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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