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Key developments since May 2001: In December 2001, India began laying antipersonnel and antivehicle mines along its 1,800-mile border with Pakistan. This is apparently one of the largest mine-laying operations anywhere in the world in years. There have been numerous reports of civilian casualties, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the measures taken to protect civilians, as required by CCW Amended Protocol II. There is also concern about possible Indian use of non-detectable mines. There were at least 332 new mine casualties reported in 2001, and another 180 mine casualties reported between 1 January and 17 June 2002. India’s Ambassador Rakesh Sood chaired the key Main Committee One during the Second CCW Review Conference and is now chair of the Group of Governmental Experts to consider the issues of explosives remnants of war and antivehicle mines.
India has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. No significant change has occurred in the Indian government position on landmines. In October 2001, Ambassador Rakesh Sood stated to the UN General Assembly, “India believes that a phased approach for a non-discriminatory, universal and global ban on anti-personnel mines, that addresses the legitimate defence requirement of States will help ameliorate the critical humanitarian crises that have resulted from irresponsible transfer and indiscriminate use of landmines. The process of complete elimination of APLs will be facilitated by addressing the legitimate defence role of anti-personnel landmines for operational requirements under the defence doctrines of the countries concerned, through the availability of appropriate militarily effective, non-lethal, and cost effective alternative technologies.”[1]
India abstained from voting on the November 2001 UN General Assembly Resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has done for the previous four years. India did not attend as an observer the Third Meeting of States Parties in Nicaragua in September 2001, nor did it participate in any of the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in 2001 and 2002.
India is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and ratified Amended Protocol II on 2 September 1999. It participated in the Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva on 10 December 2001, and submitted its annual report required by Article 13 of Amended Protocol II. Previous editions of Landmine Monitor reported that India had exercised its right to defer compliance with certain technical requirements of Amended Protocol II. India apparently did not, and is fully bound by Amended Protocol II.
India was very actively involved in the Second CCW Review Conference, held in Geneva from 11-21 December 2001, with Ambassador Rakesh Sood chairing Main Committee One. The Conference’s main accomplishment was to agree to expand the scope of the CCW to include non-international armed conflicts, and India served as the Friend of the Chair on this issue. Ambassador Sood is now serving as chair of the Group of Governmental Experts established at the Review Conference to consider the issues of explosives remnants of war and mines other than antipersonnel mines.
At the Second Review Conference, India emphasized the need to focus on Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs): “This Conference cannot stand by and ignore the devastation caused by IEDs. My delegation urges that exploration of this matter be initiated at this Review Conference, so that we could take concrete action at the earliest. This conference would then have responded to a humanitarian problem that knows no boundaries and threatens to cause greater devastation than some of the issues that we are attempting to tackle.”[2]
During the reporting period, as a public education and awareness campaign, the Indian Campaign to Ban Landmines (IIPDEP) organized three national conferences and four regional seminars and photo exhibitions in various parts of India including Jammu & Kashmir, North East India, and Rajasthan.[3] The delegates who attended the seminars are arranging public education and awareness programs and advocacy programs in their respective cities or villages in their local languages. IIPDEP received financial support for the series of conferences and seminars from Canada and other public donations.
In December 2001, India began deploying antipersonnel and antivehicle mines on its border with Pakistan. This is apparently one of the largest mine-laying operations anywhere in the world in years. Following the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, India amassed troops along its border with Pakistan and commenced mining of the 1,800-mile-long border, at times creating minefields three miles wide.[4] Since December 2001, there has been a steady exodus from the border villages due to the presence of newly laid mines and fear of attack from across the border.[5]
Details of overall numbers of mines laid, locations of mines laid, or total amount of mined land, are not available.[6] Media accounts and other sources provide a partial picture. A report from early July 2002, noting that limited mine clearance was commencing, indicates that the Indian Army mined 173,000 acres of land along the line of control in Kashmir.[7] In late January 2002, the deputy commissioner of the Ferozepore district of Punjab stated that 27,127 hectares (271.3 square kilometers), including 350 villages, along the 210-kilometer long international border in the district had been acquired by the Indian Army to lay mines or construct fortifications.[8] In many instances, the mines have been laid in cultivated farmlands. Also in January 2002, Army officers in Indian-administered Kashmir reported planting 700-900 antipersonnel mines near the Indian frontiers with Pakistan in the Jammu region.[9] In another media report, the local army commander, Colonel Shirish Kulkarni said that a two or three acre plot was likely to contain 50 or 60 mines.[10] He also said that once the mines are placed, clearing one field alone could easily take 20 days. In April 2002, the Indian army evacuated some Rajasthani villagers living near densely mined areas near the Pakistan border as rising summer temperatures set off a series of explosions.[11]
According to media reports, “Indian troops have completed two phases of laying the mines and in the third and final phase, they would lay mines to protect strategic targets near the frontier.”[12] The final phase had not commenced as of July 2002.
In March 2002, the Ministry of Defence reported that seven civilians had been killed and 23 injured in mine blasts in the newly mined areas in previous three months.[13] There have been many media reports of civilian casualties that have occurred in areas mined since December 2001. In Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, in December 2001, one person was injured and twenty sheep died when the sheep entered a minefield.[14] In Bikaner, Rajasthan, a cyclist trying to cross into a fenced minefield was killed on New Year’s Day. A week earlier, a child was injured in the same area.[15] In Amritsar, Punjab, a villager was taking a shortcut to reach his field, when he stepped on a mine; he survived, but required an amputation. [16] Also in Amritsar, on 18 January 2002, two farmers were injured in separate mine incidents near the villages of Mullakot and Khemkaran.[17] A deputy commissioner in the Amritsar District has reportedly distributed compensation checks from the Indian Red Cross Society to six recent mine victims.[18] Seven mine casualties have been reported in the Ferozepore district of Punjab.[19] Also in January 2002, a woman and her son were killed near the village of Najjwak in the Ankhnoor sector in Kashmir as they took a short cut across a field that had been recently mined.[20]
Incidents were still occurring in June 2002. In Ganganagar, Rajasthan, a ten-year-old girl was killed and three other children injured by an antipersonnel mine when they were bathing in the village canal. The mine was carried into that part of the canal from elsewhere.[21] In other incidents in June, a boy was killed and three others injured when they triggered a landmine in a wheat field near the border with Pakistan,[22] and one person was killed and another injured in a landmine blast that occurred when the man was tilling his field.[23]
As a State Party to Amended Protocol II, India must provide effective exclusion of civilians from areas containing non-remotely-delivered antipersonnel mines. Reports of civilian casualties in India following the recent mine laying call into question the effectiveness of the measures taken to protect Indian civilians from the effects of mines.
It appears that, admittedly based on a small number of media accounts, India is at least taking some steps to fulfill its obligation. For example, a report in the 31 January 2002, Tribune notes that in the Ferozepore district in Punjab, the civilian administration and Indian Army are conducting mine risk education for the civilian population and fencing and warning signs in the Hindi and Gurmukhi languages are present.[24]
However, other reports present a different picture on the steps taken to ensure the effective exclusion of civilians from areas mined by the Indian Army. One media report noted, “Thousands of acres along the Indo-Pak border have been mined by the Army, with no markers to give warning. In some places, a narrow ribbon with a faintly written ‘Danger’ sign in Punjabi is the only indicator for the largely illiterate village population not to stray into these heavily mined fields.” The report also noted, “Army officials in Delhi counter these fears by insisting that all minefields are laid according to a plan and that records of the mine-laying are diligently maintained. Army spokesman Colonel Shruti Kant says, ‘Each mine is accounted for and taken out by the same set of troops after assigned task is over.’”[25]
Amended Protocol II also prohibits the use of low-metal-content (non-detectable) antipersonnel mines. While it is not known what types of mines India has been laying, most of India’s mines are believed to be low-metal-content M14 mines. In December 2001, prior to the start of its massive mine-laying operation, India reported that “a programme has been evolved” to modify the mines to make them detectable,[26] but seemed to indicate that actual modification had not yet begun. (See section below on stockpiling).
Mines have also killed and injured a large number of Indian Army and border security troops while they were deploying the mines. According to a 7 March 2002 Ministry of Defence press release, a total of 50 soldiers had died and another 95 were injured in mine blasts in the previous three months.[27] In late December 2001, there were reports of three Army personnel killed in Batala when a landmine they were laying near the border went off accidentally.[28] A few days later, fourteen soldiers were killed and four injured in a mine-laying accident near Lambawal village close to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.[29] In yet another December incident, a soldier was killed and five others were injured in two landmine blasts near the Line of Control in Jammu. A jawan (soldier) was blown up when he stepped on a landmine during an exercise.[30] On 5 January, at least 18 persons, including 15 soldiers, were killed while transporting landmines in Amritsar. Reports indicate that the mishap took place due to improper handling of mines while they were being unloaded.[31] Also in January, in the village of Mahawa in Amritsar, at least three soldiers were reported killed and another seven injured when one of their trucks carrying mines in crates mistakenly backed over one of the antivehicle mines they were assembling.[32] Indian military officials are reported to be investigating the causes of these incidents. Indian military sources cite equipment failure as the cause for the large number of mine casualties.[33]
India used mines in its three wars with Pakistan in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971. It also used mines in its war with China in 1962.[34] India asserts that it has not used mines in counter-insurgency operations in the northern and northeastern states.[35] According to Pakistan’s Joint Staff Headquarters, “There are no permanently laid landmines (antitank or antipersonnel) along the international border between India and Pakistan. However, the situation is somewhat different along the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir, where for regular deployment of troops both India and Pakistan maintain permanently laid minefields along certain portions of the LOC.”[36]
Non-state actors continue to use landmines and IEDs. In 2001, 264 antivehicle and antipersonnel landmines were recovered from militants in Kashmir. Between January and March 2002, forty-nine mines were seized. In 2001, 3,453 kilograms of explosives were recovered[37] and, another 586 kilograms were recovered 1 January-31 March 2002.[38] In Jammu and Kashmir five militant groups, including Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Ansar, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Hakat-ul-Jihadi Islami, have been using landmines.[39]
In Indian states other than Jammu and Kashmir, at least six other armed non-state groups have used mines and/or IEDs during the reporting period (since May 2001). In the three states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, three militants groups, CPI (ML) - Party Unity, People’s War Group (PWG), and the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) were considered responsible for landmine attacks.[40] In addition, there are reports of use of mines and IEDs use in Assam by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA);[41] in northern Bengal by the Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO);[42] and in Manipur by Kanglei Yawol Kunna Lup (KYKL).[43]
India had in the past produced two types of antipersonnel mines: M16A1 bounding mines and low-metal-content M14 blast mines. Pursuant to its obligations under Amended Protocol II, India declared that no low-metal-content mines have been produced since 1 January 1997.[44]
In October 2000, India reported that it intends to produce new mines that meet Amended Protocol II technical requirements. It said that a new remotely delivered mine with self-destruct/self-deactivation mechanisms “has been designed. Prototype production and trial evaluation will follow.”[45] India has not previously produced remotely delivered mines of any type. In addition, in December 2001, India indicated that a detectable version of the hand-emplaced M14 mine “has been designed and approved for production.”[46]
Non-state actors in India produce IEDs that function as antipersonnel landmines.[47]
India has declared that it has never exported or imported antipersonnel mines and has had a comprehensive export moratorium in place since 3 May 1996.[48]
A mine found in significant quantities in Myanmar, and still used by Myanmar government forces, is the LTM-76 antipersonnel mine. Experts have told Landmine Monitor that these are likely to be decades-old mines of Indian-manufacture.[49] The Indian Ministry of External Affairs denies any transfer of such mines in the past, and states that there are no such mines in the current inventory of the Indian Army.[50]
The Indian government and various media sources have accused Pakistan of supplying explosives, detonators and fuses used in making IEDs to various armed opposition groups in India.[51] Pakistan denies such allegations.
India has a stockpile of four to five million antipersonnel mines, with the great majority believed to be M14 mines.[52] With regard to its M14s, India stated in December 2001, “The design, development and trials of anti-personnel mines, affixed with 8 grams of iron, which make them detectable, have since been completed. All necessary technical and procedural issues have been resolved and requisite financial support has also been obtained to effect the said modifications. In addition, the methodology of incorporation of the modifications to the existing stocks of anti-personnel mines have been issued to the entire field forces and bulk stocking agencies. A programme has been evolved and disseminated to ensure that implementation is completed well before the stipulated period, as per provisions laid down in the Amended Protocol II.”[53]
At the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001, India opposed the proposal that among other things would apply the same detectability requirement for antipersonnel mines to antivehicle mines.
India attended the regional seminar on stockpile destruction that was held in Malaysia in August 2001.
Prior to the current mine-laying operation, the most severe humanitarian problem was to be found in conflict areas where there has been extensive use of improvised explosive devices by non-state actors.
Indeed, in early December 2001, just prior to the current operation, India claimed, as it has in the past, “India is not a mine afflicted country.”[54] Agricultural lands and other useful areas were immediately demined on cessation of previous hostilities.[55] However, some mined areas still exist. These are generally in border areas with scant population, though mine incidents are still reported each year. There is a report that in Changia, a small village in Ranbir Singh Pura sector of Jammu, 23 residents were maimed by landmines deployed during the 1971 conflict; most of the incidents occurred in fields allegedly cleared of landmines.[56] Minefields are generally mapped and marked in local languages. No surveys or assessments have been carried out by any agency, as until now, the situation did not seem to merit such exhaustive examination.
As noted above, following the fresh laying of mines by Indian troops, there have been a string of incidents that have resulted in civilian and army casualties. Antipersonnel mines were laid in crop fields and pastoral land preventing villagers from tending their crops and their livestock. Border residents have been forced to flee. In a media report, a spokesman for the Indian military in Jammu referred to the number of refugees being more than 40,000 from only one district.[57] Another article reported that in Ferozepore hundreds of thousands have migrated following the mining and fortification operations.[58]
With respect to the current mine operation, an Indian official has reportedly said, “The Indian army...will clear the area of all the mines if and when a military de-escalation takes place.”[59] This process has apparently begun, at least partially, in early July 2002. A media report, quoting unnamed Indian officials, noted that, “the army began removing mines this week from the Ranbir Singh Pura and Hiranagar sectors.”[60] The same report cites a statement issued by the Indian Defence Ministry that the Indian Army was only removing mines selectively in some low-lying areas along rivers prone to flooding. Quoting the Defence Ministry release, “This is being done to obviate mines drifting due to flood water, posing a serious hazard to our civilians residing in the adjoining areas...It is being ensured that such de-mining does not, in any way, compromise on the overall defence preparedness.”[61]
The Corps of Engineers is the central agency tasked with mine clearance, and in previous years aided civil authorities in defusing and clearing improvised explosive devices used by militant groups in parts of the country.[62] In the past the Indian Army has been involved in UN-sponsored mine clearance programs in various parts of the globe, including Congo, Angola, Cambodia, Somalia, Mozambique, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.[63]
In its October 2000 Amended Protocol II report, India proposed to establish a “Mine Information Center” at the College of Military Engineering in Pune, but no further action has been reported.[64]
India has neither contributed nor received any mine action funding. However, it has offered significant assistance internationally in the form of in-kind services in mine clearance in UN-sponsored programs, as well as victim assistance. In December 2001, it sent a team of doctors and technicians to Kabul to set up a camp to repair artificial limbs (Jaipur Foot) for Afghan amputees.[65] The team is to repair or fit about 1,000 artificial limbs during their stay.
There are no formal mine awareness programs in India. However, the increased use of explosive devices by non-state actors has raised the need for awareness efforts. Police and Army operating in conflict zones have been sensitizing the local population to the dangers of unidentified objects that could camouflage explosive devices. Electronic and print media have contributed to public awareness of explosive devices through wide coverage of the subject.
The fresh laying of mines in the border areas calls for a comprehensive mine risk education program. There are reports indicating that the Army has advised villagers to be careful and stay away from the mine infested fields.[66] In the Ferozepore district in Punjab, the civilian administration and Indian Army are conducting mine awareness education for the civilian population and have fenced and displayed warning signs in Hindi and Gurmukhi.[67] However, it has not prevented the increased number of incidents involving both civilians and military personnel in the mined areas.
In 2001, casualties occurred due to landmine use by both the Indian Armed Forces and militants. The exact number of casualties is not known, as there is no comprehensive data collection mechanism on landmine incidents in India. However, based on an analysis of media reports, information is available on at least 332 new mine casualties in 2001, of which 133 people were killed and 199 injured. Media reports tended to focus on military casualties. Of the 332 reported casualties, 225 involved military personnel or militants. Of the 107 civilian casualties, 32 were children.[68] In one incident, one child was killed and twenty injured when their school bus ran over a landmine.[69] Due to the remoteness and lack of transport and communication facilities in some of the mine-affected border areas it is believed that many civilian casualties are not reported.
In 2001, reported casualties were not confined to the Jammu and Kashmir areas. Incidents were reported in Assam. For example, on 31 July, six Bhutanese nationals were killed and eight injured in a landmine blast,[70] and on 5 August, eight soldiers and two civilians were killed when their truck ran over a mine.[71] Other incidents were also reported in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
In 2002, the media continues to report military and civilian landmine casualties. Between 1 January and 17 June 2002, 180 landmine casualties have been reported, of which 99 were killed and 81 injured, including 15 children.[72]
The Indian Army maintains a website with statistics on civilian casualties in Kashmir. According to the data, in 2001, 133 civilians were killed and 2,120 injured due to landmines, IEDs and grenade incidents.[73] It is not known how many of these casualties can be attributed to landmines. However, the statistics do reveal an increase in casualties from 2000 when it was reported that 129 people had been killed and 1,258 injured in similar incidents.[74] In 2002, up to 31 March, 27 civilians are reported to have died and 290 were injured.[75]
India has a system of free medical care for all citizens, however, in rural areas the quality and availability of services can be problematic.[76] In the mine-affected area of Jammu and Kashmir the State government has pledged to improve medical services in all health institutions in the State.[77] The government of India has also indicated its support for the rehabilitation of mine survivors and the role of the Army’s Artificial Limb Center in providing prosthetics.[78]
Several NGOs operate within Jammu and Kashmir assisting the population, including persons with disabilities, with medical care, rehabilitation, education and training.[79] The NGO ICNA Relief-helping Hand, for example, provides medical assistance through the Kashmir Surgical Hospital. The hospital provides medicines and surgical services, and has in-patient facilities, four ambulances, one operating theater, and sixty branch centers in refugee camps. In addition, there are five Primary Health Centers in refugee camps.[80]
The New Delhi-based NGO, Ortho Prosthetics Care and Rehabilitation (OPCAR) runs camps in mine-affected areas such as Jammu, Kashmir, and Madhya Pradesh, to provide prosthetics to mine survivors.[81]
In Jammu and Kashmir, as part of Operation Sadbhavna, the Srinagar-based 15-Corps, in coordination with Jyot Charitable Trust under guidance from NEVEDAC Prosthetic Center, Chandigarh, is providing artificial limbs to disabled persons. As of January 2002, 198 persons from Kashmir have been fitted with artificial limbs, including some of the survivors of the 1971 and 1965 wars. The Jammu-based 16-Corps has assisted many survivors by providing prosthetics, including 35 children.[82] However, it is not known how many beneficiaries of these programs were landmine amputees.
In January 2002, an Indian orthopedic team arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, with one thousand artificial limbs, which were available free-of-charge for amputees. The prosthetic legs, fitted with the so-called Jaipur foot, were provided by the BMVSS charity based in Jaipur. The program is funded by the Indian government.[83]
According to the US State Department, with the adoption of the Persons with Disability Act,[84] a disabled rights movement is slowly raising public awareness of the rights of the disabled. The act provides equal rights to all persons with disabilities, nevertheless, the practical effects have been minimal in part due to a clause that makes the implementation of programs dependent on the "economic capacity" of the government.[85]
The government has announced that compensation will be paid to casualties of military related explosions. For example, for casualties who are killed the payment is five lakh rupees (US$10,415), and a maimed person will receive 75,000 rupees (US$1,560). However, for a civilian injured in a landmine explosion on the border the payment in the event of death is as little as one lakh (US$2,083), and for a civilian permanently disabled the payment is no more than 10,000 rupees (US$208).[86]
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[1] Ambassador Rakesh Sood, Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, at the General Debate in the First Committee, UN General Assembly, New York, 16 October 2001.
[2] Statement by T.P. Seetharam, Minister (Disarmament), Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament Geneva, at the Second Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, Geneva, 11 December 2001.
[3] National conferences included: the Fourth National Conference, New Delhi, 3-4 May 2001; the First National Conference on Small Arms and Landmines, Nagpur, 14-15 October 2001; and the First National Conference on “Humanitarian Aspects of Proliferation of Small Arms in North East India and its Effects on Society,” Guwahati (Assam) North East India, 30-31 March 2002. Regional Seminars were held in Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir, 1 November 2001; in Leh (Ladakh), Jammu & Kashmir, 3 November 2001; in Imphal, Manipur, North East India, 11 January 2002; and in Jaislmer, Rajasthan, on the India-Pakistan border, 1 February 2002.
[4] Somini Sengupta, “India’s Land Mines, a Bitter Harvest for Farmers,” New York Times, Mulla Kot, India, 4 January 2002; “India’s deadly defence: the 1800 mile long minefield,” The Guardian, 10 January 2002.
[5] “Border residents facing a tough time,” The Times of India, 20 February 2002; “Border residents move to safer places,” The Times of India, 19 May 2002.
[6] India apparently restricted the movement of media persons in the border area after newspapers reported landmine casualties. It was reported that local prosecutors may take action using the Indian Official Secret Act to prevent information about minefields from being disseminated. “India slaps more curbs on media,” Frontier Post / APP (New Delhi), 11 January 2002.
[7] Binoo Joshi, “Indian Troops Begin Removing Mines From Kashmir Border Towns, as Was Threat Eases With Pakistan,” Associated Press (Jammu), 4 July 2002.
[8] Kulwinder Sandhu and Anirudh Gupta “More mine blast as people return,” Tribune (Gatti Masta), 31 January 2002.
[9] Ayanjit Sen “India launches mine accidents inquiry: Mine mishaps are dangerous and embarrassing,” BBC (New Delhi), January 2002.
[10] Somini Sengupta “India’s Land Mines,” New York Times, 4 January 2002.
[11] Jay Shankar “Kashmir’s wheat fields turned into a basket of mines”, Agence France Press (Chanduchak, India), 11 June 2002.
[12] “India to lay more mines,” BBC Online, 17 January 2002.
[13] Ministry of Defence Press Release, “Incident of Mine Blast Along Border,” 7 March 2002. http://mod.nic.in/pressreleases/content.asp?id=47.
[14] “Anti-tank mine explosion leaves 5 injured,” The Times of India, 24 December 2001. According to another account, one person was injured and two camels and thirty goats and sheep killed when they strayed into minefields in the districts of Bikaner and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. “Mines being laid along border,” Hitvada (Nagpur), 27 December 2001.
[15] “India’s landmines, a bitter harvest for farmers,” New York Times, 4 January 2002.
[16] “Mines maim border villages,” The Times of India, 9 February 2002. This report notes that three other people from the same village were injured by landmines between 16-20 January 2002. All were reportedly treated at the government hospital and provided compensation of Rs. 5,000 (approximately US$110).
[17] “Two hurt in landmine blast,” Times of India, 19 January 2002.
[18] “Aid Given,” Tribune, 3 February 2002.
[19] “More mine blasts as people return,” Tribune, 31 January 2002.
[20] “India to lay more mines,” BBC Online, 17 January 2002. This report states that mines have taken additional civilian lives, but no official figures were available.
[21] “Rajasthan: Child dead in landmine explosion,” UNI (Jaipur), 3 June 2002.
[22] “Child killed in wheat field landmine blast near India-Pakistan border,” Agence France Press (Jodhpur), 4 June 2002.
[23] “One killed, one injured in landmine blast near India-Pakistan border,” Agence France Press(Jodhpur), 16 June 2002.
[24] “More mine blasts as people return,” Tribune, 31 January 2002.
[25] Rashme Sehgal “Mines maim border villagers,” Times of India (Amritsar) 10 February 2002.
[26] Statement by T.P. Seetharam, Minister-Counsellor, Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament Geneva, Third Annual Conference of the States Parties to Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 10 December 2001.
[27] Ministry of Defence Press Release, “Incident of Mine Blast Along Border,” 7 March 2002. The incidents are blamed on “adverse climatic and terrain conditions...human error...[and in] certain cases, mines and fuzes held in inventory for a long period did not perform satisfactorily. The Government have initiated steps to ensure than new mines and fuzes are introduced to replace the old inventories.” http://mod.nic.in/pressreleases/content.asp?id=47.
[28] “Three Army men killed in landmine blast,” The Times of India, 26 December 2001.
[29] “Mine Mishap Blows Up 14 Soldiers on Western Front,” Calcutta Telegraph, 29 December 2001.
[30] “Jawan killed, 5 injured in mine blasts near LoC,” The Times of India, 30 December 2001.
[31] “Hasty mine-laying costing Army dearly,” The Times of India, 9 January 2002.
[32] Online edition of Tribune, 7 January 2002.
[33] “Equipment Failure Blamed for Landmine Deaths,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 20 March 2002.
[34] During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, mines were laid in fertile areas and after the cessation of hostilities, the lands were demined. Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee and Mallika Joseph, Anti-personnel landmines: A South Asian Regional Survey, (New Delhi: Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 1999) p. 6.
[35] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 536.
[36] Letter to Coordinator, Pakistan Campaign to Ban Landmines, from Joint Staff Headquarters, Strategic Plans Division, ACDA Directorate, Chaklala Cantonment, dated 4 April 2002.
[37] “Explosives recovered from Terrorists,” at
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/jandk/data_sheets/2001/explosives.htm.
[38] “Weapons captured from Jammu and Kashmir,” at http://www.armyinkashmir.org/weapons.html.
[39] Suba Chandran, “The Use of Landmines by Non-State Actors in India and Nepal,” Research for Landmine Monitor, New Delhi, May 2002.
[40] Ibid.; and Dipak Mishra “More Naxal violence apprehended in Bihar: Report,” Times of India (Patna,) 5 February 2002.
[41] “Assam on high alert after militant attacks,” Times of India (Guwahati) 28 January 2002.
[42] “6 CRPF men hurt in landmine blast,” Times of India (Siliguri, Bengal) 27 May 2002.
[43] “Five soldiers killed in landmine blast in Manipur,” Hindustan Times (Guwahati) 8 January 2002.
[44] Article 13 Report, 18 October 2000, p. 6.
[45] Ibid., p. 7.
[46] Article 13 Report, 10 December 2001, p. 6.
[47] “PWG tentacles spreading in state,” The Times of India, 10 January 2002, “PW ultras surrender, ammunition dump recovered,” The Times of India, 12 January 2002.
[48] See previous Landmine Monitor Reports; also, interview with Manpreet Vohra, Deputy Secretary, Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affiars, 25 June 2001.
[49] One expert identified the LTM-76 as Indian-manufactured because: “1. the colourings and markings are identical to British munitions before 1975, which both India and Pakistan used. 2. the ‘DI’ marking on the mine is also found on many India munitions. This indicates the arsenal from which the weapon comes from--in this case the Dum Dum Arsenal in India.”
[50] Fax to Landmine Monitor researcher from Sheel Kant Sharma, Jt. Sec. (D&ISA), Indian Ministry of External Affairs, 2 January 2002.
[51] Ramesh Vinayak and others, “The RDX Files,” India Today, 1 February 1999; “Arms dump unearthed in Kashmir” (PTI), Times of India¸ 13 June 2001; “Huge haul of grenades, rockets in Kashmir” (PTI), Times of India¸ 31 May 2001; “Pak agencies change strategy for ‘fidayeeen’,” The Tribune, 19 March 2001; “Seized arms valued at over Rs.95 cr,” The Tribune, 3 December 2000.
[52] This estimate was first provided to Landmine Monitor by non-Indian government officials involved in CCW negotiations with Indian officials. Subsequently, current and former Indian officials have verified the estimate.
[53] Statement by T.P. Seetharam, Minister-Counsellor, Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament Geneva, at the Third Annual Conference of the States Parties to Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 10 December 2001.
[54] Ibid.
[55] International Committee of the Red Cross, Anti-personnel landmines: Friend or Foe?, p. 29.
[56] Masood Hussain “The Perpetual Minefield – I: Massive mining operations sound alarm for border residents,” Kashmir Times (Srinagar), 12 January 2002. Similar incidents were also reported during the Regional Seminars in Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir, on 1 November 2001, in Leh, Jammu and Kashmir, on 3 November 2001 and in Jaislmer, on 1 February 2002. See Mine Risk Education section.
[57] Richard Beeston “Border Peasants Flee As Fields Are Sown With Mines,” London Times (Jammu), 8 January 2002.
[58] Kulwinder Sandhu and Anirudh Gupta “More mine blast as people return,” Tribune (Gatti Masta), 31 January 2002.
[59] “India to lay more mines,” BBC Online, 17 January 2002.
[60] Binoo Joshi, “Indian Troops Begin Removing Mines From Kashmir Border Towns, as Was Threat Eases With Pakistan,” Associated Press (Jammu), 4 July 2002.
[61] “India Removes Some Kashmir Mines,” Associated Press (Jammu), 4 July 2002.
[62] Article 13 Report, 18 October 2000.
[63] Statement by India to the Third Annual Conference of the States Parties to the Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), 10 December 2001.
[64] Article 13 Report, 18 October 2000, p. 8. The Center is to focus on technical aspects of mines encountered, activation mechanisms, methods of laying, marking and recording mines, and types of mine clearance equipment.
[65] Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report 2001-2002 (New Delhi: Government of India, 2002) p. 2. In 1996 and 1997, India organized similar camps for Afghan landmine victims. “Indian orthopaedic team leaves for Kabul,” The Times of India, 30 December 2001.
[66] “Army orders probe into landmine blast,” The Times of India (Ahwa), 10 January 2002.
[67] Kulwinder Sandhu and Anirudh Gupta “More mine blast as people return,” Tribune, (Gatti Masta), 31 January 2002.
[68] Landmine Monitor collated data from 35 media reports between 1 January and 31 December 2001. Details of individual reports are available.
[69] “Schoolgirl Among 12 Killed in Kashmir Violence,” Reuters, 8 September 2001.
[70] “Indian militants kill six Bhutanese nationals in landmine blast,” Agence France Press, 31 July 2001.
[71] “Tribal militants kill 10 in India’s troubled northeast,” Agence France Press, 5 August 2001.
[72] Landmine Monitor collated data from 33 media reports between 1 January and 17 June 2002. Details of individual reports are available.
[73] “Civilian Casualties in J&K”, http://www.armyinkashmir.org/civilian.html (accessed on 8 April 2002).
[74] Ibid.
[75] Ibid.
[76] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Human Rights Report 2001, March 2002, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8230.htm.
[77] “Mian Altaf for taking dental services to rural areas diagnostic facilities will be upgraded in all health institutions,” 22 September 2001, at http:/jammukashmir.nic.in/view/sep222k1.htm (accessed 20 June 2002).
[78] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 539.
[79] Details on the activities of these NGOs in 2001was not available to Landmine Monitor. For a list of the NGOs see http:/www.kashmirgroup.freeserve.co.uk/ngo.htm.
[80] http:/www.reliefonline.org/kashmir/kashmir.htm.
[81] ICBL, Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs, September 2001, p. 61.
[82] Masood Hussain, “The Perpetual Minefield,” Kashmir Times, 13 January 2002; see also “Artificial Limbs to Militancy Victims and Handicapped Persons in the Valley,” at http://www.armyinkashmir.org/arm_people/artificial.html.
[83] Ian McWilliam, “Jaipur foot for Afghan amputees: Thousands have lost limbs during 20 years of war,” BBC, 4 January 2002.
[84] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 539.
[85] US Department of State, Human Rights Report 2001, March 2002,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8230.htm.
[86] Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, “Walking into the Death Trap,” Newsline, February 2002.
