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Key developments since May 2001: Austria continued to play an important role in promoting universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. In September 2001, Austria was named as co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention. While mine action funding had doubled in 2000, it returned in 2001 to its previous level of ATS 13.7 million (about $888,000). Considerable funding has been pledged in 2002 for mine action in Afghanistan.
Austria signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 29 June 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. National legislation containing penal sanctions for activities prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty pre-date the treaty.[1]
Austria participated in the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 in Managua, Nicaragua.[2] The Austrian delegation acted as “friend of the chair” for the President’s action program annexed to the final report of the Meeting. Austria was named to act as co-rapporteur of the intersessional Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention in the 2001-2002 session.[3]
Austria actively participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002.[4] At the meetings, Austria has contributed to the discussions on Mine Ban Treaty Article 2, and the issue of antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices. Austria has called on a number of occasions for States Parties to adopt best practices with respect to these mines (see below).[5] On 31 May 2002, at the meeting of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation, Austria declared that:
In our view, the definition of APMs is straightforward. It is a mine which is designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person... In this respect, we completely agree with the argument put forward by the ICRC in its Working Paper of January 2002, that any mine – regardless of how it is labeled – is banned by the Convention “if the design is such that it would detonate by the presence, proximity or contact of a person.”[6]
Austria submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report, for calendar year 2001, on 30 April 2002. As Austria has completed destruction of its antipersonnel mines and has retained no antipersonnel mines for permitted purposes, the report adds new information only in the voluntary Form J, noting Austrian donations to mine action in 2001. Previous Article 7 Reports were submitted on 29 July 1999, 28 April 2000 and 30 April 2001.[7]
On 29 November 2001, Austria cosponsored and voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Austria has participated in the Universalization Contact Group formed by States Parties to encourage non-States Parties to join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible, and the Article 7 working group formed to assist States Parties in transparency reporting. At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2002 Austria encouraged signatory States to voluntarily submit Article 7 reports in advance of ratification.[8]
The focus of Austrian activities in support of universalization in 2001 and 2002 has been on Central Asia and the Caucasus.[9] A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman stated, “Austria supports the aim of the universalization of the Ottawa Convention and its obligations. In 2001, it actively continued its efforts to strengthen the goal of universality of the Convention. In this context Austria has supported the endeavors of other States Parties to coordinate efforts with a view to promoting universalization in the framework of the competent committees of the Ottawa Convention wherever feasible. Austria has continued its endeavors to promote the universalization of the treaty in the southern Caucasus and in Central Asia. In particular, Austria fostered relations with representatives from Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in order to disseminate knowledge about the aims of the Ottawa Convention. In addition, bilateral contacts with representatives of Bhutan were used for an exchange in order to discuss the universal validity of the Convention.”[10]
Austria is a State Party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and submitted its annual report under Article 13 of the protocol on 30 October 2001. This differs from the previous Article 13 report only in respect of Form E reporting international cooperation on mine clearance in 2001.[11]
Austria attended the Third Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II and the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001. Belgium delivered a statement on behalf of European Union countries, expressing views on proposals to be considered by the Review Conference.[12]
In its annual report to the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Austria stated that it supports “all efforts that might contribute to the total elimination of anti-personnel mines worldwide, in all appropriate fora, including the Conference on Disarmament, provided these efforts are in support of and consistent with the Ottawa Convention.”[13]
Production and transfer of antipersonnel mines ceased before entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty.[14] Austria stated that its antipersonnel mine stockpile destruction was completed in 1996,[15] and no antipersonnel mines were retained for training and development purposes, as permitted by Mine Ban Treaty Article 3.[16]
In 2001, the NGO Austrian Aid for Mine Victims (AAMV) and Landmine Monitor expressed concerns about the Dynamit Nobel spring percussion igniter, and the type HG 84 fragmentation grenade made by the Austrian company Armaturen GesmbH (Arges), because these devices may be used in, or adapted as, antipersonnel mines. It was believed that Arges had licensed Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) to produce the grenade (which Arges denied) and that POF had adapted it for use in a bounding antipersonnel mine. AAMV and Landmine Monitor have been disappointed by the minimal and ineffective response of the Austrian government on these matters.[17]
On 13 December 2001, an armed attack took place on the parliament building in New Delhi, India. It was reported that the grenades used bore the markings of Arges.[18] While this attack did not involve landmines, it generated interest in Arges and its ties to Pakistan and landmines. The Green Party sent letters of inquiry to the foreign affairs and interior ministries.[19] The letters were answered by each Ministry on 27 March.[20] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that matters related to export licenses were not its responsibility.[21] It did not know of the Arges grenade and had not instituted any investigations.[22] Asked if Arges (or related companies) had ever applied for permission to license production abroad, the Ministry of the Interior replied that license agreements for armaments do not need a permit under national legislation (the War Materials Act).[23] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied that it had found no information on such applications, but made reference to an article in an Indian newspaper which stated Arges’ predecessor-company sold production machinery for grenades to a Pakistani firm in 1969-1971, and granted a licence for production of the grenades. [24]
The Austrian delegations to the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 and at the meeting of the Standing Committee on General Operation and Status of the Convention on 1 February 2002 supported the establishment of best practices regarding the design and use of certain fuzing mechanisms on antivehicle mines. Austria also supported the recommendation that States Parties review their inventories of antivehicle mines to ensure that the risk to civilians is minimized.
In March 2002, a Ministry of Defense official told Landmine Monitor that the armed forces did not possess antivehicle mines which were not compliant with the Mine Ban Treaty.[25] Austria also stated in its most recent Amended Protocol II Article 13 report that its “Armed Forces do not possess mines, booby-traps or other devices which are not in compliance with the technical provisions of this Protocol or which would be in contradiction with the obligations from other international treaties.”[26]
In April 2002, a member of the Disarmament Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that progress on this issue of antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices should be expected within the framework of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, not the Mine Ban Treaty, and that the two instruments should complement each other.[27] At the May 2002 Standing Committee meeting, Austria declared, “We think that the development of best practices would be a suitable way to address the humanitarian problems of such mines. In this respect, we would again like to invite States Parties to consider adopting the best practices for AV mines with sensitive fuses like these that were identified in the report of the Expert Meeting hosted by the ICRC in March 2001.”[28]
At the May 2002 Standing Committee meeting, Austria also gave its legal analysis of the treaty definitions of antipersonnel mine and antihandling device. The ICBL and many States Parties have expressed the view that an antivehicle mine with an antihandling device that explodes from the unintentional act of a person is defined as an antipersonnel mine and therefore prohibited. Austria, while re-stating its view that any mine, regardless of how it is labeled, is banned by the treaty if its design is such that it will detonate as a result of the presence, proximity or contact of a person, also offered these comments with respect to antivehicle mines equipped with antihandling devices:
The words to tamper with or otherwise intentionally disturb the mine mean in our opinion that the conduct of a person must be aimed at disturbing the mine. Such acts include, inter alia, removing, destroying or disrupting the mechanism of the mine. Conduct or acts that are not aimed at disturbing the mine are not covered by the word tamper with or otherwise intentionally disturb the mine. If a device were designed to activate through conduct not aimed at disturbing the mine, we would not consider it to be a legitimate AHD [antihandling device]. The action of the person must be directed at the tampering with or otherwise intentionally disturbing the mine. However, in our view, it is not necessary that the person is aware of the fact that it is a mine with which it is tempering with or disturbing. Hence, we consider an AHD that activates when a person that does not know that it is dealing with a mine is removing, destroying or disrupting the mine to be a legitimate device.[29]
The Austrian policy for funding of mine action was described in Landmine Monitor Report 2001. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added in January 2002, with respect to victim assistance, that “in general terms, Austria advocates an integrated approach towards the recipient countries, and due to the form and comprehensive character of our projects a clear distinction [between victim assistance and other projects]...is not always feasible or even desirable.”[30]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that mine action funding totaled ATS 13,683,385 (US$888,511) in 2001.[31] The ATS 13.7 million represents funds actually dispersed out of the budgeted ATS 15 million.[32]
Landmine Monitor has previously reported that mine action funding totaled about ATS15 million (US$950,000) in 1999 and ATS30 (US$1.9 million) in 2000, with a total of US$7.1 million from 1994-2000.[33] At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2002, Austria reported that over the last three years it had allocated approximately US$4 million to mine action programs.[34]
In 2001, in addition to the financial contributions, Austria continued to provide in-kind assistance in the form of six personnel undertaking clearance of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) with UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Golan. Training programs were also offered by Austrian military personnel in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, the Golan Heights, and in other contexts.[35]
Funds designated for Mozambique in 2001 (ATS 5,711,360 or US$363,548) were not used due to the slow progress of the projects, according to the responsible section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[38]
A mine survivors project in Cambodia was completed in September 2001. This was a joint project of Austrian Aid For Mine Victims and the Development Technology Workshop in Phnom Penh, providing skills training for Cambodian mine survivors in the manufacturing of demining machinery. The project was considered a success; all trainees found employment and are in the position to support their families. Disability Action Council officials evaluated the training conditions and were satisfied.[39]
For 2002, funding of ATS 15 million (US$982,500) is budgeted. Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner also pledged a further €1.9 million (US$1.7 million) for Afghanistan at a donor conference in Japan in 2001. The period of time over which this will be spent, and the proportion to be devoted to mine action projects, was not decided.[40] However, in May 2002 at the meeting of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, it was suggested that the full amount would be for mine action over the coming three to four years.[41] The UNMAS database shows a total of US$2.8 million budgeted by Austria for 2002, including US$2,135,000 for mine action projects in Afghanistan.[42]
Although Austria contributed to the funding of the NATO Partnership for Peace project in Albania in 2001, which destroyed Albania’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines, no funding is planned in 2002 for the Partnership for Peace project in Moldova, as this project is considered to have only a small relevance to antipersonnel mines.[43]
Austrian NGOs contributed at least US$97,549 to mine action in 2001. In addition, the Austrian National Committee for UNICEF contributed ATS 1.5 million (US$98,250) via UNICEF headquarters for mine awareness and victim assistance projects in a number of countries.[44]
Caritas donated ATS704,632 (US$46,153) via its project partner, Mutter Teresa Vereinigung, in Pristina, Kosovo for economic support to mine victims and their families (50 families each received a dairy cow with veterinary certificates).[45]
The Entwicklungshilfe-Klub donated €42,952 (US$38,571) to the Jesuit Service Cambodia, via Misereor, for victim assistance in 2001.[46]
The Rotary Club-Salzburg West donated US$3,000 via Austrian Aid for Mine Victims for wheelchairs to the Jesuit Service Cambodia. It also donated €7,000 from the proceeds of a golf tournament fundraiser to AAMV for its mine action work.[47]
Some NGOs which had previously funded mine action projects provided no funding in 2001, including CARE Austria, Médecins sans Frontières-Austria, and the Austrian Red Cross. A number of these organizations plan to provide mine action funding in 2002.
The Schiebel company is involved in two international R&D projects into mine survey and clearance technology: the Demand and ARC projects. These are partially funded by the European Union. Schiebel is coordinating the ARC project, which aims to develop a new airborne system for technical survey and post-clearance quality control. The project has a 30-month duration, until September 2003, and uses an enhanced Schiebel unmanned aerial vehicle (“camcopter”). In 2001-2002, the project was developing multi-spectral data analysis and fusion techniques, combined with the Geographic Information System. A field evaluation carried out in Croatia in 2001 led to refinements of the entire system. A prototype is being prepared for further minefield trials in 2002, which will focus on screening image data for minefield indicators so as to distinguish between suspected mined areas that contain mines and those that do not.[48]
The Hadi-Maschinenbau company developed and produced the FMR 2000 mine clearing device, a thirty-six-ton vehicle which is remotely-operated operated and mills the soil to a depth of 40 centimeters. According to the manufacturers, this avoids endangering personnel and allows more efficient clearance of terrain where other machines do not operate efficiently, such as dense vegetation and rocky ground. From 4-29 September 2001, with the assistance of the Austrian Ministry of Defense and the German NGO HELP, Hadi reportedly successfully cleared a suspected mined area near Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[49]
| <AUSTRALIA | BAHAMAS> |
[1] For details of Austria’s leading role in the Ottawa Process and national legislation preceding the Mine Ban Treaty, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 524-528, Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 567-569, and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 603.
[2] The delegation included Alexander Kmentt (acting head of delegation), Counselor at the Austrian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Hans Georg Danninger and other members of the Austrian Development Cooperation section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[3] Alexander Kmentt, Counselor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, served in this role in the January and May 2000 meetings of the Standing Committee.
[4] The delegations included Alexander Kmentt and Stefan Scholz from the Permanent Mission; Brigadier-General Peter Grabner, Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in Geneva; Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Monsberger, Head of Arms Control Section, Ministry of Defense; and Dr. Wernfried Koeffler, Head of Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[5] Landmine Monitor notes, Third Meeting of States Parties, Managua, Nicaragua, 18-21 September 2001; Landmine Monitor notes, Standing Committee on the General Operation and Status of the Convention, Geneva, 1 February 2002, and telephone interview with Alexander Kmentt, Counselor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, 11 February 2002.
[6] Statement of Austria to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 31 May 2002, accessed at: www.gichd.ch/pdf/mbc/SC_may02/speeches_gs/Statement_Austria_ Article_2.pdf on 29 June 2002.
[7] Article 7 Reports, submitted on 29 July 1999 for the period 1 March-30 April 1999; submitted on 28 April 2000 for the period 30 April-31 December 1999; submitted on 30 April 2001 for calendar year 2000; and submitted on 3 May 2002 for calendar year 2001.
[8] Statement of Austria to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 31 May 2002.
[9] Telephone interview with Alexander Kmentt, Counselor, Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, 25 March 2002.
[10] Interview with Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 3 April 2002, and email on 8 April 2002.
[11] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, submitted on 30 October 2001.
[12] See report on Belgium in this edition of the Landmine Monitor.
[13] Report of the Austrian Permanent Mission to the OSCE, submitted on 1 December 2001.
[14] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 528-529.
[15] Article 7 Report, submitted on 29 July 1999 for the period 1 March-30 April 1999; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 571.
[16] Article 7 Reports, Form D, submitted on 30 April 2001 for calendar year 2000; and submitted on 3 May 2002 for calendar year 2001.
[17] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 605-606. The Foreign Ministry states it made no inquiries with Arges about the matter because the company denied the allegation. Email from Romana Koenigsbrun, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 6 August 2002.
[18] “Militants Used Grenades of Austrian Origin?,” Hindu (Indian daily newspaper in English), 17 December 2001; “Granaten aus OÖ bei Anschlag” (“Grenades from Upper Austria in Terror Attack”), Kurier (Austrian daily newspaper), 13 January 2002; “Attentat in Indien mit Waffen aus Osterreich?” (“Terror Attack in India with Weapons from Austria”), Die Kronen Zeitung (Austrian daily newspaper), 13 January 2002; “Osi-Granaten aus Pakistan” (“Austrian Grenades from Pakistan”), Salzburger Nachrichten (Austrian daily newspaper), 21 January 2002; “Durchschlagender Export” (“Penetrating Export”), Format (Austrian weekly magazine), 21 January 2002.
[19] The letters of inquiry, dated 30 January 2002, were signed by Members of Parliament Dr. Peter Pilz and Ulrike Lunacek, to the Ministry of the Interior (3327/J) and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (3326/J-NR/2002).
[20] Letter from the Ministry of the Interior, 27 March 2002 (3330/AB XXI.GP) to Deputies Dr. Peter Pilz and colleagues, and letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 March 2002 (3339/AB XXI.GP) to Deputies Dr. Peter Pilz and colleagues.
[21] Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 March 2002.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Letter from the Ministry of the Interior, 27 March 2002.
[24] Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 March 2002, citing The Hindu, 16/17 February 2002.
[25] Interview with Lt.-Col. Monsberger, Arms Control Section, Ministry of Defense, Vienna, 27 March 2002.
[26] Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form C, submitted on 30 October 2001.
[27] Interview with Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 3 April 2002.
[28] Statement of Austria to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 31 May 2002.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Email from Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 25 January 2002. For details of funding policy, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 607.
[31] Email from Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 25 January 2002. Exchange rate on 22 May 2002: US$1 = ATS 0.0655.
[32] Ibid. The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) database records that Austria contributed $1,330,850 to mine action in 2001. UNMAS Mine Action Investments database, accessed at: www.mineaction.org, on 22 May 2002. The Foreign Ministry has informed UNMAS of several mistakes in its database entry for Austria. Email from Romana Königsbrun, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 10 July 2002.
[33] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 608-609 and Executive Summary 2001, p. 45.
[34] “Austrian Interventions Intersessional 27-31 May 2002,” Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Awareness and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 30 May 2002, accessed at: www.gichd.ch /pdf/mbc/SC_may02/speeches_mc/Statement_Austria_Assistance_Cooperation.pdf on 1 July 2002.
[35] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, Form E, submitted on 30 October 2001.
[36] Email from Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 25 January-February 2002. Article 7 Report, Form J, for calendar year 2001, submitted on 3 May 2002; UNMAS Mine Action Investments database. The US$ and € amounts in the table are as calculated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2002, and as appearing in the UNMAS database and the Article 7 Report Form J.
[37] The ITF reported this donation as $39,971 in its Annual Report 2001.
[38] Telephone interview with Günter Stachel, Austrian Development Cooperation, 9 April 2002. Austria provided ATS 5.6 million for mine action in Mozambique in 2000. Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 608.
[39] Email from Judith Majlath, AAMV, 10 March 2002.
[40] Telephone interview with Dr. Andreas Liebmann, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 March 2002, and interview with Gerhard Doujak, Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vienna, 25 May 2002.
[41] “Austrian Interventions Intersessional 27-31 May 2002,” Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Awareness and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 30 May 2002.
[42] “Current and Planned Donor Activity for Austria,” UNMAS Mine Investment database, accessed at: www.mineaction.org on 22 May 2002.
[43] Telephone interview with Karl Brummer, Mission to NATO, Austrian Embassy, Brussels, 27 March 2002.
[44] Email from Sylvia Tresek, Austrian National Committee for UNICEF, 12 March 2002.
[45] Email from Marion Feik, Emergency Aid Manager, Caritas, 20 March 2002.
[46] Fax from Franz Christian Fuchs, Entwicklungshilfe-Klub, 13 February 2002.
[47] Email from Judith Majlath, AAVM, 19 July 2002.
[48] Email from Schiebel GmbH, 17 June 2002. See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 610.
[49] “FMR 2000 in Humanitarian Use in Bosnia,” Media Information, Hadi-Maschinenbau, emailed on 21 June 2002.
