| <IRAN | ISRAEL> |
Iraq has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It did not attend any international meetings related to the issue of landmines in 2001 or 2002. In failing to pay its dues, Iraq has been ineligible to vote on UN General Assembly resolutions, including the annual resolution promoting the Mine Ban Treaty. Iraq is not a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
In 2001, Iraq refused to issue visas to nearly 300 staff hired to work on electrical systems and mine clearance projects in the Kurdish-dominated north.[1]
Iraq is a producer of antipersonnel mines, although it is not known if production is on-going or if it commences to meet specific requirements. Iraq remains the only known mine exporter that has neither instituted an export ban or moratorium, nor made a policy declaration of no current export. However, no confirmed evidence has been found of Iraqi exports of landmines in recent years. Iraq is assumed to have a significant stockpile of antipersonnel mines, but no details are available.[2] There were no reports in 2001 or 2002 about new use or renewal of old minefields in Iraq.
Iraq is severely affected by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as a consequence of the Gulf War, the Iraq-Iran War and two decades of internal conflict. Landmines and UXO continue to be a problem in the north, as well as along the Iran-Iraq border throughout the central and southern regions of the country.[3]
In the summer of 2001, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) conducted a survey in southern Iraq to assess the mine/UXO threat and evaluate the need to raise awareness. It identified cluster bombs and other UXO as the main threat.[4]
In April 2001, the ICRC began a comprehensive mine/UXO risk education program by organizing four mine/UXO awareness days in three of the affected southern governorates of Basrah, Al Muthanna and Missan.[5] The mine awareness days consisted of plays, lectures by civil defense personnel on the various types of mines and UXO, first-aid training by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), videos on the landmine and UXO problem, speeches from local authorities, and victim accounts. Approximately 1,700 people attended these events. The effort had the support of the respective governors, civil defense officials, the education and health departments, and the police. The ICRC plans to further develop mine risk education programs in southern Iraq.[6]
There is no information regarding Iraq’s efforts to clear old minefields in areas under its control.[7] Mine clearance and mine awareness activities continue in Northern Iraq (also known as Iraqi Kurdistan, see separate entry).
Mines and UXO located inside the country continue to inflict casualties, but information is limited. In 2001, at least 21 people were killed or injured in reported mine/UXO incidents, including 19 children. In February 2001, a boy was killed by a cluster bomblet in Karbala province, six children were injured in an incident in the southern city of Basra, and two boys were injured by a cluster bomblet while tending sheep in western Iraq. On 15 March, a shepherd was injured in a UXO incident near Nassiriyia.[8] In the period March to September 2001, the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) reported five separate incidents of casualties in the southern sector. Four children aged between 6 and 12 years and one 18-year-old were injured; three died as a result of their injuries.[9] On 19 September 2001, three boys were killed in a mine explosion in the Al-Deer district of the Basra province when a mine exploded while their father was plowing his land; three of their cousins were injured.[10]
In the period September 2001 to March 2002, a UNIKOM German medical team carried out ten evacuations of Iraqi civilians injured by mine and UXO explosions. During the period under review, a 12-year-old girl died as a result of her injuries.[11]
In 2000, UNIKOM treated 87 people injured by mines and UXO.[12]
The government is reported to provide assistance to mine survivors at Ibn al Kuff hospital and through designated medical centers.[13]
In 2001, the ICRC completed rehabilitation work on six hospitals and ten primary health care centers as part of its integrated medical-emergency program.[14] In 2001, the ICRC also provided support to four government-run prosthetic/orthotic centers located in Baghdad, Basra and Najef, as well as to the IRCS-supported center in Mosul and the Norwegian Red Cross-supported center in Arbil. It also supported the Baghdad Prosthetic/Orthotic School.[15] In 2001, the ICRC manufactured 1,168 prostheses for mine survivors.[16] In addition, four training courses for prosthetic/orthotic technicians and physiotherapists were organized for Iraqi staff.[17]
| <IRAN | ISRAEL> |
[1] Hassan Hafidh, “U.N. wants Iraq to issue more visas for its staff,” Reuters (Baghdad), 29 January 2002.
[2] In addition to its own production, Iraq has obtained mines from Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Italy, Romania, Singapore, the former Soviet Union, and the United States. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 931.
[3] U.S. Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001,” March 2002, Section 1(g).
[4] Laurence Desvignes, “Red Cross/Red Crescent Mine Action Involvement in the Middle East,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 5.3, Fall 2001, p. 13.
[5] Email to Landmine Monitor (HIB) from Laurence Desvignes, ICRC Mine-Program Coordinator, 26 July 2002.
[6] Laurence Desvignes, “Red Cross/Red Crescent Mine Action Involvement in the Middle East,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 5.3, Fall 2001, p. 13.
[7] U.S. Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001,” March 2002, Section 1(g).
[8] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1008.
[9] Report of the UN Secretary-General on the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission for the period from 28 March to 24 September 2001 (S/2001/913), 26 September 2001, p. 2.
[10] “Gulf War mine kills three, injures three – INA,” Reuters, 20 September 2001.
[11] Report of the UN Secretary-General on the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission for the period from 25 September 2001 to 20 March 2002 (S/2002/323), 28 March 2002, p.3.
[12] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 1008.
[13] Report of the UN Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 5 of resolution 1302 (S/2000/857), 8 September 2000, p. 6.
[14] ICRC (Geneva), Special Report, Mine Action 2001, July 2002, p. 37.
[15] “Iraq: Baghdad (MOH), Baghdad (MOD), Basra, Najef, Mosul, Arbil, 1993–2001,” ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programmes, Annual Report 2001. Accessed online at http://www.icrc.org.
[16] Information provided to Landmine Monitor by the ICRC, 1 June 2002. The ICRC has said that an estimated 3,000 patients per year receive ICRC prostheses, and of these, over 50 percent are mine survivors. ICRC Annual Report 2000, p. 198.
[17] ICRC (Geneva), Special Report, Mine Action 2001, July 2002, p. 38.
