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Key developments since May 2000: For 2000, the Dutch contribution to humanitarian mine action was increased by more than fifty percent, totaling US$14.2 million. The Netherlands has taken a leadership role in the CCW on the explosive remnants of war issue. The Netherlands has served as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, and as chair of the donors’ Mine Action Support Group.
The Netherlands signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it on 12 April 1999 and became a State Party on 1 October 1999. National implementation legislation drafted in May 2000 has been withdrawn. Instead, the treaty will be implemented “on the basis of existing legislation, such as the Import and Export Act of 1962 and the Arms Control Act;” the Arms Control Act will be amended to meet the requirements of Article 8 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]
The Dutch government participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, at which time it became co-chair of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance and Related Technologies. The Netherlands was an active participant in the week-long intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001.
The Netherlands has actively promoted universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, and is part of the Universalization Contact Group formally established at the Second Meeting of States Parties. The Netherlands voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V in November 2000 in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in previous years.
The first transparency report as required by Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 was submitted on 7 January 2000 for the period 1 March-31 December 1999 and provided comprehensive information. The second Article 7 report for the calendar year 2000 was submitted on 20 April 2001, and makes use of the new Form J on ‘Other Relevant Matters’ to report expenditures on mine action.
In the past the Netherlands has made clear its view that antivehicle mines with antihandling devices that explode from the unintentional act of a person are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty. At the meeting of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention on 11 May 2001, the Dutch representative expressed his country’s gratitude to the International Committee of the Red Cross, “which has provided useful information and analysis” on the issue of antivehicle mines with sensitive antihandling devices or fuzes. He said the Netherlands supports the call for this issue to be dealt with by “best practices” because this “has the advantage of being voluntary but allows States to deal with humanitarian concerns whilst recognizing military needs.”[2]
The Netherlands is a State Party to the CCW Amended Protocol II, and became a Vice-President of the Second Conference in December 2000. The Netherlands was one of several countries to protest the exclusion of nongovernmental organizations from the CCW expert working group, and insisted that this should not set a precedent for the future. The Dutch position is not to further amend Protocol II, in case this discourages some states from joining the Mine Ban Treaty, with the exception of strengthening its restrictions on antivehicle mines.[3] The Netherlands submitted its annual report under Article 13 of Amended Protocol II on 18 October 2000.
At the December 2000 preparatory committee meeting for the CCW Review Conference, the Netherlands made a proposal co-sponsored by many countries calling for discussions on the issue of explosive remnants of war. At the April 2001 preparatory committee meeting, the Netherlands agreed to serve as “Friend of the President” to facilitate progress on the remnants of war issue.
The Netherlands destroyed 254,526 antipersonnel mines from 1996-1998, and retained 4,076 “AP nr 22” mines for permitted purposes, according to its first Article 7 report. In its subsequent Article 7 report, the Netherlands reported that the number of “AP nr 22” retained had been reduced to 3,532, but an additional 864 type “AP DM31” mines were imported from Denmark for training or development purposes on 8 December 1999.[5]
Aside from those retained for training or development, the only antipersonnel mines left in inventory are 5,984 Gator antipersonnel mines, which are contained in 272 Cluster Bomb Units (CBU-89) along with Gator antivehicle mines. The Netherlands has said that the 272 Cluster Bomb Units will be dismantled and destroyed by the Mine Ban Treaty deadline of 1 October 2003.[6]
The Army expressed its need for antipersonnel mine alternatives to protect personnel and prevent clearing of antivehicle mines by the enemy. For this purpose 822 directional fragmentation (Claymore-type) mines were bought in 1997, with US$25-100 million allocated for further purchases in 2003.[7]
Large numbers of antivehicle mines have also been destroyed, with the exception of 80,000 DM-31 mines.[8] Concerns have been raised that the DM-31 may explode when a standard metal detector is swept over it. The Netherlands has said that its DM31 mines will be adapted to prevent detonation “when detected with regular devices.... If adaptation is not feasible or too expensive the mines will be replaced.”[9]
On 19 December 2000, the Minister of Defense sent a letter to Parliament detailing further procurement plans for antivehicle mines and antipersonnel mine alternatives. The procurement policy is reportedly based on the Mine Ban Treaty and CCW Amended Protocol II, said to be the following conditions: antivehicle mines should be detectable, and self-neutralizing or self-deactivating; antihandling devices should also be self-neutralizing or self-deactivating not later than the mine itself; and antihandling devices should be capable only of being activated by third parties who attempt to clear the mine (that is, they should not explode from the unintentional act of a person).[10]
For the period 2006-2009, Dfl113 million (US$46 million) has been allocated to buy 900 hand-emplaced antivehicle mines, 35,000 antivehicle mines laid by 155mm artillery, 18,900 helicopter-delivered antivehicle mines, and 2,630 antipersonnel mines directional fragmentation mines. The 35,000 mines to be laid with artillery will have antihandling devices.[11]
Dutch soldiers participating in joint military operations with non-signatory countries may not engage in any preparatory operational activity with the intention to use antipersonnel mines; nor may they assist in, incite or request the use of these weapons.[12] At the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention on 11 May 2001, the Dutch representative welcomed the ICBL’s request that States Parties come to a common understanding and practice of the Mine Ban Treaty Article 1 prohibition on assistance (to a prohibited activity) and declared that the Netherlands “will not help in the laying, transporting or in any other way, nor ask for a foreign commander to do so” in joint military operations, and “if asked to do so by a foreign commander, will not do so.” The representative added that this was set out in a parliamentary answer.[13]
The HOM 2000 research project into new demining techniques, initiated in 1997, has been terminated. After spending Dfl12.8 million (US$5 million approximately) in the first phase of the project it became clear that a prototype humanitarian detection mechanism in the first or second phase was not feasible. Information gathered in this project will be shared with Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The remaining project budget (Dfl6 million from the Defense Ministry and Dfl1.4 million from the Development Cooperation Department) will be used for further research on demining, destruction of stockpiles and humanitarian demining projects.[14]
Since January 2000 the Netherlands has served as chair of the Mine Action Support Group (MASG), which coordinates the mine action policy of the twenty-two most significant donors. Dutch Crown Prince Willem Alexander presided over the September 2000 meeting of the MASG.
The Dutch government’s contribution to humanitarian mine action in 2000 totaled Dfl35,378,000 (US$14.2 million). This represented a substantial increase of more than 50 percent over governmental mine action funding in 1999 (Dfl23 million, US$8.9 million).[15] The contributions for 2000 were allocated as follows:
Where it is known that these contributions were devoted to victim assistance or mine awareness, this has been indicated above. However, the Netherlands believes that these elements should be integrated within mine action and cannot be separated.
The policy for funding of humanitarian mine action established in 1999 has been developed to make clear that, as a matter of principle, the Netherlands will not work with commercial demining companies, especially if they have been involved in minelaying or mine production in the past.[16]
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Maintenance and Supply Agency is developing a detailed plan to safely destroy stockpiles of antipersonnel mines and potentially dangerous munitions held by the government of Moldova. The Netherlands will take the lead in establishing a Partnership for Peace (PFP) Trust Fund to provide financial resources for this project. This decision follows a fact-finding mission to Moldova on 5-9 February 2001 led by the Netherlands and supported by NATO.[17] The Netherlands is also one of several co-funders of the first NATO PFP project for the destruction of mines in Albania 2001-2002.
In 2000, Kerken in Actie (Action by Churches Together) supported mine action programs in El Salvador (by the International Demining Foundation) and Kosovo (a DanChurchAid project valued at Dfl150,000).[18] The Anti-Landmijn Stichting (Anti-Landmine Foundation) raises funds for MAG and HALO Trust and has funded their projects in Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Laos, Mozambique, Sudan and Chechnya.
Mines and UXO from World War II continue to be found in the Netherlands even though the most recent Article 7 report states that there are no “mined areas” or suspected areas.[19] The Dutch Army Bomb Squad and six commercial firms are involved in this work. The bomb squad receives 2,500 telephone calls per year about bombs (compared with 4,000 calls per year twenty-five years ago). In August 2000, a major clearance operation costing Dfl1 million was carried out on the beach at Zandvoort aan Zee, after an antitank mine was discovered. The last mine/UXO victim was in 1978.[20]
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[1] Article 7 report, submitted 20 April 2001, for the year 2000, Form A. Also, telephone interview with Mr. De Munck, Legal Affairs Desk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 January 2001.
[2] Oral remarks to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 11 May 2001.
[3] Interview with Alexander Verbeek, Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 December 2000.
[4] For details of past production, import and export, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 749-750, and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 692.
[5] Article 7 reports, submitted 20 April 2001, for the year 2000, and submitted 7 January 2000, for the period 1 March 1999 to 31 December 1999. The Netherlands has not reported on its intended or actual uses of retained mines.
[6] Article 7 report, submitted 20 April 2001, for the year 2000, Form B.
[7] Letter from the State Secretary of Defense H.A.L. Van Hoof to Parliament on Anti-Tank Mines And Alternatives for AP Mines, The Hague, 19 December 2000.
[8] Letter from the State Secretary of Defense H.A.L. Van Hoof to Parliament on Anti-Tank Mines And Alternatives for AP Mines, The Hague, 19 December 2000.
[9] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 report, Form C, 18 October 2000.
[10] Letter from the State Secretary of Defense H.A.L. Van Hoof to Parliament on Anti-Tank Mines And Alternatives for AP Mines, The Hague, 19 December 2000.
[11] Ibid.
[12] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 691.
[13] Oral remarks to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 11 May 2001.
[14] Letter from the Minister of Defense to Parliament, 27 October 2000.
[15] MIDAS Database, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 3 January 2001 report, updated by Ministry of Foreign Affairs 10 July 2001; UNMAS Mine Action Investments Database, checked 5 December 2000; the 1999 figure is taken from the Report to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 31 January 2000, p. 2; Article 7 report, submitted 20 April 2001, Form J. The US dollar exchange rate is based on the rate on the day on which contracts were approved.
[16] Interview with Pim Kraan, Humanitarian Aid Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 4 December 2000; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Humanitarian Demining Policy Framework (Beleidskader Humanitair Ontmijnen), August 1999, The Hague.
[17] “Safe Destruction of Anti-Personnel Landmines and Munitions in Moldova,” NATO press release 2001/029, Brussels, 27 February 2001.
[18] Email from Jaap ‘T Gilde, Kerken In Actie, 18 December 2000.
[19] Article 7 report, submitted 20 April 2001, Form C.
[20] Steven Derix and Joke Mat, “Erfenis Van Bommen En Granaten” [The Heritage of Bombs and Grenades], Nrc Handelsblad (Dutch newspaper), 14 August 2000.
