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Key developments since May 2001: The Bush Administration has been reviewing its landmine policy since June 2001. The Department of Defense recommended in November 2001 that the U.S. abandon its commitment to join the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006 and also abandon some parts of the program to develop alternatives to landmines. Funding for international humanitarian mine action programs for fiscal year 2001 was $81.8 million, the largest amount of any single country, but a significant decrease from the previous year. Mines killed one and wounded six U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
The United States is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. The Bush Administration has been engaged in a comprehensive review of U.S. landmine policy since June 2001. It is not known when a decision on a new policy will be made. Officials who have spoken publicly on the review have stressed that in terms of policy, “nothing is off the table and everything is subject to review.”[1] The U.S. commitment to assist and fund international mine action programs is not at issue in the review.[2]
Since 1998, U.S. policy has been based on Presidential Decision Directive 64, which states that the U.S. will join the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006 if alternatives have been identified and fielded.[3] Human Rights Watch reported in late November 2001 that the Department of Defense had recommended, as its contribution to the review, that the U.S. abandon the objective of joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[4] In addition to the Pentagon, the Department of State and the National Security Council (NSC) are participating in the policy review, prior to a decision by President Bush.
The U.S. did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2001 or 2002, in contrast to previous years. On 29 November 2001, the United States was one of just 19 countries to abstain on UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. The U.S. has abstained on similar resolutions every year since 1997. The Department of Defense and Organizations of American States (OAS) cosponsored a regional conference in Miami on “Mine Action in Latin America,” from 3-5 December 2001.[5]
The United States attended the third annual conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in December 2001. It submitted a national annual report as required by Article 13. The United States also participated in the Second Review Conference of CCW, where its proposal to expand the scope of the treaty to include internal conflicts was adopted. The conference did not adopt a joint proposal initially offered by the U.S. and Denmark for a new protocol on antivehicle mines, but chose to form a group of governmental experts to study issues and make recommendations on antivehicle mines in December 2002.
Aside from being referred to committees, no action has been taken by Congress on the “Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001” (H.R. 948 and S.497) since its introduction on 8 March 2001 by Representative Lane Evans and Senator Patrick Leahy. As of July 2002, the bills had attracted 97 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 30 cosponsors in the Senate. The legislation expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. already possesses alternative weapon systems and tactics to replace antipersonnel mines, and that the U.S. should join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible, and increase its mine action and victim assistance efforts.
In order to affect the ongoing policy review, the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), coordinated by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has engaged in numerous activities. In September 2001, the USCBL invited 30 war veterans and religious leaders from around the country to Washington, DC to meet with key Senators and urge them to write letters and call on the President to support a complete ban on antipersonnel mines. In November 2001, 124 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to the President urging a positive outcome to the review, including continued support for the Mine Ban Treaty. On the 3 December 2001 Mine Ban Treaty anniversary, a national White House call-in day by campaigners reinforced this message. In March 2002, the USCBL convinced 80 major U.S.-based NGOs to sign onto a pro-ban letter to the President. Extensive media outreach by USCBL and PHR resulted in the publication of a number of pro-ban editorials in newspapers around the country. The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), a USCBL member, launched a public information campaign on 25 February 2002 urging President Bush to ban landmines, which included two 30-second television advertisements for Washington, DC area television, as well as radio, print, internet, subway and outdoor ads.[6] VVAF also sponsored benefit performances in 2001 and 2002 as part of its Concerts for a Landmine Free World initiative, which helped raise awareness of the mines issue across the country.[7]
The United States has not produced antipersonnel mines since 1997 but reserves the right to do so. It has not declared a unilateral moratorium on production and remains one of fourteen producers of antipersonnel mines in the world. Production of M87A1 Volcano antivehicle mines continues and is scheduled to end in December 2003.[8] This system once contained antipersonnel mines but since 1996 the U.S. has been manufacturing and exporting (to the United Kingdom) a version only containing antivehicle mines.
Although plans and funding levels for the three tracks of the landmine alternatives program were published in the February 2002 Presidential Budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2003, the outcome of the policy review and its impact on the alternatives program was not known as of July 2002.[9] The available numbers, however, show decreasing emphasis on the program. A year ago, fiscal year 2001 expenditures were estimated at $101, but actual expenditures came in at $72 million; the request for fiscal year 2002 was $99 million a year ago, but it is now estimated at $63 million. The nine-year total for the entire alternatives program is now estimated at $608 million, which is a severe reduction from $820 million estimated last year. The request for funding of the landmine alternatives program is detailed in the following table (all figures in millions of U.S. dollars):
[11] It is unknown if initial production has gone forward in light of the ongoing landmine policy review.
NSD-A (Non-Self-Destructing antipersonnel mine Alternative) aims at replacement for so-called dumb mines. The decision whether to include a controversial “battlefield override” feature that allows NSD-A to function in a target (victim) activated mode is dependent on the landmine policy review. A $1.1 million contract was awarded to Textron Systems Corporation (Wilmington, Massachusetts) on 9 May 2002 and a $1.0 million contract was awarded to Alliant Techsystems (Plymouth Minnesota) on 13 May 2002 to continue “risk reduction efforts” for the NSD-A.[12]
Funding for Track 2, a longer-term search for innovative maneuver denial technologies, continues. An $816,179 development contract was awarded in September 2001 to the Foster-Miller Company (Waltham, Massachusetts) for a tactical self-healing munition.[13] Three other contracts, each for amounts just under $100,000, were awarded in late June and early July 2002 to the Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company (Simsbury, Connecticut), Quantum Mechanics (San Diego, California), and Ball Aerospace and Technologies (Bloomfield, Colorado).[14]
In its November 2001 recommendations for the mine policy review the Pentagon also proposed abandoning Track 3 of the alternatives program – the search for alternatives for so-called mixed systems that contain both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[15]
The United States exported over 5.5 million antipersonnel mines to 38 countries between 1969 and 1992. Of this total, 4.14 million were non-self-destructing mines and approximately 80,000 were self-destructing mines. The remaining 1.36 million were Claymore mines.[16] Antipersonnel mines manufactured by the United States are found in the ground in at least 28 countries.
U.S. law has prohibited the transfer of antipersonnel mines since 23 October 1992.[17] The legislative mechanism for the export prohibition is scheduled to expire on 23 October 2003.[18] The Clinton Administration announced in January 1997 that the U.S. “will observe a permanent ban on the export and transfer of APL.”[19] The Bush Administration has made no comment about future antipersonnel mine export policy.
The United States transferred 180 U.S.-manufactured M-14 antipersonnel mines to Canada for use in development and testing of personal protective equipment for deminers.[20] It is not known if an interpretation or understanding of the 1992 Mine Export Moratorium exists to permit the transfer of antipersonnel mines for research and development purposes. Inquires sent in May 2002 to Department of State and Department of Defense officials about this matter were not answered. Additionally, Ecuador transferred 1,644 antipersonnel mines to the United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (Indian Head, Maryland).[21]
New information that came to light in 2001 also raises a question about the legality of a potential transfer of U.S. mines to South Korea. In the event of renewed hostilities in Korea, the United States plans to transfer more than 560,000 M14 and M16 non-self-destructing (“dumb”) mines that are stockpiled in South Korea to the ROK Army, for their immediate deployment (see below).[22]
As published in July 2001 in the fiscal year 2000 “655 report” required under the Foreign Assistance Act, the Department of State approved a direct commercial sale of $218,339 (license value) of “Mines Anti-Personnel” to Israel. The State Department corrected this entry in September 2001 to read “Mine Anti-Tank.”[23]
The United States has the third largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines in the world. The U.S. stockpiles approximately 11.2 million antipersonnel mines, including about 10 million self-destructing mines and 1.2 million “dumb” mines. This stockpile contains nine different types of antipersonnel mines: ADAM, 9,516,744; Gator (Air Force), 237,556; Gator (Navy), 49,845; M87 Volcano, 107,160; MOPMS, 9,184; PDM, 16,148; GEMSS, 76,071; M14, 670,000; M16, 553,537.[24] In addition, over 970,000 Claymore mines are stockpiled. These numbers, first reported in 1999, may be somewhat smaller now since antipersonnel mines are routinely destroyed as they reach the end of their operational shelf life. For example, Germany reports destroying 36,351 U.S. GEMSS mines and 38,959 M18A1 Claymore mines in 2001.[25]
In December 2001, Human Rights Watch revealed that nearly half of the non self-destructing “dumb” antipersonnel mines retained by the United States for use in Korea are actually stored in the United States.[26] According to information provided by the U.S. Army Material Command in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, 45 percent of the 1.2 million long-lasting “dumb” (non-self-destructing) antipersonnel mines retained for use in Korea are stored at depots in the continental U.S. Another 50 percent are in Korea, but at the onset of conflict will be handed over to South Korean troops for their use. The United States earmarks only the remaining five percent of the mines for immediate use by U.S. troops in South Korea. (See Landmine Monitor country entry for Republic of Korea for additional details).
The United States stores antipersonnel mines on the territory of 12 states: South Korea (1.67 million), Norway (123,000), Japan (115,000), Germany (112,000), Saudi Arabia (50,000), Qatar (11,000), United Kingdom at Diego Garcia (10,000), Kuwait (8,900), Oman (6,200), Bahrain (3,200), Greece (1,100), and Turkey (1,100).
Five nations with U.S. antipersonnel mines stockpiles are States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty: Germany, Japan, Norway, Qatar, and UK. Greece, a treaty signatory, and Turkey have jointly initiated the procedures to become States Parties. U.S. antipersonnel mine stockpiles have been removed from Italy and Spain. Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom do not consider the U.S. mine stockpiles to be under their jurisdiction or control, and thus not subject to the provisions of the Mine Ban Treaty or their national implementation measures. Norway, through a bilateral agreement with the U.S., has stipulated the mines must be removed by 1 March 2003, which is the deadline for Norway to comply with its Mine Ban Treaty Article 4 obligation for destruction of antipersonnel mines under its jurisdiction and control.
For the first time, Qatar responded to requests for clarification on this issue stating, “As for the legality of the joint operations with non-signatories relating to stock-pile, use of antipersonnel mines or transporting or transiting them, we assure you the that the Qatari Armed Forces never practise [sic] any of these acts.”[27] It is not known if this policy equally applies to Qatari nationals employed in the operation or maintenance of the storage facilities as part of a joint venture formed with DynCorp (Reston, Virginia), the company that maintains U.S. munitions under contract in Qatar.
There is no evidence that the United States has used antipersonnel mines in its combat operations in Afghanistan or in its military operations in other states. It is not known whether U.S. forces deployed to Afghanistan with antipersonnel mines or their delivery systems. An unidentified combat engineer unit of the 307th Engineer Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division is reportedly deployed at Kandahar.[28] In 1999, similar engineer units were deployed to Albania with antipersonnel mines and their delivery systems (MOPMS and Volcano mixed mine systems) as part of Task Force Hawk to support operations in Kosovo.[29] Additionally, U.S. Special Operations Forces have one type of antipersonnel mine at their disposal: the Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM). According to the U.S. Army's Field Manual on mine warfare, “the PDM is used as a deterrent by special-operations forces (SOF) and in operations where units may be pursued by an enemy force.”[30]
When the Bush Administration entered office, the policy coordination mechanism for international mine action assistance changed as follows:
National Security Policy Directive 1 (NSPD 1), dated February 14, 2001, replaced the previous Interagency working group (IWG) format with...the PCC [Policy Coordination Committee] Sub-Group on Humanitarian Mine Action. Chaired by the NSC, it functions as a policy vetting and review body within a larger NSC PCC entitled Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations.... The PCC Sub-Group on Humanitarian Mine Action consists of representatives from the National Security Council (Chair), the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Central Intelligence Agency.[31]
In another change, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. was named the Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action on 30 November 2001. This includes responsibility for mine ban policy, as well as mine action. He replaces Ambassador Donald Steinberg who assumed the post of Deputy Director for Policy Planning in the State Department. The Office of Global Humanitarian Demining was renamed the Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships and is now located within the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.[32]
In fiscal year 2001, the United States provided $81.8 million in funding to international mine action programs. The U.S. remains the largest country donor worldwide. The total for FY 2001 was significantly less than the previous year, which was $100.6 million. The decline reflects less DoD funding for its mine action activities (minus $12.3 million) and its demining research and development programs (minus $5.6 million). Contributions to the Slovenian International Trust Fund also decreased somewhat (minus $1.3 million), while State Department funding increased slightly (plus $0.3 million).
The estimated total budget for humanitarian mine action funding for FY 2002 is $92.7 million. The funding request for FY 2003 is $83.3 million.
The U.S. has provided approximately $468 million in mine action assistance between fiscal years 1993 and 2001, of which almost $94 million was for Defense Department demining research and development.[33] These figures do not include funding for mine victim assistance programs because the U.S. government does not identify mine victim-specific funding as opposed to more general war victim assistance. But the Leahy War Victims Fund, which provides aid to mine victims, totaled $71 million from FY1989-2001, including $10 million in FY 2001.
The U.S. will increase mine action assistance to Afghanistan in FY 2002 by providing an additional $11.5 million in immediate assistance, including expertise in clearing new types of UXO resulting from the Coalition bombing. Between fiscal years 1989 and 2001, the U.S. provided approximately $28 million in mine action funding to Afghanistan through the UN Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) and its implementing partners. All of the additional assistance has either been requested by or coordinated through the UN MAPA. The Department of State will provide $7 million, a combination of the annual NADR appropriation with the addition of emergency funding. The HALO Trust will receive $3.2 million to hire, train, equip, and employ 800 additional mine clearance and logistics personnel. A total of $30,000 will be used to provide an on-site technical advisor from the State Department’s Office of Humanitarian Demining to the UN MAPA in Islamabad. Another $3.1 million will be used to fund 15 personnel from the RONCO Consulting Corporation (a commercial demining firm) for a period of six months to train local deminers with training in unfamiliar ordnance that has not been previously encountered in Afghanistan. These technical advisors from RONCO will be attached to each of the five regional mine action centers in Afghanistan. These funds will also be used to provide equipment to local mine action organizations. A total of $700,000 will be granted to UNICEF to fund the mine risk education activities of Save the Children (U.S.) and local Afghan NGO.[39] Additionally, the Department of Defense will transfer $3.7 million to the Department of State for contractors to clear mines and UXO around certain airfields and also provide $38,000 for mine risk education materials. The U.S. Center for Disease Control will also provide $800,00 for a post-conflict contamination assessment.[40]
Though not formally part of the U.S. assistance program to Afghanistan, U.S. forces operating there are conducting “area clearance” of mines and UXO they encounter in their area of operations.[41] Military units from Denmark, France, Jordan, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom are also engaged in this type of mine and UXO clearance, which is different from humanitarian mine clearance.
Funding for most of the programs administered by the Department of State are provided annually by the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related programs (NADR) appropriation and can be used to support mine clearance programs of individual countries, international organizations, or can be transferred to other agencies. The State Department support to mine action is often used to augment training programs executed by the Department of Defense.
The countries/regions that received NADR mine action funding and the amount of assistance provided in FY 2001 are presented in the following table.
Funded from the NADR appropriation and established in 2001 by the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, the QRDF is intended to rapidly reply to emergency demining situations worldwide. This unit is based in Mozambique and conducts mine clearance there when not deployed. It consists of mine detecting dog and manual clearance teams trained by the RONCO Consulting Corporation. In early April 2002 part of the QRDF was sent to Sri Lanka to undertake short-term assessment, survey and clearance tasks.[45] Later in April 2002, other elements of the QRDF were deployed to the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan to perform a similar short-term survey and clearance mission.[46]
While not funded through the NADR appropriation, the United States has provided funding for mine action activities for programs in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (including Kosovo), and Macedonia by providing funding and matching contributions to the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance, based in Slovenia. Congress initially funded the program with $28 million in 1998 and stipulated that the U.S. contribution would be used to match contributions to the ITF by other governments and private donors.[47] The Congress approved another $14 million matching contribution in March 2002. The Department of State’s Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs administers U.S. contributions to the ITF.
The State Department’s Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships (PM/MAIP), formerly known as the Office of Global Humanitarian Demining, develops of a network of public-private partnerships to reinforce U.S. government mine action aims. Currently, nearly 30 (mostly U.S.) organizations (NGOs, international organizations, civic associations, academic institutions, and corporations) work in parallel with the U.S. government on various aspects of mine action. Some partnership groups have received financial support for mine action initiatives that further U.S. government humanitarian demining objectives and all receive publicity and benefit from PM/MAIP’s public support. PM/MAIP’s other functions are to strengthen internal U.S. government mechanisms for mine action through the Mine Action Support Group (MASG), UNMAS, and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, and to advocate promising demining technologies.
PM/MAIP estimates that at least 250,000 U.S. citizens have contributed to mine action, with about 170,000 of them donating directly to the mine action programs through nine of PM/MAIP's partner organizations. Some of PM/MAIP’s public-private partners have been funded by the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, including the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and its Adopt-A-Minefield program, Warner Brothers, the HALO Trust, the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, and Global Care Unlimited. Grapes for Humanity, a Canadian NGO, is the program’s first foreign partner.[48]
The Department of Defense humanitarian mine action program is funded annually from the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic Aid (OHDACA) appropriation. The office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations (formerly Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs) provides funding guidance and oversight of the budget, while the Defense Security Cooperation Agency executes the funding according to policy guidance.
The assistance is based on a “train-the-trainer” program, which also benefits U.S. Special Operations Forces and advances broader U.S. foreign policy interests.[49] U.S. military forces are not permitted to engage in physically detecting, lifting, or destroying landmines, unless the member does so for the purpose of supporting a U.S. military operation, or provides such assistance as part of a military operation that does not involve the armed forces.[50] The program must also comply with a law that requires human rights vetting of all foreign military personnel to be trained by the U.S.
According to the Department of Defense, the philosophy behind the program is three-fold: “(1) assist other countries in eliminating the danger posed by the indiscriminate use of landmines; (2) through training, provide host countries an indigenous capacity to demine areas critical to economic development, resettlement of refugees or internally displaced persons; and (3) through training, develop the host countries capacity to either demine or train other mine-affected countries in the region to demine critical areas.”[51] U.S. policy is to train deminers in the techniques and practices for in-place demolition and destruction of the mines, which avoids the costs and risks of conducting “Render Safe” actions, and prevents the reintroduction of antipersonnel mines into the market or for other uses.[52]
During FY 2001, the Department of Defense conducted training missions in the following areas:
Southern Command (12 training weeks)
Pacific Command (14 training weeks)
European Command (8 training weeks)
Central Command (28 training weeks)
In previous years, the Department of Defense conducted training in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Chad, Laos, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lebanon, and Mozambique. In the 32 countries in which the Department of Defense has deployed trainers since FY 94, over 4,000 deminers have been trained.
The Department of Defense has been conducting humanitarian demining technology research and development activities since 1995. The amount spent on this activity between FY 1995 and FY 2001 totals almost $94 million, including $12.61 million spent in FY 2001. The estimated budget for FY 2002 is $13.5 million and $13.3 million has been requested for FY 2003. The program provides funding and program management for testing and modifying existing technology and equipment for immediate use in U.S. demining assistance programs. This includes “leveraging existing technology from the tactical countermine area.”[53] Assistance from this program has been provided to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, Chile, Croatia, Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Namibia, Nicaragua, and Thailand.[54]
In FY 2001, efforts continued in protective gear for deminers, minefield marking and mapping systems and survey equipment, vegetation clearing devices, in-situ neutralization devices, mine awareness training materials, and mechanical clearance equipment for area clearance and quality assurance purposes. Site surveys and country assessments were conducted in FY 2001 in Croatia, Israel, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Oman, Thailand, and Yemen to provide advice on the use of items developed under this program.[55] The U.S. is part of the International Test and Evaluation Program and “completed all technical testing and field evaluations under the International Pilot Project Technology Cooperation Project and published the final report quantifying the performance of all commercially available handheld metal detectors.”[56]
In 2001, there were seven known mine casualties, none of them fatal, to U.S. military personnel. Three U.S. Marines were injured on 16 December 2001 at their base near Kandahar in Afghanistan when one of them stepped on a mine. One of the Marines had his foot amputated.[57] A U.S. Army soldier lost a foot after stepping on a mine during demining operations at Bagram airport in Afghanistan on 18 December 2001.[58] The explosion injured another soldier. As previously noted in Landmine Monitor Report 2001, two U.S. Army soldiers, one in Kosovo and the other in South Korea, were wounded after stepping on antipersonnel mines in May and June 2001.[59]
In the first half of 2002, Landmine Monitor recorded two U.S. military mine casualties (as of 31 July 2002): A member of a naval special operations unit was killed and another injured after one of them stepped on a mine while on training mission near Kandahar.[60]
U.S. government funding for landmine survivor assistance is distributed through the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (WVF), administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The WVF provides prosthetic devices for victims who have lost limbs because of landmines and other war-related injuries. Between fiscal year 1989 and fiscal year 2001, the WVF has provided $71 million in support to eighteen projects for victims of war in fifteen countries: Angola, Cambodia, OAS (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua), Ethiopia, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Vietnam.[61] The WVF received $10 million in fiscal year 2001.
Landmine Monitor has identified 14 private organizations in the U.S. that fund or operate survivor assistance programs in mine-affected countries: ADRA International, American Red Cross, American Refugee Committee, Clear Path International, Center for International Rehabilitation, Health Volunteers Oversees, International Rescue Committee, Landmine Survivors Network, Peace Trees Vietnam, Project RENEW (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund), Refugee Relief International, Save the Children-USA, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, and the World Rehabilitation Fund. Some rely entirely on private charitable sources. Most are using a mix of private and public funds in their programs. The biggest source of public funds is USAID through the WVF. Some organizations in the U.S. raise funds and then pool resources at an international level to support programs that may or may not be administered from the original U.S. group.
In October 2001, the “International Disability and Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act of 2001,” passed the House International Relations Committee by unanimous consent.[62] The legislation, which as of July 2002 was awaiting action by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seeks to expand the authority of USAID and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, including victims of landmines and other civil strife and warfare.
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[1] Interview with members of the U.S. delegation to the Second Review Conference of CCW, Geneva, 14 December 2001; interview with Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis T. Bohlen, Washington DC, 22 February 2002.
[2] Interview with Donald “Pat” Patierno, Director, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington DC, 12 March 2002.
[3] President Clinton committed the United States in 1998 to cease using antipersonnel mines, except those contained in “mixed systems” with antivehicle mines, everywhere in the world except for Korea by 2003. By 2006, if alternatives have been identified and fielded, the United States will cease use of all antipersonnel mines and will join the Mine Ban Treaty.
[4] Human Rights Watch, Press Release, “Pentagon Mine Policy Rollback,” 21 November 2001.
[5] The Conference was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Organization of American States (OAS). See http://hdic.jmu.edu/conferences/latinamerica/.
[6] VVAF Press Release, “Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation Urges President Bush to Ban Landmines Immediately,” 25 February 2002. Accessed online: http://www.vvaf.org/media/.
[7] All proceeds help to support VVAF victim assistance and mine awareness programs worldwide. VVAF Press Release, “Concerts for a Landmine Free World,” 17 October 2001 and VVAF Press Release, “Concerts for a Landmine Free World,” 8 December 2001. Accessed online: http://www.vvaf.org/media/.
[8] U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Solicitation Notice DAAB15-02-R-0037, 6 June 2002.
[9] U.S. government fiscal years (FY) begin on the first day of October in the previous calendar year and end on the last day of September of the current calendar year. Fiscal Year 2001 is 1 October 2000 to 30 September 2001.
[10] For Track 1 (NSD-A) and Track 3, Office of the Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), “Descriptive Summaries of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Army Appropriation, Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February 2002, pp. 748-758; For Track 1 (RADAM): Department of the Army, “Committee Staff Procurement Backup Book, Procurement of Ammunition, Army,” February 2002, pp. 231-235; For Track 2, “Department of Defense FY 2003 Budget Estimate, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide, Volume 1 Defense Advanced Research Project Agency,” February 2002, pp. 144-147.
[11] Frank Tiboni, “U.S. Army Targets 18 Programs for Cancellation,” Defense News, 18-21 February 2002, p. 6.
[12] U.S. Army Armaments Research and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcement DAAE30-99-R-1011, 9 May 2002 and Contract Award Announcement DAAE30-99-R-1010, 13 May 2002.
[13] U.S. Army Armaments Research and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcement DAAE320-00-C-1062, 13 September 2001.
[14] U.S. Army Armaments Research and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcements: DAAE30-02-M-1290, 28 June 2002; DAAE30-02-M-1289, 28 June 2002; and, DAAE30-02-M-1288, 2 July 2002 respectively.
[15] Chris Strohm, “Army Program Kills May Be Overturned by Congress or DOD Leaders,” Inside the Army, 12 November 2001, p. 1.
[16] Human Rights Watch obtained this information in August 1994 through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Defense Security Assistance Agency and U.S. Army Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command concerning U.S. landmine deliveries under the Foreign Military Sales Program and Military Assistance Program. These figures do not include direct commercial sales.
[17] Mine Export Moratorium, Public Law 102-484, Section 1365; 22 United States Code, 2778 note.
[18] Conference Report on House Report 3194, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2000, Sec. 553.
[19] The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Fact Sheet: “U.S. Initiatives on Anti-Personnel Landmines,” 17 January 1997.
[20] Canada, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, submitted 24 April 2002, for the period 16 February 2001 to 1 March 2002.
[21] Ecuador, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, submitted 31 May 2002, for the period March 2001 to April 2002.
[22] Human Rights Watch press release, “Landmines: Almost Half of Korea Mines in U.S.,” 3 December 2001. Information provided to Human Rights Watch by the U.S. Army, dated 20 September 2001.
[23] Letter to Human Rights Watch from Robert W. Maggi, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 21 September 2001.
[24] Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 330. Please note that these are the number of individual antipersonnel mines, not the number of delivery systems like artillery projectiles or air-delivered munitions dispensers.
[25] Germany, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, 16 April 2002. Germany did not attribute the origin of these mines in its report. However, the GEMSS antipersonnel mine is not known to have been exported by the U.S. and the U.S. maintains a stockpile of 112,000 antipersonnel mines in Germany.
[26] Human Rights Watch Press Release, “Almost Half of Korea Mines in U.S.,” 3 December 2001.
[27] Letter from Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar to ICBL Coordinator Elizabeth Bernstein (Ref., Qw/1/3-187/2002), 3 July 2002 (translated by the Embassy of Qatar, Washington, DC).
[28] http://www.GlobalSecurity.org/military/ops/enduring-freedom_orbat-02.htm.
[29] Major Scott C. Johnson, “Strategic Mobility, the Force Projection Army, and the Ottawa Landmine Treaty: Can the Army Get There?” A student monograph submitted to fulfill the requirements of the School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 15 February 2001. This paper by a student in a military school does not represent the position or view of the U.S. government, Department of Defense, or U.S. Army. However, the author, in footnote 94 (page 48), states: “Matt Pasvogel, interview by author, 09 January 2001. Captain Pasvogel was an engineer company commander who deployed with Task Force Hawk. His unit deployed with both MOPMS and Volcano mine dispensing equipment and mixed self-destructing AP/AT mines. Munitions that were not employed during the mission, but were available in Albania for use if the need did arise.”
[30] Department of the Army, Field Manual 20-32, Mine/Countermine Operations, 29 May 1998, Chapter 4.
[31] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “Fact Sheet: PCC Sub-Group on Humanitarian Demining,” 31 July 2001.
[32] U.S. Department of State, “Press Statement: Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. Appointed Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action,” 7 December 2001.
[33] Landmine Monitor calculates its cumulative total of U.S. humanitarian mine action funding using audited budget materials submitted to Congress. It does not include the estimate of the current fiscal year’s spending or the amount of funding requested by the President for the next fiscal years budget, which at the time of publication for fiscal year 2003 has not been appropriated by Congress, into the aggregate total. This total also does not include funding for survivor assistance programs. (See section on Survivor Assistance for further details). Landmine Monitor’s knowledge is limited regarding some programs within the U.S. Government, like those within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), that have some element of mine action included within a larger international assistance program, but are not identified as such or receive specific mine action appropriations.
[34] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Resource Management, “FY 2003 International Affairs (Function 150) Budget Request, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs (Foreign Operations),” internet version released on 4 February 2002.
[35] FY 2000: Defense Security Cooperation Agency, FY 2002 Amended Budget Submission, Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid, p. OHDACA-11 (revised); for FY 2001-2003: Defense Security Cooperation Agency, FY 2003 Budget Estimates, Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid, p. OHDACA-10.
[36] For FY 2000: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 2002 Amended Budget Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, p. 341; for FY 2001-2003: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, pp. 356-361.
[37] The $3 million represents the emergency appropriation part of a $7 million FY 2002 increase for mine action in Afghanistan.
[38] U.S. Department of State, “Fact Sheet: PCC Sub-Group on Humanitarian Demining,” 31 July 2001.
[39] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “Fact Sheet: The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program in Afghanistan,” 1 December 2001.
[40] U.S. Department of State, “Fact Sheet: U.S. Humanitarian Demining Assistance to Afghanistan,” 30 July 2002.
[41] “Area clearance” is a military mission for explosive ordnance disposal by specially trained engineer units to protect troops by clearing explosive hazards in their immediate area of operations. It is not humanitarian mine action.
[42] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “Fact Sheet: The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5 April 2002.
[43] Organization of American States (OAS) program includes efforts in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
[44] For further details, see also: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001 available online at:
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2001/.
[45] U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, “Demining Assistance to Sri Lanka,” 2 April 2002.
[46] U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, “Demining Assistance to Sudan,” 23 April 2002.
[47] U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. A-49.
[48] All information in this section from, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships (PM/MAIP), “Information on PM/MAIP activities in 2001 for the ‘Landmine Monitor,’ United States of America section, 2002 Edition,” undated but received in May 2002.
[49] Information provided by the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations, 14 February 2002.
[50] Title 10, United States Code, Section 401.
[51] Information provided by the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations, 14 February 2002.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Countermine is a military mission that includes breaching minefields. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, p. 358.
[54] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p. A-49.
[55] Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, p. 358.
[56] Ibid.
[57] “U.S. Marine Loses Foot in Blast,” Associated Press (Kandahar), 17 December 2001.
[58] “Second U.S. Serviceman Loses Foot in Mine Blast,” Reuters (Kabul), 19 December 2001.
[59] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 421.
[60] Vernon Loeb, “Land Mine Kills Navy SEAL,” Washington Post, 29 March 2002, p. A-6.
[61] United States Agency for International Development, “Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, Portfolio Synopsis,” Spring 2000. For details of the country programs see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 365-367.
[62] On 26 October 2001, House Representatives Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced H.R. 3169. On 5 December 2001, Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY) introduced S. 1777, together with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA).
