| <LIECHTENSTEIN | MACEDONIA (FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF)> |
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 14 June 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 December 1999. National legislation includes penal sanctions for violation of the treaty.[1] Separate legislation developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with import, export, and transit of weapons, munitions and military equipment and technology is being examined by Parliamentary bodies.[2]
Luxembourg did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001 in Nicaragua, nor the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002 in Geneva. On 29 November 2001, Luxembourg cosponsored and voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban Treaty. The annual Article 7 transparency report for 2001 was submitted on 20 June 2002.[3]
Luxembourg is a party to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and submitted its annual report as required by Article 13 on 24 October 2001. Luxembourg attended the Third Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II and the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001 in Geneva.
Luxembourg has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. The stockpile of 9,600 antipersonnel mines was destroyed in 1997. [4] In 1999, the Army stated that it had retained 500 mines of each type (the Belgian M35 Bg, the US M2A1 and the US M16) for permitted training purposes in accordance with Mine Ban Treaty Article 3.[5] However, all four Article 7 Reports (1999-2002) indicate that 499 M35 Bg mines and 499 M16 mines have been retained for training purposes, but no M2 mines.[6] These retained mines are described as obsolete and reserved for training in demining and for demonstration.[7] As the numbers have not changed in four years, it is not clear what training has taken place or is intended. Luxembourg has stated that its army does not take part in demining activities.[8]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided Landmine Monitor with details on mine action funding in 2001 that totaled $718,896.[9]
Two other programs have a mine action component. An orthopedic center in Pristina (Kosovo) run by HIL and Handicap International was funded with €91,851 ($82,482) in 2001; this center deals with all people with disabilities as well as mine victims. In Afghanistan, HIL has assisted in refugee camps, including a small amount of mine risk education; funding from October-December 2001 was €100,000 ($89,800).
A NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund project to destroy mine stockpiles in Georgia is scheduled to start at the end of 2002. Luxembourg is the lead nation in this project, and has allocated a contribution of $450,000 to it.[11]
Handicap International Luxembourg organized its annual public awareness day on 6 October 2001, building a shoe pyramid on the Place d’Armes in the center of Luxembourg city. Events involved the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Cooperation and Defense, the Minister of the Family, and the Minister of the Interior.[12] HIL also raised public awareness of the mine issue through other actions, including the “personalities project” in which 99 famous people (politicians, musicians, actors, etc.) were displayed on posters and on banners all over Luxembourg city. All the personalities were depicted as mine survivors.[13]
| <LIECHTENSTEIN | MACEDONIA (FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF)> |
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 730.
[2] Fax from Jean-Louis Wolzfeld, Director, Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Handicap International Belgium, 12 June 2002.
[3] Article 7 Report, submitted on 20 June 2002, for calendar year 2001.
[4] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 685, and Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 731.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 731.
[6] This was confirmed in the fax from Jean-Louis Wolzfeld, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2002.
[7] Article 7 Report, Form D, 20 June 2002.
[8] Amended Protocol II, Article 13 report, Form E, submitted on 24 October 2001.
[9] Response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 11 June 2002, p. 2. Exchange rate at 29 April 2002: €1=$0.898, used throughout. According to its annual report to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Luxembourg contributed US$502,000 to support “demining activities” in 2001, and €354,000 (US$317,892) in 2000. Report to the OSCE, 30 January 2002.
[10] The ITF reports this amount to FRY as $86,660. ITF Annual Report 2001, p. 12.
[11] Response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Landmine Monitor, 11 June 2002, p. 2.
[12] Fax from Jean-Louis Wolzfeld, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 June 2002.
[13] Interview with Christina Schürr, Handicap International Luxembourg, 23 May 2002.
