By Mir Hekmatullah Sadat
January-March 2000
Lemar-Aftaab
During the Cold War, superpowers and regional
neighbors supplied and supervised million of landmines being
sown into Afghan soil. Kabul became the world's most heavily
mined city because of a bitter war among various factions (Gannon, 1997).
Why is this such a horrifying ordeal? What makes
anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines so abhorrent is the indiscriminate
destruction they cause. Mines cannot be aimed. They lie dormant until
a person, animal, or vehicle triggers their detonating mechanism.
Two principles of the laws of war, discrimination and proportionality
apply to the use of landmines regardless of other treaty obligations.
Coupland (1999) says that "disciplined armies train their soldiers in
the laws of war, which include respect for the civilian population; by
contrast, modern wars tend to be fought by forces that are poorly
trained and may even target civilians."
Faulker (1997) explains further that "In recent wars we have seen:
- Random and widespread mining of agricultural and community land
- Deliberate use of mines as an anti-morale, or terror weapon targeting civilians
- Mining of villages, water sources, religious shrines."
The laws of war dictate that soldiers and their weapons
discriminate between soldiers and civilians. However, antipersonnel
mines cannot distinguish between the footfall of a soldier and that of a child.
The second principle states there is to be a balance
between military need and consequences to the civilian population.
Proponents of landmines focus on the cost-effectiveness of the weapon.
But when they talk about the effects of landmines, they confine
themselves to the duration of the battle. They do not address the life
cycle of the landmine, which continues for decades.
Clearly when the life of the weapon and the resulting impact of generations
of civilians are taken into account, the cost-effectiveness of landmines is dwarfed
by their long-term socio-economic impact.
Leading producers and exporters of antipersonnel mines include
China, Italy, the former Soviet Union, and the United States.
There are approximately 100 companies in more than 50
countries that manufactured as many as 200 million antipersonnel
landmines in the last 25 years.
According to the organization
GOLIATH, " It costs about $3US to buy a landmine, but it
costs $3,000US to remove it safely from the ground."
Between 2 to 5 million landmines are planted annually. More than 350
different types of antipersonnel mines exist. Even if no more
mines are ever laid, they will continue to maim and kill for years
to come. About 100 countries worldwide are affected by landmines.
At the present effort of demining, it is estimated it will require 1,100
years and 33 billion dollars to eradicate the landmines that now lay planted.
Afghanistan is where the United Nations first became involved
in supporting the creation and development of a humanitarian
mine action program. The signing of the Geneva Accords in April
1988, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, led
many to believe that warfare had come to an end, that
peace would prevail, and that the rehabilitation of social
services and infrastructure could begin.
In 1988, landmines were seen primarily as a military problem which needed to be addressed on an
urgent basis to reduce the risk of fatalities and injury to millions
of civilians including, in particular, those about to return home
in a massive repatriation program then deemed imminent. This was
the context within which the United Nations undertook initial
planning for the development of mine action activities in Afghanistan.
Events did not unfold as anticipated. Sporadic warfare and instability
continue to characterize the political landscape of Afghanistan and
directly impacted the population movements and the coping capacity
of affected communities. In periods of relative stability, significant
numbers of people returned to their native villages and began the
arduous task of rebuilding their homes, their farms,
and crucial irrigation systems. But just as peace has gained a
foothold in some parts of the country, armed conflict continues to
up-root people and to destroy basic means of survival elsewhere.
This is the context which has shaped the orientation, and development of mine
action activities since 1992 when the landmine problem was
redefined and greater emphasis was given to socio-economic
concerns and the development of a systematic and strategic response.
Mines recognize no cease-fire, and long after the fighting has
stopped, they continue to maim or kill. In a 1998 Internet
article of L'HEBDO, Alex Grinling explains that mines have
been put in residential zones. Under nine feet of rubble, these
explosives can still be found
everywhere.
There are good mechanical contraptions, but in these zones they
are useless because of the detailed precision that is needed.
Wars are not only traumatic for soldiers but are especially
damaging to
civilian morale. In particular, children in crises
can experience various developmental
delays and psychosocial disorders. About 55% of landmine victims
in Kabul are children. In the last 20 years, these children have
only known
constant warfare. In Kabul, 65% of children
have seen their family members die. It is while
spelling the name of weapons that they learned to read. Refugees returning to
their war-ravaged countries face this life-threatening obstacle to
rebuilding their lives.
There are two categories of
landmines:
antipersonnel (AP) and antitank or anti-vehicle (AT).
An AP is a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or
contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more
persons.
An AT mines is a device designed to detonate by more than
100 kilograms of pressure and cannot distinguish between a tank and tractor.
There are different types of A mines according to the types
of injuries they inflict:
- Blast mine: usually hand-laid on or under the ground or scattered
from the air. The explosive force of the mine causes foot, leg, and
groin injuries and secondary infections usually result in amputation.
-
Fragmentation mine: usually laid on or under the ground
and often activated by tripwire or other means.
When detonated, the explosion projects hundreds of fragments
at ballistic speeds of up to 50 meters resulting in fragmentation
wounds. Some fragmentation mines contain a primary charge to
lift the mine above the ground (about 1 to 1.5 meters)
before detonating which can injure an adult's abdomen,
genitals or decapitate a child.
New developments in mine technology:
- Plastic mine: Undetectable by metal detectors used
by deminers.
- Remotely delivere (R/D) or scatterable mines:
Usually disseminated from aircraft, helicopters or artillery.
Accurate mapping, recording and marking mines laid in this manner is impossible.
- Anti-handlin devices: A device intended to protect
mine and which activates when an attempt is made to tamper
with or otherwise intentionally disturb the mine.
- Self-destruct (S/D) mines: So-called
"smart" mines are designed to self-destruct after a designated
period of time. If they fail to self-destruct, these mines are also
sometimes designed to self-deactivate. There is nothing smart about these
mines, though - while armed they cannot discriminate between
the footfall of a soldier and a civilian.
Those who survive the initial blast usually require amputations,
long hospital stays, and extensive rehabilitative services. According
to The Economist, "Every 20 minutes or so, somewhere someone
is killed or injured by a landmine."
A recent 1999 article in the British Medical Journal reflects a study of patients
admitted to all Red Cross hospitals by cause of injury. About 68% percent
of patients are admitted because of bullet, bombshell, mortar, or mine
injuries. Of these patients, about one out of four are admitted for mine
related injuries. Roughly 31% of these patients suffering
from mine-related injuries are civilians.
Hence, a greater proportion
of civilians are injured by mines than expected due in part to being
injured by virtually invisible weapons. In most of these cases, an amputee
receives an artificial leg known in medicine
as prosthesis.
A prosthetic device is named according to the level of the amputation.
Some examples of prosthesis are
below/above knee.
symes, below/above elbow, and also shoulder disarticulation prosthesis.
About 3% of Afghanistan's current approximated population has been
physically disabled in the lasting conflict. Many specialists such
as Burns (1996) attribute that to "Brezhnev and Reagan
and Thatcher who made the country a Cold-War battleground
in the 1980s, and played their own roles in the wasteland that
Afghanistan has become."
According to L'HEBDO magazine, the
Red Cross' orthopedic centers in Afghanistan have manufactured
more than 10,000 prostheses from recycled plastics
(3,500 armchairs, canes, and rolls) imported from Switzerland.
Throughout the country, with four centers, the Red Cross is the
main producer of prostheses: since 1988, more than 25,000 Afghans
have been taken care of in their facilities. Up to 80% among them were
civilians.
Burns (1996) adds that since the religious movement's severe
restrictions on women, extreme shortcomings have resulted:
"Because of a widespread fear among women of venturing
into the streets, the number of
disabled women seeking help
at the Kabul center, and of disabled children brought in by their mothers, has fallen."
Moreover, Jane's Information Group's February 1999 report suggests
that the regime in Kabul has been laying new minefields to protect
themselves from attack by rival factions.
As a result, Afghanistan has become one of the most heavily
mined areas; there are more than 10 million landmines that
have not been cleared yet. Most of these mines hinder everyday
life, being placed around water sources and
along many roads.
Mines render large tracts of agricultural land unusable,
wreaking environmental and economic
devastation. In Afghanistan, around 35% of the land is unusable due
millions of buried landmines. Landmines are now a daily threat in
Afghanistan; many die in the fields from
loss of blood or lack of transport to get medical help.
Giannou (1997) details such mine-related problems: "Antipersonnel mines have disabled
individuals, handicapped families, and mutilated entire societies.
Their effects are widespread and continue long after a conflict has
ended. The
mining of agricultural land results in a severe loss of income for farmers;malnutrition increases; people are forced
from their homes because families cannot eke out an existence; there
is an increase in casualties among returning refugees; repatriation
of displaced persons or refugees may be delayed or totally
compromised; and if roads are affected, rural ammunisation
campaigns by mobile teams, the provision of emergency
relief supplies, and the resumption of normal commercial
activity are blocked."
Faulkner (1997) adds: "The impact on rural
communities can be devastating, as landmines attack several
activities vital for sustaining the population. The grazing of livestock
has its attendant hazards in heavily mined areas; domesticated animals
tend to migrate in search of the best available feeding grounds,
which can often lead herds into unmarked minefields.
Not only does this imperil the people (including children)
charged with tending herds, but livestock depletion inevitably
removes part of a vital resource. The practice of mining water
sources also presents its own problems; in some countries,
clean water may be several miles away, which means
that children and women may have to run the gauntlet of suspect
tracks, wells and streams in order to provide for the community's
needs."
The following proposals by Nathanson and Giannou are the most
applicable and feasible procedures for Afghanistan:
- "We have to educate donors that the 100 countries
riddled with land mines and unexploded ordinance will
need a long term commitment to demining and
rehabilitation. Demining can take place only where there is access to
the land, and where it is not going to be seized by the military
and remined immediately. Patients and their access to care
need to be protected and the security of deminers and aid
workers assured" (Nathanson, 1998).
- "After a civil conflict, scarce funds must be used for mine clearance, mine awareness, and tertiary
curative medicine. The landmine pandemic is a social, economic, health, and political event that particularly targets the innocent,
the weakest, and the least prepared. The response must therefore also have social, economic, health, and political aspects
and it must include preventive, curative, and rehabilitative measures...For each area affected, the priorities--mine clearance, education, health
services, repairing economic infrastructure--need to be identified and action targeted" (Giannou, 1997).
In this overview, we have examined the issue of landmines in relation to many social aspects of Afghanistan.
However, one point that has been neglected is the productivity of physically challenged men and women in the
labor market. The labor pool has been depleted due to deaths and/or flight from Afghanistan (most of whom will not repatriate).
So, the sixty-four dollar question is how can the physically challenged become active contributors to the welfare of society?
If this question is not addressed, then these persons will become dependent on the charity of a country that is among
the poorest in the world. The resulting phenomena would be such things as psychological depression, which could
stem from or turn into pane handling, addiction, or even
suicide.
