Understanding Landmines and Mine Action
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Waging War Land Mines
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE April 2002 StateStateMagazine Waging War on Land Mines StateState Magazine April 2002 Contents No. 456 Department of State • United States of America 7 Post of the Month: Tunis 11 COLUMNS Diplomats have come here for two centuries. 2 From the Secretary 11 Office of the Month: Civil Rights Diversity improves the process and product. 6 Direct from the D.G. 14 Land Mines DEPARTMENTS They are Afghanistan’s hidden killers. 3 Letters to the Editor 18 Delegation Visits Air War College 4 In the News Education and training are at forefront. 26 Education & Training 20 Language Immersion Hue hosts intrepid students from Hanoi. 28 Medical Report 23 Supporting ‘Enduring Freedom’ 30 Appointments Political-Military Bureau is behind the scenes. 31 Personnel Actions 25 FSI Launches New Publications 32 Obituaries Training continuums underscore commitment. Photo by Dave Krecke Dave Photo by OCR’s Terrence Edwards and Gracie Minnis in a mock ADR Session. The columns of Capitolano at 7 Dougga, in Tunisia. On the Cover An Afghan searches for land mines near Kabul. Photo by Brennan Linsley/AP Photos Photo by Steve Vidler/PictureQuest Steve Photo by FROM THE SECRETARY SECRETARY COLIN L. POWELL Making Our Case on Capitol Hill t’s that time again, the beginning of the annual We are also asking Congress to keep funding our pro- Icongressional appropriations process. grams to upgrade and enhance our worldwide security Last year, we made a strong case to Congress for the readiness, including money to hire security agents and additional resources we need to strengthen our ability conduct counterterrorism programs. -
Landmines and Spatial Development∗
Landmines and Spatial Development∗ Giorgio Chiovelliy Stelios Michalopoulosz London Business School Brown University, CEPR and NBER Elias Papaioannoux London Business School, CEPR June 20, 2018 ∗We thank UK's Department of Foreign International Development (DFID) and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) for generous funding via the PEDL programme. We are grateful to London Business School Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for supporting this research, as well as the UKs EPSRC. A special thanks to Sebastian Hohmann for help in various phases and aspects of this project. We would like to thank Suzana Moreira and the MoWoza team for helping us collect and organize some of the data. We would like to thank all demining operators involved in the Mine Action program in Mozambique and, in particular, APOPO, HALO Trust, Handicap International (Humanity and Inclusion), and Norwegian's People Aid for kindly sharing the original data on their interventions and generously sharing their expert knowledge and on-the-ground experience. This project could not have been completed without the generous support of many dedicated individuals. We are thankful to Olivier Cottray, Anne-Li Naucler, and Wendi Pedersen from the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) for assisting us in various stages of this project. We are truly grateful to Alberto Maverengue Augusto from Mozambiques National Institute of Demining; Mica Bevington, Jean-Baptiste Richard, and Gilles Delecourt, Alma Al Osta, and Emanuel Sauvage from Humanity and Inclusion; Camille Wallen and Rachel Boddy from HALO Trust; Afedra Robert Iga and Hans Peter Risser from NPA; Ashley S. Fitzpatrick and Tess Tewelde from APOPO; Chris Pearce and Richard Holmes from Dynasafe; Manuel Sitoe from UNADP. -
Cluster Bombs and Landmines in Kosovo
LANDMINES IN kosovo EXPLOSIVEREMNANTS OF WAR CLUSTER BOMBS AND Mines-Arms Unit International Committee of the Red Cross 19, Avenue de la Paix, CH-1202 Geneva Switzerland T +41 22 730 26 67 F +41 22 730 28 30 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.icrc.org Front cover photo: G. Diffidenti Design: The Magic Pencil Original: English August 2000 MINES-ARMSRevised June 2001 UNIT Produced with environment-friendly materials CONTENTSCONTENTS Acknowledgments 2 Glossary of acronyms 3 1. Introduction 4 2. The impact of cluster bombs in Kosovo 6 The role of cluster bombs in the conflict Post-conflict casualties The socio-economic impact of cluster bombs Clearance of cluster bomblets: a unique challenge 3. The impact of landmines and UXO in Kosovo 15 The use of landmines The impact of landmines and UXO on civilians The socio-economic impact of landmines and UXO The impact of landmines on peace-keeping 4. Mine action and unexploded ordnance clearance in Kosovo 23 Definition and coordination Information management Mine and UXO survey and marking Mine clearance Clearance of cluster bomblets and other unexploded munitions IMPACTMine and UXO awareness education Mine and UXO victim assistance 5. Cluster bombs and landmines under international law 34 Cluster bombs Landmines 6. Conclusions and recommendations 36 Cluster bombs Landmines Annexe Military technical agreement Bibliography 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis report was written by Stuart Maslen, a consultant and former advisor to the ICRC’s Mines-Arms Unit, based on field visits to Kosovo in the winter and spring of 2000 and on information provided by the ICRC delegation in Kosovo. -
Alternative Anti-Personnel Mines the Next Generations Landmine Action Consists of the Following Co-Operating Organisations
Alternative anti-personnel mines The next generations Landmine Action consists of the following co-operating organisations: ActionAid International Alert Refugee Council Action for Southern Africa Jaipur Limb Campaign Royal College of Paediatrics & Action on Disability and Development Jesuit Refugee Service Child Health Adopt-A-Minefield UK MEDACT Saferworld Afghanaid Medical & Scientific Aid for Vietnam Laos & Save the Children UK Amnesty International UK Cambodia Soroptimist International UK Programme Action Committee CAFOD Medical Educational Trust Tearfund Cambodia Trust Merlin United Nations Association Campaign Against Arms Trade Mines Advisory Group United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) UK Child Advocacy International Motivation VERTIC Christian Aid Mozambique Angola Committee War Child Comic Relief Omega Foundation War on Want Concern Worldwide One World Action Welsh Centre for International Affairs Disability Awareness in Action Oxfam GB Women’s International League for Peace & Environmental Investigation Agency Pax Christi Freedom Global Witness Peace Pledge Union World Vision UK Handicap International (UK) People and Planet Hope for Children POWER Human Rights Watch Quaker Peace & Service The member organisations of the German Initiative to Ban Landmines are: Bread for the World Social Service Agency of the Evangelical Church Misereor Christoffel Mission for the Blind in Germany Oxfam Germany German Justitia et Pax Commission Eirene International Pax Christi German Committee for Freedom from Hunger Handicap International Germany -
Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan: Is It Time for the United States to Sign the Ottawa Treaty and End the Use of Landmines?
RIZER FORMATTED POST PROOF EDIT.DOC 2/1/2013 1:19 PM LESSONS FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: IS IT TIME FOR THE UNITED STATES TO SIGN THE OTTAWA TREATY AND END THE USE OF LANDMINES? ARTHUR RIZER* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 36 II. HISTORY ......................................................................................... 37 A. History of Landmines Warfare ........................................... 37 1. The First Silent Killers .................................................. 37 2. The Revolution of Landmines ...................................... 40 3. With Sticks and Duct Tape: IEDs ................................. 42 B. History of the Law .............................................................. 43 1. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons ............ 43 2. Ottawa Treaty ............................................................... 46 3. The United States’ Role in Landmine Law .................. 49 C. Reconciling the Law and the Weapons ............................... 53 III. A NEW DIRECTION: SECURITY PRAGMATISM ................................ 54 A. Morality is Not Relative ..................................................... 55 B. Military Effectiveness ......................................................... 63 C. Power in Numbers ............................................................... 66 IV. THE OTHER SIDE: COUNTERARGUMENTS ...................................... 68 * Arthur Rizer is a prosecutor with the United States -
Action Sheet 6 Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Key Message in Many of Today’S Conflicts Landmines Kill and Mutilate More Civilians Than Any Other Weapon
Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons Action Sheet 6 Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Key message In many of today’s conflicts landmines kill and mutilate more civilians than any other weapon. They affect far more civilians than military personnel and continue to do so long after the conflict has ended. Landmines and explosive remnants of war pose a serious threat to civilians, including internally displaced persons, whether during flight, during displacement or when trying to return home or pursuing other solutions. It is imperative that mine action is fully integrated in the overall humanitarian response. 1. What are landmines and explosive remnants of war? A landmine is an explosive device that is placed under, on or near the ground or other surface, and that is designed to explode by the presence, proximity or contact of a person or a vehicle.1 Landmines can also be triggered by tripwires, command detonation and other methods, or can self-detonate with the passage of time. They are sometimes booby-trapped by anti-handling devices to make their removal more difficult. Landmines are usually camouflaged and can be difficult to detect and avoid. They are often laid in patterns to create security barriers along roads and around strategic military areas or installations. In many cases, however, they are laid without clear design or record in areas that are mainly civilian. Explosive remnants of war (ERW) are all explosive ordnance that have been used or fired but have failed to explode as intended (unexploded ordnance or UXO) or that have been abandoned (abandoned unexploded ordnance or AXO).2 They can be hard to detect, have no consistent shape, are often unstable, and can detonate if touched or disturbed, or simply as a result of the passage of time. -
GOLDMINE? a Critical Look at the Commercialization of Afghan Demining
Bolton, Matthew GOLDMINE? A Critical Look at the Commercialization of Afghan Demining Centre for the Study of Global Governance (LSE) Research Paper 01/2008 Centre for the Study of Global Governance London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/global 1 GOLDMINE ? A Critical Look at the Commercialization of Afghan Demining Matthew Bolton Centre for the Study of Global Governance London School of Economics and Political Science This research is funded in part by the Economic and Social Research Council All text, graphics and photos © Matthew Bolton, 2008. 2 Contents Acronyms........................................................................................................................ 4 Executive Summary........................................................................................................ 5 1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 8 2. A Brief History of Afghan Demining ....................................................................... 10 2.1 The Three Roots of Afghan Demining, 1987-1994............................................ 10 2.2. UN Hegemony, 1994-2001................................................................................ 19 2.3. The 9/11 Sea Change ......................................................................................... 23 2.4. Summary........................................................................................................... -
Mine Action and Effective Coordination: the United Nations Inter-Agency Policy Acronyms
MINE ACTION AND EFFECTIVE COORDINATION: THE UNITED NATIONS INTER-AGENCY POLICY ACRONYMS APMBT Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty CAP Consolidated Appeals Process CCW Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons DDA Department of Disarmament Affairs DPKO Department of Peacekeeping Operations ERW Explosive Remnants of War FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GICHD Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining IACG-MA Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICBL International Campaign to Ban Landmines ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IMAS International Mine Action Standards IMSMA Information Management System for Mine Action MACC Mine Action Coordination Centre MASG Mine Action Support Group MRE Mine Risk Education NGO Nongovernmental Organisation OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OSAGI Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues SCMA Steering Committee on Mine Action SRSG Special Representative of the Secretary-General UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research UNOPS United Nations Office for Project Services UNMAS United Nations Mine Action Service UXO Unexploded Ordnance WFP World Food Programme WHO World Health Organization Photos by GERVASIO SA´NCHEZ from the book VIDAS MINADAS. CONTENTS Preface . 3 I. Vision and Objectives . 5 II. Context . 7 III. Legal Framework . 8 IV. Common Positions . 11 V. Mine Action Roles and Responsibilities of the United Nations . 19 A. Decision-making and coordination . 19 B. Programme support and management . 21 C. Key activities of United Nations-supported and managed programmes . -
THE UNITED NATIONS MINE ACTION SERVICE Annual Report 2011 Summary and Highlights II
I THE UNITED NATIONS MINE ACTION SERVICE Annual Report 2011 Summary and Highlights II “Mine action programmes make an invaluable contribution to post-conflict recovery, humanitarian relief efforts, peace operations and development initiatives. Mine action sets communities on course toward lasting stability.” UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON III THE UNITED NATIONS MINE ACTION SERVICE Annual Report 2011 Summary and Highlights IV V CONTRIBUTORS Andorra Finland New Zealand Australia Germany Oman Austria International Road Transport Union Romania Ballard Community High School Italy Spain Canada Japan Switzerland Common Humanitarian Fund Republic of Korea United Arab Emirates Colombia Liechtenstein United Kingdom Denmark Lithuania United States Estonia Luxembourg European Union Netherlands VI VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword 1 Acronyms 3 Executive Summary 6 I. Normative Frameworks: Enhancing Global Peace, Security and Development 9 II. Coordination and Consultation Mechanisms to Increase Value for Money 9 III. Operational Effectiveness: Enabling Wider Humanitarian, Peace and Development Dividends 9 IV. Advocating for International Humanitarian, Human Rights and Disarmament Norms 10 V. Communicating to the Public and Other Constituencies 10 VI. Country Programmes: Saving Lives, Fostering Stability, Building Sustainable Livelihoods 12 VII. National Programmes Supported by UNMAS 19 VIII. UNMAS Support to Other Programmes: Facilitating Peace and Recovery 20 IV. Funding Sources and Financial Performance of UNMAS Mine Action Programmes 22 VIII 1 FOREWORD As the new Chair of the Inter-Agency Coordination UN Member States both through assessed funds for Group for Mine Action, I am pleased to present the mine action components in peacekeeping operations 2011 Annual Report of the UN Mine Action Service and through considerable contributions to the UN (UNMAS) in the Department of Peacekeeping Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF). -
Landmine Clearance Projects: Task Manager’S Guide
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PAPERS Conflict Prevention & Reconstruction Paper No. 10 / November 2003 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Landmine Clearance Projects: Task Manager’s Guide Public Disclosure Authorized ____________________ Jacques Buré Pierre Pont Public Disclosure Authorized The Working Papers Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage discussion and exchange of ideas on conflict and development issues. Papers I this series are not formal publications of the World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank Group, its Executive directors, or the countries they represent. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The series is edited by the Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit in the Social Development Department of the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network for the World Bank. To request copies of the paper or more information on the series, please contact the CPR Unit at [email protected]. Papers are also available on the CPR Unit’s website: http://www.worldbank.org/conflict under publications. Printed on Recycled Paper 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction................................................................................................................................1 II. Bank Guidelines on Landmine Clearance ............................................................................3 III. Complying with Bank Guidelines -
Department of Peace Operations
OROLSI is comprised of five components: “UN Peacekeeping deploys to some of the most complex OFFICE OF RULE OF LAW & SECURITY INSTITUTIONS and difficult places, protecting some of the world’s most United Nations Police Division (PD) vulnerable. We are working in partnership with Member States to implement the Secretary-General’s Action for Where requested and mandated, United Nations Police (UNPOL) supports Member States to realize effective, efficient, representative, responsive and accountable police services that Peacekeeping initiative to strengthen peacekeeping, including serve and protect the population. UNPOL build and support police capacity to prevent and to improve how we protect civilians, which is at the heart of detect crime, protect life and property and maintain public order and safety in adherence our work. For hundreds of millions, peacekeeping is the last to the rule of law and international human rights norms. The United Nations Police Division best hope and it needs all our support.” supports UNPOL by selecting, recruiting, deploying and rotating personnel in UN peace operations; developing policy and guidance; providing strategic and operational support, Jean-Pierre Lacroix Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations including through the Standing Police Capacity; and facilitating assessments and evaluations. Justice and Corrections Service (JCS) Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) OROLSI colleagues are at the forefront of efforts to enhance The Justice and Corrections Service serves as a center of expertise on justice and the performance and accountability of peacekeepers, includ- corrections areas and supports the work of justice and corrections components in OROLSI is committed to ing by conducting trainings and assessments of Formed Police United Nations peace operations and other UN entities. -
Utilizing Advances in Industrial Dual Beam X-Ray Scanners to Create New Capabilities in Humanitarian Demining and Explosive Detection
Utilizing advances in industrial dual beam x-ray scanners to create new capabilities in humanitarian demining and explosive detection C. Murray Bartle,∗ Chris Kr¨oger,and William Stephenson GNS Science, PO Box 31312, Lower Hutt, New Zealand (Dated: June 20, 2008) Humanitarian de-mining requires 100% detection and removal of landmines to enable safe use of a region. Progress in removing approximately 50 million landmines spread throughout over 70 coun- ties is not fast enough. The hope is that non-invasive radiation-based detection technologies will yield radical better approaches to this problem. Improved sensitivity of the x-rays technologies in analyzing compositions of materials is occurring in industry. More directly dual energy x-ray ab- sorption (DEXA) systems link the effective atomic number to composition change while maintaining high throughputs in often demanding operational environments. This report discusses the field tri- als of a DEXA scanner and the potential to transfer the trial findings to improved mine detection. The scanner reported on is the Smiths Eagle FA 720 “Bulk” a new version of which is just being released in the USA [1]. It is in terms of the new industrial capability that a radical new capability may be possible in mine detection. This report examines in what way such new capability may be implemented. I. INTRODUCTION have continued to advance rapidly whereas neutron tech- nologies in part through limited implementations have One outcome sought from this Technical Meeting is developed less. It is no accident that x-rays are the pre- to set a pathway to a radically new capability in mine ferred scanning technology in medicine, security and in- detection.