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Notes From The Field: Croatia, Marijana Prevendar
Notes From The Field: Croatia, Marijana Prevendar
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The disintegration of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, accelerated by the Communist Party's electoral defeat, spurred the Republic of Croatia to declare its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. As a result, forces from the Republic of Serbia, the largest republic in the former Yugoslavia, launched a campaign to block Croatia's drive for independence. The Croatian Serbs, backed by the Yugoslav government and armed with weapons from the Yugoslavian army, started an armed rebellion against the newly established Croatian government in 1991.
A Serbian Ghost Town In Need Of Recovery, Sinisa Malesevic
A Serbian Ghost Town In Need Of Recovery, Sinisa Malesevic
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
All sorts of people are hoping for the demining and reconstruction of Dropci, a "Serb village" approximately 45 kilometers from the municipality of Bihac in Unsko-Sanski Canton, located in the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This area was strategically important during the war, and much was done to protect it, which means there are plenty of mine fields. The few hundred people who lived here before the war (1992-1995) have all left.
Notes From The Field: Bosnia, Sinisa Malesevic
Notes From The Field: Bosnia, Sinisa Malesevic
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
One day not long ago, just as the sun was setting on the city of Doboj, Serb Republic, Jovic Mirko stepped on a Yugoslav-made PMA-2 antipersonnel mine and lost a foot. Some call him "lucky," it was only a foot, and he will sometimes agree. His misery would have been so much greater if the victim had been one of his two children. The potential for greater misery is ever present in the Mirko household. For one thing, the mine field is somewhere in their garden, right behind the house that the family moved into two years ago. On that …
Developing New Technology For Humanitarian Demining, Russell Gasser, Terry Thomas
Developing New Technology For Humanitarian Demining, Russell Gasser, Terry Thomas
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Despite the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on high-tech research over the last few years, local humanitarian deminers still use traditional prodders and metal detectors. The biggest recent technical innovation has been mechanical vegetation clearance which was mostly developed in the field and bypassed the research route.
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
Azerbaijan, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Azerbaijan declared independence from Russia in 1918, but was incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1920. It again declared independence in August 1991, following the collapse of the USSR. The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region is still unresolved after 10 years and Baku has yet to settle disputes with its neighbors over oil rights in the Caspian Sea. During 1988-1994, Karabakh Armenians declared independence and seized almost 20 percent of the country's territory, creating an estimated 750,000 Azerbaijani refugees. As a result of the war, western Azerbaijan is plagued with land mines. Both sides have generally …
Belarus, Country Profile
Belarus, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Gomel, Minsk, the capital, and the most heavily mined area, Vitebsk. Many of the officials in Belarus are trying to educate the people and show them the proper way to handle a mine if encountered and more importantly, what not to do. Two non-governmental organizations, the Belarus Support Center for Associations and Foundations (SCAF), and the Belarus Campaign to Ban Land mines (BCBL), are working with the Belarussian government to help promote safety and build solid support centers for the victims of land mines. SCAF, established in 1996, strives to develop the culture and society of Belarus by supporting other …
Georgia, Country Profile
Georgia, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Following the April 9, 1991, independence from the former Soviet Union, Georgia was beset by ethnic and civil strife. The continuing argument over the political status of Abkhazia resulted in war. In September 1993, Georgian forces withdrew from the Abkhazia region. Although Georgia stabilized, South Ossetia and Abkhazia remain elusive. The conflict in South Ossetia has been dormant since spring 1994, but sporadic violence continues between Abkhaz forces and Georgian partisans in western Georgia. Of their estimated population of 5,000,000, Georgia still has about 250,000 internally displaced people as a result of these conflicts. After adopting a new constitution in …
Moldova, Country Profile
Moldova, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Moldova is split into two main regions, Bessarabia and Transnistria. Bessarabia is in the eastern part of historic Moldova and is mostly Romanian while Transnistria is the land on the eastern bank of the Nistru River and is mostly Slavic (Ukrainians and Russians). After the Russo-Turkish War in 1806-12, Bessarabia ceded to Russia. Finally on Aug. 27, 1991, Moldova declared its independence from the USSR and was recognized by the United States in December of that same year as they opened an embassy in its capital in 1992. A new constitution was adopted on July 28, 1994, which forever replaced …
Ukraine, Country Profile
Ukraine, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Ukraine has been struggling for its independence from several countries that have tried to consume it and minimize its boundaries. The Bolshevik Revolution prompted the Russian Ukrainians to establish a new republic in 1917 while the Austrian Ukraine waited until a year later to establish their connection with the Russian Ukraine. Ukraine was excluded from much of the decision making during the closing of World War I and Poland was given the land they wished for, Galicia, in 1919. This single act sparked war once again. The war continued as the country itself was thrown into internal turmoil and change …
The Journal Of Mine Action Issue 4.1 (2000), Cisr Journal
The Journal Of Mine Action Issue 4.1 (2000), Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Landmines in Europe and the Caucasus
The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program In The Balkans, Matt Murphy
The U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program In The Balkans, Matt Murphy
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
As a result of years of conflict in the Balkans, countless landmines have been laid in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Bosnia-Herzegovina's landmine problem is severe, with an estimated 750,000 landmines and an undetermined quantity of unexploded ordnance infesting some 186 square miles of land. These hidden killers have killed and maimed hundreds, vastly impeded the return of refugees to their homes, and hindered international efforts to help people in the region.
The Munitions Challenge In Albania, Steve Brown
The Munitions Challenge In Albania, Steve Brown
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Political controversy, economic chaos and increasing criminality have faced Albania since its democratic revolution in late 1990. Anti-government demonstrations erupted into violence, which took the form of attacks against state facilities including public offices, schools, factories and military depots. Of particular concern were the attacks against ammunition and weapons storage areas. Over 600,000 weapons and several thousand tons of ammunition and explosives were looted and some 16 ammunition storage areas, known as Hot Spots, were set ablaze resulting in massive unexploded ordnance contamination of the sites and surrounding areas.
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
Bosnia And Herzegovina, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
After Marshal Tito's death in 1980 and the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) divided into five different countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and the Republic of Macedonia. After having declared its independence from SFRY in March 1992, BiH fought in a war that lasted over three-and-a-half years. This war destroyed families, communities and infrastructure and left the country littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance. After the Dayton agreement was signed on Dec. 14, 1995, the war officially ended and the country was …
Quality Assurance: Evaluation And Certification Of Humanitarian Demining Detection Equipment, Vjera Krstelj, Josip Stepanic Jr., Irena Leljak
Quality Assurance: Evaluation And Certification Of Humanitarian Demining Detection Equipment, Vjera Krstelj, Josip Stepanic Jr., Irena Leljak
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
An extensive number of humanitarian demining detection equipment (HDDE) in the development phase requires a well-established set of testing facilities. A combination of enthusiastic and scientific testing exists throughout the majority of these facilities. During the last several years, the process of humanitarian demining (HD) in Croatia has begun under the intense effort of the Croatian Mine Action Center and other institutions. The success in starting and performing the clearance of various mine-affected regions was a combination of mechanical demining and a systematic approach. Mechanical demining has given good results on the agricultural terrain and in the fields of homogeneous …
Kosovo, Country Profile
Kosovo, Country Profile
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Serbia and Montenegro are the only two remaining Yugoslavian republics. The federation began to dissolve in June 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia declared independence. The Republic of Serbia has two autonomous provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina, which are administratively a part of Serbia. Most of the population in Kosovo is Albanian.
Road Trip With A Minecat, Stephanie Schlosser
Road Trip With A Minecat, Stephanie Schlosser
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In The Journal of Mine Action 3.2, we spotlighted the Compact 230-Minecat, a multi-role platform suitable for both military and humanitarian applications whose primary role is to be a mine-clearance vehicle. Since that article in the summer of 1999, the Minecat has had a proper education, going through a series of tests in various landscapes and in front of rough judges. Landmine clearing is serious business and before a new piece of equipment can be put on the world market, it has to prove itself in rigorous settings. After all, the real customers in the demining marker are those people …
The Legacy Of War In Chechnya, Kimberly P. Hill
The Legacy Of War In Chechnya, Kimberly P. Hill
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Hundreds of lives are destroyed daily; most of which are left unrecorded and unacknowledged. The struggles and suffering of a few bears witness to the atrocities of many forgotten casualties and even survivors of all ages. The epidemic of landmines continues to devour many lives in its path, bur it is the aid of others and the written words of some that convey the true horror of their reality.
The Actuator: Demining Innovations, Lee Felsenstein, Steven E. Saunders
The Actuator: Demining Innovations, Lee Felsenstein, Steven E. Saunders
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
This approach to humanitarian demining differs from generally accepted methodology. It has not yet been tried, and the purpose of this article is to ensure that the general concept is placed in the public domain, where it may be debated and modified without considerations of intellectual property. Interval Research Corporation, where this idea originated, is not in the business of mine clearance, or of manufacturing mine clearance systems, so the idea is being passed along to the community best capable of analyzing it.
The Ambitious Challenge Of Adopting A Mine Field, Larry Levine
The Ambitious Challenge Of Adopting A Mine Field, Larry Levine
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Dropci is a tiny, devastated, and currently empty community of family farmers in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Croatia. Its people are still refugees from the war, as the land is strewn with landmines, booby traps and unexploded ordnance. Monterey County, Calif., is known as the "Salad Bowl of the World" for its agricultural abundance, the "Golfing Capital of the World," and the site of the spectacular Big Sur coastline. Dropci and Monterey County are worlds apart. What is the cord that binds these two communities? The Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign, a program coordinated by the United Nations Association …
Journal Of Mine Action, Issue 3.3 (1999), Cisr Journal
Journal Of Mine Action, Issue 3.3 (1999), Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Victim & Survivor Assistance | Notes from the Field | Organization Profiles
The Impact Of Landmines Yesterday And Today, A. G. Marangione
The Impact Of Landmines Yesterday And Today, A. G. Marangione
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On April 20, 1945, at about 5 a.m., still dark, I and two of my companions from Troop A 16th Cavalry, were on a reconnaissance patrol on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, Germany. I was in the passenger seat of a jeep. I had a driver and one man in the rear manning a .30-caliber machine gun. His name was Clarence Brown, but because he was a huge fellow we affectionately called him "Bear." We had been together since our Cavalry-Squadron was formed in 1942 in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. On April 20 we were part of a very proud and successful …
Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation, Cisr Journal
Vietnam Veterans Of America Foundation, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
"Most international humanitarian aid organizations pride themselves on remaining above the fray; non-partisan, objective and silent on issues affecting the people for whom they provide vital assistance. We don't," said Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF).
A Promise To Our Children, Charles E. Maccormack
A Promise To Our Children, Charles E. Maccormack
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On May 22, 1999, President Clinton announced a decision on anti-personnel landmines that commits the United States to sign the Ottawa Treaty by the year 2006. With this initiative, Clinton cleared the way for the United States to join the more than 120 nations that already have signed the treaty, which is an international agreement that bans the stockpiling, use, and import and export of anti-personnel landmines. This is welcome news for the children, families and communities whose daily lives are affected by the scourge of landmines.
Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, Cisr Journal
Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In 1989, Sen. Patrick Leahy started a fund to get medical aid to victims of landmines. There are an estimated 100 million unexploded land mines in over 60 countries, where they kill or maim an estimated 26,000 people each year. Vast areas of countries like Cambodia, Bosnia and Angola have become death traps.
War Child, Cisr Journal
War Child, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Heavily mined areas take the highest toll on the poor civilian populations that surround post-conflict areas.
Sustainability Of Prosthetic And Orthotic Programs, Mike Boddington
Sustainability Of Prosthetic And Orthotic Programs, Mike Boddington
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
This paper examines the overall incidence of disability, and specifically of motor-disability, in low-income countries of the world. It observes the attitude of society roward those suffering from disabilities, and argues that there is a need for long term support for services to the motor-disabled by the international community. In order ro generate this support, low-income countries must develop highly efficient services that minimize the call on international resources. Such services are likely to be outside government. They will be within private nonprofit organizations: ring fenced, transparent, and capable of regular audit.
Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, Cisr Journal
Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Prosthetics Outreach Foundation (POF) is a non profit medical service organization that provides urgently needed high quality prostheses (artificial limbs) to amputees in developing countries and in the United States. Since 1988, the staff and volunteers have fitted over 10,000 children and adults with new prostheses, enabling each amputee to walk again with dignity. POF helps communities to meet the needs of their own amputees by establishing clinics to create and fit artificial limbs and workshops to manufacture prosthetic components with local materials.
Landmine Survivors Network, Cisr Journal
Landmine Survivors Network, Cisr Journal
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) works to help mine victims and their families recover through an integrated program of peer counseling, sports, and social and economic re-integration into their communities. In countries in the developing world where landmines are prevalent, survivors lose more than a leg or arm; they often lose their place as a valued and respected member of their society. LSN works with survivors and their families to support their efforts to retake their place and become productive members of their communities. for example, landmine survivors play a crucial role in landmine education, particularly for children within communities at …
Gathering In Geneva, Dennis Barlow
Gathering In Geneva, Dennis Barlow
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
From September 15- 17, 1999, victim assistance experts met in Geneva to provide input to the Standing Committee of Experts on Victim Assistance (VA), Socioeconomic Reintegration and Mine Awareness; one of several committees called into being as a result of meetings in Maputo dealing with mine action aspects of the Ottawa Treaty. T he foll owing observations are made in the context of that meeting, which was hosted by the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining.
Icbl Working Group On Victim Assistance, Jerry White
Icbl Working Group On Victim Assistance, Jerry White
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) currently chairs the ICBL Working Group on Victim Assistance. It is in this capacity, working together with over 20 humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations (NGOs), my ICBL colleagues and I welcome this opportunity to discuss Article 6 which covers States Parties responsibility to provide "care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration of mine victims."