AFGHANISTAN Key developments since March 1999: Landmine casualties continued to decline. An estimated five to ten people were injured or killed by mines every day in 1999, compared to an estimated ten to twelve people in 1998 and an estimated twenty to twenty-four people in 1993. In 1999, 11 square kilometers of land were cleared of mines and UXO, which constitutes 24% of the total of 465 square kilometers cleared since 199. In 1999, 21,871 antipersonnel mines, 1,114 antitank mines, and 254,967 UXO were destroyed. Donors contributed US$22 million to mine action in 1999. A total of 979,64 people received mine awareness education in 1999, and about 6 million since 199. The opposition Northern Alliance continued to use antipersonnel mines. Mine Ban Policy At least in part because of its unusual international political status and situation, Afghanistan is not a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or Taliban authority, now controls over 9% of country, but Afghanistan s seat at the United Nations is still occupied by the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani, known as the Islamic State of Afghanistan or Northern Alliance, which was ousted by the Taliban in September 1996. Northern Alliance forces are currently engaged in continued fighting with Taliban forces in the north of Afghanistan. In October 1998, the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Muhammed Omer, issued a lengthy, detailed statement from Kandahar proclaiming a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines. [1] In 1999 and 2, the Taliban has reaffirmed its support for the ban on landmines on a number of occasions. On 1 March 2, the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) and member organizations organized an event in Kabul to commemorate the anniversary of the entry into force of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Several high-ranking officials of the Taliban participated as well as UN officials and representatives of international agencies and NGOs.
The head of the Taliban s Office of Disaster Response, which includes a Department of Mine Clearance, Mohammed Yousef, used the occasion to confirm the October 1998 declaration condemning the use, production, trafficking, and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. [2] He said if someone uses a mine in a Taliban-controlled area they will be punished according to Islamic Shariat and went on to state that the Taliban had not used landmines since the 1998 policy declaration. The deputy head of the Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdul Rhman Hotak, said that prevention of the use of this weapon which kills without discrimination is necessary and its use is irrational. He called on all countries of the world to join the ban on landmines. Both officials closed by describing the Taliban s strong support for mine clearance. For its part, the Rabbani government declared its support for an immediate and comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines in a statement to the UN Human Rights Commission in March 1996. However, the Northern Alliance forces admit to continued use of mines since that time. The Rabbani government was absent from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B in support of the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1999, just as it had been absent on similar resolutions in 1997 and 1998. Production There is no evidence of antipersonnel mine production in Afghanistan, past or current, by any government, warring faction or private enterprise. Transfer Large numbers of mines from many sources were sent to Afghanistan during the many years of fighting. With regard to recent practice, Taliban authorities have by their 1998 statement denounced import and export of landmines, and Landmine Monitor has no evidence to the contrary. Landmine Monitor Report 1999 reported that the Northern Alliance acknowledged still using and importing antipersonnel mines. [3] Taliban has often accused Iran of supplying mines to the opposition forces. In a 5 July 2 letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Taliban s Foreign Minister asked the UN to stop the flow of landmines from hostile countries to resistance commander Ahmad Shah Masood. [4] Landmine Monitor has received unconfirmed reports of small-scale smuggling of landmines left over from the conflict by private dealers to sources in Pakistan and Sri Lanka but the quantity and value of such trade cannot be estimated.
Stockpiling It is obvious that both sides to the current conflict have stockpiled landmines but because the conflict continues it is difficult to obtain details on the numbers, types, or country of origin of stockpiled mines. Landmine Monitor is not aware of any systematic destruction of AP mine stockpiles by either party to the conflict. In September 1999, Taliban authorities asked the United Nations Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan for assistance to undertake the clearance of the most dangerous museum of the unexploded ordnance in the world in Zendajan, Herat province. Over 465 different UXO including aircraft bombs and other types of ammunition were safely destroyed by a special bomb disposal team of a demining organization in November 1999. [5] Use Landmine Monitor has not been able to obtain any firsthand evidence of new use of antipersonnel mines because the areas in which the fighting is taking place are inaccessible and there are no mine action NGOs operating there. The Taliban and the Northern Alliance continue to accuse each other of on-going use of antipersonnel mines. [6] The Northern Alliance admits to use, [7] and in November 1999 the Associated Press reported that U.N. landmine officials said most of the new mines are being laid by the opposition. [8] The NGO Save the Children s Northern Regional Office in Taloquen (Takhar Province) reported in August 1999 that landmines had been planted from Kunduz to Takhar provinces, through Imam Sahib and Archi districts. They also reported new mine casualties, noting that health centers in Kunduz and Takhar had cared for many landmine casualties in 1999. [9] In 1999, the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines sent a letter to the leader of the Northern Alliance urging him to take the necessary action to ensure that his followers refrain from importing and using of landmines in the territories. [1] Mine Action Funding The humanitarian mine action program in Afghanistan is funded by various donor countries that channel funds through the UN Coordination Office for Humanitarian Assistance in Afghanistan (UNOCHA). The program is coordinated by the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA). MAPA s activities includes surveys of mined areas,
mine clearance and mine awareness education, implemented by various national and international NGOs working in Afghanistan. Funding for NGOs engaged in mine action accounts for about 63% of all NGO activity in Afghanistan. [11] Funding for MAPA has totaled U.S. $153 million from 1991 through 1999. The total budget for 1999 was U.S. $21.9 million. This was a significant decrease from the 1998 total of U.S. $27 million, but still represented a higher total than any other year besides 1998. By comparison, funding in 1995 totaled $15.6 million, in 1996 $17.8 million, and in 1997 $2.2 million. Countries that have contributed to the program since 1991 are shown in Table I. The biggest donors in 1999 were the U.S. ($3. million), European Community ($2.6 million), Sweden ($2.5 million) and Germany ($2.5 million). The biggest donors since 1991 are the European Community ($17.1 million), Sweden ($16,9 million), U.S. ($15.9 million), UK ($13.1 million), Japan ($11.6 million), and Norway ($11.2 million). Funding for MAPA has generally been sufficient in 1999, but several times in the past it has faced severe shortages that affected field operations. None of the above figures include funding for victim assistance programs; MAPA does not have a victim assistance component in its structure. Table I. Details of funds received by MAPA from 1991 through 1999 in U.S.$ [12] Country 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Total Contribu 4,817, tions B/F from last year 433 Australi a 658,86 8 Austria 18, 138,27 9 274,8 315,72 5 36, 159,98 2 293,6 23,3 748,38 335,55 3,89, 841 16,667 1, 127,99 2 Belgium 273,22 4 Canada 562,55 9 716,87 4 355,54 737,41 9 777,94 75,93 7 8,78,2 74 2,755,4 77 1,13,3 96 273,224 659,65 9 4,515,9 28
CEC 2,785, 321 5,77, 73 3,624, 437 3,27, 613 2,634, 534 17,149, 635 Cyprus 1, 1, Denmar k Finland 235,2 94 4, 227,63 5 22,82 3 175,99 1 756,55 9 9, 242,82 5 9, 423,19 1 598,8 2 38,95 2 France 167, German y 374,23 2 2,388, 41 2,, 729,63 9 512,54 1, 2,373, 3,731,2 64 2,5, 2,954,9 87 267, 9,635,2 73 Greece 16,365 16,365 Italy 1, Japan 5,, 2,, 2,, 2,, 1,, 3,26 8 1,3, 1, 11,62, 268 Korea 75, 5, 125, Netherla nds Norway 765, 4 Sweden 894,4 57 Switzerl and UK 94,3 5 U.S. 123, Direct/ in -kind Total 7,922, 16 586,28 1 1,126, 877 872,6 78,45 7 1,819, 13 1,148, 494 79,22 954,35 1,15, 23 2,955, 11,82,999 1,494, 1,5, 6,972, 428 17,375,531 Landmine Problem 341,59 1 631,6 6 1,894, 524 789,34 5 562,37 5 2,218, 743 344,82 8 1,85, 84 3,227, 45 7,521, 244 16,967,991 1,97, 728 2,564, 89 1,363, 527 886,16 3 2,535, 812 344,82 8 1,183, 88 1,38, 57 115,32 8 15,584,8 17,76,264 2,53, 993 1,58, 17 2,5, 1,482, 945 2,398, 649 2,278, 481 135,13 5 1,29, 678 2,, 1,111, 111 2,174,57 3,346, 1,73, 442 3,121, 99 26,984,87 1,454, 525 1,477, 44 2,51, 488 9,329,6 64 11,174, 928 16,853, 599 1,534, 11 979,8 3,21, 315,14 7 21,931,72 13,127, 834 15,922, 466 22,112, 248 153,83,424 A total of about 717 square kilometers of land remains contaminated by mines and UXO. This includes 337 square kilometers of affected land classified as high priority. [13] A major socio-economic impact study conducted by the Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA) under the auspices of the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan (MAPA), and
published in December 1999, revealed that affected land consisted of 61% grazing land, 26% agricultural land, 7% roads, 4% residential areas, and 1% irrigation systems. [14] The survey was conducted in eighteen out of Afghanistan s twenty-nine provinces and covered a total number of 3,656 minefields and 2,645 villages. It indicated about 1,6 villages were affected by mines and UXO. Refugees and internally displaced persons are still reluctant to return home, in part due to fear of mines. A total of 12,216 families were repatriated in 1999, including 72,98 individuals. [15] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999 for a list of fifty antipersonnel mines found in Afghanistan and their countries of origin. [16] Two more antipersonnel mines have since been added to the list: the YM-I mine from Iran and the RAP-2 mine from Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Mine Clearance From 199 to April 2, a total of 465 square kilometers of contaminated area has been cleared in Afghanistan. That includes 27 square kilometers of mined land and 258 square kilometers of mostly unexploded ordnance (UXO) from battlefields. [17] In the same period, 25,842 antipersonnel mines, 9,199 antitank mines and 1,54,738 UXO were cleared. [18] In 1999, 11 square kilometers of land were cleared, including 34 square kilometers of mined land and 76 square kilometers of mostly UXO from battlefields. [19] In 1999, 21,871 AP mines, 1,114 AT mines and 254,967 UXO were cleared. [2] In February 2, the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR) stated that fourteen national and international NGOs employed approximately 5, people to implement mine action projects in Afghanistan. [21] This is a significant increase over the 3,9 employees reported in Landmine Monitor Report 1999. The majority of employees are Afghan, but there are also a number of Pakistanis and a few international workers. A list of eight organizations directly involved in mine clearance follows. The other six are mine action implementing partners who work in other types of mine action-related assistance: META, AMMA, SCF/US, HI, ARI, BBC. Organizations directly involved in mine clearance. [22]
Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC). ATC is Afghanistan s oldest Mine/UXO clearance NGO, established in 1989 by its present director Kefayatullah Eblagh. It has 1,299 employees. Its 1999 budget was $4,792,386. In year 2, in accordance with policy changes of the EU in relation to funding of NGOs, the EU has agreed to the provision of about two million Euro per annum to ATC through UNOCHA. ATC has cleared approximately 4% of overall MAPA Program Operation. In 1999, ATC cleared 6.6 square kilometers of mined land and 24 square kilometers of mostly UXO from battlefields, and destroyed 9,28 mines and 62,712 UXO. Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA). DAFA has 689 employees. Its 1999 budget was $3,326,497. In 1999 DAFA cleared 2.9 square kilometers of mined land and.6 square kilometers of mostly UXO from battlefields, and destroyed 2,87 mines and 44,196 UXO. Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA). MCPA has 297 employees. Its 1999 budget was $2,331,. In 1999 MCPA cleared.3 square kilometers of mined land and.2 square kilometers of mostly UXO from battlefield and destroyed 19 AP mines and 645 UXO. Mine Detection Dog Center (MDC). MDC has 77 employees. Its 1999 budget was $5,531,. In 1999 MDC cleared 16.9 square kilometers of mined land, and destroyed 1,171 mines and 2,12 UXO. Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). OMAR has 431 employees. Its 1999 budget was $2,321,5. In 1999 OMAR cleared 3.5 square kilometers of mined land, and destroyed 2,193 mines and 2,525 UXO. HALO Trust. HALO has 1,21 employees. It conducts clearance independent of MAPA. Its 1998 budget was $2,,, but figures for 1999 were not available (UNOCHA provided $1,375,6). In 1999 HALO cleared 3.6 square kilometers of mined land and 52 square kilometers of mostly UXO from battlefields, and destroyed 7,1 mines and 143,428 UXO. Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan (AREA). AREA has 731 employees, of which 114 are engaged in mine action. Its 1999 budget for landmines was $115,928 (36 percent of AREA s total budget). In 1999, AREA cleared.3 square kilometers of mined land, and destroyed 79 AP mines. [23]
Danish Demining Group (DDG). This Danish mine clearance NGO established an office in Pakistan to undertake mine clearance activities in Afghanistan. Due to differences with the Governor of Kandahar on recruitment policy, DDG moved out and shifted its main operational office to Kabul. The agency has so far established two mine clearance teams with a staff capacity of 6 persons. Apart from Kabul-based HALO, all the mine clearance organizations were based in Pakistan, but in the course of 1999 and 2 they have moved or are moving their base of operations to Kabul while maintaining liaison offices in Pakistan for logistical purposes. The move to Afghanistan should be completed by September 2 and reflects the better operating environment within the country. While there is no MAPA standard for demining team composition, most of the demining agencies have a similar structure in which each demining team consists of thirty people plus support staff. MAPA has clear criteria for employment in demining. Most importantly, all employees (such as deminers, surveyors, dog handlers) must pass independently conducted courses before they are licensed. A few organizations have a policy of hiring local staff while others recruit staff who work outside of their own province. Work in the field is monitored and evaluated by the Monitoring, Evaluation and Training Agency (META), funded and reporting to MAPA. META is based in Jalalabad. META has sixty-six employees who are undertaking monitoring and training of the mine action staff. In 1999 META had a budget of $625,8. [24] From 199 until April 2, a total of 4,658 students (employees of mine clearance agencies) were trained through 1,139 courses on mine recognition, revision, team leaders in battle areas and clearance courses. [25] In 1999 alone, 4,27 were trained in 186 courses. Coordination and Planning The Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA) is coordinated by the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (MACA). Tasks are given to the mine action agencies by a coordinated plan of action by MAPA who may act in regards to a regular work plan or on ad hoc basis if communities or organizations request it on an emergency basis. In 1999 and 2 mine action is divided into five regions: Central region: Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Bamiyan, Wardak, Logar, and Ghazni provinces
Northern region: Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Jozjan, Faryab, Kunduz, Takhar, and Badakhshan provinces. Southern region: Urozgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimroz provinces Western region: Badghis, Ghor, Herat, Farah provinces Eastern region: Nengerhar, Kunar, Laghaman, Paktia, Paktika provinces MAPA has offices in each region with both expatriate and national regional coordinators looking after the program and reporting to the main office of MAPA in UNOCHA Islamabad. MAPA maintains the MAPA mine action management information system, a database containing a wide range of information and data including records of mined areas, cleared areas and data on landmine incidents and injuries. MAPA prioritizes both the area needing clearance and the area needing marking into high and low priority categories. Mine Awareness There is a continued need for mine awareness education programs. Some challenges include the very low literacy rate, the location of the majority of the population in remote and sometimes isolated areas and inadequate education facilities, especially in rural areas. From 199 to April 2, some six million people received mine awareness education, including 979,64 in 1999. [26] While these numbers are impressive, MCPA reported that only.64% of mine victims it surveyed had received mine awareness education prior to their injury. [27] Mine awareness organizations use a curriculum that has been developed over the last ten years. In 1999, MAPA conducted two workshops to review and streamline the curriculum. Mine action organizations undertake mine awareness activities in communities where they work. Demining is done in the mornings while mine awareness is carried out in the afternoons. They use wooden models in real size and shape so the audience can grasp the actual volume and danger of the devices also demonstrated by videos and printed material. Organizations involved in mine awareness include: [28]
Afghan Mine Awareness Agency (AMAA). AMAA established mine awareness programs in communities in Herat province in 1998. [29] AMAA sends its master trainers to live in a village for one month and train a selected couple. Christian Aid UK and UNOCHA have financially supported AMAA in 1998/99 but the NGO has not been able to secure funding for its activities during the second half of 1999 and year 2. Handicap International (HI). In April 1996 HI started a mine awareness program in the Kandahar province to complement its orthotic and prosthetic activities. The guiding principle of was to develop a community-based mine awareness project (CBMAP) aimed at the empowerment of Afghan communities and ensuring sustainability. Most recently the project has expanded to Farah province in May 2. CBMAP trainers (Nomaindas) are recruited from the community in which they live and in turn it is their responsibility to recruit, train, equip and supervise volunteer trainers from the surrounding communities, to continue training the population. By the end of May 2, a total of thirty Nomaindas were deployed in thirty districts of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, and Farah provinces and 949 volunteer Mine Committees were operational. Since the inception of the project a total of 833,551 villagers and nomads have been directly and/or indirectly trained by CBMAP. Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS). The ARCS was again funded by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) for its mine awareness activities in 1999. Training was concentrated in Kabul and Wardak provinces. Ansar Relief Institute (ARI). In Iran, twenty-three instructors provided mine awareness training to Afghans at refugee centers in the country and at border crossing points. In 1999, the ARI project was carried out in close consultation with the Iranian Bureau of Aliens and Foreign International Affairs (BAFIA), UNHCR and UNDP Tehran. ARI trained 125, people, achieving its target for the year. Compulsory mine awareness training was given to returning Afghan refugees through the UNHCR encashment process (returnees hand in their refugee registration booklets in return for money and other items). It was supported by the distribution of materials such as mine awareness silk screens, posters and notebooks. British Broadcasting Corporation, Afghan Education Projects (BBC/AEP). BBC/AEP receives funding from UNOCHA (US$95,) for the dissemination of mine awareness messages through its highly successful radio drama series New Home, New Life and in the illustrated magazine that accompanies the program. The series, which is made in the Pakistani city, Peshawar, is broadcast on the Pashto and Persian services of the BBC World Service. The primary themes are to disseminate awareness and avoidance messages and improve community relationships with the mine action agencies. There is extensive consultation with MAPA to ensure the message and materials are culturally appropriate and technically correct. BBC/AEP reinforcement programs are broadcast on the Pashto and Persian services of BBC World Services. The reinforcement output is
accommodated in two special programs, entitled Village Voice and Refugee File (Sada-e- Abadi and Khpala Khawara). The BBC/AEP also published a monthly cartoon magazine based on New Home, New Life to reinforce its soap opera. Organisation for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR). OMAR achieved its 1999 target of training 57, people with a funding of US$456,5. OMAR distributed mine awareness notebooks, posters, silk-screens, identification books and storybooks. The materials were designed to assist people who have received training to subsequently provide information and education messages to friends and family members. Activities have been carried out in Badakhshan, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Khost, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, Urozgan, Zabul, Nimroz and at UNHCR encashment centers at border crossing points. The community-based mine awareness project developed in 1997/98 by OMAR focused on the establishment of volunteer councils to disseminate messages in their respective communities. The project has established 117 volunteer councils in Kabul, Nangarhar, Paktia, Paktika, Badakhshan, Ghazni, Logar and Herat provinces. These have trained 142, people. OMAR received funding from UNOCHA, the ICRC, the Netherlands Organisation for International Development and Cooperation (NOVIB), and the German government (all coordinated by the MACA). Save the Children USA (SCF-US). In early 1996, SCF-US commenced its Landmine Education Project (LEP) in Kabul, following fierce fighting that left Kabul heavily contaminated with both mines and UXO. SCF also works in the surrounding districts of Paghman, Khaki Jabar and Sarobi. SCF-US has 26 facilitators, 236 community volunteers and 73 health promoters who all carry out mine awareness education. The project operation was undertaken in hospitals, clinics, mosques and Kuchi settlements following the political changes in Kabul and a ban on girls attending schools, which had been the original forum for the program. SCF's activities were suspended at the beginning of 1999, due to negotiation with the Ministry of Planning to allow SCF to resume its activities. Official permission was given in February 1999 to SCF to resume activities in sub-districts of Paghman, Khaki Jabar and Sarobi. In 1999, SCF reached 64, people, mainly children, with its landmine awareness sessions. Sessions were run through a combination of direct implementation and indirect by training community. The LEP teams continue to use the child-focused material and methodology. This includes activity cards, board games, a memory game, landmine/uxo pictures and LEP passports. SCF also trained 398 community volunteers (239 male and 159 female) bringing the total number of committees trained by SCF to 68. SCF continued throughout 1999 to document the landmine and UXO accidents in Kabul city. Staff were tasked to visit hospitals, clinics and other places to gather accident information. SCF also encouraged local community leaders to report mine/uxo incidents
through the local government to higher authorities. This information is collated by RMAC and the MACA and used for planning purposes. As part of its ongoing activities SCF constructed four new safe playgrounds throughout Kabul city in 1999. This part of SCF's project aims to provide children with an alternative to playing in areas contaminated with mines and UXO. The total UNOCHA funding for the SCF/US LEP in 1999 was US$247,584. Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Program (CDAP). CDAP plans to train its field workers in mine awareness in the year 2, through class lectures. UNDP, Norway, Sweden, Holland and Canada provide about US$2.2 million to CDAP. [3] Mine Awareness by Other NGOs. In addition to activities undertaken by the specialist mine awareness agencies, other NGOs included mine awareness training in their operations as they carried out mine-related programs such as demining and survey. The Monitoring, Training and Evaluation Agency (META) of the MAPA also gave some awareness instruction. Although all Afghan mine action organizations are members of the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL), advocacy in support of the ban is sometimes not fully included in mine awareness education to some communities. [31] The principle arguments that underline the demand for a ban on landmines find strong support in local culture and religion; once activated, this understanding can increase the legitimacy of demining operations, and decrease the legitimacy of future landmine use in the country. [32] In 1999, the ACBL published bi-monthly newsletters and booklets in local languages that it distributed for free to member organizations and NGOs working in Afghanistan to pass them on to people in their contact and reach. A booklet entitled Stories of Mine Victims in Afghanistan was published in November 1999. [33] Landmine Casualties The number of landmine casualties in Afghanistan continues to decline. It is estimated that in 1999, five to ten people were injured or killed by mines every day. [34] In 1998, there were an estimated ten to twelve casualties each day; [35] in 1993 an estimated twenty to twenty-four casualties each day. [36] Data on mine casualties is not systematic but joint plans are underway for comprehensive collection by the World Health Organization, ICRC, and MAPA. Some problems with data collection include the ongoing fighting and the isolated and remote areas where some incidents occur. Almost 5% of landmine victims are still believed to die due to lack of medical facilities at an early stage of the injury. [37]
MAPA recorded 1,771 landmine casualties (including injuries and deaths) in the thirteen months from January 1999 through January 2. [38] The Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines conducted a sixteen-month survey of landmine victims from January 1999 through April 2. It recorded 2,4 mine casualties (1,831 wounded and 173 deaths). Thus, similar results were found: MAPA data gives an average of 136 mine casualties per month, while the ACBL survey gives an average of 125 mine casualties per month, both in the 4 to 5 per day range. However, these figures would not represent total casualties in the nation, since some go unreported. The ACBL survey was an intentionally simple sampling survey with two types of questionnaires. It was sent to six provinces (Badakhshan, Balkh, Heart, Kabul, Kandahar, Kundaz). Of the 173 deaths recorded: 11 were males aged between 15-6 years, 38 were males under 15 years, 22 were females aged between 15-6 years and 3 were females under 15 years. Of the 1,831 wounded: 1,349 were males aged between 15-6 years, 295 were males under 15 years, 15 were females under 15 years, 82 were females aged between 15-6 years. The survey showed that 694 people lost one leg, 85 lost both legs, 187 lost one hand, 76 lost both hands, and 87 were blinded. Since 1991, more than 4, people have been killed or maimed by landmines in Afghanistan. [39] According to the Comprehensive Disabled Afghans' Programme (CDAP), as many as 8, people, or 4% of Afghanistan's population, are disabled, including some 21, landmine-disabled. [4] In December 1999, MCPA estimated that 12% of mine victims are above the age of 4 years, 5% are between the ages of 18 and 4 years and 36% are children under age of 18 years. [41] The same survey estimated that 96% of casualties were male and 4% female. In the month of December 1999, four deminers died and twenty-one were injured due to mines. In January 2, there was one recorded death of a deminer due to mines. [42] According to a news account, since 199, 3 deminers have been killed and 534 have been injured. [43] Survivor Assistance About thirty organizations and NGOs provide services and assistance to landmine survivors in Afghanistan, including medical care, surgical operations, orthopedic care, physical rehabilitation, technical training and employment opportunities. The main organizations providing services and assistance are:
Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Program (CDAP) operates a community based rehabilitation program for Afghan disabled, including landmine victims, in sixty-six districts of Afghanistan. 113 physiotherapists and 4 staff members serve a community of 3, disabled (one-third of whom are female beneficiaries served by female staff). Local Taliban commanders have cooperated with the program and have encouraged CDAP to employ female physiotherapists and other field staff. Over the past four years, CDAP has serviced an estimated 92, disabled but it claims that this is just a fraction of the total number of people' requiring assistance. [44] CDAP offers micro-credit of up to $12 to disabled people to start small businesses and also provides physiotherapy to the victims. CDAP s implementing partners include Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) in Ghazni, Wardak and Logar provinces in south and in Badakhshan, Takhar and Balkh provinces in the north; Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA) in Herat and Farah provinces; and Guardians in Kandahar province. Other organizations supported by or working in collaboration with CDAP include: Afghan Association for Blind (AAB), HIFA, SERVE, IAM and Rädda Barnen as well as the Afghan Ministry of the Disabled. In April 2, CDAP called on the international community to contribute another U.S. $1 million to the program, which has an annual budget of US$1.6 million. [45] International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC provides assistance directly and through the Afghan Red Crescent (ARC) in districts and villages. ICRC also has medical and physical rehabilitation centers. In 1999, 86% of the prostheses produced by ICRC in Afghanistan were for mine victims (3,929 out of 4,565). [46] Afghan Amputees Bicyclists for Rehabilitation (AABRAR). Based in Ningerhar, a city in the eastern of the country, AABRAR provides social rehabilitation and assistance to landmine survivors. It teaches amputees to ride bicycles and to encourage them to hold cycle races and volleyball tournaments. Guardians. Guardians works with the disabled, including mine victims, in Kandahar and the south west of the country, with funding and Japan and assistance from CDAP and Handicap International. It provides orthopedic and physiotherapy services to disabled, including mine survivors. Other organizations involved in assistance to mine victims include the World Health Organization, Afghan Disabled Society, Handicap International, Save the Children Fund (U.S.), Sandy Gall Afghanistan and Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan (AREA). In terms of availability of services to mine victims, the ACBL Survey found that between 1999 and April 2, 1,95 mine survivors received assistance in a variety of facilities in the provinces surveyed.
Note to Readers: A much longer, more detailed country report on Afghanistan is available on request. Also, please contact MAPA or MCPA direct for the report: Mine Clearance Planning Agency (MCPA), Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines and Mine Action Operations in Afghanistan, Study and Report by MCPA, December 1999. <VANUATU BHUTAN> [1] For text, see Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 433-434. [2] Transcript provided by the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines. [3] Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 435. [4] Afghan Taliban accuse opposition of using landmines, Agence France-Presse, Kabul, 5 July 2. [5] UNOCHA Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan, Richard Daniel Kelly, Programme Manager, email Response to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch), regarding draft Landmine Monitor report, 19 July 2. [6] See, for example, Afghan Taliban accuse opposition of using landmines, Agence France-Presse, Kabul, 5 July 2; Taleban calls for action on landmines, BBC World Service, 14:29 GMT, 5 July 2. [7] Ibid. See also Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 436. [8] Land mines prevent delivery of food to Afghani refugees, Associated Press, Kabul, 27 November 1999. [9] Letter from Save the Children/USA to Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines, 17 August 1999. See also ACBL Newsletter, BAN, no. 19, August 1999. [1] Letter from ACBL to Burhanuddin Rabbani, dated 21 June 1999. Reprinted in ACBL Newsletter, BAN, vol. 4, no. 2, October 1999. [11] Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), Directory, 1999. [12] MAPA, monthly report for December 1999. Note: MAPA does not have a Victim Assistance component in its structure. Therefore funds received for Victim Assistance by other NGOs and aid agencies are not included here. [13] UNOCHA Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan, Richard Daniel Kelly, Programme Manager, email Response to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch), regarding draft Landmine Monitor report, 19 July 2. [14] United Nations Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan, Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines and Mine Action Operations in Afghanistan, Study and Report by Mine Clearance Planning Agency, December 1999. The information in the report is as of 31 December 1998. [15] UNHCR Peshawar Report, December 1999. Fewer refugees from Pakistan repatriated in 1999 than 1998. [16] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 436. [17] UN MAPA Monthly Report, April 2. The precise totals are 27,2,317 square meters of mined land and 257,839, 994 square meters of battlefields. [18] Ibid. [19] MAPA Monthly Report, December 1999. The precise totals are 34,173,911 square meters of mined land and 75,68, 9 square meters of battlefields. [2] Ibid. [21] MAPA, Richard Daniel Kelly, Programme Manager, Response to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [22] Staff data from MAPA Monthly Report October 1999. Funding data from ACBAR
Directory 1998-1999, February 2. Clearance data from MAPA Monthly Report December 1999 and MAPA e-mail to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [23] AREA is the only mine clearance organization that recruits deminers from the mineaffected community and is community based. See Kristian Berg Harpviken, Assistance to Mine-Affected Communities (AMAC), PRIO, Towards Community Based De-Mining? AREA s project in Nangrahar province, Afghanistan, Landmines Memo no. 3, Peshawar, 24 May 1999. [24] MAPA Response to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [25] Mine Technical Training MAPA Report, December 1999. [26] MAPA Monthly Report, December 1999; and MCPA Monthly Report April, 2, p. 2. [27] MAPA, Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines and Mine Action Operations in Afghanistan, December 1999, p. 25. [28] Unless otherwise indicated, information in this section came from UNOCHA Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan, Richard Daniel Kelly, Programme Manager, e-mail Response to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [29] For a detailed analysis of AMAA see Kristian Berg Harpviken, Assistance to Mine- Affected Communities (AMAC), PRIO, Community Based Mine Awareness: AMAA s project in Heart province, Afghanistan, Landmines Memo no. 4, Peshawar, 24 May 1999. [3] Interview with Hayatullah Wahdat, Information and Communications Officer, CDAP, Peshawar, 21 December 1999. [31] Kristian Berg Harpviken, Assistance to Mine-Affected Communities (AMAC), PRIO, Community Based Mine Awareness: AMAA s project in Heart province, Afghanistan, Landmines Memo no. 4, Peshawar, 24 May 1999. [32] MCPA is researching the use of landmines under principles of Islam. A parallel work that emphasizes the Christian ethics of war is Kristian Berg Harpviken & Mona Fixdal, Landmines: Just Means of War? Security Dialogue, vol. 28, no. 3., September 1997. [33] Frontier Post, 16 November 1999. [34] MAPA Response to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [35] MCPA, Socio-Economic Impact Study, Interim Report, October 1998. [36] MAPA, Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines..., December 1999, p. 2. [37] MAPA Response to Landmine Monitor, 19 July 2. [38] MAPA Report, January 2. [39] MAPA, Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines..., December 1999, p. 2. Data from UNIDATA, UNDP/OPS, UNHCR 199/1991 Afghanistan Wardak and Bamayan province socio-economic profiles, Islamabad. [4] Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Program, CDAP in Brief, 24 November 1999. Also, Peter Coleridge, manager of Comprehensive Disabled Afghans' Programme, quoted in Tahir Ikram, UN steps up appeals to help Afghan mine survivors, Reuters (Islamabad), 28 April 2. [41] MAPA, Socio-economic Impact Study of Landmines..., December 1999, p. 21. [42] UNOCHA Report, January 2. [43] Dexter Filkins, Where War's Legacy Is Just a Step Away, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2, p. 1. [44] Peter Coleridge, manager of Comprehensive Disabled Afghans' Programme, quoted
in Tahir Ikram, UN steps up appeals to help Afghan mine survivors, Reuters (Islamabad), 28 April 2. [45] Ibid. [46] See ICRC Contribution to Landmine Monitor Report 2.