Key developments since May 2005: A proposal by Chile and Argentina for expanded reporting on mines retained for training and development purposes was agreed by States Parties in December 2005. Chile announced that in 2006 it would destroy 1,292 antipersonnel mines no longer needed for training, in addition to 300 mines expected to be consumed during training. Chile is still preparing legislation to more fully and specifically implement the Mine Ban Treaty. Between April 2005 and April 2006, Chile cleared 2,239 antipersonnel mines and 843 antivehicle mines. Two new demining fronts were opened, in Tambo Quemado in July 2005 and in Llullaillaco National Park in February 2006. Chile fenced 14 newly mine-suspected areas between August and December 2005. An agreement was signed for €1 million in European Commission funding for mine action in Chile. There were two landmine casualties and six UXO casualties in 2005, an increase from 2004 (no mine casualties).
The Republic of Chile signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 10 September 2001 and became a State Party on 1 March 2002.
According to the National Demining Commission, as of March 2006 the Advisory Committee of the Minister of Defense was completing draft legislation on prohibited weapons, including antipersonnel mines, and the intention was to present it to the National Congress in 2006.[1] With respect to antipersonnel mines, the legislation is meant to fill the gaps in existing measures for implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
A March 2002 decree makes the agreement binding domestically, but does not include penal sanctions or other measures specifically aimed at implementing the provisions of the treaty.[2] Legislation controlling firearms and explosives, Law 17.798, which was modified in May 2005, includes penal sanctions for possession, unauthorized production, import, export, stockpiling, transport and distribution of weapons that are restricted for use by the Armed Forces and for warfare, but it does not explicitly mention antipersonnel mines.[3]
In June 2005, Chile noted its concern over the omission of antipersonnel mines and other mine-related matters from Law 17.798 and stated that it was preparing legislation on prohibited weapons, including antipersonnel mines.[4]
On 5 May 2006, Chile submitted its fifth Article 7 transparency report, covering the period from 30 April 2005 to 30 April 2006.[5 ] It included voluntary Form J.
A proposal by Chile and Argentina for a new Form for expanded reporting on mines retained for training and development purposes was agreed at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia in November-December 2005. It is aimed at generating more information on the intended purposes and actual uses of retained mines.
At the Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Chile made presentations during the General Exchange of Views and the sessions on universalization, victim assistance, and transparency and exchange of information. It also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 and May 2006. At the May meetings, Chile made presentations on mines retained for training, and its plans and progress in mine action.
While Chile has led States Parties’ discussions on mines retained for training (Article 3), it has not made its views known on other key matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1 and 2, regarding the issues of joint military operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines, and antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices.[6]
Chile is party to the Convention of Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It attended the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II on 23 November 2005, but did not provide an Article 13 report on national measures.
Chile is a former producer, exporter, importer and user of antipersonnel landmines.[7] According to Chile, antipersonnel mine production and export stopped in 1985.[8] Chile planted mines in the 1970s and 1980s in certain areas along its borders with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. In August 2003, Chile completed the destruction of its stockpile of 299,219 antipersonnel mines.[9]
In May 2006, Chile reported the retention of 5,866 antipersonnel mines for training and development purposes.[10] In utilizing the new Form D, Chile reported that during 2005, 43 members of the Armed Forces consumed 29 retained mines during training in mine clearance detection, deactivation and destruction.[11] For 2006, Chile planned six trainings for an estimated 158 members of the Chilean Armed Forces, which will result in the destruction of 300 retained mines.[12] For comparison, in 2004, a total of 350 retained mines were destroyed during testing and explosive ordnance disposal training activities.[13]
During the May 2006 Standing Committee meetings, Chile announced that it had undertaken a review of its training program and the number of mines required, and had decided, in addition to the 300 mines to be consumed during training in 2006, to destroy another 1,292 antipersonnel mines that are no longer needed for training.[14]
Chile is affected by landmines and, to a very limited extent, by explosive remnants of war (ERW). Chile’s landmines were laid as a defensive measure on the borders with Bolivia, Peru and Argentina during the Pinochet years, when relations between Chile and neighboring countries were strained.[15] Based on military maps, it was estimated that, at the beginning of Chile’s national demining plan in 2003, 123,443 antipersonnel mines and 113,604 antivehicle mines were emplaced in 180 minefields, covering an area of 23.5 square kilometers.[16]
As of May 2006, a total of 115,668 antipersonnel mines and 110,876 antivehicle mines in 169 minefields remained emplaced, in an area of 21.39 square kilometers. Three of the country’s 13 regions remain affected: region I (Tarapacá) with 84,751 antipersonnel mines and 48,188 antivehicle mines in 96 minefields; region II (Antofagasta) with 22,427 antipersonnel mines and 5,341 antivehicle mines in 48 minefields covering an area of 1.93 square kilometers; and region XII (Magallanes), the southern Magallanes islands with 8,490 antipersonnel mines and 57,347 antivehicle mines in 25 minefields covering an area of nearly two square kilometers.[17] Mines in regions I and II were laid in 1973-1980; mines in region XII were laid in 1981-1983.[18] Demining of region V, which had only one mined area of 4,000 square meters containing 123 antipersonnel mines and three antivehicle mines, was completed in 2004.[19]
In addition, in its Article 7 report of 2 May 2005 Chile included 13 newly mine-suspected areas in four municipalities of region II (Antofagasta, Ollagüe, San Pedro de Atacama and Sierra Gorda).[20] These areas were subject to clearance operations prior to Chile becoming a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty but not all the registered mines were destroyed; 264 mines are suspected to remain. In its Article 7 report of 5 May 2006, Chile added a fourteenth newly suspected area, Fort Baquedano, located in region I, in the municipality of Pozo Almonte, suspected to contain two antipersonnel mines.[21]
Chile reports that its mined areas are located in border areas and are, for the most part, difficult to access, relatively uninhabited and remote from communities. Chile claims that there is no regular movement of civilians in those zones.[22] All the mine-suspected areas were previously marked with signs in Spanish, German and English and were re-fenced according to International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) in the second half of 2005.[23]
According to the National Demining Commission, Chile does not have a significant ERW problem.[24] Some unexploded ordnance (UXO) was left in former military training grounds (such as the Chilean desert), which on some occasions has been taken away by civilians.[25] Landmine Monitor has reported on UXO discoveries and UXO-related accidents in previous years.[26]
Some abandoned explosive ordnance from the Pinochet era also remains in Chile. A media report in August 2005 indicated that a cache of more than two tons of arms and explosives was unearthed by Chile’s militarized national police force, the Carabineros, on the premises of Colonia Dignidad, a German enclave in Chile, in the town of Parral, 380 kilometers south of Santiago.[27]
National Mine Action Authority: Mine action in Chile is under the responsibility of the Chile’s National Demining Commission (Comisión Nacional del Desminado, CNAD), created by Supreme Decree No. 79 on 2 May 2002. CNAD was set up to act as an advisor to the President of Chile and as the interministerial coordinator of all activities related to the Mine Ban Treaty.[28] CNAD is chaired by the Minister of Defense and it includes the ministries of international relations and health, the treasury, and the armed forces chief of staff. CNAD has an executive secretariat which is supported by a technical advisory committee. CNAD’s mandate includes policy setting, legal norms and plans to comply with Mine Ban Treaty obligations, coordination of mine clearance and stockpile destruction efforts; setting of strategies and priorities for the demining plan; and the mobilization of funding for mine-related activities.[29]
In April 2005, CNAD established the Consultation Council as a forum for NGOs to provide periodic input into mine action plans and ensure efficient coordination with CNAD, in accordance with Action Point #8 of the Nairobi Action Plan.[30] The Council held its inaugural meeting on 28 April 2005, where it identified specific tasks needed to obtain and cross-check data on mine incidents, locations, casualties and survivors.[31] The meeting was attended by NGOs, including the Institute for Political Ecology and the ICBL representative in Chile, the Minister of Defense and representatives of other ministries, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission delegation in Chile.[32] At the second meeting in October 2005, three working groups were proposed, on victim assistance (to decide on a system for updating information and registering mine casualties), on education and prevention, and on new demining technologies.
Chile has used version 3 of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) since 2004; it is administered by CNAD, with a central terminal in Santiago and four regional terminals.[33]
A new survey tool, the EOD IS-Survey system, was introduced in Chile in conjunction with the installation of IMSMA. This allows the users to directly identify perimeter points of minefields and to map them electronically, and transfer directly to the IMSMA database.[34] In 2004-2005, the perimeters of all mined areas in regions I and II were verified and entered into IMSMA. Teams were working in 2006 on region XII.[35]
According to CNAD, all clearance operations are based on IMAS, although these standards are said to be “adapted to the specificities of the minefields.”[36]
CNAD drafted a national action plan (Plan Nacional de Acción Contra Minas) which was approved in January 2003; it covered the period 2002-2011, and included three elements:
Based on the 2002-2011 plan, each year in December CNAD drafts the priorities for the next calendar year, which are then given to the army to be implemented.[38] Priorities are based on factors such as funding, the potential for tourism of a particular region, risk to civilians and logistical issues.[39]
Clearance activities are implemented in two phases. Phase 1 focuses on the opening of “fronts” of clearance operations, by setting up camps for the demining teams and bringing in ambulances and all necessary equipment. As of June 2006, Chile had opened three fronts: the first, opened in 2004 in Chacalluta, in the northern part of Arica, in region I; a second was opened in region I in July 2005 in Tambo Quemado, within Lauca National Park, in Putre municipality, near the Bolivian border; and a third was opened in February 2006, in the Llullaillaco National Park in region II, close to the border with Argentina. The new Bolivian Minister of Defense, the Chief of the Bolivian Armed Forces and high-level Argentine officials participated in a ceremony at the start of clearance by the Chilean Army in Llullaillaco. A fourth front was expected to be opened in the second half of 2006 in the south, in the Bahía Azul sector on Greater Tierra del Fuego Island, in region XII, with funding from the European Commission.[40]
Phase 2 involves supplying all the camps with the human and technical resources needed for demining operations to progress. Chile decided to work on several fronts in parallel, in order not to favor one region of the country over another and as a confidence-building measure towards all of Chile’s neighboring countries.[41]
Objectives for 2005 included completing clearance of five minefields near Chacalluta airport in region I; this was achieved in May 2005.[42] A second objective was to open a demining front in Tambo Quemado, region I, on the border with Bolivia, in order to clear 3,300 antipersonnel mines and 1,100 antivehicle mines in two minefields.[43] Operations started in July 2005 but were suspended from October 2005-February 2006 by a demining accident. A third objective was to conduct quality control of the minefield of the Tejas Verdes School of Engineers in San Antonio, region V, which had been cleared in June 2004; this started in November 2005.[44]
For 2006, Chile had five main demining priorities: to continue demining operations in the Tambo Quemado area; to clear 1,694 antipersonnel mines and 843 antivehicle mines from two new minefields in the Chacalluta area (4.73 square kilometers) starting in the second half of 2006 when climatic factors and the wetlands would allow; to complete quality control of 2004 clearance of Greater Tierra del Fuego Island in July 2006; to clear 1,987 antipersonnel mines and 400 antipersonnel mines in four minefields in Llullaillaco National Park (at 4,500 meters above sea level) and two other minefields nearby if funding allowed; and to clear 3,642 antipersonnel mines and 1,834 antivehicle mines from three minefields in Tierra del Fuego’s Isla Grande, in region XII, in the second half of 2006. [45] For this latter priority Chile signed an agreement with the European Union (EU) and UNDP in April 2006 to receive €1 million (US$1,244,900) over the period 2006-2008. Other activities included in the agreement were survey and geo-referencing of other minefields in region XII, training of deminers, training in IMSMA and mine risk education.[46]
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Chile must destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 March 2012. At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2006, Chile stated that its national action plan 2002-2011 envisions compliance with Article 5. However, it added that it faces challenges in meeting the deadline, including the length of the country (operations are far apart), climate and altitude (which limits access and the demining season) and the mixed nature of most minefields (which require more time- and labor-intensive manual techniques).[47]
In the four years since Chile became a State Party, to April 2006, only 6,335 mines out of 115,668 (5.5 percent) had been cleared. Therefore, clearance rates must increase substantially in the next years in order to comply with the treaty-mandated deadline. Chile expects that the number of mines cleared per year will increase when all demining fronts are open.[48]
Clearance activities in Chile are carried out by demining units of the Chilean Army and Navy. As of March 2006, the Chilean Army had one demining unit in each of regions I, II and XII. Each unit has 30 deminers divided into two clearance teams, a health unit and a support unit.[49]
The Chilean Navy also has a demining unit of 12, the Partida de Operaciones de Minas Terrestres (POMTA), responsible for maintaining the minefields in the southern islands of region XII and for certifying clearance of Tejas Verdes.[50]
All clearance operations in Chile are conducted manually and are supported “by the most advanced mine detectors.”[51]
The Chilean Army and the Carabineros (Chile’s militarized national police force) can be called on to destroy scattered items of UXO. In March 2006, the Chilean Army and Navy received explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) equipment and training in its use, and explosives, from Switzerland.[52]
Chile was in the process of verifying the perimeters of all minefields registered in its military records. As of May 2006, 90 percent of registered minefields had been re-surveyed using the EOD IS-Survey system and entered into IMSMA.[53]
According to the Article 7 reports of May 2005 and May 2006, all minefields are protected by a fence of three or four strands of barbed wire on metal posts two meters high. Red triangular “mines” signs are placed every 20 meters on the barbed wire. In addition, signs of one meter by 60 centimeters on posts 2.5 meters high indicate the presence of mines in English, Spanish and German. In the southern islands, the minefields are protected with three fences (an internal one consisting of three strands of barbed wire, an intermediate one of five strands on wooden posts, and an external one). This results from placing new fences around the pre-existing fence.[54]
Following indications by the Landmine Monitor researcher that, in addition to registered minefields, there were 14 suspected (and unfenced) mined areas requiring fencing, the army visited the 14 suspected areas. Their exact location was recorded and fencing was costed at $80,000. Fencing and marking, according to IMAS, was carried out in all 14 areas between August and December 2005.[55] In 2006, the Landmine Monitor researcher visited and confirmed that all the areas had been fenced.
In June 2005, Landmine Monitor conducted a field visit to region II. In the former nitrate town of Chacabuco, minefield fencing was missing in some locations, and in poor condition in many places, with “danger mines” signs lying on the ground.[56] In December 2005 and January 2006, national and international media reported on the mine threat in Chacabuco. Lieutenant-Colonel Fernando Flores Romero, Commander of the Chilean Army’s First Division, was reported as saying that of the 200 or more antipersonnel mines originally laid around Chacabuco detention center to prevent prisoner escapes, 98 were not accounted for. The mines had been displaced by rain, floods and by earth tremors. New fencing had therefore been installed in September 2005. According to Roberto Zaldívar, a former political prisoner at Chacabuco and current administrator of the site, which is a tourist attraction, about 100 tourists visit Chacabuco each month.[57]
In March 2006, Landmine Monitor revisited Chacabuco and verified that places which had previously been unfenced and without signs, were now fenced with signs that say “Danger Zone (Minefield)” in Spanish and English. Places that previously had poor fencing were re-fenced and had signs put up. The area covered by the new fencing was much larger than before.
Also in March 2006, Landmine Monitor visited Valle de la Luna and San Pedro de Atacama in region II, where in 2005 proper marking had been lacking, notably around a gas pipeline in Valle de la Luna and around a highway in San Pedro de Atacama. The minefields beside the gas pipeline and the highway were well fenced and marked, with signs in Spanish and English.
At the Valle de la Luna National Reserve, Landmine Monitor visited a mined area with a park ranger who said that the rangers themselves were aware of the danger zones and were constantly telling visitors to stay away from those areas. Landmine Monitor confirmed that the area is well fenced with warning signs.[58]
In October 2005, local television reported that the governor of Conchi, a community in region II, would request that marking be improved in an area suspected to be mine-affected.[59] In March 2006, Landmine Monitor visited Conchi, and saw old signs that said “Danger, Uncleared Area” and “Danger, Uncleared Explosives” at a former army storage site, where political prisoners had been kept. There was no fencing. However, in June 2006, the Executive Secretary of CNAD reported that according to military records there are no minefields in Conchi and clearance operations had not taken place there.[60]
Between April 2005 and April 2006, Chile cleared 2,239 antipersonnel mines and 843 antivehicle mines in the areas of Chacalluta and Tambo Quemado.[61] Between June 2004 and April 2005, Chile had cleared a total of 3,973 antipersonnel mines and 1,595 antivehicle mines. The significant decrease in productivity in 2005-2006 is attributed by CNAD to a demining accident that halted operations in Tambo Quemado for three months, the altitude (over 4,500 meters above sea level) of these areas, which restricts access and, along with harsh weather conditions, limits the period during which operations can take place.
Clearance of the northern sector of Chacalluta airport in Arica, region I and near the Peruvian border was not completed, but by the end of May 2005, 4,943 antipersonnel mines and 2,032 antivehicle mines, in an area of 480,000 square meters, had been cleared. Operations in Tejas Verdes, completed in June 2004, had resulted in the destruction of 123 antipersonnel mines and three antivehicle mines.[62] Quality assurance was undertaken at Tejas Verdes by POMTA, in accordance with IMAS. CNAD stated that fences remain around a cleared minefield until quality control of the area is conducted, at which point the population is generally informed and, on some occasions, a small ceremony takes place.[63]
Chile’s demining operations have not been visited by international organizations to control the quality of demining and to ensure that proper standards were applied.[64]
On 1 October 2005, during clearance operations in Tambo Quemado region I, a deminer was injured after detonating an antipersonnel mine in minefield number two.[65] The accident was confirmed by Chile at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties.[66] The exact cause of the accident remained unclear as of June 2006; what is known is that the deminer stepped on an area on which he had already used the mine detector.[67]
On 1 February 2006, after an investigation and retraining of personnel, clearance operations in Tambo Quemado restarted.[68] Chile’s 2006 Article 7 report stated that new “special and extraordinary technical” measures were put in place when the operations re-started, in order to “minimize at the maximum the risks incurred by deminers.”[69] For example, mines are no longer destroyed in situ; once all the mines have been found and cleared they are destroyed together at another site.[70]
As of 30 April 2006, half of the mines in Tambo Quemado had been cleared, meaning that 1,269 antipersonnel mines and 404 antivehicle mines had been destroyed. Operations in Llullaillaco National Park started in February 2006 and were expected to last eight months; as of June, four of the six minefields were cleared, resulting in the destruction of 1,440 antipersonnel mines and 289 antivehicle mines.[71] The remaining two were expected to be completed in September, as winter conditions had forced operations to stop.[72]
Chile has reported on mine risk education (MRE) activities such as press conferences, meetings and seminars to inform the public about mined areas.[73] The army and police are notified about companies prospecting for water or minerals near mined areas, and provide safety briefings and guides. An army brochure lists 10 measures to warn the population about landmine dangers, from fencing to media messages.[74]
MRE activities are mostly carried out by trained army personnel. At the regional level, MRE activities are coordinated with relevant local organizations.[75] In March 2006, CNAD reported that in the second half of 2006 an MRE campaign would be carried out in all three regions affected by landmines. The campaign was being prepared by the representative of the Ministry of Education in CNAD’s technical advisory committee with contributions from NGOs in the Consultation Council.[76]
The two-year EC-supported demining project, announced on 2 May 2006, includes MRE activities in regions I, II and XII, including school-based MRE for children, teachers and parents in 552 schools in 22 municipalities, training for staff of public tourism services, and public awareness and information campaigns for tourists. As a result, “Chile will be a safer country for its national visitors and foreign tourists.”[77]
In April-May 2005, the Chilean NGO Centre for Information and Humanitarian Assistance in Mined Zones (Centro de Información y Asistencia Humanitaria en Zonas Minadas, CIAHZM) gave presentations on mine action including prevention messages to more than 350 police members serving in frontier units.[78]
In December 2005, the Institute of Political Ecology (Instituto de Ecología Política, IEP) announced plans for an MRE campaign geared to schoolchildren and tourists. As of May 2006, IEP reported that funding for the project had not been secured.[79]
In 2005, a total of $985,849 was donated for mine action in Chile by three countries, an increase from 2004 ($411,211 provided by four donors).[80] Donors for 2005 were:
In 2005, the European Commission allocated €1 million ($1,244,900) though UNDP for mine clearance for the period January 2006-December 2007; the decision was announced in May 2006. The total budget for the two-year project was reported as €1,439,137 ($1,791,582).[84]
In 2005, the government provided $680,217 for the CNAD budget ($154,086 in 2004) and the army contributed $330,000 worth of clearance equipment.[85] The CNAD budget for 2006 was CLP355,734,000 (approximately $668,000).[86]
In 2005, eight new mine/UXO casualties were recorded in Chile, including two people killed and six injured. Two of the casualties (one deminer) were caused by antipersonnel landmines. This is an increase from 2004, when four people were injured by UXO but no mine incidents occurred.
On 21 December 2005, a civilian lost fingers on both hands when he picked up an antipersonnel mine near Lascar volcano, in region II.[87] On 22 December 2005, the Public Relations Office of the Chilean Army’s First Division issued a press release stating that the nearest minefields were 35 to 40 kilometers away and duly marked.[88]
Six of the casualties in 2005 were caused by UXO. On 8 February 2005, a person was killed when an unidentified explosive detonated outside the town of Cancosa on the Bolivian border in region I.[89] On 13 February 2005, a child was killed and his mother injured after the child handled what police described as a “military projectile,” in Colina, north of Santiago in Metropolitan region.[90] On 24 May 2005, one person was injured after handling UXO in the city of Tocopilla in region II.[91] On 28 June 2005, two boys were injured by UXO in La Pintana, Metropolitan region.[92]
The executive secretary of CNAD said that over the past 30 years only 30 people have been injured by UXO.[93]
Casualties continued to be reported in 2006. On 3 July 2006, a Peruvian man who attempted to enter Chile illegally was injured by an antipersonnel mine in Chilean territory, near the northern end of Chacalluta airport in Arica, region I.[94] The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release about the incident, stating it “is monitoring the situation and will continue to provide assistance to the Peruvian citizens as needed, through the Consulate General of Peru in Arica.”[95] This is the first time that Peru has issued an official reaction to an incident in Chilean minefields involving a Peruvian citizen.
During the inaugural meeting of CNAD’s Consultation Council in April 2005, military and civilian participants agreed to cross-reference data on casualties and standardize a methodology for collecting information on mine/UXO incidents.[96] During 2005, the registry has been updated with information provided by NGOs on previously unregistered casualties and on UXO casualties in the past two years.[97]
At the Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Chile stated that it had information on 143 survivors. The survivors include 122 Chileans of whom 76 (62 percent) are military personnel and 46 (38 percent) civilians. Twenty-six of the 46 civilian survivors were injured by landmines and 20 by UXO. In addition to the Chilean survivors, 15 Peruvian and six Bolivian survivors were recorded. However, Chile said that this information had not been verified and was not complete; a national survey was needed.[98]
At the Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Chile reported that it would implement a program to assist mine/UXO survivors, regardless of their nationality. The program would include access to health and rehabilitation services, as well as compensation. A first step would be to conduct a national survey of survivors.[99] In March 2006, CNAD reported that a survey of survivors was expected to begin in 2006, using EC funds. CNAD would work together with NGOs accredited in Chile that applied.[100]
Chile submitted the voluntary Form J attachment with its 2006 Article 7 report, providing information on survivor assistance and other issues.
Chilean military personnel injured by mines and UXO receive care in military hospitals. There are no specific services available through the public health system, private health institutions or NGOs for civilian landmine/UXO survivors.[101] In June 2005, the US Army Southern Command and Air Force held a training course in Putre for doctors and nurses in the stabilization, evacuation by air and treatment of patients traumatized by explosions; 14 members of the army, six from the air force and 14 health services personnel participated.[102]
Chile has legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities. The National Fund for the Disabled (Fondo Nacional de Discapacitados, FONADIS) provides social assistance for people with disabilities.[103] In November 2004, CNAD requested information from FONADIS to determine how well the fund was covering the rehabilitation needs of survivors. Chilean survivors have expressed dissatisfaction with authorities because of the lack of compensation and support. Landmine Monitor was told by one survivor in Calama, region II, that “he was tired of the subject” and had no idea what had happened to the request for support that he and his brother (also a survivor) had filed years ago. He and his family live off the small pension, but he did not have the resources to replace his prosthesis.[104]
Chile reported that it was working on the implementation of an agreement between CNAD and FONADIS, with the goal of providing rehabilitation support and other benefits to mine survivors, according to Law 19.284 on Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities. CNAD states that this agreement would benefit all mine survivors, regardless of when the incident occurred.[105] In March 2006, CNAD reported that the collection of detailed information on mine/UXO survivors through the national survey was a precondition for the agreement. CNAD stated that “there is a willingness to find some type of centralized solution to the problem, but for the moment these people have not received financial settlements, except through personal actions.”[106]
In 2005, FONADIS and the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (Ministerio de Desarrollo y Planificación, MIDEPLAN) announced the results of the First National Census of Disability in Chile. The census revealed that an estimated 2,068,072 Chileans (12.9 percent) were disabled (one in seven women and one in nine men). Only six percent of people with a disability in Chile had ever accessed rehabilitation services, even though it is a duty of the State to provide rehabilitation to the disabled. Only 29.2 percent of disabled people had a paid job, with four out of five reporting that their disability had an economic impact in their households.[107] Most disability initiatives originate from the private sector.[108]
[1] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, Executive Secretary, National Demining Commission (CNAD), 27 March 2006.
[2] The decree was signed on 4 January 2002 and published in the Official Gazette on 9 March 2002. See, Promulga la Convención sobre la Prohibición del Empleo, Almacenamiento, Producción y Transferencia de Minas Antipersonal y sobre su Destrucción, Normas Generales, Diario Oficial, Documento 4, 2002, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Subsecretario de Relaciones Exteriores, 9 March 2002.
[3] Presentation by CNAD, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 17 June 2005, p. 3. Chile did not report on the specific penal sanctions.
[4] Chile listed the inadequacies of the law with respect to landmines: it does not explicitly refer to antipersonnel mines; does not categorize minefields as military installations; does not prohibit and sanction the destruction, damage, alteration or removal of fencing and marking of minefields; does not adequately cover research and development of technologies related to antipersonnel mines, and their transfer; does not cover the prohibitions in Article 1.C of the Mine Ban Treaty on assisting, encouraging or inducing, in any way, anyone to engage in activities prohibited by the treaty; and does not include the “extracontractual” CNAD as the executing, controlling and advisory entity for weapons and explosives. Statement by Ministry of Defense, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 17 June 2005, p. 6.
[5 ] Previous reports were submitted on 2 May 2005, 3 June 2004, 30 April 2003 and 5 September 2002.
[6] During the June 2004 meeting of the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Chile reacted favorably to a Non-Paper circulated by the co-chairs, aimed at facilitating conclusions on these issues by the First Review Conference. It said the paper was a good basis for discussion and possible consensus. Oral remarks to the Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 25 June 2004 (Landmine Monitor/HRW notes).
[7] The army’s Fabricaciones Militares (FAMAE) and a private company (Industrias Cardoen) manufactured at least six different types of antipersonnel mines. FAMAE manufactured the MAPP 78-F2 and MAPT 78-F2 mines in 1981, while Cardoen produced the MOD I (in 1979), II (1980), IEC-II and M-178 mines. See Jane’s Mines and Mine Clearance, online update, 19 November 1999. Chile also reportedly manufactured three more mines that are not listed in its Article 7 reports (M-19 antivehicle mine, M-18 Claymore-type directional fragmentation mine, and U/I fragmentation mine). See US Department of Defense, ORDATA online, maic.jmu.edu/ordata, accessed 27 May 2004.
[8] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its ambassador to Uruguay, Amb. Augusto Bermúdez Arancibia, 2 February 1999; Article 7 Report, Form A, 5 September 2002.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form G, 3 June 2004. Chile’s Article 7 Report, Form B, 30 April 2003, cited a stockpile of 213,076 antipersonnel mines.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form D, 5 May 2006. The mines retained for training as of 30 April 2006 included: 1,804 M-14; 1,597 MAPP 78-F2; 739 M-35; 559 MOD I; 435 MOD II; 400 MOD IEC-II; 200 MAPT 78-F2; 86 M-178; 41 M-2A4; four M-16; and one M-16A1.
[11] Article 7 Report, Form D, Table 1B, 5 May 2006. The mines destroyed included: 14 MAPP 78-F2; 3 M-35; and 12 M-178. Among the additional details Chile provided: 25 personnel from the Military Engineers School in San Antonio used the MAPP 78-F2 mines for EOD training; 10 members of the Azapa Engineering Battalion used the M-35 mines for demining training; and eight personnel from the Chilean Navy used the M-178 mines for demining training at the Campo de Entrenamiento Bascunan.
[12] Article 7 Report, Form D, Table 1C, 5 May 2006. Chile provided the types of mines expected to be used and identified the units expected to use them.
[13] Article 7 Report, Form D, 2 May 2005. The mines destroyed included: 219 M-14; 32 MAPP 78-F2; 93 M-35; two MOD I; two MOD II; and two M-178.
[14] Intervention by Chile on Article 3, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006.
[15] “Chile empezará el desminado en Tambo Quemado (Chile will begin demining in Tambo Quemado),” El Nuevo Dia (Bolivia), 18 July 2006, www.boliviahoy.com, accessed on 7 June 2006.
[16] CNAD, “Situatión del desminado chileno actualizado al 10 de Mayo 2006 (Situation of Chilean Demining updated on 10 May 2006),” document given to Landmine Monitor at Standing Committee meetings, Geneva, May 2006.
[17] CNAD, “Situatión del desminado chileno actualizado al 10 de Mayo 2006” (“Status of Chilean Demining updated on 10 May 2006”). These numbers differ slightly from those provided in Chile’s Article 7 Report, 5 May 2006, which states that a total of 117,108 mines remained emplaced in three regions; the difference lies in region II, where there are 23,867 antipersonnel mines according to the Article 7 report. See Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 1, 5 May 2006.
[18] Region I borders Peru and Bolivia. Region II borders Bolivia and Argentina. According to Bolivia, the number of mines emplaced by Chile on their common border is significantly higher than what is reported by Chile. See report on Bolivia in this edition of Landmine Monitor. In region XII, the Magallanes islands were mined during a border dispute with Argentina; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 248. Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 1, 5 May 2006.
[19] Article 7 Report, Form F, Table 2, 5 May 2006.
[20] Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, 2 May 2005; Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, noted that these areas were added based on previous Landmine Monitor research, in a telephone interview on 7 June 2006.
[21] See Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, 5 May 2006. The Article 7 report submitted in 2005 indicated that 264 mines remained in region II. See Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, 2 May 2005.
[22] Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 1, Note, 5 May 2006.
[23] Article 7 Report, Form C, Table 2, 2 May 2005.
[24] Under Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, explosive remnants of war are defined as unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance. Mines are explicitly excluded from the definition.
[25] Interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD and Felipe Illanes Poulangeon, Advisor, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 11 May 2006; email from Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 9 June 2006.
[26] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 305.
[27] The unearthing of the arms cache was ordered by a judge heading a probe into rights abuses committed at the site between 1973 and 1990. “Buried arsenals pointing up repressive role of enclave in Chile,” EFE (Chile), 5 August 2005.
[28] Supreme Decree No 79, 2 May 2002, Official Gazette of the Chilean Army, No. 26, 1 July 2002. Chile has included several other laws or measures governing mine action in its Article 7 reports.
[29] Supreme Decree No 79, 2 May 2002, Official Gazette of the Chilean Army, No. 26, 1 July 2002; “Antecedentes sobre el Desminado Nacional Humanitario en Chile,” FASOC, No. 3, July-September 2002, pp. 48-49.
[30] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 250; Article 7 Report, Form J, 5 May 2006.
[31] Landmine Monitor notes from the first meeting of the Consultation Council, CNAD, Santiago, 28 April 2005.
[32] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 14 March 2006.
[33] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006.
[34] Telephone interview with Simon Berger, IMSMA Regional Coordinator for Latin America, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), 31 May 2006; Swedish EOD and Demining Centre (SWEDEC), www.swedec.mil.se, accessed 4 June 2006.
[35] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006, and telephone interview, 7 June 2006.
[36] Ibid.
[37] “Antecedentes sobre el Desminado Nacional Humanitario en Chile (Precedents on National Demining in Chile),” FASOC, No. 3, July-September 2002, p. 49.
[38] Interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, and Felipe Illanes Poulangeon, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[39] Telephone interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 7 June 2006.
[40] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[41] Interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, and Felipe Illanes Poulangeon, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[42] Article 7 Report, Form F, Table 2, 5 May 2006; Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 251.
[43] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 251.
[44] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[45] Ibid; response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006; and telephone interview, 7 June 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 251.
[46] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006; statement by EU Head of Delegation, Santiago, 2 May 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: €1 = US$1.2449, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[47] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[48] Interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, and Felipe Illanes Poulangeon, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[49] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006.
[50] Ibid.
[51] Ibid.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[54] Article 7 Report, Form J, 5 May 2006; telephone interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 7 June 2006.
[55] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006.
[56] Interview with Roberto Zaldívar, caretaker and former political prisoner, Chacabuco, region II, 4 June 2005; Landmine Monitor researcher’s observations.
[57] Pablo Carrasco, “Minas perdidas en los terrenos de ex salitrera (Mines lost in the areas of former nitrate mine),” El Mercurio (Santiago), 18 December 2005; “Extraviadas 98 minas antipersonales en Chile (98 antipersonnel mines lost in Chile),” Associated Press (Santiago), 18 December 2005; Tomas Dinges, “Land mines: deadly legacy,” Miami Herald, 10 January 2006.
[58] Interview with Luis Álvarez, Park Ranger, 5 March 2006.
[59] Local television broadcast, Antofagasta, observed by the Landmine Monitor researcher, 28 October 2005.
[60] Telephone interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 7 June 2006.
[61] Chile’s 2005 Article 7 report declared that as of March 2005, 4,096 antipersonnel mines and 1,596 antivehicle mines were cleared. Chile’s 2006 Article 7 report declared that as of April 2006, 6,335 antipersonnel mines and 2,439 antivehicle mines were cleared. See Article 7 Reports, Form G, Table 2, 2 May 2005 and 5 May 2006.
[62] Article 7 Report, Form F, 5 May 2006.
[63] Email from Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 9 June 2006.
[64] Interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, and Felipe Illanes Poulangeon, Ministry of National Defense, Geneva, 11 May 2006.
[65] “Militar herido en la frontera (Soldier injured on the border),” La Estrella de Arica (Arica), 2 October 2005.
[66] Statement by Chile on Victim Assistance, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, 30 November 2005.
[67] Telephone interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 7 June 2006.
[68] Landmine Monitor visit to Tambo Quemado accompanied by Mayor Günther Schweizer, Commander of the Azapa Engineers Batallion, 17 March 2006; response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006.
[69] Article 7 Report, Form F, 5 May 2006.
[70] Email from Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 9 June 2006.
[71] Statement by CNAD, Standing Committee on Mine Action, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 10 May 2006.
[72] Telephone interview with Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 7 June 2006.
[73] Article 7 Report, Form I, 2 May 2005; CNAD, “Situación de las operaciones de desminado humanitario en Chile (Situation of humanitarian demining operations in Chile),” June 2005, pp. 12-13.
[74] “Seguridad y Prevención (Safety and Prevention),” Chilean Army First Division, Antofagasta, May 2001; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 308.
[75] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 27 March 2006.
[76] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 14 March 2006.
[77] Europe Aid, “Humanitarian demining in Chile,” europa.eu.int.
[78] CIAHZM was formerly known as Mines-UXO Awareness Center Chile (MUACC). Emails from Elir Rojas Calderón, Director, CIAHZM, 17 May, and 14, 16 and 20 June 2006; see Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 252.
[79] IEP, “Cantante Juanes Apoyará Campaña Educativa y de Prevención Sobre Minas Antipersonales en Chile (Singer Juanes Supports Antipersonnel Mines Education and Prevention Campaign in Chile,)” 16 December 2005; email from Pamela Velázquez, IEP, 1 May 2006.
[80] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 252.
[81] Email from Ellen Schut, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7 April 2006; email from Brechtje Paardekooper, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 18 April 2006. Average exchange rate for 2005: €1 = $1.2449, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2006.
[82] Spain Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 April 2006; email from Luis Gómez Nogueira, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, 25 April 2006.
[83] USG Historical Chart containing data for FY 2005, by email from Angela L. Jeffries, Financial Management Specialist, US Department of State, 8 June 2006; US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” 6th Edition, June 2006, p 33. Chile valued a US contribution of materials to CNAD at $91,171, including medical, communications and IMSMA equipment. Article 7 Report, Form J, 5 May 2006.
[84] Emails from Laura Liguori, Security Policy Unit, Conventional Disarmament, EC, June-July 2006. UNDP, “Chile, la Unión Europea y el PNUD Firman Convenio para el Desminado en Tierra del Fuego (Chile, the European Union and UNDP Sign Agreement for Demining in Tierra del Fuego),” Press Release, 2 May 2006; Europe Aid, “Humanitarian demining in Chile.” Funds were allocated from the EC 2005 budget and are included in the EC total of the funding overview.
[85] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 252.
[86] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 14 March 2006; Average exchange rate for first quarter 2006: US$1 = CLP532.49353. Landmine Monitor estimate based on www.oanda.com.
[87] “Joven sufre amputación de dedos por mina antipersonal (Young person suffers from amputation of fingers due to a landmine),” La Nación (Santiago), 22 December 2005.
[88] Chilean Army First Division, “I División de Ejército aclara accidente de arriero (Division I of the Army clarifies accident),” Press Release, Santiago, 22 December 2005.
[89] “Explosión de una mina antipersonal mató a joven en Primera Región (Explosion of a landmine killed a young person in the First Region),” Teletrece Internet (Santiago), 8 February 2005.
[90] “Colina: Menor muere al manipular artefacto explosivo en su hogar (Hill: Minor dies while manipulating an artifact at home),” El Mercurio (Santiago), 13 February 2005.
[91] “Parte de su pulgar perdió joven a raíz de explosión (Youngster lost part of his thumb due to an explosion),” La Prensa de Tocopilla (Tocopilla), 24 May 2005.
[92] “Menor perdió un brazo tras estallar granada que manipulaba (Minor lost an arm while manipulating a Grenade),” La Nación (Santiago), 29 June 2005.
[93] Email from Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, 9 June 2006.
[94] “Peruano herido grave por mina antipersonal en la frontera (Peruvian seriously hurt by an antipersonnel mine on the border),” El Mercurio (Santiago), 3 July 2006.
[95] Peru Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nota de Prensa 335-06, “Cancillería brinda atención a connacionales que sufrieron accidente al ingresar a Chile por paso no habilitado (Press Release 335-06, Chancellery offers attention to compatriots who suffer an accident while entering Chile illegally),” Lima, 3 July 2006.
[96] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 253.
[97] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, Santiago, 27 March 2006.
[98] Statement by Chile, Sixth Meeting of States Parties, Zagreb, 28 November-2 December 2005.
[99] Ibid.
[100] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, Santiago, 27 March 2006.
[101] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 312; Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 402.
[102] Article 7 Report, Form J, 5 May 2006.
[103] Center for International Rehabilitation, “International Disability Rights Monitor,” www.cirnetwork.org; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 310-311.
[104] Landmine Monitor interview with survivor, Calama, 6 March 2006.
[105] See Landmine Monitor Report 2005, p. 254.
[106] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Col. Günther Siebert Wendt, CNAD, Santiago, 14 March 2006.
[107] Government of Chile, “FONADIS y Mideplan dieron a conocer estudio sobre discapacidad (FONADIS and Mideplan presented study on disability),” Santiago, 28 January 2005.
[108] Radio Universidad de Chile, “El Derecho Humano a ser Igual (The Human Right to be Equal),” Santiago, 8 March 2006.