Regional Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines (Europe)

Addendum to Chairman's Summary

1. THE STATUS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OTTAWA TREATY
2. MINE AWARENESS
3. VICTIM ASSISTANCE
4. AP MINES: RETHINKING MILITARY DOCTRINE
5. DEMINING AND STOCKPILE DESTRUCTION

First Panel:THE STATUS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OTTAWA TREATY

The aim of the Panel was to exchange the views on the continuation of the Ottawa process and developments since the signing of the Treaty and its entry into force. The necessity of the continuation of partnership established during the Ottawa process was stressed, and the need for further cooperation between different actors in that process, namely governments, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations, was particularly emphasized.

The Panel noted the importance of further strengthening the new international norm created by the Treaty through full and effective implementation of treaty amendments. The importance of the universalization of the Treaty was reaffirmed, as well as positive contribution of every new ratification to the goal of the Ottawa process. In order to ensure the universalization of the Treaty, the countries which have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention were called to do so as soon as possible. The example set by the countries that have already signed and ratified or adhered to the Treaty was marked as an important stimulus for the states that have not yet joined the Ottawa Convention.

The Panel highlighted decisions resulting from the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999, in particular the establishments of the intersessional work program. The purpose of such a program is to bridge the gap between the meeting schedule envisaged by the Treaty, that is - annual meetings of the States Parties, and 5 years rewiev mechanism, as well as to keep the necessary dynamics of the Process. This program is to provide a systematic and coherent approach to dealing with the practical implementation of the Convention. The Panel urged all interested countries, NGO's, IO's to send their exports to these meetings to ensure that steady progress is made on mine action between now and the Second Meeting of States Parties.

The transparency measures, as envisaged in the Treaty, were marked as an important contribution to the continuation of the Ottawa process. In that context the significance of the yearly reports, as required under Article 7, on the implementation of the Treaty by the States Parties was underscored.

The significance of those reports aiming to raise the awareness on the status of compliance with the Treaty obligations by the States parties, was affirmed.

The Panel commended dedicated work of Nongovernmental organizations towards the goal of banning all antipersonnel landmines, and further implementation of the Treaty obligations. The reporting on the landmine problems by NGO's, as well as on the status of the implementation of the Treaty, and their important role in mine awareness process was particularly emphasized.

In addition to the Ottawa Convention, the importance of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of certain Conventional Weapons, which are deemed as excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects and its Additional Protocol II, was reaffirmed. The importance of that Protocol was especially underscored in relation to anti-vehicle mines, that are not covered by the Treaty, and that could have serious impact on the civilian population.

National measures by the Governments to ensure the compliance with the Treaty obligations are necessary. In that view the significance of the information on those measures was stressed. In continuation, some of the participating countries informed the Panel about steps taken to ensure the national implementation of the Treaty, one of them being an Interministerial group. The Panel welcomed those measures. Other states were encouraged to follow that example.

The initiative of the Croatian Government to organize this regional Conference was commended. Bearing in mind the positive impact of the Zagreb Regional Conference on the Ottawa process, future similar initiatives were encouraged.

Second Panel

MINE AWARENESS

The Panel served to exchange views about the importance of Mine Awareness Programs (MAP) in reducing the risk of mine casualties. MAP is a starting point where mine removing is not a priority ( the goal is to eradicate the problem and threat of landmines. The Program goes before the National Level surveys because it can produce data which can, on the socio-economic level, eliminate suffering of the people and affected countries and help the community.

Based on the experience from BiH, the panellists reported that after the war approximately a million mines remained on 3000 mine fields, mostly along the entity lines and in the vicinity of Sarajevo and Goražde. After reaching the Dayton Peace Accord, UNICEF started the Program to save children’s lives. They produce a Kit with 11 items, which includes audio and video materials, as well as the information for refugees in third countries about the situation in their respective regions. The media plays an important role in spreading the messages about the situation in a given region, and accordingly UNICEF prepared various TV and radio programs. UNICEF also started the program for Kosovo refugees situated in Albania and FYROM.

The need for cooperation with the local communities and establishment of links with people who are about to return to certain regions after the war were also stressed as the preconditions for a safe and normal life. This cooperation is important due to the fact that local people know which part of their village or city is most vital to them and must be demined before their return. The problem is that the organizations dealing with the mine problem are not properly equipped and often lack technical assistance.

One of the topics of the second panel was the educational program regarding the protection of children from destructive devices in the Republic of Croatia. The aims of that program are – learning about dangers from destructive devices, safety-precautions measures and avoiding casualties within the school age population.

The objectives of the joint ICRC and the Croatian Red Cross Mine Awareness Program are to prevent mine accidents among civilian population, which are considered most at risk, and to build a sustainable program to be eventually handed over to the CRC.

The key to both understanding the problems and contributing to the effective development of MAP lies in the network of 158 MAP instructors located in mine contaminated communities making sure that the safety messages are regularly reiterated and disseminated in a form of interactive presentations. In the spirit of the community-based approach, ICRC is supporting various local initiatives to develop mine awareness in a medium appropriate to the local situation (i.e. through exhibitions, multi-media shows and theatre performances in mine affected communities, with the assistance and collaboration of the RC branches).

As a community based program, MAP requires a solid foundation in order to support sustainable long-term goals in co-operation with the CRC. The population at risk is so vast that the RC MAP working alone cannot hope to achieve optimum results. Therefore, the efforts should continue in order to encourage the networking of the CRC, assist the competent and interested NGO's to develop their own MAP's and support other mine-related activities in Croatia.

Third Panel

VICTIM ASSISTANCE

The Participants of the Panel were informed about 1.200 mine victims in Croatia (860 persons have minor disabilities and 411 persons are severely disabled). The main prerequisites for the medical rehabilitation process is the team work and co-ordination. Rehabilitation process must be based on the following principles: individuality, proximity of home, co-ordination and team work, education and adequate accommodation. Due to the complexity of the rehabilitation process, all resources available must be included. In Croatia, there is a good medical care process. However, psychological, social and professional rehabilitation is not satisfactory. Preliminary study carried out by the Mine Victims Association showed that a great percentage of the mine victims are male, and most of them, statistics showed, were injured during the armed conflict. There is also a great number of those who were injured in the post-conflict period: most of them being displaced persons and refugees, returning to their homes. However, only 24 percent of victims are currently undergoing the process of rehabilitation.

The Panel noted that there are several important factors for the successful process of the rehabilitation: additional education of the victims, as well as economic prosperity of the local community and legislation.

The Panel assessed the role of the data collection in victim assistance programmes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has been carried out since March 1996. So far, some 4.000 victims are registered. Files are centralised in the main archive in Sarajevo and they are open to all interested institutions. According to the collected data, 94 percent of victims are male, most of them coming from rural areas, with 22 percent of them being are under the age of 18. The process of data collection is carried out by 120 local volunteers.

The Panel stressed the importance of defining responsibilities in the rehabilitation process. The Panel concluded that victim assistance and rehabilitation should be included in public health programs. It is also essential to support psychological rehabilitation.

Fourth PanelAP MINES: RETHINKING MILITARY DOCTRINE

The fourth panel was moderated by Mr. Patrick Blagden, GICHD and which enco

mpassed the following topics: Experience from the War in Croatia presented Lt.Col Slavko Halu~ťn from the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, the ICRC Study: Friend or Foe, presented by Mr. Lou Maresca, ICRC and Mr. Patrick Blagden, GICHD, and The Steps Taken by Ukraine Towards a Ban of AP Mines presented by Col. Mikail Mikajelenko, from the Ukraine Military.

The first panellist gave a detailed overview of topics from the experiences from the war in Croatia, which included the xperiences of armed forces of the Republic of Croatia in the use of anti-armour and anti–personnel landmines, and the experiences in final operations of armed forces of the Republic of Croatia. Although the military arguments that anti-personnel landmines are cheap, relatively effective, and primarily a defensive means, it cannot be said that the anti-personnel mines of the adversary had a decisive influence on the outcome of the military operations. Procedures in all armies foresee that minefields be fenced, recorded and guarded, in reality it is the case with only a very few countries and armies. It was stressed that anti-personnel landmines are indiscriminate weapons and after the war, civilians are the most frequent victims.

Secondly, the conclusions of the ICRC study was stated. The military value of landmines has received little attention in published military studies. Likewise, the little material available on the use of anti-personnel mines does not substantiate claims that they have high military value. Also, establishing, monitoring and maintaining an extensive border minefield is time-consuming, expensive and dangerous. In battlefield conditions, the use, marking and mapping of minefield has rarely been in accordance with doctrine or humanitarian law, and hence the cost of using anti-personnel mines in terms of own casualties and tactical limitation is considerable. Rarely has the use been in accordance with military doctrine and also in the light of historical examples, the military value of anti-personnel mines is questionable. The final conclusion was that the military value of anti-personnel mines is far outweighed by their humanitarian consequences.

Participants were also informed about the steps that were taken by the Ukraine towards banning anti-personnel landmines. However, due to the current economic conditions in their country, Ukraine is not in a position in which they can ratify the Ottawa Convention until a later date, but it strongly supports the Ottawa process and its efforts. Ukraine has taken measures in the destruction of anti-personnel mines, and attention was draw to ecologically acceptable methods of mine destruction. It was emphasised that Ukraine, needs financial support for their destruction and is ready to accept expert training from various countries.

In order to assess the effectiveness of the use of anti-personnel landmines in the military doctrine, a list of questions was given by the moderator. These questions had to be asked when analysing the use of anti-personnel mines during the conflict period (assuming that the mines were used as protection in defensive positions) and after the conflict period. The Panel concluded that one should find alternative means and methods which would replace anti-personnel landmines in military doctrines.
LIST OF QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED WHEN ANALYSING THE USE OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINESDuring the conflict period, and assuming that the mines were used in protection in defensive positions,

• Did the ownership of anti-personnel landmines by the defending forces significantly delay or affect the long-term aims of the attacking forces?
• Did the presence of anti-personnel minefields provide a tactical limitation to the defenders?
• As a result did the position or composition of any or some of anti-personnel minefields have to be changed?
• During the change, were casualties caused to the engineers, pioneers or other soldiers making the changes?
• Did the anti-personnel mines inflict significant casualties on their own (defending) forces?
• Did the anti-personnel mines inflict significant casualties on the enemy (attacking) forces?
• During the combat period, were local civilians killed or injured in the minefields?
• What was the estimated ration of civilians to military mine incidents?
• When the troops moved on from that position, were all anti-personnel minefields moved?
• Were mined areas marked, and were these markings maintained by military staffs, or made known to local authorities?
• Were maps made of the mined areas, and were these maps passed to local or central authorities?

Fifth Panel

DEMINING AND STOCKPILE DESTRUCTION

The Fifth Panel addressed the following topics: Humanitarian demining: an Integrated Approach, Humanitarian demining in the region: Action and Challenges, Destruction of Stockpiles.

The panelist defined integration and said that it can be realistically achieved intra agency, originating as an all-inclusive programme from one source. To enhance the efficiency of demining, redefinition of the staid approach is needed and the problem has to be attacked from a new angle.

The audience was reminded that the mine action is not a military discipline but rather a humanitarian pursuit and should be organized as such. The new concept of organization envisages the small, mobile, multidisciplinary teams that could perform more efficiently.

General requirements of the mine-action are a working structure, a project management as well as proper quality assurance.

The system of humanitarian mine clearance in the Republic of Croatia was the next theme. In 1998 CROMAC was established as an operational body which, in cooperation with the Croatian Parliament, the Government and the ministries, is leading, governing, and providing resources in the process of mine clearance in Croatia.

It is known that Croatia confronted an enormous problem of mined territories after the war. According to the approximate evaluation, 1 to 1,2 million mines and UXOs were planted over 10,6 %of the entire Croatian territory during that period.

A legal mechanism was created to identify and address the problem of demining during the post war period with the priorities of ensuring the security of its citizens by marking and fencing the mined area, educating and providing financial resources.

Great efforts have been already invested in the process of demining, but much remains to be done. The process of humanitarian mine clearance proved efficient in Croatia and lessons learnt can be provided regionally if requested.

The most important goals for Croatia to reach in the next future are the following: improving mine awareness, speed up mine clearance implementation, database upgrading, and providing financial resources.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the active process of demining started a year ago. The Federal Mine Action Center, a coordinative body, was established to conduct the process of mine clearance. According to approximate estimates, there are 1 million mines scattered around BiH with additional 2 million UXOs. Financial resouces to confront this huge humanitarian danger have been scarce and dependent on donor countries.

It was stressed that the use of landmines in Eastern Europe is psychologically unacceptable due to the fact that landmines were a landmark of the "iron curtain" period. It is necessary to reassess the future tasks and methods of stockpile destruction that imply the environmentally friendly initiatives.

(T in . together with Mine Action Center in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mine Action Center in Republica Srpska were)