Defense and Security Studies Commons^™

Nsas In Africa: The Call To Action, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) cites Africa as the continent with the largest number of conflicts. In such countries as the Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Angola, the 2003 Landmine Monitor reports widespread landmine use by non-state actors (NSAs), each seeking a myriad of political aims from recognition by the international community to government overthrow to political agitation through terrorism. The majority of NSAs involved in conflicts with internationally recognized governments on the African continent have rarely disclosed their political agendas nor have they outlined how their political agendas differ from those of the …

Argentina, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After gaining independence from Spain in 1816, Argentineans battled amongst themselves in political conflicts between conservatives and liberals. Naturally, due to the intensity of a structured environment aggravated by war, conflicts also arose as the military society merged with the civilians. These opposing entities battled through a long period of authoritarian rule that later ended in a military junta, which usurped the Peronists' authority in 1976. Democracy was not implemented as a governing standard until 1983.

Non-State Actors In The Philippines, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

On December 3, 1997, the Philippines signed the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention to end mine use in the country. However, implementation of this act did not come soon enough to prevent the loss of innocent lives from terrorist attacks that began in the early 1990s and continue through today. In the Philippines, several main rebel groups terrorize the countryside, creating havoc in order to further their own interests. They are non-state actors (NSAs), rebel groups who fight for certain beliefs. Geneva Call defines a NSA as "any armed actor operating outside state control that uses force to achieve it political/quasi-political …

Chile, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 1973, Chile's Marxist government was overthrown by a dictatorial military regime led by Augusto Pinochet. With the goal of exterminating Marxism, Pinochet suspended parliament, banned political activity, limited civil liberties and boosted efforts to guard Chilean borders. Between 1973 and 1983, in an attempt to protect the country from its neighbors, Pinochet's government littered the Chilean borders of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina with 293 minefields containing one million mines. In 1990, Pinochet stepped down and a presidential parliamentary democracy was restored with the election of Patricio Aylwin.

Colombia, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Referred to as La Violencia, political unrest in Colombia's countryside lasted from 1948 until 1962. Efforts to overthrow the Colombian government escalated again in the 1990s with a rebel uprising. To forward their advances, four different guerilla groups used landmines, staged coups and attempted political assassinations. Guerilla attacks led mostly by the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN) and United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), combined with drug cultivation, social inequities and widespread violence, contributed to Colombia's 40-year political crisis. Upon his election in 2002, President Alvaro Uribe promised to begin taking action to end the …

Costa Rica, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Settled by Spain in 1522, Costa Rica remained under Spanish control for three centuries before declaring its independence from Spain along with other Central American provinces in 1821. The Central American Federation, created by the newly independent provinces, was soon interrupted by border disputes. Costa Rica formally withdrew from the Federation in 1838, declaring its sovereignty. In 1899, the country became a democracy, holding what were considered to be its first truly free elections. This peaceful democracy was only disrupted twice, being controlled by a dictator from 1917 to 1919 and experiencing an uprising in 1948 due to a disputed …

Ecuador, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the "Republic of the Equator" was part of the Inca empire. The country remained under Spanish control until Antonio José de Sucre liberated the region in 1822, at which time it became part of Greater Colombia. When this union collapsed in 1830, three countries were formed: Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. During the period of 1904–1942, several conflicts with neighboring countries caused Ecuador to lose some of its territory. Since then, several uprisings and clashes with Peru have contributed to Ecuador's volatile history.

Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The English landed on the Falkland Islands in 1690, but the first settlement on this land off the coast of southern Argentina was not established until 1764 by the French. The next year, Britain established its own settlement and claimed the islands in the name of King George III. In 1766, the Falklands were turned over to Spain, beginning a centuries-long territorial dispute, first between Britain and Spain, then between Britain and Argentina. The United Kingdom established a naval garrison on the islands in 1833, thus asserting its claim to them. In April 1982, Argentina invaded the islands, starting a …

Honduras, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Nestled among Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, Honduras is a tropical paradise of rainforests, clear waters and fresh fruit. The small country has Mayan roots that date at least as far as 1000 B.C. to the Copan city-state, which was abandoned around A.D. 900. The area remained quiet until Columbus arrived in 1502. The Spanish settled in Honduras in 1525 and maintained control until Dutch pirates took possession in 1643. The Spanish resettled in 1787, and in 1821, Honduras resisted control from Spain. After a conflict between conservatives and liberals, Honduras broke from Mexico and became its own state in …

Itep Test Trials For Detection Reliability Assessment Of Metal Detectors, Christina Mueller, Mate Gaal, Martina Scharmach, Sylke Bär, A.M. Lewis, T.J. Bloodworth, Dieter Guelle, Peter-Th Wilrich

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The total detection reliability of a mine-searching system is governed by the following three elements:

• Intrinsic capability, which describes the basic physical-technical capability of the method.
• Application factors, which include those due to environment.
• Human factor, which is the effect of human operators on the detection reliability.

Some of these can be determined in simple laboratory measurements in which the effect on detection capability of individual parameters is measured. However, the human factor and some aspects of the effects of environmental conditions on the system need to be treated statistically.

Data Fusion For Mine Action Decision Support: An Example From Lebanon, Aldo Benini, Charles Conley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Within humanitarian mine action, progress in integrating information is manifest chiefly by the way the traditional array of survey activities have been reformed. Following the 1997 Ottawa Treaty to ban anti-personnel mines, several mine action non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) launched the Global Landmine Survey, a multi-country survey project. This initiative has helped to institutionalize the collection of social and economic data, along with contaminated-area data, to enhance the overall management of mine action programs worldwide, and in that sense has achieved a paradigm change over the erstwhile purely technical approach to mine clearance.

Optimising The Use Of Rest For Mine Detection, Ian Mclean, Rebecca Sargisson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) is a detection technology involving the transfer of odours to an animal detector using filters. Like Remote Scent Tracing (RST), the technology could potentially be used to detect anything that has an odour. REST technology was used originally by Mechem in Mozambique and Angola in the early 1990s. Despite the potential it demonstrated at that time, it received little attention or investment through the late 1990s until a revival of interest occurred in recent years. Currently, it is being used operationally for mine detection in Afghanistan and is likely to be implemented for road clearance …

Working Towards A Mine-Free Hemisphere, Suzanne Fiederlein

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The government of Ecuador served as the host of the Americas Regional Mine Action Conference "One More Step Toward a Mine-Free Hemisphere" held in Quito, Ecuador, on August 12–13, 2004. The government of Canada and the Organization of American States Mine Action Program (AICMA, for its initials in Spanish) co-sponsored the conference, the fourth in a series of annual meetings convened in the region since 2001.

International Mine Action Standards: Some Frequently Asked Questions And Answers, Phil Bean

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) were requested by the mine action community and are produced and sponsored by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), with support from a variety of organisations, including the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). The initial design and development of the standards involved extensive participation from representative elements of the mine action sector during the period of 1998–2000. Since that time, the sector has continued to expand with the addition of new programmes and new people joining the sector. IMAS continue to evolve and now benefit from the experience of practical application into …

Non-State Actors In Colombia, Guatemala And Nicaragua, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The majority of wars fought in the last 50 years have involved non-state, anti-state or stateless actors. These groups, commonly referred to as insurgents, dissidents, freedom fighters, rebel groups or guerillas, act independently from recognized governments. These non-state actors (NSAs) typically use low-tech, homemade weapons, such as landmines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other small arms and light weapons to wage guerilla warfare. Civil war, economic instability and a booming illegal drug trade have resulted in a build-up of arms and have thus empowered Latin American NSAs. Due in part to growing insurgent strength, parts of Latin America has been …

An Interview With Dr. Jim Gollogly Of Rosecharities, Cambodia, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The tale of how the English-born orthopedic surgeon landed in Cambodia begins in Fairbanks, Alaska. "One summer evening I was sitting with my buddies, drinking beer. They were all talking about going on sabbatical for the winter. I thought, 'Why couldn't I take a sabbatical?'"

The Gichd Regional Support Centre: An Approach To Regional Information Management, Simon Berger, Alan Arnold

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ask most people in mine action what is meant by regional information management and they will talk to you about the consolidation of country-specific mine action information at centralized regional locations. They may talk about the need for data aggregation, the reluctance of programmes to provide data and the generally slow pace of the work. In almost all cases, they will mention data analysis and comparisons between the work completed in different programmes as key elements in regional systems. Most of the examples given will focus on efforts that fell short of expectations and failed to deliver on the promise …

A Civilian-Military Relationship: Vvaf Support To Hdtc, Joseph M. Donahue, Rodney Robideau

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Humanitarian Demining Training Center (HDTC) at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's (VVAF's) Information Management and Mine Action Programs (iMMAP) are pleased to announce the establishment of a non-governmental organization (NGO) chair on the HDTC faculty. This effort is the culmination of several years of planning that began in 1999 with faculty-training exchanges between the two organizations. These initial training exchanges were begun with the intent of establishing shared mechanisms between the military and humanitarian mine action (HMA) communities so that interoperability could be improved and lessons learned by either community might benefit the …

Geneva Diary: Report From The Gichd, Ian Mansfield

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) recently released a major publication titled A Study of Mechanical Application in Demining. The last 15 years have seen the evolution of machines used in demining. At the beginning of the 1990s, the few machines on the market tended to be large and heavy. Today, there is a much greater array of machines of varying size and armour protection to suit the different physical environments and threat levels found in mine-affected regions of the world (seeGICHD Mechanical Demining Equipment Catalogue 2004).

Nicaragua, Country Profile

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Nicaragua’s landscape is as volatile as its past. Located in Central America south of Honduras and north of Costa Rica, its land is troubled by earthquakes, 40 volcanoes, landslides and tropical hurricanes. Nicaragua received its political independence from Spain in 1821 and became an independent republic in 1838. From 1896, it was ruled under a dynasty/dictatorship established by President Anastasio Somoza García until a bloody revolution occurred in 1979 led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Over a decade of internal conflict caused Nicaragua to be heavily mined before most of the fighting ended in 1990. Since 1990, the …

Marminca's Experience: Coordinating Humanitarian Demining, Luiz Felipe Ramos Gonzalez

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Humanitarian demining is an essential component of mine action, which encompasses a series of activities such as mine and UXO removal, technical studies, mapping, the returning of cleared land to the communities, victim assistance, and mine risk education (MRE), among others. Since 1995, the Organization of American States (OAS) has carried out demining programs in Central America, concentrating its efforts in four countries: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. This program has been carried out in the region with the support of donor countries, beneficiary countries, contributing countries and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB).

Machines Can Get The Job Done Faster, Alexander Griffiths

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) published A Study of Mechanical Application in Demining in June 2004. The study looked at the most suitable roles for machines in demining, examined the potential for machines to be considered a primary clearance tool, explained factors involved in protecting operators and presented a software model to help programme managers understand the cost-effectiveness of their mechanical assets. In 2005, the GICHD plans to release six more sub-studies related to mechanical demining. The following article explains some aspects of the operational tasks where machines are currently employed.

A Study Of Local Organisations In Mine Action, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This Study of Local Organisations in Mine Action, which was requested by the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), is an assessment of the successes and failures of local mine action organisations, including their competence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. It examines how, and to what extent, national governments have encouraged and supported such organisations, and whether they have given priority or preferential treatment to such rganisations in issuing contracts or funding. It examines how much external assistance has been needed to reach the necessary standards of competence, and whether the newly-formed organisations have been able to implement national standards derived …

A Study Of The Development Of National Mine Action Legislation, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This document is intended to assist governments, mine action professionals and others to develop national legislation to coordinate and regulate mine action in a country affected by landmines and/or unexploded ordnance (UXO). It identifies the principal elements to be included in such a law and the issues which should be considered in its preparation. The information in this document is based upon the conclusions and recommendations of A Study of National Mine Action Legislation, published by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

Ddasaccident546, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

[Name removed] and myself were in the same location. 11:00 we started going to MCT teams and the smoke was coming out of demolition point, the team waited until 12:30 then as there was not apparently smoke in the demolition point the TL starting going to the demolition point for checking. And TL saw that both artillery were destroyed. In the nearest point a small amount of smoke was existing. He started to use fork shovel in the location and an explosion happened and a small fragment hit to the Right arm flesh of the TL. The sound and power …

Ddasaccident540, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Deminer [the Victim] used his rake in normal manner. He set off a P4 MK1 antipersonnel mine with his 2-tooth heavy rake. Heavy rake bended but remained in one piece in the blast. Deminer was in perfect health and didn’t get bruises nor other minor injuries.

Humanitarian Impact From Mines Other Than Anti-Personnel Mines, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

This report summarises the capacity of the landmine clearance sector to respond to mines other than anti-personnel mines (MOTAPM), specifically anti-vehicle mines. It then looks at the humanitarian impact of MOTAPM contamination in a specific environment. A case study illustrates the efforts of humanitarian organisations to address problems faced by rural communities in Angola . These problems persist and are made worse because MOTAPM on roads prevent humanitarian organisations from gaining access to the population. MOTAPM are also seen to increase the cost of humanitarian assistance. The conclusions of the report complement evidence presented by the International Committee of the …

Politik Luar Negeri Indonesia: Pantulan Dari 'Weak State' Dan Masa Transisi Yang Berkepanjangan, Zainuddin Djafar

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

Evaluation of Indonesian foreign policy leads us to assess the following: Firstly, since the Soeharto era we have had close relations with the Western countries, we have enjoyed billions of US dollars of loans, held technical co-operations in various aspects, we have oil reserves, LNG and other potential natural sources; but as a result of the multidimensional crises in 1997-1999, our economic and business activities, as well as financial and banking systems, have been ruined. Secondly, the three following administrations (B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, 1998-2004) were not able to do much, let alone restore Indonesia to its …

Menelaah Konsep Human Security: Studi Kasus Penanganan Masalah Pengungsi Afganistan Di Australia (1999-2002), Avyanthi Azis

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article is a short report drawn from a research on the issue of the Afghan refugees in Australia (1992-2002). Using the infamous “boat people” case as illustration, the research was intended to provide careful observation on the concept “human security,” a term increasingly linked to forced migration issues. Although human security is often portrayed as a benign concept with strong moral stance, its vastness and loose definition limit its adequacy as a useful tool of analysis. The concept is also prone to misuse because it loosely adapts to various ideological interests. Following a framework elaborated from the thoughts of …

Ddasaccident533, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At 09.10hrs on the 22nd of September 2004, deminer [the Victim] was carrying out manual clearance using the prodding method on the northern side of Minefield 0011 at Ina Guuxaa. Whilst excavating earth at the front of his lane, he inadvertently detonated what is suspected to have been a P-4 anti personnel mine.