 141 1552 “Explosion k
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Poland Background Poland experience
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demining as part of Russia’s inte
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wanda 147 1610 http://proekt.ogi.ru
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1648 According to data from a diffe
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Serbia and Montenegro Ministry of D
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operations. 1698 According to its A
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the border with Ethiopia. There are
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cent), playing (9 per cent), and ta
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due to incidents of AP mines, ERW a
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Sudan Background The civil war betw
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eporting period, in the past local
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Syria Background 1838 A result of t
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tajikistan 167 1850 Landmine Monito
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Thailand Background Thailand’s MO
Page 173 and 174:
Timor Leste Background Timor experi
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Turkey Background Turkey has in the
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district, some areas of Teso region
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ukraine 177 1962 Interview with Dav
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Mine Action Information Centre (UMA
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Vietnam Background More than 30 yea
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No MOTAPM casualties can be confirm
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The increase in the scrap metal and
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vietnam 187 2081 Project RENEW and
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Yemen Background Yemen has witnesse
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zimbabwe 191 2129 Minister Kassim A
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1st floor 89 Albert Embankment Lond
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Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

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