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Landmine Monitor Report 2005--Use of Landmines and Number of Casualties
Decrease But Immense Challenges Remain
Global use of antipersonnel mines and the number of reported mine
casualties have fallen, according to the 1,053-page Landmine Monitor Report
2005--the seventh annual report by the International Campaign to Ban
Landmines (ICBL). International funding for mine action increased to $399
million in 2004, and 135 square kilometers of mine-affected land were cleared.
But immense challenges remain. Over 200,000 square kilometers of the world
are likely contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and an
estimated 15,000-20,000 people are maimed or killed by mines and UXO each
year. The number of landmine survivors needing assistance continues to
increase.
"At the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2004,
the global community re-affirmed its commitment to eradicating
antipersonnel mines," said ICBL Ambassador Ms. Jody Williams, who shared
the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the ICBL. "Although we are making great
strides in our work to rid the world of this weapon, we need to do even
more. We must continue to transform political commitments into concrete
action to ensure that antipersonnel mines are removed within the 10-year
treaty mandated deadline, and to ensure that landmine survivors receive the
assistance they need," she said.
Since the last Landmine Monitor report, four countries joined the 1997 Mine
Ban Treaty, including Ethiopia, which is heavily mine-affected, as well as
Bhutan, Latvia and Vanuatu. There are 147 States Parties to the treaty, and
an additional seven countries have signed but not yet ratified. Forty
countries remain outside the treaty, including China, Russia and the United
States. The Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits use, production, and
trade of antipersonnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiled
antipersonnel mines within four years, and requires clearance of mined
areas within 10 years.
Use of antipersonnel mines around the world has continued to decrease.
"Myanmar, Nepal and Russia deserve strong condemnation as the only
governments to lay antipersonnel mines in 2005," said Stephen Goose of
Human Rights Watch, Landmine Monitor's Ban Policy Coordinator. In 2004,
those same three countries used antipersonnel mines and there was also
strong evidence of use by Georgian forces, though the government denies it.
Non-state armed groups are now the primary users of antipersonnel mines.
This year's Landmine Monitor Report cites use of antipersonnel mines by
such groups in 13 countries, compared to 16 in last year's report. Rebel
use was especially widespread in Colombia, Myanmar (Burma) and Nepal. In a
positive development, the Polisario Front in Western Sahara agreed to ban
antipersonnel mines on 3 November 2005.
Landmine Monitor identifies 13 countries as producing or retaining the
right to produce antipersonnel mines, a dramatic drop from over 50
mine-producing countries in the past. Egypt and Iraq were removed from the
list of antipersonnel mine producers in this reporting period, due to new
statements and information provided by those governments. The virtual
cessation of global trade in antipersonnel mines has been maintained, as
Landmine Monitor found no confirmed instances of antipersonnel mine
transfers in the last year.
Destruction of antipersonnel mine stockpiles by States Parties has rid the
world of some 400,000 mines since the last Landmine Monitor report.
Seventy-one States Parties have completed stockpile destruction, including
Algeria on 21 November 2005. In total, States Parties have destroyed more
than 38.3 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines. Non-signatories to the
treaty continue to hold an estimated 160 million stockpiled antipersonnel
mines.
At least 84 countries are affected by landmines and/or unexploded ordnance,
of which 54 are States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. Countries with the
largest mine-affected areas include Laos, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Cambodia,
and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2004, at least 135 square kilometers of
mine-affected land were cleared. Afghanistan reported clearance of the
largest amount of mined land (33.3 square kilometers), followed by Cambodia
(32 square kilometers). At least 140,000 antipersonnel mines, 50,000
antivehicle mines, and some 3 million items of UXO were destroyed during
clearance operations in 2004.
However, some States Parties appear not to be on course to meet their
treaty-mandated deadlines for clearance of mined areas, including eight of
the 14 States Parties with 2009 deadlines--Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad,
Croatia, Denmark, Niger, Swaziland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (in
respect of the Falklands)--as well as Cambodia with a deadline of 1 March
2010. "Comprehensive national plans and sustained funding are needed to
ensure that all mine-affected areas are cleared as quickly and efficiently
as possible," said Ms. Sara Sekkenes of Norwegian People's Aid and Research
Coordinator for Mine Action.
Mine risk education (MRE) programs expanded in many countries and became
better integrated with clearance and other mine action activities. Landmine
Monitor recorded MRE in 61 countries, and 6.25 million people received MRE
in 2004. No MRE activities were recorded in 25 mine-affected countries.
"Resources are needed to ensure that MRE programs can continue to target
those most at-risk from mines and UXO until mine clearance is complete,"
said Andy Wheatley of Handicap International and Research Coordinator for
Mine Risk Education.
In 2004-2005, new landmine and UXO casualties were reported in 58 countries
(eight less than the previous reporting period). Landmine Monitor
identified over 6,521reported new landmine/UXO casualties in 2004, compared
to 8,065 in 2003. The number of reported new mine and UXO casualties has
dropped significantly in some mine-affected countries. Given the lack of
reliable records and under-reporting, Landmine Monitor estimates that there
are between 15,000 and 20,000 new landmine and UXO casualties each year.
"The number of landmine survivors continues to grow," said Sheree Bailey of
Handicap International and the Research Coordinator for Victim Assistance.
"The majority of an estimated 300,000-400,000 landmine survivors need
ongoing access to medical care and socioeconomic reintegration services,
and in too many countries these services are desperately inadequate to meet
growing needs."
The full Landmine Monitor report and related documents are available online
in various languages at www.icbl.org/lm/2005. Please email [log in to unmask] for
the password.
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