OSCE/FSC: 2009 U.S. SUBMISSION ON ANTI-PERSONNEL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 STATE 052978 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OSCE PARM PREL SUBJECT: OSCE/FSC: 2009 U.S. SUBMISSION ON ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES ¶1. (U) This is an action request. ¶2. (U) In 2004 the Forum for Security Cooperation (FSC) agreed on FSC.DEC/7/04 on "Updating the OSCE Questionnaire on Anti-Personnel Mines and Explosive Remnants of War," which requested all participating States to submit their questionnaire responses to other participating States and the OSCE Conflict Prevention Center (CPC) by May 31 each year beginning in 2005. In accordance with this decision, Washington requests that Mission provide the following submission to the OSCE in the appropriate format. Please note that there is an accompanying report, "Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices," also known as the 2008 Amended Protocol II report, which should be submitted along with the questionnaire responses. --Begin Submission-- 2009 Submission of the United States of America for the OSCE Questionnaire on Anti-Personnel Mines Part I ¶1. Is your country a State Party to the 1996 Amended Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices annexed to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW)? Yes, the United States ratified Amended Protocol II in May ¶1999. If yes: ¶2. Please attach the most recent annual report submitted by your country in accordance with Article 13 of the Amended Protocol or give the appropriate electronic address for the report. The United States submitted an Annual Report on November 10, ¶2008. A copy is attached. If no: ¶3. Is your country considering ratification/accession to The Amended Protocol II? Not applicable. ¶4. What measures have been taken to prevent the indiscriminate use of mines, booby-traps and other devices? United States landmine policies and practices prohibit the indiscriminate use of all landmines (including APL), booby-traps, and other devices. The United States requires recording and accounting for all mines placed, and planning for the removal of mines at the cessation of hostilities. The United States requires that all of its minefields be marked with internationally agreed upon signs and monitored by military personnel at all times. All U.S. landmine related procedures, practices, regulations and systems meet or exceed the requirements of the CCW, Amended Protocol II. Reporting relative to minefields requires a detailed report of intention, a report of initiation, and a report of completion. Reports of transfer (of control to another unit) and reports of change are required as transfers or changes occur. Reports include the number and types of mines as well as their locations. Minefield locations are recorded on a standardized form. Hand emplaced mines are recorded individually. Scatterable munition fields are recorded by their perimeter. With respect to marking and fencing, munition fields that are placed behind the forward line of own troops (FLOT) are marked on all four sides. Forward of the FLOT, minefields STATE 00052978 002 OF 005 are not generally marked before emplacement. Commanders are instructed to make every attempt to mark these munition fields as soon as the tactical situation allows. The vast majority of U.S. mines have self-destruct/self-deactivation features. After the year 2010, the U.S. will no longer use persistent mines of any type, anti-personnel or anti-vehicle. ¶5. Would your country be interested in receiving assistance related to the implementation of this Protocol? If so, please describe. No. ¶6. Does your country have the capacity to assist others related to this Protocol? If so, please describe. The United States is a strong supporter of international humanitarian mine action efforts and mine action technology exchanges. This highly successful program is but one component of the U.S. Government's robust Humanitarian Mine Action Program. The Department of Defense, USAID, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also work to alleviate the humanitarian harm caused by the indiscriminate and illicit use of landmines. The U.S. was one of the first countries to support humanitarian mine action efforts, beginning in 1988 in Afghanistan. Since then, the United States consistently has been the world's strongest financial supporter of humanitarian mine action, providing well over $1.4 billion dollars to 54 countries or territories. U.S. efforts include support for mine clearance operations, mine risk education, survivors, assistance, research and development, training, and a public-private partnership program. The United States is also a leader in the development and sharing of mine clearance technology, techniques, and information. The United States participates in a number of mine clearance information sharing partnerships such as International Test and Evaluation Program for Humanitarian Demining Equipment, Processes, and Methods and the U.S. Department of Defense has commissioned a number of ground-breaking mine clearance studies such as the 2002 International Pilot Project for Technology Cooperation report. More information can be found at: - U.S. Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement: www.state.gov/t/pm/wra - U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Training Center: www.wood.army.mil/hdtc - U.S. Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program: www.humanitarian-demining.org - U.S. Agency for International Development Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund: www.usaid.gov/ourwork/humanitarian assistance/the funds/lwvf/ Part II ¶7. Has your country ratified or acceded to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction? No. 8.(a) If yes, please attach the most recent report submitted by your country in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention or give the appropriate electronic address for the report. Not applicable. (b) If no, is your country considering ratification/accession to the Convention? No. The terms of the Ottawa Convention were not reconciled with critical U.S. national interests; therefore the United States decided not to become a state party. The United States is committed to reducing the humanitarian effects of anti-vehicle mines as well as anti-personnel mines. STATE 00052978 003 OF 005 (c) Has your country adopted legislation to address the humanitarian objectives of the convention, or taken any specific measures regarding the use, production, storage, transfer and destruction of anti-personnel landmines? In case a moratorium has been introduced, what is its scope and duration and when was it introduced? United States policy on landmines aims to ensure protection for both military forces and civilians alike, and continues U.S. leadership in humanitarian mine action ) those activities that contribute most directly toward eliminating the landmine problem and mitigating its effects on landmine survivors. Further information about the United States policy may be found at: www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/c11735.htm The United States has appropriate laws in force to fulfill its obligations under the CCW Amended Mines Protocol. Over the past two decades, the United States has converted its APL stockpile so that the overwhelming majority of its APL are self-destructing and self-deactivating types that meet or exceed CCW specifications for use outside marked and monitored minefields. These self-destructing and self-deactivating types of APL do not pose the humanitarian concerns that persistent APL do. In 1996, the Department of Defense began the demilitarization and disposal of all stocks of non-self-destructing (NSD) APL except those needed for the defense of the Republic of Korea and training purposes. By June 1998, the United States had met this goal, destroying approximately 3.3 million of its NSD APL. Additionally, the U.S. has an active program to develop alternatives to persistent anti-personnel landmines. The programs will incorporate improvements to our self-destructing/self-deactivation technology to provide more operational flexibility while addressing humanitarian concerns. Since 1992, the United States has maintained legislation imposing a moratorium on the export and transfer of APL under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act or the Foreign Assistance Act. On January 17, 1997, the United States announced that this moratorium would include the export and transfer of APL components and technology. In December 2007, the U.S. Congress amended the law, which was to expire in 2008, extending the moratorium until October 23, 2014. ¶9. Does your country have any specific measures in place to provide assistance to victims? The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program has succeeded in helping to reduce the rate of landmine casualties, broaden the reach of mine awareness programs, increase the amount of land cleared and restored to productive use, accelerate the number of people returned to their homes and expand the number of landmine survivors receiving assistance. The Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID, has been in operation in post-conflict and conflict-affected developing countries since 1989. The Fund was established to provide a dedicated source of financial and technical assistance for civilian victims of war who suffer from mobility-related injuries, including people who suffer from polio as a result of interrupted immunization services. This includes, but is not limited to, mine and UXO survivors. In the past decade, the Fund has devoted the majority of its resources to the establishment and improvement of accessible and appropriate prosthetic and orthotic services, including physical and occupational rehabilitation services. In Fiscal Year 2008, the Fund contributed to or maintained support to projects in Afghanistan, Albania, Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, and Vietnam, as well as various regional and global initiatives spanning multiple countries. To date, the Fund has provided over US$150 million to more than 40 countries. ¶10. Does your country require assistance in mine clearance, stockpile destruction, mine awareness and/or victim STATE 00052978 004 OF 005 assistance? If so, please describe. No. ¶11. Does your country have the capacity to assist others in mine action? If so, please describe. In Fiscal Year 2008, the United States provided humanitarian mine action assistance that totaled approximately $109 million, including $13.8 million from USAID's Leahy War Victims Fund for survivor assistance. Thirty mine-afflicted countries, on a total of four continents, benefited. Fiscal Year 2009 funding is expected to be at a similar level. The United States also notes that with our contributions for Fiscal Year 2008, total U.S. contributions to humanitarian mine action equal over $1.4 billion. These funds have provided assistance in 61 countries. Since 1998, the United States has supported the Slovenian International Trust Fund (ITF) for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance. To date, the ITF has raised over $270 million for humanitarian mine action and victim assistance in the Balkans and the Caucasus from over 100 donors, including United States matching donations of $113.5 million and more than $10.6 million in USG unilateral donations, which addressed specific urgent requirements. The U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program assists countries that are experiencing the adverse effects of uncleared persistent landmines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, regardless of the affected countries, stances on either of the international landmine treaties. Consistent with the U.S. philosophy of helping other countries to develop the indigenous capacity to demine, the U.S. program also aids in the development of leadership and organizational skills of local personnel to sustain programs after U.S.-provided training is complete. In addition to the resources provided to the Humanitarian Mine Action Program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dedicated over $1.5 billion for the destruction, safe storage, or demilitarization of explosive remnants of war in Iraq. The United States supports the consortium of international NGOs working to produce standardized socio-economic landmine impact surveys for a dozen heavily-mined countries. These impact surveys provide a framework for planning and prioritizing new strategies, minimizing the impact of landmines, and establishing criteria for measuring the success of mine action projects. The United States also actively encourages private sector support for humanitarian mine action through the development of a network of public-private partnerships, which currently numbers over 60. These public-private partners work in concert with the U.S. Humanitarian Mine Action Program to support one or more aspects of mine action: clearance, mine risk education, and/or survivor assistance. A positive side effect of this unique partnership initiative is to raise U.S. public interest in and support for humanitarian mine action. In addition, the United States is a member of the Mine Action Support Group (MASG). The MASG is a group of donor states that focuses on increasing the effectiveness of all assistance for mine action. 2009 Submission of the United States of America to the OSCE Questionnaire on Explosive Remnants of War To be submitted on a voluntary basis along with the OSCE Questionnaire on Anti-personnel Mines. ¶1. Has your country notified the Depositary of its consent to be bound by the 2003 CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) once it enters into force? Is your country considering doing so? The United States deposited its instrument of ratification for the 2003 CCW Protocol V on ERW at the UN on January 21, ¶2009. ¶2. If yes, at what stage is the process? STATE 00052978 005 OF 005 Instrument of ratification deposited. ¶3. Would your country be interested in receiving assistance in clearing or otherwise minimizing the risks and effects of ERW? If so, please describe. No. ¶4. Does your country have the capacity to assist others in clearing and minimizing the risks and effects of ERW? If so, please describe. The United States takes a comprehensive approach to dealing with post-conflict hazards and therefore provides support for clearing ERW through both its Humanitarian Mine Action and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SA/LW) Destruction Programs. The U.S. program in Laos is a good example of a humanitarian mine action program where the focus is more on ERW (specifically, unexploded ordnance) than landmines. (Please refer to the U.S. APL questionnaire for more information.) In addition to funding the destruction of excess and obsolete SA/LW and munitions from national holdings, the SA/LW Destruction program also funds the clearance of weapons caches left at the end of conflicts primarily in Sudan and Afghanistan. The SA/LW program is funded at approximately $44 million for U.S. Fiscal Year 2008; over a 270% increase from FY 2007 funding. In Iraq, the U.S. military has provided bomb strike information to clearance NGOs through the Mine and Explosive Ordnance Information Coordination Center. In 2008, the U.S. State Department established a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for conventional weapons destruction, giving the Department the capability to respond globally to urgent humanitarian crises that require the removal or mitigation of explosive hazards to protect civilian populations. The QRF recently completed clean-up operations in Chelopechene, Bulgaria, the site of a massive accidental depot explosion in July 2008. The QRF safely cleared more than 38,000 square meters and removed more than 110,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance that threatened civilian populations. After the cessation hostilities between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, PM/WRA provided the HALO Trust with an "Emergency Survey and Response Capacity" grant worth an estimated $3.7 million. In addition, PM/WRA provided the Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) NGO $1,500,000 to establish an ERW coordination capacity for coordination of all ERW clearance operations. --End Submission-- CLINTON