Poland

Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Poland signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but has yet to ratify. After a policy change in 2004 aimed at ratification as soon as 2006, Poland began to back away in early 2006, then reversed course in early 2007. T he Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the ICBL in January 2007 stating, “Ministry of National Defense specialists have recently determined that Poland should not become bound by the Convention before 2015. It is projected that by that time the Polish Armed Forces will obtain alternatives to anti-personnel mines. That is one of the objectives our Land Forces are obliged to fulfill by the end of 2014 within the framework of the North Atlantic Alliance. Thus, conditions will be created for ratifying the Ottawa Convention without prejudice to our defensive capabilities.”^[1]

The letter also stated that Poland plans to destroy most of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines within nine or 10 years, while undertaking the “[g]radual installation in the remaining anti-personnel mines of modern time fuses with self-destruction or self-neutralization mechanisms. As a result, the mines, if used, would pose no threat to civilians after the conflict ends.”^[2] However, antipersonnel mines with such mechanisms are clearly prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty.

This decision to back away from ratification was based on studies conducted in 2006 and presented to a Ministry of National Defense consultative council. The ministry does not intend to publish or make the studies available.^[3] The ministry has made an assessment that replacing antipersonnel mines with effective alternatives will require between eight and 13 years and cost more than one billion PLN (some US$320 million). The ministry now believes that its previous agreement to initiate the ratification process in 2004 was premature.^[4]

From 1997 to 2003 Polish officials insisted that a series of preconditions must be met before Poland could ratify.^[5] However, Poland changed this position in 2004.^[6] It announced it was “ready to initiate the process of ratification of the Ottawa Convention.”^[7] During 2005, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense prepared all the formal documents required for the ratification process and submitted them for interministerial consultations.^[8] However, in February 2006 the Minister of National Defense said that the ministry was still in the process of “working on new possibilities of implementing alternative operational and technical solutions, which would make up for the weakening of Poland’s defensive potential as a result of giving up antipersonnel mines. Once the process is completed, the Ministry will be able to specify its final position on the required pace and period of the ratification process of the Ottawa Convention.”^[9]

In its January 2007 letter to the ICBL Poland stressed, “Let me assure you that the humanitarian aspect of the Ottawa Convention is particularly important to Poland. For several years now Poland has voluntarily implemented most of the Convention provisions: we do not produce, export or use anti-personnel mines in military operations…. [W]e have already endorsed the idea of eliminating anti-personnel mines from military arsenals and are seeking ways to address the humanitarian problems resulting from the irresponsible use of these weapons.”^[10]

In April 2007 Poland stated, “We are fully committed to the Mine Ban Treaty and are taking every possible effort to ratify it at the soonest possible moment…. We believe the decade-long success of the Mine Ban Treaty lies primarily in its role as a general framework for actions undertaken with a purpose to diminish and ultimately prohibit the use of APMs…. The role of the Treaty reaches far beyond mere addressing the problem of the use of APMs. It has opened a new chapter in dealing with the question of arms control and disarmament.”^[11]

Poland submitted its fifth voluntary Article 7 transparency report on 6 April 2007, covering calendar year 2006.^[12] The report consisted solely of voluntary Form J, which primarily contained new information on Poland’s international mine clearance activities. Other forms were marked unchanged or not applicable.

Poland attended the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2006, but did not make any statements. It also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2006 and April 2007. At the April 2007 meetings, it made a statement on its position with respect to the treaty.

On 6 December 2006 Poland voted in favor of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 61/84, which calls for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. Poland has voted for each of the annual pro-ban UNGA resolutions since 1997.

Poland is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. Poland attended the Eighth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2006 and submitted an annual report in accordance with Article 13 on 6 September 2006. Poland told Landmine Monitor in April 2007 that it had initiated preparations for ratification of CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.^[13]

The ICBL undertook an advocacy mission to Poland in November 2006, which included participation in the Landmine Awareness Days series of events organized by the Polish Red Cross in Warsaw.^[14] Landmine Awareness Days featured a conference held at Warsaw University (Landmines, ‘new weapons’ and International Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts), a week-long exhibition of mine action photographs by Australian photographer John Rodsted, a screening of the film Disarm and a social event.

In October 2006 the Polish Red Cross organized a two-day training, Ending the Landmine Era, for students and youth from all of Poland.

Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling and Destruction

In January and April 2007 Poland again stated that it does not produce, export or use antipersonnel mines.^[15] At the same time, as noted above, it also said that it planned to install self-destruct or self-neutralization mechanisms on some antipersonnel mines.^[16] In March 2006 Poland told Landmine Monitor that current military doctrine does not foresee the use of antipersonnel mines, including in joint military operations or exercises with other states.^[17]

In the past, Poland produced three types of antipersonnel mines and imported a fourth type. Poland exported antipersonnel mines until 1993. An export moratorium in 1995 was made permanent by a cabinet decree on 7 April 1998, which was then superseded by a law adopted in September 2002.^[18]

In April 2007, Poland stated that its stockpile of antipersonnel mines totalled 984,690, the same number it reported holding at the end of 2005.^[19] Poland reported destroying 12,990 stockpiled mines in 2005; these “were decommissioned and dismantled after their life cycle had expired in 2005.”^[20]

In January and April 2007, Poland stated that it will gradually over the next nine to ten years dismantle its stockpile of antipersonnel mines.^[21] According to a schedule made by the General Staff, Poland will prepare for the destruction of mines in 2007, will disassemble about 125,000 mines each year from 2008 to 2010, and about 115,000 mines each year from 2011 to 2015.^[22]

Before the reversal of policy, the Ministry of National Defense said that there were no technical, organizational or financial constraints to prevent Poland from destroying mines within four years as required by the Mine Ban Treaty, and that the process could be completed within one year once destruction started.^[23]

In its Article 7 reports Poland has not reported that it will retain mines for training or development purposes, but rather has stated “not applicable” in Form D concerning retained mines.^[24] However, in May 2005 representatives of the Ministry of National Defense told Landmine Monitor that Poland planned to keep about 5,000 antipersonnel mines for training purposes.^[25] In 2006, Poland used 210 empty antipersonnel mine casings for training purposes.^[26]

In February 2001 the Ministry of National Defense confirmed that Poland possessed Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines, and said that these are “meant exclusively for mine-controlled detonation…[which] excludes the possibility of accidental detonation.” The MON-100 is described in Poland’s first Article 7 report as a “Directional fragmentation mine, if equipped with a MUW fuse attached to a tripwire.”^[27]

Landmine and ERW Problem

Poland remains contaminated by large quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW) and, to a much lesser extent, mines, from World War II.^[28] Poland has consistently stated that “there are no mine-contaminated areas in Poland or areas which would be suspected of being contaminated by mines.”^[29] The Ministry of National Defense reported that scattered “single” mines, mostly antivehicle, are found emplaced but that most mines destroyed are remnants of World War II stockpiles. Mines represent less than 0.1 percent of all explosive and dangerous objects found each year. Moreover, degradation as a result of age and climate means few are still functional and any accidents are a result of “the manipulation of those devices.” ^[30] This is said to apply in particular to antipersonnel mines.^[31]

No specific mine risk education (MRE) programs have been reported in Poland. Engineering forces use print and broadcast media and presentations at schools in areas where clearance is being conducted in order to raise awareness of the dangers of explosive devices.^[32] Canada contributed C$1,974 ($1,741) to the Polish Red Cross for MRE in 2006.^[33]

Mine Action Program

Poland does not have a formal civilian mine/ERW action program. The army conducts clearance of mine/ERW contamination under a 2002 Ministry of National Defense order as well as other guidelines.^[34]

Poland does not have a strategic plan for clearance of mine/ERW; the armed forces and police respond to emergency requests for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). In addition, the armed forces conduct “routine checking” of former Soviet military bases and Polish military bases deemed superfluous before these are handed over to local civilian administrations. Operational military training grounds are checked twice yearly and after “live firing or bombardments.”^[35]

The Command of Military Engineering Forces Data keeps records on military clearance and EOD. The Ministry of National Defense stated in 2006 that data on clearance conducted by the police has not been centralized into a single information management system. Poland’s deminers follow internal military procedures developed by the Ministry of Defense which were not based on international standards. Polish EOD teams operating abroad on joint missions follow NATO standards.^[36]

Demining

Armed forces teams conduct most EOD and mine clearance using only manual clearance techniques. Engineer Corps Special Forces are responsible for clearance of former military facilities and EOD operations in response to reports from the population. The police have special units of “pyrotechnicians” (EOD teams) in charge of destroying improvised explosive devices, reportedly used “to commit illegal acts” or for “terrorist acts.” The police are also the major channel of information for discoveries of mines and ERW; 80 percent of all army EOD responses are processed by the police first. Cooperation between the army and the police is regulated by the “Agreement on the cooperation of the armed forces with the Police in regard to crisis situation prevention,” dated 20 April 2005.^[37]

Former military bases are fenced and the fencing is regularly checked. Whenever an explosive item is found, the location is marked by the police until an EOD team removes the dangerous items.^[38]

Mine/ERW Clearance

In 2006, a total of 41 military EOD teams (39 from the army and air force and two teams specialized in underwater mine clearance) cleared 1,189 antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and 76,512 ERW in operations reported to have cost PLN 9.6 million (some $3.2 million).^[39] In 2005, 37 teams cleared 6,138 mines and 39,160 ERW.^[40]

Engineers also conducted clearance during “routine checking” of former military training grounds in 2006; until 2005 Poland provided Landmine Monitor with details of such operations but declined to provide this information in 2006 on the grounds that “these activities go beyond the subject matter of Landmine Monitor….” The government disclosed only that World War II ERW consisted mainly of “ammunition shells, empty mine corpses, and other metal elements.”^[41] In addition, the police in 2006 disposed of 2,581 items of UXO, mostly seized from criminal groups.^[42]

Support to Mine Action

In 2006-2007 Poland continued to support mine action in other countries by contributing demining personnel to UN peacekeeping and stabilization missions, including in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo and Syria. Poland did not report a value for these contributions, but reported a €50,000 ($62,815) contribution to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center.^[43] The UN Development Programme (UNDP) reported that emergency donor support to Lebanon in August 2006 included an in-kind pledge by Poland of demining equipment valued at $1.27 million; this contribution was not reported by Poland in its 2007 Article 7 report.^[44]

Landmine/ERW Casualties

According to police sources in 2006 one person was killed while extracting explosives from ERW. Another 20 people, all civilians, were injured by unidentified explosive devices, mostly while tampering with ERW.^[45] Since 2005 casualties caused by all types of explosive devices, including those in criminal acts and industrial accidents, have been included in Poland’s reporting system preventing meaningful casualty comparison. In 2005, 44 civilian casualties caused by unidentified explosives were reported, but of these 15 were injured at explosives production facilities.^[46]

Among the Polish Armed Forces abroad, there were no confirmed casualties due to victim-activated mines or ERW in 2006 and 2005. Since 1999 at least seven Polish nationals have been killed and nine injured by mines while engaged in military, peacekeeping or mine clearance operations and other activities outside Poland.^[47] In 2006 one Polish soldier was killed and one injured in an ambush in Iraq which probably involved a command-detonated device.^[48] Polish military casualties from improvised explosive devices continued to be reported in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 with two soldiers killed and 10 injured as of July 2007; the types of device involved were not clearly identified but were likely command-detonated.^[49]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Poland is not known. Between 1944 and 1994, 658 soldiers were killed and several thousand injured in clearance operations. Between 1945 and 1973, 3,833 civilians (including 3,189 children) were killed and 8,221 (including 6,656 children) injured in mine/ERW incidents.^[50]

Survivor Assistance

Mine/ERW survivors are entitled to the same healthcare as other people with health insurance, for whom all necessary surgical and rehabilitation services, including prostheses and most orthopedic equipment, are provided free of charge. Military casualties are entitled to free medicines and orthopedic equipment. People permanently unable to work as a result of war-related injuries, including mine/ERW survivors, are entitled to compensation.^[51] The number of people receiving disability pensions in Poland has steadily decreased since 2001. Polish social insurance policies have been questioned by a parliamentary regulatory body which reported that social insurance procedures limit the possibilities for disability certification and do not provide adequate economic reintegration alternatives for people with disabilities. In addition, disabled people who are unable to work are not guaranteed disability benefits.^[52] Less than 20 percent of people with disabilities in Poland were employed in 2006.^[53]

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for issues concerning people with disabilities. The Charter of Rights for People with Disabilities and its amendments ensure equal status and opportunities for this group; regulations were generally enforced but some societal discrimination against people with disabilities was reported.^[54] In 2006 the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy started working on principles for a new legal act regulating the social and economic reintegration of people with disabilities and in January 2007, the Council of Ministers adopted a decree providing assistance to employers of people with disabilities.^[55] There is a state fund for rehabilitation of people with disabilities and a national consultation council for people with disabilities advising the Ministry.^[56]

Poland became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 30 March 2007, but did not sign its Optional Protocol which would allow the monitoring of disability initiatives. However, Poland planned to analyze the legal and financial implications of the convention before ratifying it.^[57]