Key
developments since May 2001: The Bush Administration has been reviewing its
landmine policy since June 2001. The Department of Defense recommended in
November 2001 that the U.S. abandon its commitment to join the Mine Ban Treaty
in 2006 and also abandon some parts of the program to develop alternatives to
landmines. Funding for international humanitarian mine action programs for
fiscal year 2001 was $81.8 million, the largest amount of any single country,
but a significant decrease from the previous year. Mines killed one and wounded
six U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
MINE BAN POLICY
The United States is not party to the Mine Ban
Treaty. The Bush Administration has been engaged in a comprehensive review of
U.S. landmine policy since June 2001. It is not known when a decision on a new
policy will be made. Officials who have spoken publicly on the review have
stressed that in terms of policy, “nothing is off the table and everything
is subject to review.”[1]
The U.S. commitment to assist and fund international mine action programs is not
at issue in the review.[2]
Since 1998, U.S. policy has been based on Presidential Decision Directive 64,
which states that the U.S. will join the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006 if alternatives
have been identified and
fielded.[3] Human Rights Watch
reported in late November 2001 that the Department of Defense had recommended,
as its contribution to the review, that the U.S. abandon the objective of
joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[4]
In addition to the Pentagon, the Department of State and the National Security
Council (NSC) are participating in the policy review, prior to a decision by
President Bush.
The U.S. did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2001 or 2002,
in contrast to previous years. On 29 November 2001, the United States was one
of just 19 countries to abstain on UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M,
calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. The U.S. has abstained on
similar resolutions every year since 1997. The Department of Defense and
Organizations of American States (OAS) cosponsored a regional conference in
Miami on “Mine Action in Latin America,” from 3-5 December
2001.[5]
The United States attended the third annual conference of States Parties to
Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in December
2001. It submitted a national annual report as required by Article 13. The
United States also participated in the Second Review Conference of CCW, where
its proposal to expand the scope of the treaty to include internal conflicts was
adopted. The conference did not adopt a joint proposal initially offered by the
U.S. and Denmark for a new protocol on antivehicle mines, but chose to form a
group of governmental experts to study issues and make recommendations on
antivehicle mines in December 2002.
Aside from being referred to committees, no action has been taken by Congress
on the “Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001”
(H.R. 948 and S.497) since its introduction on 8 March 2001 by Representative
Lane Evans and Senator Patrick Leahy. As of July 2002, the bills had attracted
97 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and 30 cosponsors in the Senate.
The legislation expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. already
possesses alternative weapon systems and tactics to replace antipersonnel mines,
and that the U.S. should join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible, and
increase its mine action and victim assistance efforts.
In order to affect the ongoing policy review, the U.S. Campaign to Ban
Landmines (USCBL), coordinated by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has engaged
in numerous activities. In September 2001, the USCBL invited 30 war veterans
and religious leaders from around the country to Washington, DC to meet with key
Senators and urge them to write letters and call on the President to support a
complete ban on antipersonnel mines. In November 2001, 124 members of the House
of Representatives sent a letter to the President urging a positive outcome to
the review, including continued support for the Mine Ban Treaty. On the 3
December 2001 Mine Ban Treaty anniversary, a national White House call-in day by
campaigners reinforced this message. In March 2002, the USCBL convinced 80
major U.S.-based NGOs to sign onto a pro-ban letter to the President. Extensive
media outreach by USCBL and PHR resulted in the publication of a number of
pro-ban editorials in newspapers around the country. The Vietnam Veterans of
America Foundation (VVAF), a USCBL member, launched a public information
campaign on 25 February 2002 urging President Bush to ban landmines, which
included two 30-second television advertisements for Washington, DC area
television, as well as radio, print, internet, subway and outdoor
ads.[6] VVAF also sponsored
benefit performances in 2001 and 2002 as part of its Concerts for a Landmine
Free World initiative, which helped raise awareness of the mines issue
across the country.[7]
PRODUCTION AND ALTERNATIVES
The United States has not produced antipersonnel
mines since 1997 but reserves the right to do so. It has not declared a
unilateral moratorium on production and remains one of fourteen producers of
antipersonnel mines in the world. Production of M87A1 Volcano antivehicle mines
continues and is scheduled to end in December
2003.[8] This system once
contained antipersonnel mines but since 1996 the U.S. has been manufacturing and
exporting (to the United Kingdom) a version only containing antivehicle
mines.
Alternatives to Antipersonnel Landmines
Although plans and funding levels for the three
tracks of the landmine alternatives program were published in the February 2002
Presidential Budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2003,the outcome of
the policy review and its impact on the alternatives program was not known as of
July 2002.[9] The available
numbers, however, show decreasing emphasis on the program. A year ago, fiscal
year 2001 expenditures were estimated at $101, but actual expenditures came in
at $72 million; the request for fiscal year 2002 was $99 million a year ago, but
it is now estimated at $63 million. The nine-year total for the entire
alternatives program is now estimated at $608 million, which is a severe
reduction from $820 million estimated last year. The request for funding of the
landmine alternatives program is detailed in the following table (all figures in
millions of U.S. dollars):
Funding for Programs To Develop Alternatives to Antipersonnel
Landmines[10] ($millions)
Name
FY 99 actual
FY 00 actual
FY 01 actual
FY 02 est.
FY 03 req.
FY 04
FY 05
FY 06
FY 07
Track 1
RADAM
0
8.187
0.100
23.100
--
--
--
--
--
Track 1
NSD-A
13.856
14.834
36.088
1.008
28.300
10.000
--
--
--
Track 2
Self Healing Minefield, Tags
6.971
6.971
10.522
9.281
2.000
--
--
--
--
Track 3
Mixed Systems Alternative
0
0
22.879
26.207
32.000
32.000
68.200
100.00
101.80
Track 3
Component Technologies
0
19.054
2.292
2.922
2.934
4.867
7.753
7.949
8.062
Totals
20.827
49.046
71.879
62.518
65.234
44.934
75.953
107.95
109.86
[11] It is unknown if
initial production has gone forward in light of the ongoing landmine policy
review.
NSD-A (Non-Self-Destructing antipersonnel mine Alternative) aims at
replacement for so-called dumb mines. The decision whether to include a
controversial “battlefield override” feature that allows NSD-A to
function in a target (victim) activated mode is dependent on the landmine policy
review. A $1.1 million contract was awarded to Textron Systems Corporation
(Wilmington, Massachusetts) on 9 May 2002 and a $1.0 million contract was
awarded to Alliant Techsystems (Plymouth Minnesota) on 13 May 2002 to continue
“risk reduction efforts” for the
NSD-A.[12]
Funding for Track 2, a longer-term search for innovative maneuver denial
technologies, continues. An $816,179 development contract was awarded in
September 2001 to the Foster-Miller Company (Waltham, Massachusetts) for a
tactical self-healing
munition.[13] Three other
contracts, each for amounts just under $100,000, were awarded in late June and
early July 2002 to the Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense Company (Simsbury,
Connecticut), Quantum Mechanics (San Diego, California), and Ball Aerospace and
Technologies (Bloomfield,
Colorado).[14]
In its November 2001 recommendations for the mine policy review the Pentagon
also proposed abandoning Track 3 of the alternatives program – the search
for alternatives for so-called mixed systems that contain both antipersonnel and
antivehicle mines.[15]
TRANSFER
The United States exported over 5.5 million
antipersonnel mines to 38 countries between 1969 and 1992. Of this total, 4.14
million were non-self-destructing mines and approximately 80,000 were
self-destructing mines. The remaining 1.36 million were Claymore
mines.[16] Antipersonnel mines
manufactured by the United States are found in the ground in at least 28
countries.
U.S. law has prohibited the transfer of antipersonnel mines since 23 October
1992.[17] The legislative
mechanism for the export prohibition is scheduled to expire on 23 October
2003.[18] The Clinton
Administration announced in January 1997 that the U.S. “will observe a
permanent ban on the export and transfer of
APL.”[19] The Bush
Administration has made no comment about future antipersonnel mine export
policy.
The United States transferred 180 U.S.-manufactured M-14 antipersonnel mines
to Canada for use in development and testing of personal protective equipment
for deminers.[20] It is not
known if an interpretation or understanding of the 1992 Mine Export Moratorium
exists to permit the transfer of antipersonnel mines for research and
development purposes. Inquires sent in May 2002 to Department of State and
Department of Defense officials about this matter were not answered.
Additionally, Ecuador transferred 1,644 antipersonnel mines to the United States
Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (Indian Head,
Maryland).[21]
New information that came to light in 2001 also raises a question about the
legality of a potential transfer of U.S. mines to South Korea. In the event of
renewed hostilities in Korea, the United States plans to transfer more than
560,000 M14 and M16 non-self-destructing (“dumb”) mines that are
stockpiled in South Korea to the ROK Army, for their immediate deployment (see
below).[22]
As published in July 2001 in the fiscal year 2000 “655 report”
required under the Foreign Assistance Act, the Department of State approved a
direct commercial sale of $218,339 (license value) of “Mines
Anti-Personnel” to Israel. The State Department corrected this entry in
September 2001 to read “Mine
Anti-Tank.”[23]
STOCKPILING
The United States has the third largest stockpile
of antipersonnel mines in the world. The U.S. stockpiles approximately 11.2
million antipersonnel mines, including about 10 million self-destructing mines
and 1.2 million “dumb” mines. This stockpile contains nine
different types of antipersonnel mines: ADAM, 9,516,744; Gator (Air Force),
237,556; Gator (Navy), 49,845; M87 Volcano, 107,160; MOPMS, 9,184; PDM, 16,148;
GEMSS, 76,071; M14, 670,000; M16,
553,537.[24] In addition, over
970,000 Claymore mines are stockpiled. These numbers, first reported in 1999,
may be somewhat smaller now since antipersonnel mines are routinely destroyed as
they reach the end of their operational shelf life. For example, Germany
reports destroying 36,351 U.S. GEMSS mines and 38,959 M18A1 Claymore mines in
2001.[25]
In December 2001, Human Rights Watch revealed that nearly half of the non
self-destructing “dumb” antipersonnel mines retained by the United
States for use in Korea are actually stored in the United
States.[26] According to
information provided by the U.S. Army Material Command in response to a Freedom
of Information Act request, 45 percent of the 1.2 million long-lasting
“dumb” (non-self-destructing) antipersonnel mines retained for use
in Korea are stored at depots in the continental U.S. Another 50 percent are in
Korea, but at the onset of conflict will be handed over to South Korean troops
for their use. The United States earmarks only the remaining five percent of
the mines for immediate use by U.S. troops in South Korea. (See Landmine Monitor
country entry for Republic of Korea for additional details).
Stockpiles outside the U.S.
The United States stores antipersonnel mines on
the territory of 12 states: South Korea (1.67 million), Norway (123,000), Japan
(115,000), Germany (112,000), Saudi Arabia (50,000), Qatar (11,000), United
Kingdom at Diego Garcia (10,000), Kuwait (8,900), Oman (6,200), Bahrain (3,200),
Greece (1,100), and Turkey (1,100).
Five nations with U.S. antipersonnel mines stockpiles are States Parties to
the Mine Ban Treaty: Germany, Japan, Norway, Qatar, and UK. Greece, a treaty
signatory, and Turkey have jointly initiated the procedures to become States
Parties. U.S. antipersonnel mine stockpiles have been removed from Italy and
Spain. Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom do not consider the U.S. mine
stockpiles to be under their jurisdiction or control, and thus not subject to
the provisions of the Mine Ban Treaty or their national implementation measures.
Norway, through a bilateral agreement with the U.S., has stipulated the mines
must be removed by 1 March 2003, which is the deadline for Norway to comply with
its Mine Ban Treaty Article 4 obligation for destruction of antipersonnel mines
under its jurisdiction and control.
For the first time, Qatar responded to requests for clarification on this
issue stating, “As for the legality of the joint operations with
non-signatories relating to stock-pile, use of antipersonnel mines or
transporting or transiting them, we assure you the that the Qatari Armed Forces
never practise [sic] any of these
acts.”[27] It is not
known if this policy equally applies to Qatari nationals employed in the
operation or maintenance of the storage facilities as part of a joint venture
formed with DynCorp (Reston, Virginia), the company that maintains U.S.
munitions under contract in Qatar.
USE
There is no evidence that the United States has
used antipersonnel mines in its combat operations in Afghanistan or in its
military operations in other states. It is not known whether U.S. forces
deployed to Afghanistan with antipersonnel mines or their delivery systems. An
unidentified combat engineer unit of the 307th Engineer Battalion of
the 82nd Airborne Division is reportedly deployed at
Kandahar.[28] In 1999, similar
engineer units were deployed to Albania with antipersonnel mines and their
delivery systems (MOPMS and Volcano mixed mine systems) as part of Task Force
Hawk to support operations in
Kosovo.[29] Additionally, U.S.
Special Operations Forces have one type of antipersonnel mine at their disposal:
the Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM). According to the U.S. Army's Field Manual
on mine warfare, “the PDM is used as a deterrent by special-operations
forces (SOF) and in operations where units may be pursued by an enemy
force.”[30]
MINE ACTION COORDINATION
When the Bush Administration entered office, the
policy coordination mechanism for international mine action assistance changed
as follows:
National Security Policy Directive 1 (NSPD 1), dated February 14, 2001,
replaced the previous Interagency working group (IWG) format with...the PCC
[Policy Coordination Committee] Sub-Group on Humanitarian Mine Action. Chaired
by the NSC, it functions as a policy vetting and review body within a larger NSC
PCC entitled Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations.... The PCC
Sub-Group on Humanitarian Mine Action consists of representatives from the
National Security Council (Chair), the Department of State, the Department of
Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Central
Intelligence Agency.[31]
In another change, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military
Affairs Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. was named the Special Representative of the
President and Secretary of State for Mine Action on 30 November 2001. This
includes responsibility for mine ban policy, as well as mine action. He
replaces Ambassador Donald Steinberg who assumed the post of Deputy Director for
Policy Planning in the State Department. The Office of Global Humanitarian
Demining was renamed the Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships and
is now located within the Bureau of Political-Military
Affairs.[32]
MINE ACTION FUNDING
In fiscal year 2001, the United States provided
$81.8 million in funding to international mine action programs. The U.S.
remains the largest country donor worldwide. The total for FY 2001 was
significantly less than the previous year, which was $100.6 million. The
decline reflects less DoD funding for its mine action activities (minus $12.3
million) and its demining research and development programs (minus $5.6
million). Contributions to the Slovenian International Trust Fund also
decreased somewhat (minus $1.3 million), while State Department funding
increased slightly (plus $0.3 million).
The estimated total budget for humanitarian mine action funding for FY 2002
is $92.7 million. The funding request for FY 2003 is $83.3 million.
The U.S. has provided approximately $468 million in mine action assistance
between fiscal years 1993 and 2001, of which almost $94 million was for Defense
Department demining research and
development.[33] These figures
do not include funding for mine victim assistance programs because the U.S.
government does not identify mine victim-specific funding as opposed to more
general war victim assistance. But the Leahy War Victims Fund, which provides
aid to mine victims, totaled $71 million from FY1989-2001, including $10 million
in FY 2001.
U.S. Mine Action Funding, Fiscal Years 2000-2003 (October 1999-September
2003)
The U.S. will increase mine action assistance to
Afghanistan in FY 2002 by providing an additional $11.5 million in immediate
assistance, including expertise in clearing new types of UXO resulting from the
Coalition bombing. Between fiscal years 1989 and 2001, the U.S. provided
approximately $28 million in mine action funding to Afghanistan through the UN
Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA) and its implementing partners. All
of the additional assistance has either been requested by or coordinated through
the UN MAPA. The Department of State will provide $7 million, a combination of
the annual NADR appropriation with the addition of emergency funding. The HALO
Trust will receive $3.2 million to hire, train, equip, and employ 800 additional
mine clearance and logistics personnel. A total of $30,000 will be used to
provide an on-site technical advisor from the State Department’s Office of
Humanitarian Demining to the UN MAPA in Islamabad. Another $3.1 million will be
used to fund 15 personnel from the RONCO Consulting Corporation (a commercial
demining firm) for a period of six months to train local deminers with training
in unfamiliar ordnance that has not been previously encountered in Afghanistan.
These technical advisors from RONCO will be attached to each of the five
regional mine action centers in Afghanistan. These funds will also be used to
provide equipment to local mine action organizations. A total of $700,000 will
be granted to UNICEF to fund the mine risk education activities of Save the
Children (U.S.) and local Afghan
NGO.[39] Additionally, the
Department of Defense will transfer $3.7 million to the Department of State for
contractors to clear mines and UXO around certain airfields and also provide
$38,000 for mine risk education materials. The U.S. Center for Disease Control
will also provide $800,00 for a post-conflict contamination
assessment.[40]
Though not formally part of the U.S. assistance program to Afghanistan, U.S.
forces operating there are conducting “area clearance” of mines and
UXO they encounter in their area of
operations.[41] Military units
from Denmark, France, Jordan, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom are also
engaged in this type of mine and UXO clearance, which is different from
humanitarian mine clearance.
Department of State Programs
Funding for most of the programs administered by
the Department of State are provided annually by the Nonproliferation,
Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related programs (NADR) appropriation and can be
used to support mine clearance programs of individual countries, international
organizations, or can be transferred to other agencies. The State Department
support to mine action is often used to augment training programs executed by
the Department of Defense.
The countries/regions that received NADR mine action funding and the amount
of assistance provided in FY 2001 are presented in the following table.
Recipients of State Department NADR Mine Action Funding (US$), FY
2001[42]
Support and Sustainment (including training) to National Demining
Offices/Mine Action Centers: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Ecuador, Lebanon,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Peru, Yemen, Zambia.
Funded from the NADR appropriation and established
in 2001 by the Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, the QRDF is intended to
rapidly reply to emergency demining situations worldwide. This unit is based in
Mozambique and conducts mine clearance there when not deployed. It consists of
mine detecting dog and manual clearance teams trained by the RONCO Consulting
Corporation. In early April 2002 part of the QRDF was sent to Sri Lanka to
undertake short-term assessment, survey and clearance
tasks.[45] Later in April 2002,
other elements of the QRDF were deployed to the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan to
perform a similar short-term survey and clearance
mission.[46]
Slovenian International Trust Fund (ITF)
While not funded through the NADR appropriation,
the United States has provided funding for mine action activities for programs
in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(including Kosovo), and Macedonia by providing funding and matching
contributions to the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims
Assistance, based in Slovenia. Congress initially funded the program with $28
million in 1998 and stipulated that the U.S. contribution would be used to match
contributions to the ITF by other governments and private
donors.[47] The Congress
approved another $14 million matching contribution in March 2002. The
Department of State’s Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs administers
U.S. contributions to the ITF.
Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships
The State Department’s Office of Mine Action
Initiatives and Partnerships (PM/MAIP), formerly known as the Office of Global
Humanitarian Demining, develops of a network of public-private partnerships to
reinforce U.S. government mine action aims. Currently, nearly 30 (mostly U.S.)
organizations (NGOs, international organizations, civic associations, academic
institutions, and corporations) work in parallel with the U.S. government on
various aspects of mine action. Some partnership groups have received financial
support for mine action initiatives that further U.S. government humanitarian
demining objectives and all receive publicity and benefit from PM/MAIP’s
public support. PM/MAIP’s other functions are to strengthen internal U.S.
government mechanisms for mine action through the Mine Action Support Group
(MASG), UNMAS, and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining,
and to advocate promising demining technologies.
PM/MAIP estimates that at least 250,000 U.S. citizens have contributed to
mine action, with about 170,000 of them donating directly to the mine action
programs through nine of PM/MAIP's partner organizations. Some of
PM/MAIP’s public-private partners have been funded by the Office of
Humanitarian Demining Programs, including the United Nations Association of the
USA (UNA-USA) and its Adopt-A-Minefield program, Warner Brothers, the HALO
Trust, the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development, and Global Care
Unlimited. Grapes for Humanity, a Canadian NGO, is the program’s first
foreign partner.[48]
Department of Defense Programs
The Department of Defense humanitarian mine action
program is funded annually from the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster and Civic
Aid (OHDACA) appropriation. The office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Stability Operations (formerly Peacekeeping and Humanitarian
Affairs) provides funding guidance and oversight of the budget, while the
Defense Security Cooperation Agency executes the funding according to policy
guidance.
The assistance is based on a “train-the-trainer” program, which
also benefits U.S. Special Operations Forces and advances broader U.S. foreign
policy interests.[49] U.S.
military forces are not permitted to engage in physically detecting, lifting, or
destroying landmines, unless the member does so for the purpose of supporting a
U.S. military operation, or provides such assistance as part of a military
operation that does not involve the armed
forces.[50] The program must
also comply with a law that requires human rights vetting of all foreign
military personnel to be trained by the U.S.
According to the Department of Defense, the philosophy behind the program is
three-fold: “(1) assist other countries in eliminating the danger posed by
the indiscriminate use of landmines; (2) through training, provide host
countries an indigenous capacity to demine areas critical to economic
development, resettlement of refugees or internally displaced persons; and (3)
through training, develop the host countries capacity to either demine or train
other mine-affected countries in the region to demine critical
areas.”[51] U.S. policy
is to train deminers in the techniques and practices for in-place demolition and
destruction of the mines, which avoids the costs and risks of conducting
“Render Safe” actions, and prevents the reintroduction of
antipersonnel mines into the market or for other
uses.[52]
During FY 2001, the Department of Defense conducted training missions in the
following areas:
Southern Command (12 training weeks)
Central America – One training mission training 40 deminers
Ecuador – One training mission training 40 deminers
Peru – One training mission training 35
deminers
Pacific Command (14 training weeks)
Cambodia – One training mission training 30 deminers
Thailand – One training mission training 20 deminers
Vietnam – One training mission training 10
deminers
European Command (8 training weeks)
Estonia – One training mission training 20 deminers
Mauritania – One training mission training 30
deminers
Central Command (28 training weeks)
Djibouti – One training mission training 40 deminers
Egypt – One training mission training 50 deminers
Eritrea – One training mission training 20 deminers
Ethiopia – One training mission training 20 deminers
Jordan – One training mission training 25 deminers
Oman – One training mission training 40 deminers
Yemen – One training mission training 5 deminers
In
previous years, the Department of Defense conducted training in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Chad, Laos,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lebanon, and Mozambique. In the 32 countries in
which the Department of Defense has deployed trainers since FY 94, over 4,000
deminers have been trained.
Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development
The Department of Defense has been conducting
humanitarian demining technology research and development activities since 1995.
The amount spent on this activity between FY 1995 and FY 2001 totals almost $94
million, including $12.61 million spent in FY 2001. The estimated budget for FY
2002 is $13.5 million and $13.3 million has been requested for FY 2003. The
program provides funding and program management for testing and modifying
existing technology and equipment for immediate use in U.S. demining assistance
programs. This includes “leveraging existing technology from the tactical
countermine area.”[53]
Assistance from this program has been provided to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia,
Chile, Croatia, Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Israel,
Jordan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Namibia, Nicaragua, and
Thailand.[54]
In FY 2001, efforts continued in protective gear for deminers, minefield
marking and mapping systems and survey equipment, vegetation clearing devices,
in-situ neutralization devices, mine awareness training materials, and
mechanical clearance equipment for area clearance and quality assurance
purposes. Site surveys and country assessments were conducted in FY 2001 in
Croatia, Israel, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Oman, Thailand, and Yemen to provide
advice on the use of items developed under this
program.[55] The U.S. is part
of the International Test and Evaluation Program and “completed all
technical testing and field evaluations under the International Pilot Project
Technology Cooperation Project and published the final report quantifying the
performance of all commercially available handheld metal
detectors.”[56]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES
In 2001, there were seven known mine casualties,
none of them fatal, to U.S. military personnel. Three U.S. Marines were injured
on 16 December 2001 at their base near Kandahar in Afghanistan when one of them
stepped on a mine. One of the Marines had his foot
amputated.[57] A U.S. Army
soldier lost a foot after stepping on a mine during demining operations at
Bagram airport in Afghanistan on 18 December
2001.[58] The explosion injured
another soldier. As previously noted in Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
two U.S. Army soldiers, one in Kosovo and the other in South Korea, were wounded
after stepping on antipersonnel mines in May and June
2001.[59]
In the first half of 2002, Landmine Monitor recorded two U.S. military mine
casualties (as of 31 July 2002): A member of a naval special operations unit
was killed and another injured after one of them stepped on a mine while on
training mission near
Kandahar.[60]
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
U.S. government funding for landmine survivor
assistance is distributed through the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (WVF),
administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The WVF provides
prosthetic devices for victims who have lost limbs because of landmines and
other war-related injuries. Between fiscal year 1989 and fiscal year 2001, the
WVF has provided $71 million in support to eighteen projects for victims of war
in fifteen countries: Angola, Cambodia, OAS (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua),
Ethiopia, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania,
and Vietnam.[61] The WVF
received $10 million in fiscal year 2001.
Landmine Monitor has identified 14 private organizations in the U.S. that
fund or operate survivor assistance programs in mine-affected countries: ADRA
International, American Red Cross, American Refugee Committee, Clear Path
International, Center for International Rehabilitation, Health Volunteers
Oversees, International Rescue Committee, Landmine Survivors Network, Peace
Trees Vietnam, Project RENEW (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund), Refugee Relief
International, Save the Children-USA, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation,
and the World Rehabilitation Fund. Some rely entirely on private charitable
sources. Most are using a mix of private and public funds in their programs.
The biggest source of public funds is USAID through the WVF. Some organizations
in the U.S. raise funds and then pool resources at an international level to
support programs that may or may not be administered from the original U.S.
group.
In October 2001, the “International Disability and Victims of
Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act of 2001,” passed the
House International Relations Committee by unanimous
consent.[62] The legislation,
which as of July 2002 was awaiting action by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, seeks to expand the authority of USAID and the Department of Health
and Human Services to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities,
including victims of landmines and other civil strife and warfare.
[1] Interview with members of the U.S.
delegation to the Second Review Conference of CCW, Geneva, 14 December 2001;
interview with Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis T. Bohlen,
Washington DC, 22 February 2002. [2]
Interview with Donald “Pat” Patierno, Director, Office of
Humanitarian Demining Programs, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S.
Department of State, Washington DC, 12 March
2002. [3] President Clinton committed
the United States in 1998 to cease using antipersonnel mines, except those
contained in “mixed systems” with antivehicle mines, everywhere in
the world except for Korea by 2003. By 2006, if alternatives have been
identified and fielded, the United States will cease use of all antipersonnel
mines and will join the Mine Ban
Treaty. [4] Human Rights Watch, Press
Release, “Pentagon Mine Policy Rollback,” 21 November
2001. [5] The Conference was sponsored
by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Organization of American States (OAS).
See
http://hdic.jmu.edu/conferences/latinamerica/. [6]
VVAF Press Release, “Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation Urges
President Bush to Ban Landmines Immediately,” 25 February 2002. Accessed
online: http://www.vvaf.org/media/. [7]
All proceeds help to support VVAF victim assistance and mine awareness programs
worldwide. VVAF Press Release, “Concerts for a Landmine Free
World,” 17 October 2001 and VVAF Press Release, “Concerts for a
Landmine Free World,” 8 December 2001. Accessed online:
http://www.vvaf.org/media/. [8] U.S.
Army Communications-Electronics Command, Solicitation Notice DAAB15-02-R-0037, 6
June 2002. [9] U.S. government fiscal
years (FY) begin on the first day of October in the previous calendar year and
end on the last day of September of the current calendar year. Fiscal Year 2001
is 1 October 2000 to 30 September
2001. [10] For Track 1 (NSD-A) and Track
3, Office of the Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller),
“Descriptive Summaries of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
Army Appropriation, Budget Activities 4 and 5,” February 2002, pp.
748-758; For Track 1 (RADAM): Department of the Army, “Committee Staff
Procurement Backup Book, Procurement of Ammunition, Army,” February 2002,
pp. 231-235; For Track 2, “Department of Defense FY 2003 Budget Estimate,
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide, Volume 1 Defense
Advanced Research Project Agency,” February 2002, pp.
144-147. [11] Frank Tiboni, “U.S.
Army Targets 18 Programs for Cancellation,” Defense News, 18-21 February
2002, p. 6. [12] U.S. Army Armaments
Research and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcement
DAAE30-99-R-1011, 9 May 2002 and Contract Award Announcement DAAE30-99-R-1010,
13 May 2002. [13] U.S. Army Armaments
Research and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcement
DAAE320-00-C-1062, 13 September
2001. [14] U.S. Army Armaments Research
and Development Engineering Center, Contract Award Announcements:
DAAE30-02-M-1290, 28 June 2002; DAAE30-02-M-1289, 28 June 2002; and,
DAAE30-02-M-1288, 2 July 2002
respectively. [15] Chris Strohm,
“Army Program Kills May Be Overturned by Congress or DOD Leaders,”
Inside the Army, 12 November 2001, p.
1. [16] Human Rights Watch obtained this
information in August 1994 through a Freedom of Information Act request to the
Defense Security Assistance Agency and U.S. Army Armament, Munitions, and
Chemical Command concerning U.S. landmine deliveries under the Foreign Military
Sales Program and Military Assistance Program. These figures do not include
direct commercial sales. [17] Mine
Export Moratorium, Public Law 102-484, Section 1365; 22 United States Code, 2778
note. [18] Conference Report on House
Report 3194, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2000, Sec.
553. [19] The White House, Office of the
Press Secretary, Fact Sheet: “U.S. Initiatives on Anti-Personnel
Landmines,” 17 January 1997. [20]
Canada, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, submitted 24 April 2002, for the period 16
February 2001 to 1 March 2002. [21]
Ecuador, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, submitted 31 May 2002, for the period March
2001 to April 2002. [22] Human Rights
Watch press release, “Landmines: Almost Half of Korea Mines in
U.S.,” 3 December 2001. Information provided to Human Rights Watch by the
U.S. Army, dated 20 September 2001. [23]
Letter to Human Rights Watch from Robert W. Maggi, Acting Deputy Assistant
Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 21 September
2001. [24] Landmine Monitor Report 1999,
p. 330. Please note that these are the number of individual antipersonnel
mines, not the number of delivery systems like artillery projectiles or
air-delivered munitions dispensers. [25]
Germany, Article 7 Report, Form D.2, 16 April 2002. Germany did not attribute
the origin of these mines in its report. However, the GEMSS antipersonnel mine
is not known to have been exported by the U.S. and the U.S. maintains a
stockpile of 112,000 antipersonnel mines in
Germany. [26] Human Rights Watch Press
Release, “Almost Half of Korea Mines in U.S.,” 3 December
2001. [27] Letter from Hamad Bin Jassim
Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar to ICBL
Coordinator Elizabeth Bernstein (Ref., Qw/1/3-187/2002), 3 July 2002 (translated
by the Embassy of Qatar, Washington,
DC). [28]
http://www.GlobalSecurity.org/military/ops/enduring-freedom_orbat-02.htm. [29]
Major Scott C. Johnson, “Strategic Mobility, the Force Projection Army,
and the Ottawa Landmine Treaty: Can the Army Get There?” A student
monograph submitted to fulfill the requirements of the School of Advanced
Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 15 February 2001.
This paper by a student in a military school does not represent the position or
view of the U.S. government, Department of Defense, or U.S. Army. However, the
author, in footnote 94 (page 48), states: “Matt Pasvogel, interview by
author, 09 January 2001. Captain Pasvogel was an engineer company commander who
deployed with Task Force Hawk. His unit deployed with both MOPMS and Volcano
mine dispensing equipment and mixed self-destructing AP/AT mines. Munitions
that were not employed during the mission, but were available in Albania for use
if the need did arise.” [30]
Department of the Army, Field Manual 20-32, Mine/Countermine Operations, 29 May
1998, Chapter 4. [31] U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining
Programs, “Fact Sheet: PCC Sub-Group on Humanitarian Demining,” 31
July 2001. [32] U.S. Department of
State, “Press Statement: Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr. Appointed Special
Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Mine Action,” 7
December 2001. [33] Landmine Monitor
calculates its cumulative total of U.S. humanitarian mine action funding using
audited budget materials submitted to Congress. It does not include the
estimate of the current fiscal year’s spending or the amount of funding
requested by the President for the next fiscal years budget, which at the time
of publication for fiscal year 2003 has not been appropriated by Congress, into
the aggregate total. This total also does not include funding for survivor
assistance programs. (See section on Survivor Assistance for further details).
Landmine Monitor’s knowledge is limited regarding some programs within the
U.S. Government, like those within the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID), that have some element of mine action included within a larger
international assistance program, but are not identified as such or receive
specific mine action
appropriations. [34] U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Resource Management, “FY 2003 International Affairs
(Function 150) Budget Request, Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs (Foreign Operations),” internet version released on 4 February
2002. [35] FY 2000: Defense Security
Cooperation Agency, FY 2002 Amended Budget Submission, Overseas Humanitarian,
Disaster, and Civic Aid, p. OHDACA-11 (revised); for FY 2001-2003: Defense
Security Cooperation Agency, FY 2003 Budget Estimates, Overseas Humanitarian,
Disaster, and Civic Aid, p.
OHDACA-10. [36] For FY 2000: Office of
the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 2002 Amended Budget
Justification Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian
Demining” Volume 3, p. 341; for FY 2001-2003: Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification
Materials, RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining”
Volume 3, pp. 356-361. [37] The $3
million represents the emergency appropriation part of a $7 million FY 2002
increase for mine action in
Afghanistan. [38] U.S. Department of
State, “Fact Sheet: PCC Sub-Group on Humanitarian Demining,” 31 July
2001. [39] U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs,
“Fact Sheet: The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program in Afghanistan,”
1 December 2001. [40] U.S. Department of
State, “Fact Sheet: U.S. Humanitarian Demining Assistance to
Afghanistan,” 30 July 2002. [41]
“Area clearance” is a military mission for explosive ordnance
disposal by specially trained engineer units to protect troops by clearing
explosive hazards in their immediate area of operations. It is not humanitarian
mine action. [42] U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining
Programs, “Fact Sheet: The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR
Funding,” 5 April 2002. [43]
Organization of American States (OAS) program includes efforts in Costa Rica,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. [44]
For further details, see also: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of
Political-Military Affairs, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “To
Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian
Demining,” November 2001 available online at:
http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rpt/walkearth/2001/. [45]
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, “Demining Assistance to
Sri Lanka,” 2 April 2002. [46]
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman, “Demining Assistance to
Sudan,” 23 April 2002. [47] U.S.
Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of
Humanitarian Demining Programs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United
States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p.
A-49. [48] All information in this
section from, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs,
Office of Mine Action Initiatives and Partnerships (PM/MAIP), “Information
on PM/MAIP activities in 2001 for the ‘Landmine Monitor,’ United
States of America section, 2002 Edition,” undated but received in May
2002. [49] Information provided by the
office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations, 14
February 2002. [50] Title 10, United
States Code, Section 401. [51]
Information provided by the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Stability Operations, 14 February
2002. [52]
Ibid. [53] Countermine is a military
mission that includes breaching minefields. Office of the Under Secretary of
Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification Materials,
RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, p.
358. [54] U.S. Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p.
A-49. [55] Office of the Under Secretary
of Defense (Comptroller), “FY 20023 Budget Justification Materials,
RDT&E, Program Element 0603920D8Z, Humanitarian Demining” Volume 3, p.
358. [56]
Ibid. [57] “U.S. Marine Loses Foot
in Blast,” Associated Press (Kandahar), 17 December
2001. [58] “Second U.S.
Serviceman Loses Foot in Mine Blast,” Reuters (Kabul), 19 December
2001. [59] Landmine Monitor Report 2001,
p. 421. [60] Vernon Loeb, “Land
Mine Kills Navy SEAL,” Washington Post, 29 March 2002, p.
A-6. [61] United States Agency for
International Development, “Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, Portfolio
Synopsis,” Spring 2000. For details of the country programs see Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, pp. 365-367. [62]
On 26 October 2001, House Representatives Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Frank Wolf
(R-VA) introduced H.R. 3169. On 5 December 2001, Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton
(D-NY) introduced S. 1777, together with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen
Specter (R-PA).
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