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Key developments since May 2001: Eritrea acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 27 August 2001, and it entered into force on 1 February 2002. Two NGOs carried out surveys in 2001, and initial preparations for a Landmine Impact Survey began in March 2002. Mine clearance and mine risk education activities increased greatly. The UNMEE MACC reported that from November 2000 through December 2001, over 10 million square meters of land and 989 kilometers of roads were cleared, destroying more than 1,865 mines. More than 400 Eritreans were trained as deminers in 2001. There were 154 new landmine/UXO casualties reported in Eritrea in 2001, nearly half in May-July as refugees and IDPs began returning home.
Eritrea acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 27 August 2001, and it entered into force for the country on 1 February 2002. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine Monitor, “Eritrea is eager to be a partner with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.”[1] The Program Manager of the Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC) of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) told Landmine Monitor that he believes Eritrea is committed to implementing the Mine Ban Treaty, although it will likely need various technical or other forms of assistance to fully implement many of the treaty’s elements.[2] A senior United Nations Development Program (UNDP) technical advisor will assist the Eritrean government in implementing the treaty, in addition to his other mine action responsibilities; he arrived in Asmara in January 2002.
Landmine Monitor is not aware of Eritrea’s adoption yet of any national implementation measures, as required by Article 9 of the Mine Ban Treaty. Eritrea’s initial Article 7 transparency report was due by 31 July 2002, its deadline for destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines is 1 February 2006, and its deadline for clearance of emplaced mines is 1 February 2012.
Eritrea was scheduled to attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001, but the two-person delegation could not transit en-route through the United States due to the 11 September 2001 attacks in the U.S.[3] Eritrea did participate in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002 in Geneva.
In November 2001, Eritrea cosponsored and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. Eritrea is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and did not participate in the third annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II of the CCW or the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001.
There have been no reports of new use of antipersonnel landmines by Eritrean forces since the end of the border conflict in June 2000.[4]
Eritrea states that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, while acknowledging that Eritrean troops have made booby-traps and other improvised explosive devices.[5] Eritrea claims that it has never imported antipersonnel mines, but that it obtained all of its landmines from Ethiopian forces during the war for independence.[6]
At the intersessional Standing Committee meeting in January 2002, the Eritrean delegation confirmed the figure of 450,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines as reported in Landmine Monitor 2001, adding that 40,000 mines had been destroyed by the Eritrean Defense Force “immediately” upon the end of the liberation war.[7] The MACC told Landmine Monitor that these figures - the number of mines in Eritrea’s possession and what it claims to have destroyed - are general estimates that are difficult to confirm as of April 2002.[8]
The legacy of the Second World War, the thirty years of independence struggle from 1961 to 1991 and the 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia have left Eritrea with a severe landmine problem. The border conflict left heavy areas of contamination in the southern portion of the country. Of the landmines and UXO from the Thirty Year Struggle, ten of the 11 major battle sites believed to contain mines are in the northern and northwestern provinces; the eleventh is in the southeast province.[9] The Eritrean government told Landmine Monitor that a significant percentage of all mines had been cleared after the war of independence ended in 1991 but, due mostly to technical shortcomings, as many as 150,000 mines may have remained in areas previously thought to be cleared.[10]
In May 2001, records of 313 mined areas throughout the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), and just south of the TSZ (in Ethiopian-controlled territory), were provided to UNMEE MACC in Asmara. The mined areas are concentrated in the Shilalo/Shambuqo area in the west; around Senefe, Tsorena, and Zalanmbesa in the center; and north of Buray in the TSZ in the east.[11] The Eritrean government carefully recorded minefields for later removal.[12]
Based on these records, UNMEE MACC estimates about 240,000 mines were laid by Eritrea during the border conflict.[13] It believes that Ethiopian forces removed the majority of these mines during the periods they occupied the region, as very few mines are currently being discovered during the demining operations in Eritrean minefields.[14]
Ethiopia has steadfastly denied any use of mines by its forces during the border conflict.[15] But in April 2002, Ethiopia provided UNMEE MACC detailed maps of mines its forces laid in Eritrea during the conflict.[16] These records include information on mines remaining in the ground after Ethiopian forces conducted substantial clearance operations prior to withdrawing from territories it held.[17] MACC estimates Ethiopia laid approximately 150,000 to 200,000 mines in Eritrea during this period.[18]
Reportedly, as a result of the use of cluster bombs by the Ethiopian air force in May 2000 at the Korokon refugee camp in western Eritrea, unexploded bomblets remain from the attack. The administrator of the camp, which contained about 7,000 families at the time of the attack, reported seeing about ten “cluster bomb cases” at the time of the attack.[19] Child cattle herders at the camp walked through heavily-affected areas at the camp, and were “taking the copper charges from the bomblets and using them as cow bells.”[20] Aid and mine clearance agencies found 20 bomblets in an impromptu play area made by the children at the camp.[21] The Adi Bare Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp also reported unexploded cluster munitions to a British NGO working in the area.[22]
In total, as many as two million landmines and other UXO may have been laid in Eritrea over the past 50 years, including mines left since WWII, as well as in both wars with Ethiopia.[23] The Mine Action Support Group carried out a field trip to Eritrea and Ethiopia in May 2002 to assess the impact of mine action from a donor country perspective.[24] It was in Eritrea from 19-23 May, and reported the following: “The complexity of the landmine and UXO contamination of the Second World War, the conflict for independence (1961-1991) and the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia (1998-2000), confronts the MAP and EMAP [Eritrean Mine Action Program] with daily challenges. Currently there are 592 dangerous areas and 209 mined areas, totaling 660 km2, after a technical survey possibly to be reduced to 330 km2. Referring to the current humanitarian mine clearance capacity of 6.5 km2, one can easily illustrate the enormous task ahead. The area cleared to date in Eritrea is 17 km2.”[25]
The Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC) is an integral part of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). UNMEE MACC began coordinating operations in the Temporary Security Zone mission area in November 2000. In 2001, it began to assist in the development of the national Eritrean Mine Action Program (EMAP).[26] The EMAP is responsible for coordination, tasking, quality assurance, and the National Training Centre (NTC). Operations are the responsibility of mine action NGOs. A national NGO, the Eritrean Demining Agency (EDA) has 180 deminers in three demining teams with another four EDA demining teams being sponsored and managed by international NGOs.[27]
The United Nations Development Program began implementing a capacity-building program to assist EMAP and the EDA develop management and support capacities to carry out their work.[28] The program has regularly scheduled coordination meetings with all concerned mine action organizations to facilitate operations. A working group for technical mine clearance issues also meets to discuss issues related to the mine threat and technical response found in the operating theater.[29]
For 2001, the United Nations Mine Action Investment Database lists $7,607,475 in mine action contributions to Eritrea from nine donors;[30] in addition, the United Kingdom contributed $783,577.[31] The UN database includes (all in US$): Canada, $1,072,063; Denmark, $2,199,000; European Commission, $1,551,228; Finland, $99,000; Germany, $727,851; Netherlands, $500,000; Norway, $333,333; Switzerland, $75,000; United States, $1,050,000.
Denmark has reported to Landmine Monitor funding in 2001 for the Danish Demining Group totaling $2.075 million for demining in Eritrea, and $3 million to DanChurchAid for their mine action capacity building in Eritrea.[32] In addition, upon Eritrea’s accession to the Mine Ban Treaty in August 2001, the Netherlands pledged $500,000 to the program for assistance in implementing the treaty, which was dedicated to the Eritrean Demining Agency (EDA) for the purchase of new demining equipment.[33] The Netherlands is also the principal funder of the HALO Trust mine action program in Eritrea.
The European Community pledged €1.4 million (US$1.26 million) for the UNDP mine action capacity building program (specifically for the Landmine Impact Survey in 2002). Canada donated Can$750,000 for the remaining portion of the LIS. The U.S. Department of State has pledged $1.23 million in humanitarian demining assistance for Eritrea for 2002.[34]
The UNMEE MACC is partly funded by UNMAS through the UN Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF). Last year's budget was listed as approximately $1 million[35] and funding for 2002 was expected to remain at a similar level.[36]
The Halo Trust (HALO) core programme in Eritrea is funded by the Netherlands.[37] Switzerland funds a mine detection dog team and Ireland funds a “Chubby” route antivehicle threat reduction system.[38] Norway is funding a technical survey team and a “Meerkat” route reconnaissance vehicle fitted with a forward mounted antivehicle mine detector. HALO expects that the program to further expand in late 2002 when a project, funded by the European Community, starts to develop a HALO/Eritrean Demining Agency (EDA) manual team.[39]
The Eritrean government provided detailed minefield records to UNMEE MACC on 20 March 2001 for mines used during the 1998-2000 border war.[40] In April 2002, Ethiopia provided to UNMEE MACC details of minefields that they laid in Eritrea during the 1998-2000 conflict, including minefield locations and numbers and types of mines remaining in each minefield after their clearance operations, prior to their withdrawal.[41]
In early 2001 the government of Eritrea requested that the UNMAS facilitate a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) for Eritrea.[42] The Survey Action Center (SAC) and UNMAS conducted an advance survey mission in June 2001. The outcome was the decision to conduct the survey with the government as the implementing agency in the field; the first time an international NGO was not the implementing agency. A follow-on mission by UNMAS in September 2001 produced a final project proposal, budget and preliminary operations plan. In January 2002, a UNDP senior technical advisor for the Capacity Building program arrived in Asmara. In March and April 2002, three additional UNDP technical advisors, including the Senior Technical Advisor for the survey, arrived to begin preparations for the LIS.[43]
The LIS will include the entire Eritrean territory, inside and outside the TSZ, and is intended to help facilitate the EMAP in developing a long-term national mine action strategy. Work officially began in May 2002. The survey will be implemented by the Eritrea Mine Action Programme with the technical assistance of UNDP/Asmara, the Survey Action Center, and Cranfield University Mine Action.[44] Once the survey commences in full, it should take approximately 12 months to complete.[45] The UN reported in early July that the start of the LIS was being delayed due to a lack of trained staff.[46]
As part of a process that HALO describes as “building closer links with the EMAP,” HALO provided two LIS survey teams to undertake a rapid assessment survey both inside and outside the TSZ in 2001.[47] This survey, plus the minefield data provided, revealed a total of 403 known mined areas and 506 "dangerous areas" containing unexploded ordnance or mines, as of January 2002. However, there are many more dangerous areas yet to be discovered and recorded.[48] The information was stored in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database at the UNMEE MACC. HALO is also training two technical survey teams to by used by the EMAP.[49]
In June 2001, Danish Demining Group (DDG) also commenced general surveys, and as of January 2002, had completed 146 surveys in the Debub region and 30 surveys in Gash Barka. All but 37 of the survey reports, which were held back because of limited sources of information in some villages or limited experience of the surveyors, were forwarded to UNMEE MACC.[50]
Mine clearance activities expanded significantly in 2001 and 2002. The various agencies conducting mine clearance in the country include the Danish Demining Group, DanChurchAid (DCA), RONCO, the HALO Trust, EDA and UNMEE demining units.
Since November 2000, more than 1,865 mines have been destroyed, over 10 million square meters of land have been cleared, and 989 kilometers of roads have been cleared.[51] In addition, more than 18,900 UXO have been destroyed.[52] The UN reported that from 1 December 2001 to 28 February 2002, 2,133,369 square meters of minefields and battlefield areas were cleared in the TSZ. Demining units also cleared 163.6 kilometers of road and 675,718 square meters of operational sites.[53]
By the end of 2001, some 400 Eritreans were trained as deminers at the national training center, using Dutch military instructors under the direction of the UNMEE MACC training officer.[54] The deminers were trained in basic demining, leadership, communications, and mapping. They have all been deployed in the field, working for various mine action NGOs.[55]
The Eritrea Demining Agency reported that in 2001 it cleared of 2,448 UXO in the Gash Barka region, including cluster bomblets, mortars, RPGs, bullets, F-1 hand grenades, fuses, and other UXO listed as unknown.[56]
In 2001, HALO’s project employed 470 national staff and four resident expatriates, operating ten clearance, four EOD, four mechanical, two survey, two marking and one mine detection dog (MDD) teams.[57] According to UNMEE MACC’s Program Manager, HALO is the largest NGO working on mine action in Eritrea.[58]
In 2001, HALO cleared and destroyed 1,641 antipersonnel mines, fifty antivehicle mines, and 1,209 items of UXO. HALO’s manual mine clearance teams cleared 240,391 square meters of mine-affected land. HALO’s mechanical teams cleared 29,836 square meters of land and area reduced 862,753 square meters, while its EOD battle area clearance teams cleared 4,783,207 square meters, and the mine detection dog (MDD) team cleared 50,473 square meters. The MDD team is deployed directly onto known mined areas to speed up the process of site area reduction.[59]
In the first half of 2002 (until end June 2002), HALO cleared and destroyed 510 antipersonnel mines, 69 antivehicle mines, 248 items of UXO. The manual teams cleared 330,113 square meters, the mechanical teams cleared 6,485 square meters and reduced 1,704,717 square meters, the EOD teams cleared 1,765,400 square meters and the MDD team cleared 50,473 square meters.
DanChurchAid’s program in Eritrea started in June 2001. As of June 2002, a total of 210,794 square meters of land had been cleared in manual operations; a total of 50,566 square meters of land had been mechanically cleared; and, a total of 9,527,525 square meters had been cleared through the “Danger Area Eliminated” process by EOD teams.[60] The DCA program has trained two manual demining teams, and its mine risk education teams started work in December 2001.[61]
DDG has four quick response teams and four demining sections. It had a Mechanical Mine Clearance Team run in collaboration with DCA until an accident with one of the flails in September 2001. In 2001, DDG also had an EDD capacity with dogs temporarily transferred from its Somaliland program. In 2001, DDG used mechanical flails to clear approximately 280,000 square meters in Gash Barka, creating a safe corridor through a large minefield system near the road leading from Shelalo. EDA and DCA are clearing other parts of this same minefield system. Repatriation into the six villages in the area has been delayed until final clearance.[62]
DDG also used mechanical flails to clear approximately 68,000 square meters of land in Debub in 2001, between Senefe and the village of Tisha. By March 2002, it had cleared 9,935 mines and UXO; of these, about 200 were mines.[63] Of the approximately 348,000 square meters DDG cleared in Gash Barka and Debub via mechanical flailing during 2001, about 95,500 square meters were verified fully cleared by March 2002.[64]
RONCO Consulting Corporation, located in Washington, DC, provided training, equipment and oversight to the Eritrean government under a contract through the U.S. Department of State. As of February 2002, over 120 EDA deminers under RONCO supervision were trained, equipped, and began clearing areas of the Temporary Security Zone. In partnership with the Marshall Legacy Foundation, 12 mine detection dogs and handlers trained by the Global Training Academy were also provided.[65]
The deminers in the peacekeeping force continued to support operational requirements and in doing so cleared a considerable amount of land and roads. In addition force demining assets assisted humanitarian mine action NGO and other agencies by conducting six support activities for humanitarian demining requested through or by UNMEE MACC. Support was provided to UNICEF, HALO, EDA, and DCA with mechanical clearance/reduction equipment.[66]
In an expansion of typical UNMEE activities, a Slovak company will be involved in demining support to the Ethiopia-Eritrea boundary commission demarcation process (resolving the final border dispute from the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia) that was scheduled to begin in April 2002. This represents a ‘major increase in the UNMEE MACC mandate,” according to the program manager.[67] Although UNMEE peacekeeping mandate in its present form is expected to end by the end of 2002, its demining mandate in Eritrea will not be affected by any UNMEE withdrawal from Eritrea. The MACC will remain in Eritrea in order to assist in demining support for the UN border commission ruling, for capacity building, and for Mine Ban Treaty assistance.[68] In mid-April 2002, the UN said it expected demining for border demarcation to be completed by April 2003 “at the latest.”[69]
UNMEE MACC is planning to acquire advanced technology that will identify deeply buried mines using advanced ground-penetration radar.[70]
To assist the EMAP to maintain the IMAS in Eritrea the UNMEE MACC established a Quality Assurance department within the MACC.[71] This cell consists of a chief, two international field monitors, two national monitors as well as a one-man administrative support unit. The QA dept has been fully functioning for a year and now fields fully qualified national capacity. The QA dept conducts a variety of External Quality Inspections on the agencies to monitor progress with each agency being visited every two weeks on average. The QA dept also supplies technical advice to the UNMEE engineering force and will be part of the boundary demarcation mine clearance program. There are plans to develop the role the QA plays in the monitoring of the UNMEE force, which will be unique in that both military and humanitarian components will be inspected by the same agency.[72]
A UNICEF Mine Risk Education (MRE) coordinator arrived in February 2001 to work on developing a two-year MRE strategy for Eritrea to transition from emergency response to long-term community-based programming.[73] An EMAP Chief of Mine Risk Education was appointed in June 2001 to integrate mine risk education with other mine action activities and other humanitarian sectors.[74] EMAP and UNICEF established an inter-agency MRE Working Group to develop a comprehensive, integrated mine risk education program for Eritrea.
Key components for a long-term MRE strategy were identified, including: establishing a training programme and qualifying instructors at the Eritrean National Training Center (NTC); creating a certification process to accredit MRE trainers; conducting MRE presentations and distributing MRE materials to returning refugees in reception centers; and organizing MRE activities in IDP camps and host communities.[75] The Eritrean MRE program will be implemented from September 2001 to December 2003.[76] The total MACC/UNICEF MRE program budget for 2002 is US$840,000.[77]
MACC identified and trained two Eritreans to be master MRE instructors assigned to EMAP’s National Training Center. MACC also employed a consultant to develop a series of workbooks and training packages in MRE, and to train and develop the master trainers in MRE at all levels and for all aspects of MRE in Eritrea. The training materials were completed in July 2002. Mine risk education field teams have been trained to use the IMSMA database and prepare weekly reports on MRE activities and mine/UXO accidents and incidents, which are integrated with the IMSMA database.
The public information aspect of the emergency MRE program expanded throughout the country in 2001 and 2002. In April 2001, UNMEE radio started to broadcast mine awareness messages in several local languages and produced special 30-minute MRE features available on cassette, which are distributed to UN Military Observers to play to civilian populations in the TSZ. In November 2001, the Eritrean government began broadcasting various weekly and bi-weekly mine risk education programs in the nine main languages of the country, and the UNMEE MACC/UNICEF MRE coordinator planned a pilot roadside billboard program for mid-2002.[78]
In early 2001, Danish Church Aid gave an MRE training course to 44 Eritrean employees of humanitarian agencies and mine clearance organizations including EDA, HALO Trust, World Food Program, MSF Holland, Save the Children UK, International Medical Corps, INTERSOS, Oxfam, and Sewit Children’s Theatre. In addition to a multiplying effect as these agencies began to include MRE in their other programmed non-MRE activities in the communities, mine/UXO reports from the field have been generated. DCA’s five MRE teams have also reached approximately 50,000 people through various activities.[79]
In October 2001, the British organization Mines Awareness Trust (MAT) began a community-based MRE program in the high-risk Barentu and Adi Keyh regions of Gash-Barka, funded by UNMAS and the United Kingdom. Local staff was recruited, and through January 2002, some 122 community leaders and 16 school teachers were trained to give MRE presentations in more than 30 villages in Gash-Barka.[80] The MAT program also works with children who do not attend school because they work as herders, which often takes them into the most dangerous areas. Three members of MAT's staff are from the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN).[81]
In late 2001, the UNMEE MACC/UNICEF coordinator also began implementing a comprehensive MRE program for schoolteachers in the high-risk Gash Barka and Debub regions. Some 268 teachers, mostly in elementary and junior-level schools, received training that incorporated MRE instruction into the school programs. This was the first training course conducted by the newly trained master trainers from the National Training Center.[82] Almost all teachers in all highly affected areas in Eritrea have received MRE training.[83]
Throughout 2001, UNMEE provided mine risk education handouts, leaflets, posters, and stickers in several languages, which were widely distributed to people living in the Temporary Security Zone and adjacent areas. It is estimated that by the end of 2001, MRE activities reached over 57,221 Eritrean civilians, including more than 25,000 school children and 6,000 internally displaced persons.[84]
In March 2002, UNMEE MACC began an MRE monitoring and follow-up system to help permanently ensure consistency and quality assurance at all levels and among the different agencies involved in MRE.[85] The UNICEF Mine Risk Education Coordinator, under the direction of UNMEE MACC, began implementing new levels of integration between MRE and overall mine action. As of March 2002 plans were underway for MACC area clearance verification to include an MRE element as part of the UNMEE MACC Quality Assurance (QA) process.[86]
ICRC hired in March 2002 a mine risk education advisor to work with the Red Cross Society of Eritrea, as part of a capacity building program to establish long-term national MRE programs.[87]
In 2001, 154 new landmine/UXO casualties were reported in Eritrea. Fifty-three people were killed and 101 injured.[88] Data on casualties is collated by UNMEE who receive formal reports of incidents only from within the TSZ.[89] UNMEE MACC believes many incidents outside the TSZ are not reported.[90] A report to the UN Security Council in June 2001 stated that incidents were “currently being reported at the rate of about one per day within the Temporary Security Zone. The real figure, taking into account unreported accidents, may be significantly higher.”[91] Of the total casualties, antipersonnel mines accounted for 30 percent, UXO 39 percent, antivehicle mines nine percent, and the device was unknown for 22 percent of casualties.[92]
The large-scale return of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons was underway by April 2001.[93] Despite demining and mine risk education efforts, there was a sudden rise in reported landmine incidents that corresponded with the start of the repatriation efforts. Two casualties were reported in March, 11 in April, 17 in May, 33 in June, 25 in July, and three in August.[94] Reported incidents decreased throughout the rest of 2001 after July. However, with tens of thousands of refugees and IDPs still waiting to return to their homes in mine-affected areas, the risk of landmine incidents remains high.[95]
In 2001, most of the landmine incidents were reported in the Gash-Barka and Debub regions.[96] The UNMEE MACC attributes many of the incidents to deeply buried mines that “worked their way up to the surface due to climatic and geographical conditions.”[97] Many herders use mined areas for grazing, and some mined areas are used as pathways that connect villages or lead to water holes. It is “a fact of life that civilians are forced to use mined areas to carry out their daily activities.”[98] Reports to UNMEE MACC indicate one-third of the known activity conducted by the victims at the time of the incident involved tending animals.[99]
In March 2001, a Canadian peacekeeper was injured after his vehicle set off a landmine.[100] On 18 August, eight Jordanian peacekeepers were injured after their vehicle hit a mine in the western sector.[101] On 29 September, an operator was injured, and a mechanical flail demining machine partially destroyed, by an antivehicle mine during a Danish Demining Group (DDG) demining operation.[102] On 4 October, one Ethiopian soldier was killed and six injured when their vehicle hit a mine in Sector West.[103]
UNMEE MACC told Landmine Monitor that, at present, UXO represent a greater threat to the civilian population than antipersonnel mines.[104]
Casualties continue to be reported in 2002. On 22 January, four teenage boys were killed and three others were seriously injured by a mine near Senafe.[105] In February, two Eritrean deminers working for the Eritrean Demining Agency, including the section commander, were killed by a TM 57 antivehicle mine in the Shelalo region of the TSZ during a manual clearance operation.[106] On 22 March, an Eritrean driver for HALO Trust died after his vehicle ran over an antivehicle mine on the Maikokah-Tokmbia road near Barentu.[107]
There are few medical and rehabilitation facilities in Eritrea and the capacity for emergency and post-operative care is limited.[108] The Ministry of Health and the Department of Labor and Human Welfare oversee assistance programs for all persons with disabilities, including landmine survivors. The Ministry of Health covers the cost of treatment and rehabilitation, if the mine survivor demonstrates economic hardship. Survivors must obtain a "poverty letter" from their local administrative district to qualify for free services.[109]
According to the ICRC, the three Eritrean prosthetic/orthotic workshops are unable to meet the demand in the country.[110] The ICRC provides orthopedic assistance in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Human Development, which includes an ICRC Orthopedic specialist based in Keren, who helps in securing access to prosthetics. The ICRC also sponsors a physiotherapy program for Eritrean health professionals, which includes general war-trauma management programs. As of January 2002, over 20 physiotherapists graduated from the program and are now practicing in all zones across the country; another 18 Eritreans were enrolled in the 18-month program as of March 2002.[111] In January 2002, the ICRC sponsored a disabilities workshop, with the University of Asmara. More than 4,500 medical professionals, UN and NGO representatives, and government officials attended. The program included segments about mine victims, access to prosthetics, and national disability legislation. The ICRC, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, also sponsored a war surgery seminar in March 2002, for over 130 Eritrean trauma practitioners. Landmine victims were a major focus of the seminar.[112] In November 2001, the ICRC and Eritrean authorities signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a physical rehabilitation program for the disabled in the country.[113]
In 2001, the Landmine Survivors Network continued to provide outreach and ongoing peer support services to mine survivors, which includes home and hospital visits. The program links survivors with services including wheelchairs, crutches, and psychological and rehabilitative support. LSN also translated a pamphlet, “Surviving Limb Loss,” into local languages. In 2001, field workers identified and assisted 181 persons with disabilities, including 83 mine survivors, all from the central (Asmara) region.[114] In addition, LSN organized seven social events for landmine survivors and other amputees.[115] LSN added an additional field outreach worker in 2001, bringing the total of its outreach staff to four - all of whom are landmine survivors.[116]
In regions outside of Asmara, including the heavily mined Gash-Barka region, landmine survivors rarely receive support beyond emergency medical care after the mine incident. Follow-up care in physical therapy, psychological support or prosthetic care is rare outside of Asmara. LSN began an assessment in mid 2001 to determine the greatest needs in these areas.[117] As part of this assessment, a regional survey of ten hospitals in the border areas that contain some of the most heavily affected areas in Eritrea was carried out between July and November 2001. Some of the initial findings include:
The UNDP Capacity Building project includes the provision of a Victims Support Technical Advisor, including a vehicle and office equipment, to work in the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare to support the further development and strengthening of the national capacity to provide assistance to victims.[119]
The long-awaited revised national disability policy has yet to be passed, although a draft has been prepared and is under discussion.[120] The UNDP national capacity building initiative will include working with the government in reviewing the draft law and will assist in its implementation.[121] The ICRC is providing technical assistance in formulating and implementing the law.[122] The aim of the new disability law is to bring Eritrea more in line with internationally accepted disability law standards while keeping in sight what is economically possible.
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[1] Interview with Petros Fessehasiom, Director General for Euro-America and International
Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asmara, 28 March 2002.
[2] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[3] Interview with Director, Eritrea Mine Action Program, Asmara, 19 January 2002.
[4] See previous Landmine Monitor Reports for details of Eritrea’s admitted use of antipersonnel mines in its war for independence and in the border war with Ethiopia from May 1998 to June 2000.
[5] Interview with Habtom Ghebremichael, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Russom Semere, Associate Commissioner-Demining, at the Bamako Seminar on Landmines, Bamako, Mali, 16 February 2001.
[6] Interview with Lt. Col. Associate Commissioner- Demining, The State of Eritrea Commission for Coordination with the UN Peacekeeping Mission, Asmara, 26 February 2001; also, Eritrean Ministry of Defense, “Answers to a Questionnaire Submitted by Landmine Monitor,” 16 May 2000. In its reply to the questionnaire, Eritrea states that it used mines in the past “during the armed struggle against the Ethiopian army. All the mines used were captured from the enemy. Almost all types of mines were Soviet and US origin like PMN, POMZ-2, MON-100, MON-200, M16, M14 and M3, etc.”
[7] Interviews with Russom Semere, Director, Eritrea Mine Action Program, Geneva, 30 January 2002 and 26 March 2002.
[8] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 14 April 2002.
[9] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p. 5.
[10] Interview with Russom Semere, Director, Eritrea Mine Action Program, Asmara, 17 January 2002.
[11] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 29 April 2002.
[15] Letter from Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, to Landmine Monitor, 23 July 2001; see also Ethiopia country report in Landmine Monitor Report 2002.
[16] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 23 April 2002.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Landmine Action, “Explosive Remnants of War,” March 2002, pp. 50-51.
[20] Ibid., pp. 50-52.
[21] Richard Norton-Taylor, “UK Bomblets Surround Refugee Camp,” The Guardian, 26 March 2002.
[22] Email from Andrew Moore, Program Director, Mines Awareness Trust, Asmara, 18 April 2002.
[23] Interview with Russom Semere, Director, Eritrea Mine Action Program, Asmara, 19 January 2002.
[24] The Mine Action Support Group (MASG) is a group of 22 donor countries and the EU. The May 2002 field trip to Eritrea and Ethiopia was the first of its kind for MASG.
[25] Mine Action Support Group, “June Newsletter,” New York, 14 June 2002.
[26] UNMEE, “Mine Action in the Mission Area,” 7 December 2001, p. 1.
[27] Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[28] Interview with Rita Mazzocchi, National Program Officer, UNDP, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[29] Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[30] UNMAS website (http://webapps.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/mai/), visited 2 July 2002.
[31] Hansard, 29 March 2001, col. 723W, and 21 March 2002, col. 471W; Department for International Development, Humanitarian mine action, second progress report (London: DFID, September 2000).
[32] Email from Dorte Brun, Political Officer, Embassy of Denmark, Asmara, 25 February 2002; Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April – December 2001.”
[33] Interview with Rita Mazzocchi, National Program Officer, UNDP, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[34] US Department of State, Fact Sheet, “The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5 April 2002.
[35] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 251.
[36] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[37] The programme began December 2000 and the entire programme became fully operation in August 2001. Fax from Tim Porter, HALO, 29 July 2002.
[38] The Swiss-funded project became operational in June 2001 and the Chubby system on 1 July 2002. Fax to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Tim Porter, Africa Desk Officer, the Halo Trust, 29 July 2002.
[39] Fax from Tim Porter, HALO, 29 July 2002.
[40] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p 252.
[41] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 23 April 2002.
[42] A Level One Survey, as carried out by HALO Trust and DDG in Eritrea, gives an overview of the danger area while a Landmine Impact Survey focuses on the impact of mines on communities rather than the minefield itself.
[43] Interview with Rita Mazzocchi, UNDP, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[44] Survey Action Center Website (www.sac-na.org), 27 June 2002.
[45] Email from SAC, 24 July 2002; interview with Rita Mazzocchi, UNDP, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[46] “Landmine Survey Hampered by Lack of Staff,” IRIN (news service), Nairobi, 12 July 2002.
[47] These were funded by the Dutch government (US$4 million), as well as ECHO and the U.S. Interview with Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January, 2002; interview with Rita Mazzocchi, UNDP, Asmara, 18 January 2002; fax from Tim Porter, HALO, 29 July 2002.
[48] UNMEE, “Mine Action in the Mission Area,” 7 December 2001, p.1.
[49] Fax from Tim Porter, HALO, 29 July 2002.
[50] Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April – December 2001.”
[51] UNMEE, “Mine Action in the Mission Area,” 7 December 2001, p.1.
[52] UNMEE MACC, “Progress Update on Agency’s Mine & UXO Clearance Activity,” 31 December 2001. The UN reported that just from 1 June to 31 August 2001, a total of 2,697,136 square meters was cleared in TSZ and 436,000 square meters of minefields were marked. During the same period MACC cleared 151 kilometers of road and 130,020 square meters of operational sites. UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea,” S/2002/245, New York, 8 March 2002, pp. 4-5.
[53] UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea,” S/2002/245, New York, 8 March 2002, pp. 4-5.
[54] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 8 February 2002.
[55] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[56] EDA/DCA Annual Report, Zone Gash Barka, 31 December 2001.
[57] This section on HALO is drawn from Fax to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Tim Porter, Africa Desk Officer, the Halo Trust, 29 July 2002.
[58] Email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[59] HALO is not using the dogs on large area reduction tasks where there is no direct evidence of mines.
[60] Email from Sam Christense, DanChurchAid, Denmark, 3 July 2002.
[61] DCA-ACT/EDA Mine Action Program Eritrea, Progress Report, December 2001-April 2002.
[62] Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April – December 2001.”
[63] Interview with Erik Willadsen, Program Manager, Danish Demining Group, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[64] Ibid.; Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April-December 2001,” p.16.
[65] Telephone interview with Richard Stickels, Department of State, Office of Humanitarian Demining Program, 14 February 2002.
[66] Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[67] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[68] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 28 March 2002.
[69] UN IRIN report quoting Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 29 April 2002.
[70] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[71] Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[72] Ibid.
[73] Interview with Hannoch Barlevi, Chief of Mine Risk Education, UNICEF, Asmara, 19 January 2002.
[74] UNMACC/UNICEF, “Mine Risk Education Strategy for Eritrea,” 27 September 2001, p. 3.
[75] Ibid., pp. 6-9; interview with Hannoch Barlevi, UNICEF, Asmara, 19 January 2002.
[76] UNMACC/UNICEF, “Mine Risk Education Strategy for Eritrea,” 27 September 2001, p. 5.
[77] Email from Hanoch Barlevi, UNMACC/UNICEF Chief of Mine Risk Education, 21 February 2002.
[78] Mine Risk Education/Technical Working Group Meeting, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 23 March 2002.
[79] Email from Sam Christense, DanChurchAid, Denmark, 3 July 2002.
[80] Mines Awareness Trust, “Monthly Report from 7 December 2001 to 7 January 2002,” pp. 5-7.
[81] Interview with Andrew Moore, Program Manager, Mines Awareness Trust, Asmara, 19 January 2002.
[82] Email from Chamutal Eitam, MRE Instructor and NTC Training Coordinator, UNMACC, 4 April 2002.
[83] Interview with Chamutal Eitam, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[84] UNMEE, “Mine Action in the Mission Area,” 7 December 2002, p.1.
[85] Interview with Chamutal Eitam, UNMACC, Asmara, 27 March 2002; MRE TWG Meeting, UNMACC, Asmara, 23 March 2002.
[86] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 28 March 2002.
[87] Interview with Paul Conneally, Communication Delegate, ICRC, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[88] UNMEE MACC IMSMA Database, “Casualty Report, December 2000 to December 2001.”
[89] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[90] Ibid.
[91] “Progress report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea,” 19 June 2001.
[92] UNMEE MACC IMSMA Database, “Casualty Report, December 2000 to December 2001.”
[93] Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April-December 2001.”
[94] UNMEE MACC IMSMA Database, “Casualty Report, December 2000 to December 2001.”
[95] Interview with Rita Mazzocchi, UNDP, Asmara, 18 January 2002; email from Jeffrey Shannon, Director, Eritrea Development Foundation, 10 January 2002; Danish Demining Group, “Progress Report, Eritrea, April-December 2001,” p. 8.
[96] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[97] Ibid.
[98] Ibid.
[99] MACC IMSMA Database, “Casualty Report,” December 2000 to December 2001.
[100] Steven Edwards, “Landmine blasts hit Canadians, forces ordered off road after second explosion,” National Post, 15 March 2001.
[101] “Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea,” New York, 5 September 2001.
[102] Interview with Erik Willadsen, Program Manager, Danish Demining Group, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[103] “Report of the Secretary-General on Ethiopia and Eritrea,” 13 December 2001.
[104] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[105] UNMEE Press Briefing, Asmara, 24 January 2002; email from Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, 8 February 2002.
[106] Interview with Russom Semere, Director, Eritrean Mine Action Program, Asmara, 26 March 2002.
[107] Interview with Phil Lewis, Program Manager, UNMEE MACC, Asmara, 28 March 2002.
[108] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 208-209.
[109] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 254.
[110] ICRC, “Eritrea - Overview of ICRC actions - 31 May 2002.”
[111] Interview with Paul Conneally, Communications Delegate, ICRC, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
[112] Ibid.
[113] ICRC Special Report, Mine Action 2001, ICRC, Geneva, July 2002, p. 18.
[114] Interview with Tedla Gebrehiwot, Program Director, Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) Eritrea, Asmara, response to Landmine Monitor Survivor Assistance Questionnaire, 15 March 2002.
[115] Email from Tedla Gebrehiwot, Program Director, LSN Eritrea, Asmara, 22 March 2002.
[116] Interview with Tedla Gebrehiwot, Program Director, LSN Eritrea, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[117] Ibid.
[118] LSN Eritrea, “Hospital Research Survey Report,” January 2002, pp. 2-5.
[119] Email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Phil Lewis, UNMEE MACC, 1 August 2002.
[120] Interview with Tedla Gebrehiwot, Program Director, LSN Eritrea, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[121] Interview with Rita Mazzocchi, National Program Officer, UNDP, Asmara, 18 January 2002.
[122] Interview with Paul Conneally, Communications Delegate, ICRC, Asmara, 27 March 2002.
