CROATIA, Landmine Monitor Report 2001

Key developments since May 2000: During the year 2000, a total of 9.8 square kilometers of land were demined, and another 23.2 square kilometers of suspected mined land were declared free of mines and UXO as a result of general and technical survey. Croatia spent US$22.5 million on demining in 2000. The National Mine Action Program was approved by Parliament in October 2000. There were 22 new mine casualties in 2000, a significant reduction from 51 casualties in 1999. Croatia announced that it would reduce the number of antipersonnel mines retained under Mine Ban Treaty Article 3 from 17,500 to 7,000. No stockpiled antipersonnel mines have been destroyed since June 1999, but large-scale destruction is to begin in September 2001. Croatia has served as co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction since September 2000 and will become co-chair in September 2001.

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Croatia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified it on 20 May 1998 and became a State Party on 1 March 1999. Domestic implementation was partly achieved by the ratification process,^[1] but in December 2000 the Ministry of Defense reported that it was developing a new law introducing penal sanctions.^[2]

Croatia attended the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, with a delegation led by Ambassador to the United Nations Ana Marija Besker, and including members of the ministries of foreign affairs and defense and the Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC). Ambassador Besker called on the neighboring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty without delay. She said that Croatia is “grateful to all donors who have assisted us in the past. Unfortunately, the needs of mine-affected countries including ours by far exceed international assistance available so far. Croatia salutes once again NGOs for their seminal engagement in the campaign to ensure a mine-free world. We believe that further cooperation and partnership between our governments and NGOs is essential.... This alliance is a unique example of the strength of a common endeavor.”^[3]

The Ambassador also praised the intersessional work program and annual meetings of States Parties for having sustained the momentum of the Mine Ban Treaty, remarking that they “will help us bring our national implementation in line with our political commitment.” In this regard, she noted that Croatia’s number of mines planned to be retained for permitted testing and development purposes was “too high” and would be reduced to the “absolute minimum necessary.” ^[4]

At the Second Meeting of States Parties, Croatia was selected to be co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, and will therefore become co-chair of the Standing Committee at the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001. Croatia actively participated in all the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001.

Croatia’s first Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report was submitted on 3 September 1999 for the period to 31 July 1999. The second report was submitted on 28 January 2001 for the remainder of 1999; most sections listed “no change.”^[5] On 30 May 2001, Croatia submitted its third report, covering calendar year 2000. The Ministry of Defense attributed the delays in submitting Article 7 reports to budgetary problems.^[6]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proposed the creation of a special coordinating body to continuously monitor implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, but instead a decision was taken to give CROMAC’s Governing Council additional responsibility for treaty compliance,^[7] although this has not yet happened.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that through bilateral and regional contacts, Croatia has encouraged other countries in southeast Europe to join the Mine Ban Treaty.^[8] In November 2000, at the UN General Assembly, Croatia voted in favor of Resolution 55/33V, which calls for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Croatia has voted for similar pro-ban UN resolutions in previous years.

On 29 November 2000, before the General Assembly, Ambassador Ivan Simonovic declared that, “the supposed effectiveness of anti-personnel mines in military conflicts was often used as an argument by those still unwilling to sign the Ottawa Convention. However, according to many military analysts and experts, it had become a superfluous element in modern warfare. Civilian casualties in the aftermath of military conflicts were often the main result of the use of those monstrous devices....”^[9]

Croatia is not a party to Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). Ratification of Amended Protocol II was reported as “still in process” in January 2000. In February 2001, the Ministry of Defense, which is responsible for ratification, stated that it had sent the necessary draft legislation to other government ministries and was awaiting responses.^[10] Croatia did not attend the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II in December 2000.

Croatia is an active participant in the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe. On 24 January 2001, it became a co-chair of Working Table III, which promotes regional cooperation on mine action, examples of which are the validation of new demining technologies, development of demining equipment, the training of deminers, and the test site at Obrovac.^[11] As part of this Working Table, the Forum for Cooperation on Mine Action in Southeast Europe was established in December 1999. At its December 2000 meeting, the Forum’s chairman, retired Canadian Lieutenant-General Gordon Reay, described it as an additional conduit to obtain information, secure stable funding and find solutions to emerging problems, with minimal bureaucracy and informal meetings. The Forum was due to establish priorities and plan projects for funding by Stability Pact partners by the next Pledging Conference of the Stability Pact in late 2001. On 11 December 2000, a group of Forum members—Albania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Norway and the International Trust Fund for Demining and Victim Assistance (ITF)—met to discuss stockpile destruction, training and testing.

Lieutenant-General Reay tragically died on 21 December 2000 as a result of a car accident while he was returning from a visit to a mine-affected area near Karlovac. He was posthumously decorated by Croatian President Stjepan Mesic for his support for humanitarian demining in Croatia^[12] and the Forum was renamed the Reay Group. The Group met again on 7 May 2001 in Geneva and the Stability Pact Working Table III met in Zagreb on 12 and 13 June 2001.

Production, Transfer and Use

The extent of earlier production and export of antipersonnel mines was reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2000.^[13] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that, consistent with the Mine Ban Treaty, the transit of antipersonnel mines across Croatian territory by other States will not be tolerated.^[14] The Ministry of Defense has found no evidence of new use of antipersonnel mines in Croatia in this reporting period (since May 2000).^[15]

Stockpiling and Destruction

At the December 2000 Standing Committee meetings, the Croatian delegation announced that the number of antipersonnel mines retained for permitted purposes had been reduced from 17,500 to approximately 7,000; no further announcement was made at the Standing Committees in May 2001.

According to the latest Article 7 report, as of 31 December 2000, Croatia had a total of 194,032 antipersonnel mines in stock (189,251 complete antipersonnel mines and a further 4,781 mines without the relevant fuzes). All of those mines will be destroyed, except for 7,000 to be retained under Article 3 for training and testing purposes. Croatia also reported having 19,076 MRUD (Claymore-type) mines and 41,404 fuzes for antipersonnel mines.

It was reported that no stockpile destruction was carried out in 2000,^[16] apart from 1,272 antipersonnel mines destroyed during testing of mine clearance techniques.^[17] Previously, 3,434 antipersonnel mines were destroyed in June 1999.

A Ministry of Defense official told Landmine Monitor that a large-scale destruction program will start on 1 September 2001; Croatia then plans to destroy half the remaining stockpile during 2001 and the other half in 2002, at a total cost of KN500,000 (US$60,240).^[18] It had been reported in February 2001 that funds for the year’s destruction program had been secured and that the work would start in late March.

Landmine Problem

In November 2000, Ambassador Simonovic told the UN General Assembly that Croatia was one of the most mine-affected countries and that years of bitter fighting left approximately one million mines and items of unexploded ordnance. He said such a high density of mines represented a tremendous obstacle for the normal functioning of life in those areas, particularly in predominantly agricultural regions, hampering the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes. He remarked that missing plans of existing minefields present an additional obstacle, and any country or individual possessing such plans could facilitate mine clearance activities. Mine clearance was not only extremely dangerous and time-consuming, but also very expensive. He estimated that ten more years of mine clearance was needed, at a cost of approximately US$1.157 billion, to reach a point where it could be said that most of the work had been achieved.^[19]

According to the latest estimates,^[20] mine-contaminated and suspected mined areas in Croatia cover approximately 4,000 square kilometers (previous estimates in the National Mine Action Program^[21] had claimed an area of 4,500 square kilometers). Minefields cover some 600 square kilometers of the total area and the rest is contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Suspected mined areas are located in 14 of the 21 counties.^[22]

Status as of 31 December 1999		Status as of 31 December 2000
Minefields	6,113 records	Minefields	6,894 records
Suspected areas	2,063 records	Suspected areas	2,035 records
Cleared minefields	1,160 records	Cleared minefields	2,103 records
TOTAL: 9,336 records		11,032 records

The region of Slavonia in eastern Croatia, bordering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, includes four heavily mine-contaminated counties. The region has the most productive agricultural land in Croatia, as well as resources of oil and natural gas. The eastern counties of Slavonia were not reintegrated into Croatia until January 1998, so mine clearance started there later than in other areas of the country.

Although mine clearance operations have been conducted on the border with Hungary in recent years, mines have still been observed there.^[23]

Planning and Coordination of Mine Action^[24]

In accordance with the Croatian Law on Mine Clearance, demining activities are carried out by CROMAC, a public institution.^[25] Regional coordinating bodies have been established in thirteen of the fourteen mine-contaminated counties with the aim of better coordination and exchange of experience.^[26]

According to the National Mine Action Program (NMAP), unanimously approved by the House of Representatives on 7 October 2000, the ultimate goal of mine action in Croatia is to solve the mine problem by 2010. The achievement of this goal “should be based on increased number and capacity of mine clearance companies, and on the monitoring of development of the new technologies, and their introduction in the demining system in Croatia.”

The goal of 2010 would not appear to be consistent with the obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty to clear all mined areas “as soon as possible but not later than ten years after the entry into force of this Convention....” For Croatia, the ten-year deadline would be 1 March 2009. However, Article 5 allows a State Party to request an extension of the deadline, and the request must be approved by a majority vote of other States Parties present.

A report on the NMAP has noted that, so far, Croatia’s mine clearance capacity has not been used to the fullest extent. Unused capacity includes the Croatian Army (which can clear five square kilometers of land annually), the Ministry of the Interior’s special police forces that can also conduct demining, and foreign commercial demining companies, which have seldom been used. There are seventeen authorized mine

clearance companies registered in Croatia and approximately 450 deminers are involved in mine clearance. Nine demining machines were used in clearance operations in 2000 (by April 2001, this number had increased to 13, according to the head of CROMAC).^[27] Some 250 metal detectors and 18 mine-detecting dogs are used in manual operations. Full use of Croatia’s mine clearance capacity could clear an area of twenty square kilometers annually. In addition, available survey capacity can reduce suspected mined areas by a further fifteen square kilometers per year.

The NMAP includes a plan for the surveying and clearance of mine-contaminated and suspected mined areas up to the target completion date of 2010, as shown below.

Area planned for survey and mine clearance 2000 – 2010 (square kilometers)^[28]

Year of planning	Total area planned	Area for Level I survey–area reduction	Area for survey by new methods	Area for Level II survey–area reduction	Area for survey and mine clearance by machines*	Area for survey and mine clearance manually	Fencing of contaminated areas and marking of mine-suspected areas
2000	100	60	0	20	5	15	400
2001	500	325	100	25	20	30	500
2002	500	300	115	25	30	30	500
2003	500	300	115	25	30	30	500
2004	500	300	115	25	30	30	500
2005	500	280	120	30	40	30	500
2006	500	280	120	30	40	30	200
2007	500	320	100	25	35	20	200
2008	300	150	70	25	35	20	100
2009	300	150	75	25	30	20	50
2010	300	150	75	25	30	20	0
Total	4,500	2,615	1,005	280	325	275	3,450

The bulk of mine action activities are planned for the period 2001-2007. A major factor in the success of the plan will be the mine clearance personnel from the Ministry of the Interior, who survey suspected areas along the state borders and other areas, and carry out level two (technical) surveys, under CROMAC auspices, to reduce the size of suspected areas. Ministry of Defense forces are also due to survey and conduct mine clearance of military premises and surrounding areas, and along the separation lines of the former battlegrounds.

Mechanical clearance plays an important role in the NMAP. The number of machines currently available is sufficient to clear a maximum of ten square kilometers annually, so many more machines will be needed if the area planned for clearance each year is to be achieved. The plan also assumes the successful employment of new, sophisticated methods of mine detection currently being tested.^[29]

In the early years, the NMAP prioritizes the clearance of areas such as house back yards, arable land attached to houses where reconstruction is underway and infrastructure (roads, electricity plants, water pipelines, telecommunications, tourist routes and fire escape routes). Secondary priorities include areas further away from inhabited areas, such as meadows, pastures, forests, national parks, areas under water, and rocky areas, which will be dealt with by level one survey and new detection methods.

To complete mine clearance in Croatia by 2010 as foreseen in the NMAP, the authorities have claimed the need for funding totaling KN9.576 billion (US$1.157 billion). During Parliamentary discussion in October 2000, there was support for the clearance targets but the NMAP was described as too ambitious financially.^[30]

In the period up to 2010 the NMAP allocates KN10 million (US$1,204,819) to mine awareness activities and KN5 million (US$602,409) to victim assistance, together representing 0.16 percent of total funding. No funding of these activities is shown for 2000, and funding in 2001 is not specified.

In 2000, CROMAC was involved in updating the 1996 Law on Mine Clearance through a working group that includes the Ministry of Interior, CROMAC, the Deminers’ Union and other associations representing deminers. The Ministry of Interior has put forward a draft of a new law on mine clearance, but CROMAC and the Deminers’ Union have criticized the draft on the basis that it calls into question the objective of comprehensive clearance by 2010.^[31] As an interim measure to improve the legal status of deminers, the Law on Changes and Additions to the Law on Mine Clearance was adopted on 5 June 1998. All deminers, whether employees of the companies authorized for demining operations, or members of the Croatian army or police injured in demining operations, as well as their families, are thereby granted identical rights to those guaranteed to Croatian soldiers who fought in the recent conflict with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the “Law on the Rights of Croatian Soldiers of the Homeland War and their Family Members.” This interim measure also requires that insurance be taken out for deminers and staff assisting in demining operations.

In the working group, CROMAC was also involved in developing the “Rules and Regulations on the Implementation of Demining Operations,” which were approved at the end of 2000. This legislation regulates demining operations and operators, and standardizes procedures, rights and duties in the demining system.

Mine Action Funding

In 2000, Croatia received funding for humanitarian mine action, both directly and through the International Trust Fund. The ITF was set up by Slovenia, initially to fund mine action in Bosnia and Herzegovina; donations to the Fund are matched by the United States. Donations for mine action in Croatia totaling US$3,422,453 in 2000 were made to the ITF by the Czech Republic, Diners Club Adriatic, and Roots of Peace, as well as by the Croatian government and other Croatian sources. In the period to 31 December 2000, the US added $2,452,453.

In December 2000, the Prime Minister’s wife, Dijana Plestina, became an adviser on demining to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Plestina will give her salary to the ITF for demining and victim assistance in Croatia.^[32] The German government has given CROMAC material for minefield marking worth DM100,000 (US$4,464).^[33] The actor, Armand Assante, at the premier in Dubrovnik of his movie “On the Beach,” donated US$10,000 for mine clearance to the director of the DOK-ING demining company.^[34] Lyons Club Zrinjevac collected DM5,000 (US$2,232) from a children’s choir concert, which has been doubled through the ITF and will be spent on a special demining suit for the Mungos Company.^[35]

CROMAC has established a center for training of mine detection dogs, with the help of the Canadian NGO, Canine Countermine. The center, in Novigrad, will be financed by voluntary donations, and will be staffed by Canadian and Croatian experts.^[36] The Slovak Republic donated four dogs for demining.^[37] The Norwegian government donated computer equipment worth Kr300,000 (US$32,400).^[38] On 20 March 2001, Austria delivered eighty-seven Schiebel metal detectors to CROMAC.^[39] At a press conference on 20 June 2001, Norway announced that it was providing KN145,000 (US$16,800) to purchase computer equipment and pay salaries for four mine victims to work in CROMAC for six months.^[40]

The allocation of funds to demining in Croatia for 2000 was planned by the State Budget (National Gazette No. 33/2000) and by Changes and Additions to the State Budget (National Gazette No. 118/2000) as presented below. Total funds, together with the public debt from 1999, amounted to KN236,157,802 (US$28,452,743). After the Changes and Additions to the State Budget, total funds for demining in 2000 were KN210,614,627 (US$25,375,256).

Description	Final plan for 2000 (KN)	Expenditures in 2000 (KN)	New plan (KN)
Demining costs	65,000,000 (US$7,831,325)	17,875,000 (US$2,153,614)	82,875,000 (US$9,984,939)
Cost of demining (Urgent Loan II IBRD)	77,464,721 (US$ 9,333,098)	-7.746.472 (US$ -933,309)	69,718,249 (US$8,399,789)
Croatian deposit in the Urgent Loan II IBRD	24,178,260 (US$2,913,043)	-15,000,000 (-US$1,807,228)	9,178,260 (US$1,105,814)
Part of the Loan for reconstruction of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and West Srijem (IBRD)	22,908,000 (US$2,760,000)	-11,454,000 (-US$1,380,000)	11,454,000 (US$1,380,000)
Croatian deposit in the Urgent Loan for reconstruction of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and West Srijem (IBRD)	15,516,000 (US$1,869,397)	-5,400,000 (-US$650,602)	10,116,000 (US$1,218,795)
CROMAC expenditures	22,208,951 (US$ 2,675,777)	-4,175,204 (-US$503,036)	18,033,747 (US$2,172,740)
Contribution for war veterans (2%)	1,300,000 (US$ 156,626)	357,500 (US$43,072)	1,657,500 (US$199,698)
Total	228,575,932 (US$27,539,268)	-25,543,176 (-US$3,077,491)	203,032,756 (US$24,461,777)
Public debt 1999	7,581,870 (US$913,478)		7,581,870 (US$913,478)
Grand total	236,157,802 (US$28,452,747)		210,614,626 (US$25,375,256)

Unspent donations from the State Budget to ITF and other sources, matched funds from the US and direct donations to ITF for demining in Croatia amounted to US$5,445,285 on 31 December 2000. These funds were allocated to demining in the first part of 2001.

Actual expenditure on demining in 2000 totaled KN186,519,740 (US$22,472,257) as shown below.

Description	Amount (KN)
Demining costs (paid to demining companies for demining work)	147,865,564 (US$17,815,128)
CROMAC expenditures	17,309,545 (US$2,085,487)
Contribution for war veterans (2%)	1,176,280 (US$141,720)
CROMAC use of own funds for the procurement of equipment and strengthening of its operations	948,089 (US$114,227)
Unspent donations in ITF on 31 December 2000	19,220,260 (US$2315,694)
Total	186,519,740 (US$22,472,257)

In 2000, CROMAC expenditure (funded by the State Budget), including material costs and expenditures for employees, amounted to KN17,309,545 (US$2,085,487), which is 9.28 percent of overall expenditure. CROMAC currently has 73 employees, including two employees from the Ministry of Defense.^[43] In 2000, CROMAC used KN948,089 (US$114,227) of its own money to procure equipment and improve its operations.

In 2000, the ITF paid demining companies KN24,179,234 (US$ 2,913,160), that is 12.96 per cent of total funds spent. From other sources CROMAC transferred KN3,664,338 (US$441,480) to the ITF, equivalent to 1.94 percent of overall ITF funding. Public companies, foreign donors and the Croatia Without Mines Trust Fund financed demining in Croatia, providing funds of KN6,665,618 (US$803,086) or 3.58 percent of overall funding.

On 2 May 2001, CROMAC signed an agreement with Canada, which will involve a donation of Can$1,799,000 (US$1,190,000) for the development of mine action, including education of CROMAC employees, the purchase of a demining machine, evaluation of mine awareness programs, rehabilitation, but nothing for demining operations. The donation will be channeled through the UN Development Program.

Assessment, Minefield Marking and Survey ^[44]

The CROMAC Report for 2000 and the NMAP do not describe in detail how areas are selected and prioritized. It appears that each county makes its own demining priorities and plans.

In the Slavonia region, the prioritization of areas for survey and clearance involves the mayors of all communities, the County Department for Reconstruction and Rebuilding, the CROMAC regional office in Osijek and public companies, the returnees’ association and Department of Refugees and Returnees.^[45]

In 2000, scanning, digitalization and geo-coding of maps began. Digitalization of maps to the scale 1:25,000 was completed, and digitalization of maps to 1:5,000 was being carried out in cooperation with the State Geodetic Agency and major public companies and institutions.

A total of 219.9 kilometers in length were marked and fenced in 2000, defining a mine-contaminated/mine-suspected area of 115.09 square kilometers.

Mine Clearance^[46]

In 2000, an area of 9,805,889 square meters (9.8 square kilometers) was cleared by 130 demining projects, carried out by special police forces of the Ministry of Interior and thirteen demining companies: ABCD, AKD Mungos, Avangard, Deminka, DOK-ING, Exbel Emercom, Kerber, Piper, RU-RU, Scanjak, Termo-Solar, and TT-KA (all Croatian companies), and Mechem from South Africa. AKD Mungos Company carried out most of the demining (53 percent, or 5,225,319 square meters), and Kerber was the smallest participant (0.03 percent).

County	Square Meters
Vukovarsko-Srijemska	998,351
Licko-Senjska	120,598
Zadarska	1,900,142
Sisacko-Moslavacka	2,114,039
Osijecko-Baranjska	1,436,005
Pozesko-Slavonska	171,571
Sibensko-Kninska	910,206
Karlovacka	1,236,910
Brodsko-Posavska	469,332
Splitsko-Dalmatinska	412,636
Viroviticko-Podravska	36,100
Total	9,805,889

In the heavily mine-contaminated region of Slavonia, clearance achieved in 2000 appears to be far less than was planned. In Vukovarsko-Srijemska county alone, for example, the original plan was to clear 6.5 square kilometers in 2000, but less than 1 square kilometer was cleared.^[47]

On 19 February 2001, deminers, led by the union of demining employees in Croatia, went on strike calling for increased wages. The strike ended on 5 March 2001 after an agreement to raise wages from KN7,500 (approx. US$950) to KN10,000 (approx. US$1,200) net per month.

With the general and technical surveys carried out by CROMAC, the total suspected mined area was reduced, and thus in 2000 an area totaling 32,976,089 square meters was received back into use.

Activity	Area in square meters
Demined	9,805,889
Reduced through level one (general) survey	21,632,939
Reduced through level two (technical) survey	1,537,261
Total	32,976,089

Demining operations in 2000 uncovered 1,173 antipersonnel mines, 710 antitank (AT) mines and 789 items of UXO. The types of land demined or reduced consisted of 31.2 percent road infrastructure, 19.1 percent agricultural land, 17.8 percent municipal infrastructure and religious facilities, 14.3 percent water protection facilities, fire prevention and river banks, 6.8 percent rail infrastructure, 6.1 percent electricity infrastructure, 2.4 percent industrial infrastructure, and 2.3 percent houses and gardens/yards.

Quality assurance is the responsibility of CROMAC, and has reportedly been carried out on all 130 projects conducted in 2000. On four projects undertaken by three companies, it was determined that complete mine clearance had not been achieved, and the companies had to repeat the work. Subsequent quality assurance confirmed complete clearance. Quality assurance was also carried out on 748 control samples on 163,062.8 square meters (1.66 percent of the overall cleared area), thus fulfilling the legal requirement for a minimum control sample of 0.5 percent. A new contract was agreed in 2000 whereby the UN Mine Action Assistance Program (MAAP) cooperation with CROMAC will have three stages, each resulting in the completion of activities and reduction of UN MAAP employees. The first stage was scheduled to end on 31 December 2000, the second on 1 July 2001 and the third by the end of 2001, after which the UN MAAP mission in Croatia will expire.

The one-year program of the Western European Union Demining Mission expired in May 2000, but it was mutually agreed to extend it for a further year.

Also in May 2000, CROMAC signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Mine Action Center (MAC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in June of the same year members of both mine action centers met to discuss joint demining of the border.

In November 2000, CROMAC organized the second regional meeting of MAC directors, sponsored by the ITF. Representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia attended the meeting and signed an agreement to establish a Coordination Council for Mine Action in Southeast Europe. It was decided that cooperation between the MACs from the region would continue, with the aim of exchanging information and experience in mine action, testing new technologies, mechanical demining, general survey and mine suspected area reduction, and harmonization of operating procedures. The first meeting of the Coordination Council took place in Zagreb on 14 December 2000.

During 2001, two demining projects on Croatia’s borders were planned: on the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro (around 450,000 square meters), and on the border with Hungary (about 1,000,000 square meters in five municipalities). Both projects are financed through the ITF by the European Union (EU) to a total of €1 million (US$890,000), and were put out for public tender in early 2001.^[48]

Research and Development (R&D)

In 2000, CROMAC was involved in two European scientific projects ARC and SMART. The ARC project (multi-spectrum sensor mounted on a radio-controlled helicopter) will last for three years. Croatia has major participation in this project, for which €346,054 Euros (US$307,900)^[49] were requested. The SMART project will also last three years, and CROMAC is an equal partner, for which €384,349 (US$342,000) has been requested.

CROMAC has established a site in Obrovac for testing new methods and technologies in mine detection (1,000 mines have been allocated for this purpose). The site’s feasibility study was carried out in 2000 with deactivated mines, at the request of the EU’s Joint Research Center at Ispra. After approval, CROMAC was paid €13,000 (US$11,565) for the feasibility study.^[50] Twenty-nine metal detectors have been tested as part of the International Pilot Project for Technology Cooperation. The project, valued at around €51,000 (US$45,400), is financed by the European Commission and managed by CROMAC’s Deputy Director, Josip Tulicic.^[51]

A center has been established in Novigrad for the training and testing of mine detection dogs. In 2000, there were twenty-three tests of mine detection dogs and their handlers: fifty-six pairs were tested, and seventy-eight positive evaluations were delivered. Those that did not meet the required standards had to repeat the test.

In 2000, CROMAC tested several demining machines. During May and June, the Mine-Guzzler demining machine was tested on an area of 76,000 square meters. Between April and June, the Oracle demining machine was tested on an area of 120,000 square meters. Between October and December, an MFV-1000 flail and three Hydrema-Weimar machines were tested on an area of 30,000 square meters. Between August and December, a KMMCS-Kerber machine was tested on an area of 120,000 square meters.

In 2000, a demining device called ELF (Eliminate Landmines Forever) was presented at the Rudjer Boskovic Physics Institute in Zagreb, and a demonstration held near Karlovac. Using x-ray, ELF detects nitrate molecules evaporating from explosives.^[52] The device aroused public interest because of alleged misuse of testing for private goals. The scientist who arranged the presentation owned stocks in the company that produced ELF, and the value of the stocks increased after the demonstration.^[53] After the scandal, the scientist withdrew from the CROMAC Scientific Council. The Committee of Experts will only decide on the utility of the device after extensive testing of the machine, which was due to be completed by the end of February 2001.^[54]

In May 2000, a Microbial Mine Detection System (MMDS) was announced, which is in its experimental stage.^[55] CROMAC is developing a pilot project on this.^[56]

In January 2001, DOK-ING presented a new MV-3 demining machine, which could clear 5,000-10,000 square metersof mine-contaminated area in five hours. The MV-3 is a three-ton automotive remotely-controlled flail.^[57] Testing of the MV-3 machine began in December and was due to be completed by the end of January 2001. The machine is now being used by DOK-ING.^[58]

Mine Awareness

In 2000, mine awareness continued, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) working in cooperation with the Croatian Red Cross (CRC), and a joint project between the Ministry of Education and Sport and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).^[59] The Ministry of Education and Sport started an initiative called “Careful, children–beware of explosive devices and ammunition. Say yes to life, choose life!” Seminars were held in sixteen counties, training elementary and secondary school teachers who then incorporate mine awareness into extracurricular activities. Representatives of the Ministry of Interior, CROMAC and county representatives responsible for mines and ammunition also attend these seminars.^[60]

Because casualty data indicates that adolescents aged 15 to 18 are most at risk from mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), questionnaires assessing the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of students, parents and teachers in relation to mines and UXO were applied in secondary schools during 1999 and 2000. The sample included 59 secondary schools, 1,943 students, 5,619 parents and 545 teachers.

The results showed that media, especially television and radio, are accessible to almost all adolescent students and form one of the most common ways of spending free time. Despite this, 7 percent of students have never seen a mine awareness message on TV, 25 percent never heard one on the radio, and 29 percent never read one in a newspaper. The level of students’ knowledge was unsatisfactory; they underestimate the potential dangers of handling weapons and explosive devices, and many do not know how to react in potentially dangerous situations or when an incident has already happened. Many of the parents’ answers indicated that they are misinformed or underestimate their children’s reactions, behavior and experience. Although 99 percent of teachers think that mine awareness for parents is necessary, many of them had not discussed the need for caution and protection from mines and UXO with students and parents.^[61]

The ICRC and the CRC implement mine awareness at national level in several ways.^[62] All forty-five CRC branches in the fourteen mine-contaminated counties are conducting mine awareness activities. A total of 100 mine awareness instructors have been active for four years. During 2000, 3,871 interactive presentations were conducted to 90,064 participants (57,205 children, 21,289 men and 11,570 women). On 29 February 2000, the first mine awareness spots were broadcast pro bono on national TV, two to four times a day for the following three to four months. In March 2000, seven radio spots began to be aired on national stations. Systematic mine awareness education of railway workers was started in 2000. During March 2000, the first phase included 2,100 railway workers in mine-contaminated areas, while the second targeted 1,300 workers, including those living outside those areas.

After two years of targeting hunters in mine-affected communities, considered one of the highest risk groups, important cooperation was achieved on a national level. The monthly magazine of the Union of Hunters (with a print run of 52,000 copies) published for the first time a mine awareness article pro bono. Three thousand copies of the hunters’ 2001 calendar carrying mine awareness messages were distributed to 900 branches and 1,050 hunting lodges. It was also agreed to start systematic mine awareness in all hunting locations in contaminated areas, using a leaflet (20,000 copies).

The community-based approach to mine awareness started in 1998 continued with the support of the ICRC and local Red Cross volunteers. The broadest approach is a multimedia exhibition, including contributions by the communities themselves such as eco-messages, drawings, short stories, recitals, drama sessions, costumes, plays, posters, minefield models, child panel discussions, art and sport competitions, folk dancing, celebrations of statehood day, wheel-dancing, and so on. Once the exhibition is set up, it stays there for a minimum of ten days. In 2000, the exhibition toured 23 mine-affected locations attracting more than 15,800 people. There were more than 30 other community-initiated projects during the year 2000, reaching some 56,000 people. For example, Red Cross instructors organized mine awareness activities during a football match at the Vukovar stadium where both teams were dressed in T-shirts with the message “Be aware of mines.” During the summer holiday season, many Red Cross branches send young people to camps on the Dalmatian coast where they receive mine awareness presentations. During 10 blood donor collections in Nasice and surrounding villages, more than 300 people received a mine awareness brochure and a T-shirt; this initiative continued until November 2000.

As well as the Red Cross, other community bodies carry out mine awareness. The local NGO, NONA, made a 15-minute mine awareness video and a song titled “Mines are for deminers,” which was presented in Petrinja primary school, with the ICRC photo exhibition and mine awareness workshop. A large number of guests turned up as well as journalists from national TV and newspapers. The video was then distributed to instructors. Other material was produced to support the projects on both the national and community levels. A leaflet (30,000 copies) and brochure (10,000 copies) were produced. A mine awareness desk calendar was printed (1,000 copies, plus 8,000 pocket versions) and distributed to 45 local Red Cross sections and all instructors. A new brochure (10,000 copies) and pocket-size leaflet (50,000 copies) were produced, aimed at the adult population. A poster (3,000) aimed at supporting community-based projects was produced. The ICRC provided 200 T-shirts with the CRC logo and the “MINE” warning sign, which were distributed during a concert in Nasice. Two hundred baseball hats with the “MINE” warning sign were printed for distribution at local projects organized in several towns in Eastern Slavonia. Two hundred baseball hats and T-shirts were produced for the local Red Cross sections of Ilok, Vukovar, Djakovo and Ogulin.

In Slavonia, an informal mine awareness survey was carried out in the village of Tenja between June and August 2000. Tenja had a population of 8,000, with 2,200 houses, but was heavily damaged in the conflict and now has a population of 6,000. The Landmine Monitor Researcher in Slavonia talked to 190 families in 190 houses, 42 percent of whom stayed in the village during the conflict, 30 percent are returnees and 28 percent new inhabitants. Of these, 25.2 percent answered that they or their children have had some mine awareness education (including during time in the Army), 14.2 percent were aware that there is a landmine problem but have had no information about it, and 24.2 percent said they were uninterested in this or felt unaffected.^[63]

Mine awareness activities in Slavonia include an exhibition in the Osijek primary school and at a multi-ethnic festival attended by 800 children and 4,000 adults, an Easter egg event for children supported by Osijek municipal authorities. A health fair, summer camps, parties and many other events involving the local Red Cross and ICRC included mine awareness, as did an arts competition involving 12 elementary and four secondary schools. On 28 October 2000, 100 children in the heavily mine-contaminated village of Laslovo, attended a mine awareness workshop during the decoration of their youth club. In Baranja, county gypsies involved in snail-picking as their major economic activity, received three mine awareness presentations. During rebuilding of a children’s playground in Ceric, which is surrounded by mined areas, mine awareness presentations and an exhibition were attended by 300 children and 1,000 adults during one week. The exhibition then moved to Vinkovci, where it was seen by 800 children and 250 adults, and to Lovas where it was seen for a month together with presentations, films and leaflets on mine awareness. In total, 43,315 presentations were given in 2000.^[64]

Landmine Casualties^[65]

According to the CROMAC Annual Report, in 2000 there were 16 mine incidents, which resulted in the death of nine people and injuries to 13 more.^[66] This represents a reduction of 57 percent from the 51 killed or injured in 1999.^[67] In 2000, all the victims were adult males except for one 10-year-old child. Five incidents involved deminers, in which three were killed and five injured. Civilians were injured cultivating land, collecting firewood, or in unauthorized demining activities. The child was playing with a mine. Incidents continue with three reported in January 2001, killing one person and injuring two; they were involved in farming activities at the time.^[68] By 30 March 2001, there had been seven mine incidents, resulting in one fatality, four people badly wounded, and one more lightly injured. All were adult males, one of them a deminer.^[69]

CROMAC also reported that between 1991 and the end of 2000, a total of 1,320 mine incidents were recorded, in which 1,281 people were casualties. Not previously noted in the Landmine Monitor is an incident on 13 November 1999 in which a group of Austrian tourists on a hunting expedition ran over an antitank mine in Western Slavonia, in an area where mine clearance had been conducted in previous years. Seven of the hunters were killed and three severely injured.

Survivor Assistance

According to Dr. Mirjana Dobranovic, President of the Croatian Alliance of Physically Disabled Persons (HSUTI), health care provision in Croatia is well organized. There is provision for the physical rehabilitation of all disabled people, with no special provision for those disabled as a result of mine incidents. But rehabilitation is not always fully implemented, and psychological and social rehabilitation is almost non-existent.^[70]

In September 2000, Ministry of Foreign Affairs demining advisor, Dijana Plestina, visited the ITF. At this meeting, support was given to the idea of financing victim assistance in Croatia in the same way as with demining, but no subsequent developments have been heard of.^[71]

The Association of Mine Victims, established by HSUTI, has developed a program of psychosocial assistance. The program suggests that each year mine victims should spend two or three weeks at Rovinj Hospital in rehabilitation with recreation and psychosocial support via a series of lectures and workshops. So far, the program has not been implemented due to lack of funding. By January 2001, only the Canadian government had offered funds, Can$100,000 (US$65,000), for a program of psychosocial help to children, which would also be implemented at Rovinj Hospital. The rock band “Zabranjeno pusenje” has offered to participate in the program. Funding required to implement the program at Rovinj is US$361,445.^[72]

In 2000, the Association of Mine Victims published 1,050 copies of a brochure called “Provisional Catalogue of Mine Victims’ Rights.” The brochure contains information on the rights and benefits to which civilian mine victims are entitled. In cooperation with CROMAC and the Association of Mine Victims, the Soroptimist organization hosted a humanitarian concert with Dunja Vejzovic and a fashion show in the Mimara Museum. The event raised funds for better prostheses for women mine victims. In Meinz, a poetry evening was organized. The funds collected at both events provided prostheses, purchased from Ottobock Company, for two women from Zadarska county.^[73]

Fifteen Croatian child mine victims from all over the country stayed in Zagreb from 2-6 December 2000. The Association of Mine Victims organized the visit with financial support from USAID. In addition to entertainment and sports, the children spent time in the National Center for Psycho-trauma where experts in psychology, pedagogy and psychiatry established that half the children suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The children and their parents were advised where to ask for help in their hometowns, and were told how to help each other to live as normally as possible.^[74]

At the request of potential donors, the Association has made a photo album of 30 child mine victims, with the assistance of the ICRC, containing important data on each child. Donors mainly ask for their donations be spent on orthopedic help, however such assistance is not a priority, as mine victims in Croatia are entitled to orthopedic assistance under Croatian Health Insurance. The priority for mine victims is continuous psychosocial rehabilitation, as well as adjusting living environments to their needs.^[75]

From 16-18 May 2000, eight mine victims aged between eight and eighteen were invited to Zagreb. “The Olympic Team for Child Mine Victims” is a humanitarian fundraising initiative supported by sportsmen from Zagreb, including rowers Ninoslav Saraga and Oliver Martinov, the Mladost water polo players, Dinamo and Hajduk football players, and members of the Croatian Olympic Committee.^[76] The initiative attracted sponsors including McDonalds, Reebok, Atlantic Trade, Foto Badrov and Metropolis Medica.^[77] The children and their parents watched a soccer game between Dinamo and Hajduk. They also met the swimmer from the Paralympics, Ana Srsen^[78], and watched a game of water polo between Mladost HPB and Splitska Banka.^[79]

In December 2000, a series of four concerts sponsored by CROMAC, the ICRC and others,^[80] and featuring popular Croatian rock group, Parni valjak, were held in Karlovac, Osijek, Sisak, and Zadar, to raise money for two computers for mine victims.^[81] The concerts also aimed to raise mine awareness among young people and the elder generation as well as encourage celebrities to initiate similar projects. The concerts were organized with the support of the local communities to ensure that the final profits were as high as possible. The audience received ICRC mine awareness posters, brochures and T-shirts. The band donated CDs with five songs specially written for the occasion, which were distributed by the CRC Youth.^[82]

On 1 December 2000, the Rotary Club of Zagreb, in cooperation with the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, organized a charity concert, called Croatia Without Mines, which was performed by the Prague Chamber Orchestra.^[83]

Disability Policy and Practice

Health care provision and assistance to the disabled in Croatia has not changed since last year’s Landmine Monitor.^[84] However, as set out in the section on mine clearance above, the rights of deminers in the event of death or injury have been strengthened under the Law on Changes and Additions to the Law on Mine Clearance.

CROATIA