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Key developments since May 2000: On 15 June 2001, the Czech Republic reported the completion of its stockpile of 324,412 antipersonnel mines. Czech units in SFOR and KFOR continued to clear mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, respectively, and the Czech Republic funded mine action programs in Croatia and Kosovo. In May 2001, at an arms fair in Brno, a Czech company displayed an antivehicle mine in tripwire-activation mode.
The Czech Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it on 26 October 1999 and became a State Party on 1 April 2000. National implementation legislation entered into force on 3 December 1999.
In September 2000, at the Second Meeting of State Parties, Ambassador Jana Hybášková called on other countries to sign or ratify the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible, and to “consistently fulfill all requirements.”[1] During 2000 the government increased its budget to allow the ministries in Prague to attend the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings; a representative from the Ministry of Defense participated in the December 2000 meetings, and a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the May 2001 meetings.
The first report as required by Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 was submitted on 15 August 2000; the second report was submitted on 30 April 2001.[2] A third report was submitted on 30 June 2001. The Czech Republic voted in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
The Czech Republic is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and submitted its annual report as required under Article 13 on 3 November 2000. The report included more detailed information than in 1999, including the mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operations in the two former Soviet military bases at Mlada and Ralsko.[3] The Czech Republic attended the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2000.
The Czech position on CCW proposals to increase the technical requirements for detectability and self-destruction reliability of antivehicle mines was under discussion between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense in early 2001. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Generally, the Czech Republic will to a certain extent support the necessary technical improvements to current AVM [antivehicle mine] stockpile. However, we would prefer some form of political commitment to this respect (e.g. moratorium on production and export, restriction on usage of tilt-rods and possibly to increase level of sensitivity or activation of AVMs).”[4] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that there is no current intention to make any improvements to Czech antivehicle mines.[5] Concerning proposals to extend the CCW to cover “explosive remnants of war,” the Czech authorities state that they are “willing to share views and support proposals calling for a certain level of national responsibility (safeguarded by appropriate domestic measures) for UXO clearance in connection with a whole range of military activities.”[6]
In March 2001, the Ministry of Defense established a working group to deal with issues concerning future demining (within the Czech Republic as well as abroad) and stockpile destruction.[7] An interministerial working group involving the ministries of defense and foreign affairs may also be established to deal with any other problems concerning landmines and UXO.[8]
In February 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its position that the “mere participation in the planning or execution of operations, exercises or other military activity” where non-signatories use antipersonnel mines should not render Czech personnel liable to prosecution.[9]
Previous statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggested some ambiguity in the Czech view of the legality of another country transiting antipersonnel mines across Czech territory. However, in February 2001 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that international conventions such as the Mine Ban Treaty and CCW are considered a superior authority to any North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) obligation.[10]
The Czech Republic inherited the antipersonnel mine production facilities of the former Czechoslovakia, but production halted in 1990.[11] In March 2000, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that, “Czech manufacturers produce and supply to the Army of the Czech Republic cargo projectiles with remotely-delivered antitank mines equipped with electronic anti-disturbance devices. There is no production of any other anti-handling devices or mines delivered by cargo projectiles.”[12]
According to the German Initiative to Ban Landmines, at the IDET arms fair in Brno, on 9-11 May 2001, the Czech company, Policske Strojirny, displayed and offered for sale Horizont “PD-Mi-PK” antivehicle mines in tripwire-activation mode.[13] This is an off-route antivehicle mine, with an explosively formed penetrator warhead designed to destroy lightly armored and soft skinned vehicles. According to a standard reference work, this mine can be used in command-detonation mode, or with a surface laid contact wire, or with a tripwire above the ground.[14]
The ICBL believes that antivehicle mines used with tripwires function as antipersonnel mines, and therefore should be considered prohibited under the Mine Ban Treaty. At a Technical Expert Meeting on antivehicle mines convened by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in March 2001, several government experts stated that antivehicle mines with tripwire mechanisms as the only fuzes cannot be designed in such a way as to prevent them from being activated by the presence, proximity or contact of a person, and therefore such mines should be regarded as antipersonnel mines.[15] No one present expressed a contrary view, including the two representatives from the Czech Republic. It is not known what steps Czech authorities have taken with respect to this incident. Landmine Monitor was seeking clarification from the Czech government on this issue as this report went to print.
The Czech Republic reported completion of destruction of its original stockpile of 324,412 antipersonnel mines on 15 June 2001.[16] Stocks earmarked for destruction had been transferred to Bohuslavice nad Vlárí near Slavicín in southern Moravia, and destruction—by disassembly and recycling of certain material, such as scrap metal and TNT components[17] – started on 2 May 2000.[18] In December 2000, at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, the Czech representative reported that the new destruction technology, similar to that used by the Slovak Republic, had increased the rate of destruction since May 2000 from 300 mines to 1,200 mines per day.[19] Ambassador Hybášková has said that the Czech army experts are prepared to share their experience of antipersonnel mine destruction.[20]
A total of 4,859 antipersonnel mines will be retained as permitted for testing new demining technologies and for training bomb disposal experts. The total comprises two types of metallic fragmentation mines: PP-Mi-Sr (1,385), and PP-Mi-Sr II (3,344), plus the KUS rocket cargo mine which contains the remotely-delivered antipersonnel mine PP Mi-S1M (130).[21]
In addition to the tripwire mines noted above, other antivehicle mines in Czech stockpiles are of concern because they may function as antipersonnel mines. The Czech Army has several models of antivehicle mines in stock, some which may be activated by the unintentional act of a person (as a result of antihandling devices or sensitive fuzes).[22] The Czech authorities admit that the PT-Mi, PT-Mi-P and PT-Mi-U antivehicle mines can be used with a tilt rod fuze.[23] In February 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that “if the definition is required – and there is the decision that we are supposed to do something because the mines in our stockpile doesn’t [sic] fulfill the requirements of the international treaties (and if there is the any kind of strict definition) – then we will have to follow the willingness of the international community.”[24] In March 2001, representatives of both the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces attended the ICRC experts meeting on antivehicle mines. The Czech delegation issued a statement at the consultation that “stored AV mines are considered obsolete. Their quantity is not increased at present. They are supposed to be put out of the armament in the course of the next 15 years. Furthermore, the expired AV mines are not being replaced.... AV mines of higher efficiency, equipped by tilt rod fuze of breakwire fuze are not incorporated in army training procedures. Their emplacement is supposed for the wartime only.”[25]
Approximately two tons of mines were left in waste dumps, weapons pits and in the ground near two military bases at Ralsko and Mladá occupied by Soviet troops from 1968 to 1991. Clearance could not be achieved as planned by 1999. The Mladá base was cleared before the end of 2000, with 185,853 munitions being found, about 90% of this dating back to World War II. The base has since been handed over to the local authorities, which have yet to decide what the land will be used for. By the end of 2000, a total of 86,515 munitions from previous military activities had been cleared from Ralsko; it is estimated that clearance of the base will be complete by the end of 2001.[26]
There are also occasional cases of UXO from the World War II being found in other parts of the Czech Republic. Clearance in these emergency cases is the responsibility of the police force and the Ministry of Interior. Military clearance teams are only supposed to perform clearance operations within military areas. Because of this division there are no joint statistics for all mines and UXO found on Czech territory. This also applies to statistics on victims of mines and UXO. To remedy this, improved cooperation between the various bodies and improvements in the legislation will be sought by the various Ministries. [27]
The Ministry of Defense estimates that since 1960 there have been 200-300 people involved in accidents with landmines or UXO.[28] There is no information on assistance to landmine survivors in 2000-2001.
In 2000 the Czech government contributed US$50,000 to the Slovenian International Trust Fund (ITF) for Demining, Mine Clearance and Assistance to Mine Victims for its demining operation at Bosanka village near Dubrovnik in Croatia. The government expected to contribute the same amount in 2001.[29] A general contribution of CHF70,000 (US$41,000) was made to the ICRC, with a similar amount earmarked for 2001. The Czech Republic has also contributed in cooperation with Germany and the United States to the first non-military demining project for Kosovo, worth a total of US$500,000.[30]
The Czech Ambassador to Slovenia Jana Hybášková chaired the ITF Board of Advisors in 1999, and in 2000 she remained on the Board. Czech units in SFOR (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and KFOR (Kosovo) continued to be engaged in mine clearance during 2000.[31]
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[1] Statement by Jana Hybášková, Czech Ambassador to Slovenia, to the SMSP, Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[2] These contain no data on the technical characteristics of antipersonnel mines produced. The official responsible for the report explained that the Ministry of Defense believes that reporting is only necessary for mines currently in possession. Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Form H, submitted 15 August 2000, and 30 April 2001, (Form H1 is headed “Technical characteristics of each APM-type produced” and Form H2 is headed “Technical characteristics of each APM-type currently owned or possessed”, but only the latter has been completed by the Czech authorities). Interview with Lt.-Col. Jozef Trabalík, Ministry of Defense, Prague, 19 February 2001.
[3] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report, 3 November 2000.
[4] Letter from Pavol Sepelák, Director, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 15 February 2001.
[5] Interview with Dr Miroslav Tuma, Deputy Director, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Josef Vitek, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lt.-Col. Jozef Trabalík, Ministry of Defense, and Capt. Petr Beyr, Commander of UXO Clearance Unit (currently responsible for clearance operations at the former Soviet military base at Mlada), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 19 February 2001.
[6] Letter from Pavol Sepelák, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 15 February 2001.
[7] Interview with Josef Vitek, 19 February 2001.
[8] Interview with Josef Vitek, 19 February 2001. The task of this working group would be to discuss and resolve all problems concerning UXO and landmines.
[9] Letter from Pavol Sepelák, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 15 February 2001; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 625.
[10] Interview with Josef Vitek, 19 February 2001.
[11] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 625-626; correction: the former mine producer POS Policka is located near Usti nad Orlici in eastern Bohemia, and Zeveta Bojkovice is near Uhersky Brod in southern Moravia.
[12] Letter from Dr. Alexander Slaby, 31 March 2000.
[13] Information provided by Thomas Küchenmeister, Project Manager, German Initiative to Ban Landmines (GIBL), email correspondence, 31 May 2001, and subsequent telephone communications, as well as GIBL website at www.landmine.de. Küchenmeister and another individual personally visited the Policske Strojirny stand, and saw the mine on display with the tripwire fitted. A photograph of the mine from the exhibition is on the GIBL website, as is GIBL’s account of the matter.
[14] Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, 2000-2001, p. 454.
[15] Robert Gravett, “Report on the Technical Expert Meeting on anti-vehicle mines with sensitive fuses or with sensitive anti-handling devices, Hosted by the ICRC in Geneva, 13-14 March 2001,” April 2001, p. 6.
[16] “Czech army completes destruction of antipersonnel mines,” Associated Press, Prague, 15 June 2001.
[17] Article 7 report, submitted 30 April 2001.
[18] Letter from Dr. Miroslav Tuma, 11 May 2000.
[19] Statement by Lt. Col. Jozef Trabalík, Ministry of Defense, at the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 7 December 2000.
[20] Statement by Ambassador Jana Hybášková, Third Regional Conference on Anti-Personnel Mines, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 21 June 2000.
[21] Article 7 report, 15 August 2000.
[22] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 627-628.
[23] Interview with Lt.-Col. Jozef Trabalík, Ministry of Defence, Bohuslavice nad Vlárí, 20 February 2001.
[24] Interview with Josef Vitek, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 19 February 2001.
[25] Robert Gravett, “Report on the Technical Expert Meeting on anti-vehicle mines with sensitive fuses or with sensitive anti-handling devices, Hosted by the ICRC in Geneva, 13-14 March 2001,” April 2001, Annex C.
[26] Documents provided by Capt. Petr Beyr, Deputy Commander/Armed Forces.
[27] Interview with Dr. Miroslav Tuma, Josef Vitek, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lt.-Col. Jozef Trabalík and Capt. Petr Beyr, Ministry of Defense, at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 19 February 2001.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Letter from Pavol Sepelák, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague, 15 February 2001.
[30] Statement by Ambassador Jana Hybášková, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 21 June 2000; also information from ITF webpage: <www.sigov.si/itffund>.
[31] OSCE Report, 13 December 2000, p. 2; CCW Article 13 report, Form E, 3 November 2000.
