| <DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | EL SALVADOR> |
Key developments since May 2001: Ecuador completed stockpile destruction on 11 September 2001. It destroyed a total of 260,302 antipersonnel mines. It revised the number of mines retained for training purposes from 16,000 to 4,000. Several mine impact surveys are reportedly underway.
Ecuador signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, ratified on 29 April 1999 and the treaty entered into force on 1 October 1999. Ecuador has not yet enacted legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty domestically.[1] Ecuador submitted its fourth Article 7 transparency report on 31 May 2002.[2]
In September 2001, Ecuador attended the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Managua. On 17 October 2001, Presidents Gustavo Noboa of Ecuador and Alejandro Toledo of Perú signed a Joint Presidential Declaration, which included in its 14 principal objectives a call to make the Andean region a zone of peace, free of weapons including antipersonnel mines.[3]
In November 2001, Ecuador cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Representatives from Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Army attended a conference on “Mine Action in Latin America” in Miami from 3-5 December 2001.[4]
Ecuador participated in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in January and May 2002. At the May meeting, Nelson Castillo, President of the Association of Disabled Veterans “Upper Cenepa” made a statement.
At the XXXII Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly held in Bridgetown, Barbados in June 2002, OAS members adopted a resolution calling for support for action against mines in Perú and Ecuador.[5]
On 17 June 2002, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela) met in Lima and issued the “Lima Commitment.”[6] In the Lima Commitment, six points were outlined related to the Mine Ban Treaty, including complete destruction of stocks, establishing national programs for victim assistance and socioeconomic reintegration, and a call for non-state actors to comply with the international norm against antipersonnel mines.
Ecuador is a State Party to Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but did not attend CCW meetings held in December 2001.
Servicio Paz y Justicia Ecuador (SERPAJ) has been the ICBL representative for Ecuador since May 2001 and has carried out the country report research for Landmine Monitor in 2001 and 2002.
Ecuador states that it has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and has no production facilities.[7] From information included in its Article 7 Reports, in the past Ecuador has received antipersonnel mines from Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, Spain, and the United States.[8]
There were no reports of mine use in Ecuador during the reporting period, including in regions along the border with Colombia. Ecuador has stated that it has not used antipersonnel mines since the 1995 Cenepa border conflict with Perú, but reports of use persisted until 1998.[9]
Ecuador officially completed its stockpile destruction on 11 September 2001, when it destroyed a final 8,051 antipersonnel mines.[10] Ecuador’s Vice President, Pedro Pinto, Army officials, representatives of the Red Cross of Ecuador, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), and Landmine Monitor witnessed this destruction event. Representatives and technical experts from the OAS and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB) have “assisted and certified the process of stockpile destruction.” [11] By completing this task ahead of the Third Meeting of State Parties, which opened on 18 September 2001, Ecuador met the key “Managua Challenge” goal.
In total, Ecuador destroyed 260,302 antipersonnel mines. In its first phase of stockpile destruction, it destroyed 101,458 mines. In its first Article 7 Report, Ecuador indicated that this destruction occurred prior to March 2000.[12] These mines were transferred to the Logistics Support Brigade No. 25 (Reino de Quito) and were destroyed by detonation at the Army’s Practice Range (El Corazón) in Machaci, Pichincha province, near Quito.[13]
In the second phase, a total of 158,844 mines were destroyed by September 2001. This included: 125,831 T-A-B-1 mines, 23,272 VS-50 mines, 48 PMD-6M mines, 100 PRB M-35 mines, 7 M18A1 mines, 25 P-4-B mines and 9,561 PRB-M 409 mines.[14] The destruction was a joint effort by the Mine Clearance Center of Ecuador (CENDESMI, Centro de Desminado del Ecuador) and the OAS Integrated Mine Action Program (AICMA, Acción Integral Contra las Minas Antipersonal).[15]
Between September 2001 and January 2002, a further 9,561 PRB-M 409 antipersonnel mine s were destroyed by the CENEPA Engineers Brigade (25).[16]
Ecuador had reported a total of 5,856 “MOH-50” antipersonnel mines in its inventory, of which it had planned to destroy 4,856 and retain 1,000 for training purposes. These are apparently ex-Soviet “Claymore” type directional fragmentation mines, usually designated MON-50. An official told Landmine Monitor that Ecuador decided to keep all of these mines after a determination that they are not prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty when used only in command-detonation mode.[17]
On 19 September 2001, Ecuador announced to the Third Meeting of States Parties its intent to reduce the number of mines retained for training from 16,000 to 4,000.[18] On 31 May 2002, Ecuador reported that it has retained 4,000 mines for training as permitted under Article 3. The mines are listed as: 2,100 T-AB-1, 1,479 VS-50, 300 PRB-M 409, 80 PRB-M 35, 25 P-4-B, 10 M18A1 and 6 PMD-6M.[19]
Apart from those 4,000 mines, of the original 16,000 mines slated to be retained:
Previous editions of Landmine Monitor have provided extensive details about the landmine problem in Ecuador. There are five mine-affected areas from the 1995 “Cenepa” border conflict with Perú: Cordillera del Cóndor in the south-east border region; Cusumaza-Bombuiza in the east-central border region; Tiwintza on the Peruvian side of the border; and El Oro and Loja provinces in the southern border region.[24] Montalvo in the east-central border region is suspected of being mine-affected.[25] In the west, the provinces of Zamora Chimchipe and Morona Santiago are mine-affected.[26]
In its fiscal year 2001, the United States provided $1.76 million to Ecuador for mine action.[27] This contribution covered the costs of US Special Operations Forces “train the trainer” programs, as well as the provision of vehicles and equipment for demining.[28]
In addition, in 2001 contributions to the OAS Assistance Program for Demining in both Ecuador and Perú totaled $1.59 million ($594,000 from Japan and $1 million from the US).[29] This represents an increase from $772,347 contributed for the year 2000 ($272,437 from Canada and $500,000 from the US), and $198,000 for 1999 (from Canada).
Total contributions for the “Managua Challenge” project, which assisted stockpile destruction by Ecuador, Honduras, and Perú prior to the Third Meeting of State Parties in September 2001, totaled $487,533 ($448,616 from Canada and $38,917 from Australia).[30]
The General Command of Mine Clearance was established together with the Mine Clearance Center of Ecuador (CENDESMI, Centro de Desminado del Ecuador) in September 1999. Both are responsible for mine action in the country.[31] On 19 March 2001, the OAS and Ecuador signed a Framework Agreement for an Integrated Mine Action Program.[32] According to the Framework Agreement, CENDESMI is responsible for mine clearance operations, training personnel, and promoting landmine survivors training programs.[33] CENDESMI’s headquarters are located near Quito at the “Cenepa” Number 23 Engineers Brigade of the Armed Forces in Sangolquí sector, Pichinca province. There are two field regional command centers, in El Oro province (“Tarqui”) and in Morona Santiago province (“Amazonas”).
The OAS AICMA established a local office in Quito in May 2001 to coordinate support for demining operations.[34] The Ecuadorian Army developed a two-year operational demining plan with the assistance of the OAS AICMA national coordinator.
In 2001, the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database was installed in CENDESMI.[35] In February 2002, representatives from the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted training and provided technical advice on using the database system.[36]
CENDESMI’s National Demining School held four national courses on basic humanitarian demining and one demining instructor course in 2001. In the first quarter of 2002, one basic demining course and one IMSMA training course were conducted. Additionally, the US Army conducted one humanitarian demining course in 2001 and one in 2002.[37] In 2001, Spain held two courses on demining basics. CENDESMI’s school would like to become an international demining training center. In December 2001, the Commander of the “Cenepa” No. 23 Engineers Brigade of the Army made a presentation on Ecuador’s experience in mine clearance at a regional conference on mine action.[38]
According to the head of the General Command for Mine Clearance, an impact survey was carried out in Loja province in November 2001 and impact surveys being carried out in the provinces of El Oro, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chimchipe were scheduled to be completed by August 2002.[39] Previously, carried out an assessment mission in Ecuador in August 1999, and the OAS carried out a technical visit in March 2001.
Ecuador reported that it had cleared a total of 4,439 mines between March 2001 and April 2002 from Santiago (4,355 mines), Tiwintza (30 mines) and El Oro (54 mines).[40] Previously, Ecuador reported that between July 2000 and March 2001 it had cleared 2,973 mines from Santiago (2,889 mines), Tiwintza (30 mines), and El Oro (54 mines).[41]
Ecuador reported in its May 2002 Article 7 Report that a risk education campaign has been developed to teach the civilian population in El Oro and Morona Santiago about the danger of landmines.[42] The Army’s psychological operations branch carries out mine risk education activities, in which it distributes posters, pamphlets, and other materials with mine risk education messages.[43] In March 2001, Ecuador reported that these activities were carried out in border communities in El Oro and Morona Santiago provinces.
Landmine Monitor visited El Oro in March 2002 and found that there was little awareness of the mine problem among the local population, perhaps because mined areas are not in populated centers.[44] A local merchant told Landmine Monitor that “antipersonnel mines were a part of the war, and when the war ended so did that problem.”[45]
Ecuador states that it has taken appropriate measures to make the population aware of the landmine problem, such as using barbed wire with signs stating “Danger,” “Mines,” “Mined Zone” and “Danger: Explosive Mines.”[46] According to Mayor Juan Carlos Guarderas of the General Command for Mine Clearance, maintenance of marking and warnings around minefields has been difficult because the local populations steal the materials, including the barbed wire and warning signs.[47]
Landmine Casualties
There is no systematic data-gathering mechanism for landmine incidents in Ecuador and exact figures are unavailable. The Ministry of Health does not have an official registry and neither does the National Statistics Institute.
In 2001, two mine/UXO incidents were reported. On 25 March 2001 in Shaymi, near the Peruvian border, a man stepped on a mine while hunting and received serious injuries.[48] He was taken to the health clinic in Guayzimi and then to the hospital in Zamora. On 29 May 2001 two children were killed and a third was seriously injured when a grenade they found exploded. The incident occurred in Parroquia Montalvo in Pastaza, while US Army Rangers and the Ecuadorian Jungle Battallion No. 49 were conducting a training exercise.[49]
The most recent reported mine incident took place on 10 January 2002, when a 19 year old Perúvian citizen died after stepping on a landmine reportedly in Ecuadorian territory as he returned home after crossing the border to seek work. The incident occurred in Kanga, close to the Cenepa River and three hours from Shaime. He received first aid in a nearby town but died some hours later while being transferred to another health center.[50] According to Ecuadorian officials however, the mine was in Perúvian territory, but the casualty was brought to an Ecuadorian health center since it was closer.[51]
The local farming population in El Oro and Loja has not reported any landmine casualties, according to personnel at a local hospital.[52]
There have been no recorded mine casualties among deminers since the mine clearance operation began.
According to the U.S. State Department, there were about 120 landmine casualties in Ecuador between 1995 and 1999. The majority were civilians.[53]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
The military in Ecuador has a health care system that provides integrated care to military landmine casualties through the Armed Forces Social Security Institute (ISSFA, Instituto de Seguridad Social de las Fuerzas Armadas). Civilians injured by landmines do not receive the same level of attention as military personnel and existing services remain inadequate. Mine clearance operations have trained personnel and helicopters for evacuation available at all times.[54]
In 2002, five disabled veterans from the Association received training on the IMSMA database system and once the training is completed they will be employed at CENDESMI’s national headquarters and at the regional command centers to assist in developing mine action plans.[55]
In March 1995, a law was enacted to support the victims of the conflict with housing, pensions and school bursaries for their children. According to the President of the Association of Disabled Veterans, victims of the conflict are receiving housing and school bursaries for their children, although at a slow pace.[56] With regards to disabled veterans who are no longer in active service, ISSFA will continue to support them, as long as they remain affiliated to the Association of Disabled Veterans.[57]
In March 2002, Landmine Monitor visited mine-affected zones in the southern border as well as the public hospital in Huaquillas and the military hospital in Pasaje. According to administrative staff at the public hospital, no landmine casualties have been registered at the hospital. Hospital records reviewed by Landmine Monitor indicated that five mine casualties were treated at the hospital during the Cenepa conflict.[58] According to administrative staff, the hospital is not equipped to provide medical care to landmine survivors and does not have the capacity to provide prostheses; for this a survivor would have to be taken to the Military Hospital in Pasaje. The military hospital opened an Orthopedic Center, which provides wheelchairs, crutches, and other aids for disabled persons.[59]
| <DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | EL SALVADOR> |
[1] In its Article 7 Reports, Form A (national implementation measures) mentions only the establishment of the Mine Clearance Center (CENDESMI, Centro de Desminado del Ecuador) by Executive Decree No 1247, 23 September 1999.
[2] The report covers the period from March 2001 to April 2002. Ecuador’s first report was submitted 29 March 2000 (covering April 1999-March 2000); its second report was submitted 23 August 2000 (covering March-July 2000); its third report was submitted on 5 March 2001 (covering July 2000-March 2001).
[3] Joint Press Release, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador and Peru, 17 October 2001; “Ecuador apoya propuesta sobre reducción de armas,” Diario Oficial El Peruano (Lima), 18 October 2001; see “Declaración conjunta incluyó 68 temas,” El Universo (Guayaquil), 18 October 2001; and Patricia Kadena, “Perú y Ecuador acuerdan reducir gastos militares,” La República (Lima), 18 October 2001.
[4] The Conference was sponsored by the US Department of Defense; the Mine Action Information Center of James Madison University; the Organization of American States (OAS); the US Southern Command; and the US Department of State. See http://hdic.jmu.edu/conferences/latinamerica/.
[5] OAS General Assembly Resolution 1875 (XXXII-O/02), 4 June 2002.
[6] “Compromiso de Lima” (aka the “Andean Letter for Peace and Security towards Limits and Control of External Defense Spending”), 17 June 2002, at: www.rree.gob.pe; see also Statement by Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, at the Conference on Disarmament, 27 June 2002.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form E, 5 March 2001; Article 7 Report, Forms E and H, 31 May 2002.
[8] Article 7 Reports, Form B, 29 March 2000 and 5 March 2001.
[9] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 328.
[10] “Ecuador: Destrucción de minas antipersonal en Ecuador concluirá este martes,” AFP (Quito), 10 September 2001; “Latinoamérica cumple tratado: Sigue destrucción de minas,” El Expreso (Guayaquil), 12 September 2001.
[11] “Destrucción de almacenes en Honduras, Nicaragua, Perú y Ecuador,” in El Desminado (OAS), Vol. 1 Number 1, November 2001.
[12] Article 7 Report, Form G, 29 March 2000. Antipersonnel mines destroyed included 93,278 MAPP 78 F-2 mines (manufactured by Chile), 4,655 MAPP 78 F-2 mines (Chile), and 3,525 MAPT 78 tracción F-2 mines (Chile). More recently, a government official stated that the 101,458 mines were destroyed in August 2001. Statement by Ambassador Mario Alemán at the General Debate of the UNGA First Committee, 11 October 2001.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form G, 23 August 2000.
[14] Article 7 Report, Form G, 31 May 2002.
[15] Brochure (in Spanish) by Ecuador and the OAS dated September 2001.
[16] Article 7 Report, Form G, 31 May 2002.
[17] Interview with Major Juan Carlos Guarderas, Comando General de Desminado, Las Malvinas Military Base, 25 May 2002.
[18] Statement by Dr. Alfredo Luna Tobar, Ecuador’s Ambassador to Nicaragua, Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Managua, Nicaragua, 19 September 2001. Notes taken by Landmine Monitor.
[19] Article 7 Report, Forms B and D, 31 May 2002.
[20] “4,500 Anti-personnel Landmines Destroyed in Ecuador,” Xinhua (Quito), 22 January 2002.
[21] Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, “Destruction Event Act,” 17 January 2002. The 4,500 mines were 1,334 T-AB-1, 3,121 VS-50, 40 PMD-6M and 5 P-4-B. Landmine Monitor notes that the PMD-6M and P-4-B mines seem to be in excess of what Ecuador reported in stock and having destroyed.
[22] The 1,644 mines were 1,000 T-AB-1, 400 VS-50, 200 PRB-M 409, 20 PRB-M 35, 20 P-4-B, 4 PMD-6M. Article 7 Report, Form D, 31 May 2002. Interviews with Gustavo Anda, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Interview with Major Juan Carlos Guarderas, Comando General de Desminado, Las Malvinas Military Base, 25 May 2002.
[23] It is possible that there was a mix-up in numbers of T-AB-1 and MOH-50 mines retained and destroyed, with 4,856 MOH-50s being included in the total of 125,831 T-AB-1 mines.
[24] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 265. See also, Article 7 Reports, Form C, 31 May 2002, 5 March 2001, 29 March 2000.
[25] Article 7 Report, Form C, Tables 1 and 2, 5 March 2001; Article 7 Report, Form C, 31 May 2002.
[26] Ibid., Form G.
[27] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 38.
[28] Ibid.
[29] “OAS Mine Action Program: Statement of Contributions Received by December 2001, 1992-2001,” Non-official table provided in email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Carl Case, OAS, 18 June 2002.
[30] Colonel William McDonough, “Report of the OAS-Mine Action Program to the Committee on Hemispheric Security,” 14 March 2002.
[31] CENDESMI was created by Executive Decree 1247 of 23 September 1999. Article 7 Report, Form A, 5 March 2001.
[32] OAS, “Destroying Land Mines in Ecuador, Peru,” (Newsletter), May-June 2001.
[33] Landmine Monitor has a copy of the Framework Agreement.
[34] OAS Brochure “Republica del Ecuador, Destrucción de Minas Almacenadas,” Quito, September 2001; Colonel William McDonough, “Report of the OAS-Mine Action Program to the Committee on Hemispheric Security,” 14 March 2002.
[35] Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, “Updates on Activities between January and December 2001,” 31 December 2001, p. 4.
[36] Landmine Monitor was present at the IMSMA presentation. See Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, “Updates on Activities between January and April 2002,” 30 April 2002, p. 4.
[37] Article 7 Report, Form K, 31 May 2002. Standard Article 7 Reports do not contain a Form K, however Ecuador created an additional category in order to include “other” information.
[38] Colonel Milton Carrera, “Ecuadorian perspectives,” at the “Mine Action in Latin America”
Conference, Miami, 3-5 December 2002.
[39] Interview with Major Juan Carlos Guarderas, Comando General de Desminado, Las Malvinas Military Base, 25 May 2002.
[40] Article 7 Report, Form G, 31 May 2002.
[41] Article 7 Report, Form G, 5 March 2001.
[42] Article 7 Report, Form I, 31 May 2002.
[43] Interview with Corporal Alemán, Mine Risk Education Officer, Army of Ecuador; Article 7 Report, Form I, 5 March 2001.
[44] Landmine Monitor trip to Huaquillas, Santa Rosa and Pasaje, El Oro province, March 2002.
[45] Interview with a merchant in Huaquillas, March 2002.
[46] Article 7 Report, Form I, 31 May 2002.
[47] Interview with Major Juan Carlos Guarderas, Comando General de Desminado, Las Malvinas Military Base, 25 May 2002.
[48] “Cazador pisó mina antipersonal,” La Hora Zamora (Zamora), 25 March 2001.
[49] Marcelo Gálvez, “Dos muertos en maniobras,” El Universo (Guayaquil), 30 May 2001.
[50] “Joven Perúano pierde la vida al pisar mina” in La Hora (Zamora, Ecuador), 15 January 2002.
[51] Landmine Monitor interview with Gustavo Anda, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; interview with Major Juan Carlos Guarderas, Comando General de Desminado, Las Malvinas Military Base, 25 May 2002.
[52] Landmine Monitor interview with personnel of Huaquillas Hospital, province, 11 March 2002.
[53] Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining, 3rd edition, U.S. Department of State, Washington, November 2001, p. 38.
[54] For more details see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 333-334.
[55] Article 7 Report, Form J, 31 May 2002.
[56] Interview with Sergeant Nelson Castillo, President, Association of Disabled Veterans “Upper Cenepa,” Quito, 8 April 2002.
[57] Interview with Corporal González, disabled veteran no longer in active service. Corporal González discussed the cases of six disabled sergeants no longer in active service.
[58] Interview with staff of Huaquillas Hospital, Huaquillas, 12 March 2002.
[59] Interview with staff of the Military Hospital, Pasaje, March 2002.
