Key developments since 2004: In 2005, Landmine Monitor recorded the first new mine casualty in Honduras since reporting began in 1999.
Honduras signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 24 September 1998, and became a State Party on 1 March 1999. National implementation legislation, Decree No. 60-2000, was published in the Official Gazette on 29 June 2000.[1]
On 5 May 2006, Honduras submitted its fifth Article 7 transparency report.[2] The report as available on the UN website is only a one-page chart on mine clearance, not a full report covering calendar 2005. Honduras also did not submit an annual update for calendar year 2004.
Honduras attended the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November-December 2004 as well as the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Zagreb, Croatia. In Zagreb, it made a statement on the completion of its mine clearance program. It also participated in intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2005 and May 2006. At the May meeting, it made a presentation on antipersonnel mines retained for training.
Honduras has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1 and 2. Thus, it has not made known its views on 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.
Honduras is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It did not participate in the Seventh Annual Conference of States Parties to the protocol on 23 November 2005 and did not submit an Amended Protocol II Article 13 report in 2005.
Honduras has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines. On 2 November 2000, Honduras completed destruction of a total of 7,441 stockpiled antipersonnel mines.[3]
In May 2006, Honduras reported that it is retaining 815 antipersonnel mines retained for training purposes.[4] It said it destroyed 11 M-4 antipersonnel mines during training activities in 2005, and said that it will use all retained mines gradually.[5] Honduras stated that the retained mines are needed for two main purposes: to help train military personnel assisting other countries in their demining programs, and to study areas where landmines may have been laid in the country. It noted that in 2005, two “MAP Y 99 UXO” were destroyed in response to complaints received. Honduras also said that it is possible that drugs dealers could lay mines in zones where they operate, hence, it is important to have trained clearance personnel for that eventuality.[6]
Landmines were planted in Honduran territory by combatants to the armed conflicts in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the 1980s. Mine clearance was completed in Honduras in 2004. However, the Organization of American States noted that certain regions would remain at risk of future mine incidents, especially along border areas, because of the nature of the original mine-laying and environmental factors.[7]
On 21 November 2005, a 30-year old Honduran peasant was killed after stepping on an antipersonnel mine in the border community of San Francisco de la Lodosa, El Paraiso.[8] This was the first reported Honduran landmine casualty since March 2001, when a hunter crossing into Nicaragua was injured on the Nicaraguan side of the border.[9]
There has been no comprehensive survey of landmine casualties in Honduras to date. In July 2004, the National Statistics Institute estimated that approximately 100 of a total of 250 war-disabled persons in Honduras are landmine survivors.[10] In September 1995, Honduran officials estimated that over 200 civilians had been killed since 1990.[11]
In May 2006, a Honduran Armed Forces representative provided an updated record of landmine casualties from 1984 to 2005. The army recorded 27 landmine casualties, including 19 civilian and eight military casualties. Of the 19 civilian victims, eight were killed and 11 were injured in incidents between 1984 and 1997. Two military personnel were killed and six injured between 1994 and 1997. The military casualties include a Brazilian military officer serving as an international supervisor, who lost a leg on 16 May 1997; this was the last military demining casualty recorded in Honduras.[12] Although the list reportedly recorded casualties up to 2005, it did not include the November 2005 casualty or the March 2001 incident reported by Landmine Monitor.
Data collection has been limited due to loss of data and files during the war period. The army records basic data on casualties during demining operations. The Ministry of Health relies on the Armed Forces for information on landmine survivors and their current status, because it is the only institution with a presence in all regions of the country.[13]
Civilian survivors in Honduras tend to be poor farmers, living in small farms of 10,000 to 20,000 square meters, far from urban centers. Many survivors were injured while hunting, crossing back and forth along the border with Nicaragua.[14]
Landmine survivors in Honduras have access to services provided to all persons with disabilities, including community-based rehabilitation programs and economic reintegration programs. There are several specialist healthcare units offering comprehensive rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities.[15]
The Ministry of Health provides funding to health care organizations working for persons with disabilities. Additionally, Ministry of Governance and Justice funding to the disability sector includes the provision of mobility devices and rehabilitation programs, as well as personnel and infrastructure. Rehabilitation centers are located in major cities.[16] Two general hospitals and some area hospitals are also capable of providing medical rehabilitation services. The government-run San Felipe Hospital in Tegucigalpa provides mobility devices and survivors can also find assistance from private organizations, such as Teletón and FUHRIL.[17]
Since February 2003, the Vida Nueva (New Life) prosthetic outreach center in Choluteca has been providing treatment to war victims, including landmine survivors. The center has provided approximately 100 new prostheses per year; in addition to orthoses and mobility aids.[18] Between January and April 2006, the center produced 12 prostheses and 197 orthoses, and repaired 45 devices (10 prostheses and 35 orthoses) for persons with disabilities, including four landmine survivors.[19] In 2006, Vida Nueva expanded its services to include economic integration activities for wheelchair users and other persons with disabilities, including support for small business development, vocational training and job development.[20]
The tripartite program for the rehabilitation of landmine survivors in Central America, supported by Canada, Mexico and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) since January 1999, came to an end in Honduras in March 2003. The joint program was carried out in El Paraiso and Choluteca departments.[21]
Honduras has several laws that protect or benefit persons with disabilities; however, implementation of the laws has often been lacking and the National Council on Comprehensive Rehabilitation has never been active.[22] The Public Ministry is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.[23] In May 2004, a new national policy on disability was approved.[24]
Honduras’ Article 7 report for 2005 did not make use of voluntary Form J to report on mine victim assistance activities.
[1] “Law for the Prohibition of Production, Purchase, Sale, Import, Export, Transit, Use, Possession and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and Antihandling Devices or Parts of those Artefacts” (Ley para la Prohibición de la Producción, Compra, Venta, Importación, Exportación, Tránsito, Utilización, Posesión y Transferencia de Minas Antipersonales y de Dispositivos Antidetectores o de Partes de tales Artefactos). Landmine Monitor has a copy of Decree 60-2000. Penal sanctions include imprisonment of three to five years.
[2] Previously, Honduras submitted Article 7 reports on 5 May 2004 (also shown on UN site as 30 April 2004) covering calendar year 2003; 11 April 2002; 10 August 2001; and 30 August 1999.
[3] This included 1,436 M-969 (Portugal), 4,224 M-4 (Israel), and 1,781 FMK-1 (Argentina) mines.
[4] The antipersonnel mines retained are 159 M-969 mines, 458 M-4 mines and 198 FMK-1 mines. Presentation by Honduras, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006. Honduras also stockpiles M18A1 Claymore mines.
[5] Presentation by Honduras, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006 (and notes by Landmine Monitor/HRW).
[6] Presentation by Honduras, Standing Committee on General Status and Operation of the Convention, Geneva, 12 May 2006 (and notes by Landmine Monitor/HRW).
[7] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 488-489.
[8] “Campesino muere al explosionar mina en zona fronteriza Nicaragua” (“Farmer killed in a landmine explosion on the border with Nicaragua”), EFE, 23 November 2005.
[9] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 492.
[10] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 492.
[11] UN, “Landmine Country Report for Honduras,” September 1995.
[12] “Personal Lesionado, Desminado” (“Wounded personnel, demining”), undated, provided to Landmine Monitor by Col. Miguel Barahona Pérez, Director of Operations, Honduran Armed Forces, Geneva, 12 May 2006.
[13] Interview with Col. Miguel Barahona Pérez, Honduran Armed Forces, Geneva, 12 May 2006.
[14] Interview with Col. Miguel Barahona Pérez, Honduran Armed Forces, Geneva, 12 May 2006. Col. Barahona Pérez lives near the border in El Paraíso, and two of the survivors are relatives of his family.
[15] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 492-493.
[16] There are centers in Danli, Comayagua, La Ceiba, Choluteca, San Pedro Sula, Copan, Santa Bárbara, La Esperanza, Olanchito, Catacamas and Juticalapa. Center For International Rehabilitation, “Honduras country profile,” International Disability Rights Monitor, 2004, www.cimetwork.org, accessed 8 June 2006.
[17] Center For International Rehabilitation (CIR), “Honduras country profile,” International Disability Rights Monitor, 2004, www.cimetwork.org, accessed 8 June 2006.
[18] Email from Stephen Meyers, Director of International Programs, Polus Center for Social & Economic Development Inc., Amherst, 26 May 2006.
[19] Email from Reina Estrada, Executive Director, Vida Nueva, Choluteca, Honduras, 27 May 2006.
[20] Email from Stephen Meyers, Polus Center for Social & Economic Development Inc., Amherst, 26 May 2006.
[21] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 493.
[22] CIR, “Honduras country profile,” International Disability Rights Monitor, 2004.
[23] US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005: Honduras,” Washington DC, 8 March 2006.
[24] Email from Thierry Gonthier, Program Director, Handicap International, 22 July 2004.