1. Obligations related to mine clearance in peace-time

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

In war time, the objective of mine clearance is often to guarantee the success of some military manoeuvre rather than preserve human lives. Detected mines must be disarmed, moved out of the field and stored for further military use. In such a context, casualties are considered «acceptable».

In peacetime however, the occurrence of casualties, usually in the course of humanitarian operations, is no longer tolerable. Mines must be detected and then destroyed so as to render any further use impossible. The objective here is quite simple, it consists in saving a maximum of lives, in limiting the number of injured and disabled individuals, in giving the local populations one more chance for development. The various measures involved should be implemented with great consideration for the environment and the safety of the individuals, whether inhabitants or deminers. In fact, mine clearance should not contribute any further problems for the villagers such as extensive pollution (destroying explosives generates emissions of toxic fumes) or disabling of equipment, houses, roads, bridges... In all cases, it is essential that the deminers take care of the damage caused by the destruction of explosives, particularly on roads and paths. Finally, considering the fact that thorough mine clearance can not be achieved in any region, there will remain some prohibited areas where humans will have no access and that are bound to revert to the wild state, thus making it even tougher to clear them when the time comes.

OBLIGATIONS AND QUALITY CONTROL

Obligation in terms of achievements. Mine action programs impose on the project managers some obligations in terms of achievement. The efficacy of the measures taken should translate into the absence of casualties in so-called safe areas. This is all the more important that the villagers' confidence usually means a weaker watchfulness on their part. «Approximate» mine clearance then becomes a trap in itself, due to a false sense of safety.

The difficulty inherent to mine detection and the random characteristic of their scattering makes it impossible to guarantee full success.

Moreover, the awkward or evil-meant interventions of the individuals should also be taken into account:

- a villager might want to save some overlooked mines so as to protect himself and his cattle. Dangerous daily handling will cause an accident sooner or later which will be attributed to lousy conduction of mine clearance operation.

- a combatant, in a country such as Cambodia where peace is still frail, might lay more mines after completion of mine clearance operations, so as to maintain an insecure atmosphere, and to call into question the quality of mine clearance and, as a consequence, the quality of foreign assistance.

In such conditions, it appears as quite difficult to implicate the deminer when casualties do occur. Quality control, usually imposed by the sponsors, does not provide any guarantee. DHA (United Nations) defines and demands a very high quality level in its contracts: 99.6 %. This figure is arbitrary and it sets the tolerance threshold for properly completed mine clearance.

In actuality, this high threshold renders control impossible, as in theory, to achieve this level, the controller would need to inspect a sample zone where 1000 metal objects had been detected and removed, and he would still need to find four of them at the most.

As regards mine clearance, there cannot be any contractual obligation in terms of achievement, as is the case in transportation contracts for example. In fact, in order to meet the requirement for zero casualty after completion of mine clearance, three conditions should be met:

· maintain a high level of prevention consciousness within the populations who were informed about the danger and sometimes even, which might be advisable, make them participate in mine clearance operations

· guarantee appropriate sign posting around areas which have not yet been cleared

· ensure that the mine clearance operators perform their work with professionalism, competence and efficacy.

From this point of view, it seems more satisfactory to substitute the notion of obligation of means for the obligation of results.

Obligations in terms of means: in medical practice as a rule, the responsibility of the physician is not implicated as non-observance of some obligation of achievement. The physician is not required to achieve recovery but only to implement all the means he has available, in accordance with the most up-to-date scientific data. One justification for this principle that medicine is not considered an «exact science», and its successes and failures are both due for a great part to factors not accessible to the physician.

Although the comparison should not be too deep, the deminer is in a somewhat similar situation: he is always responsible for his actions, but not necessarily for their outcome.

The efficacy of mine clearance is in direct relation to the quality of the human, material and organizational means used. Discipline, observance of the rules, professionalism of the participants, their conditions of work, of life and of rest, their financial and material satisfaction, the assurance that in case of a casualty, all possible means will be implemented to rescue them, are all the guaranties for the success of the program.

To these should be added the quality of integration of the deminers into the population, which not only guarantees the establishment of a secure climate but also mutual understanding, a factor that will help maintain safety and vigilance after the departure of the mine clearance agents.

The quality control therefore consists here in assessing the means implemented. The permanent presence on the ground or even the unexpected visit of an independent expert will provide a more reliable evaluation than any control of the achievements, if it examines:

- the quality of the equipment
- the competence of the personnel
- the quality of the demining techniques
- the keeping of the various diaries (daily log, monthly report, end of operations report...)
- the organization of safety squads
- the quality of hierarchical relations and of supervision in the field
- operational and logistic organization

An important point to underline is that the enterprises considered the most successful in terms of results are those with the fewest casualties happening to deminers. This concept should be taken into account as a selection criterion for a mine clearance NGO or company. In any case, the controller should be selected based on strict criteria such as competence and professional independence. His contract shall be contersigned by the representative of the beneficiary State (National Mine Action Coordinating Structure). The appreciation of these specialists will be of the utmost relevance upon acceptance of the work done, which sets the time at which the State takes over responsibility for the casualties occuring in the area.

Control indicators:

All mines are not equal in terms of damaging potency, and it is very difficult to estimate beforehand the quantitative result of mine clearance operations using destruction of mines and unexploded ammunitions (by definition, this figure is unknown). This is the reason why it does not seem appropriate to include quantitative concepts among the clauses of any contract. The progression of a mine clearance worksite may be badly delayed by the presence of many metal pieces which, although harmless, will systematically need to be handled with as much precaution as actual explosive ordnance. On the other hand, the access to a several-mile-long road might be prohibited due to only a few mines that give the impression of some extensive pollution. Removal and destruction of those mines may present some economic benefit not comparable to the cost of the work performed by the deminers.

Discussed above were the criteria used as a basis for quality control, depending on whether you are most concerned with achievements or with means. Although quality control remains a essential tool to assess the efficacy of a mine clearance program, the quantitative aspects should not be overlooked, even though the detection of a mere 100 000 mines appears as negligible as compared to the number of mines laid within the same period of time, well over 2 millions. The assessment of the productivity of mine action and especially of mine-clearing operations should solely be based on the number of lives saved, the number of casualties avoided and the total areas returned to normal conditions.

THE OBLIGATION OF RESERVE

In peacetime, a mine clearance worksite is similar to a humanitarian operation, or even a humanitarian public health operation. The true purpose of mine action is not, per se, to remove mines, but to save human lives. From an ethical point of view, peacetime mine clearance is therefore bound to the same rules in terms of neutrality, impartiality and reserve as those ruling humanitarian enterprises with the sole purpose to keep them from being manipulated by such or such faction. The populations should be the main beneficiaries of mine clearing operations, particularly in more remote and underprivileged areas. Mine clearance is a tool for peace, an essential preliminary condition for the implementation of development policies. The future of the whole country is concerned and therefore mine clearance should not be at stake in terms of power.

Therefore, die deminers are bound by obligations of absolute political reserve Their only relationships with die delegates of public authorities and with local chiefs, either institutional or not, should be strictly limited to the technical and humanitarian aspects inherent to their mission Their behavior should no be the expression of any partial preference or give rise to interpretations, rumors or manipulation Most frequently, this problem arises when indigenous deminers or assistants are being recruited As the providers of well-paid local employment, mine clearance operators are extensively called upon.

These appeals however should not significantly alter the criteria for selection which are:

- how representative of the former combatants are the candidates
- the technical competence of the candidates
- their ability to acquire initial or complementary professional qualifications
- their sense of discipline and rigour

The presence of medical staff in the field should be utilized to take on voluntary assistance and health care missions for the benefit of the populations, possibly recruiting local health care assistants in some cases, while still being careful not to display any derogatory attitude.

However, the obligation of reserve has its limits, both for the deminers and for die volunteers of the humanitarian action and the doctors The deminer often embodies (actually, always does in the case of a peace keeping program) a political will towards international safety His obligation to testify may then, in some circumstances, stand against his obligation of reserve when he becomes aware of acts that jeopardise the safety of individuals, the Law and Human Rights Finally, it is quite obvious that the project managers should consider the safety of their personnel in the field as their first priority, even though this should mean delaying or interrupting the course of a program.

A SPECIFIC MEDICAL STRUCTURE

On an average, one mine action casualty occurs every 1000 mines, one serious casualty every 2000 mines, and one fatality every 4 to 5000 mines This highlights the necessity of medical support of mine clearing operations This support was long overlooked, as if casualties were unavoidable and health care ineffective It is true that in war, the victim of a mine is most of the time doomed, due to the other risks of war, to the insufficiency or late arrival of health care on the front, of the slowness of evacuation to the civilian zone In peace time, the situation is different and appropriate medical support can be established and implemented Medical support. It consists of one physician, and several nurses more or less numerous depending on the number of worksites and on the means of evacuation One nurse is assigned to each section or each worksite, and he is in charge of emergency health care There should be as many nurses as operating worksites The physician has the power over the whole plan of action related to the location of the worksite He must be present throughout the working periods and possess a good experience in surgery His main mission consists in sustaining the vital functions of the victim and getting him/her ready for evacuation When the worksites are operating, he should always have a fast mean of evacuation available (ambulance, helicopter, aircraft)

Chances of survival depend for a great part on the time it takes to reach the hospital the maximum chances are guaranteed for interventions completed within less than 6 hours The hospital should be equipped with the necessary surgical means and material to permit effective intervention within the shortest possible time The task of the physician then consists in considering the various local alternatives to combine swiftness of evacuation with quality of medical care.

Several hospitals should have been examined in advance with regards to their intervention capacity They should be reachable by radio Administrative procedures should be set beforehand in the form of conventions to avoid administrative issues delaying admission of the patients to the hospital In some cases, sanitary evacuations will be necessary on long distances (ex Johannesburg in Angola).

Evolution of the number of mine clearance casualties since 1990 (m Afghanistan)

YEAR	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
	(6 mths)
Total number of operators	500	1500	1800	2100	2800	2800
Number of operators killed	2	10	11	6	10	2
Number of blind or amputated operators	6	6	27	31	25	9
Number of operators slightly injured	15	7	15	20	16	18

(From UNOCHA Mine Clearance Programme)

LIABILITIES AND INSURANCE

Insurance coverage for mine clearing operations in peace time is a specific legal domain not provided for by the industrial legislation or the Jurisprudence Three types of risks are to be considered casualties concerning the deminers, casualties concerning outsiders on a worksite, and finally casualties that could occur due to unexploded mines and other ordnance on a site that had been depolluted and classified as «safe» Legal international principles impose the project manager with the obligation, whichever his status might be, to take on the responsibility of the damage caused by his activity, with regards to both work-related accidents and to accidents to outsiders (civil liability). By no means could a sponsor (such as the European Commission) be implicated. As for accidents that could occur in so-called cleared zones, the beneficiary State will have to take on the legal repair of the accident as soon as they have acknowledged completion of the work in compliance with the national mine action program.

INSURANCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY COVER OF THE DEMINERS

The company or NGO executing a mine clearance contract should then be particularly cautious about properly insuring their operators and their activity. Mine clearance is not a common job, and industrial injuries, when they are not fatal, are usually very seriously disabling. In Kuwait, where 7 million mines had been laid during Gulf War, 84 experts from the mine clearance squads were killed or injured. At least 41 persons died in the course of mine clearing operations performed by the UN in Afghanistan between 1990 and 1995.

This underlines the necessity to draw all attention to the social security cover of a demining operator. Expatriates face even higher risks of death or injury during the course of their missions. It would be unfair to expose them to such risks without appropriate insurance or to send them back to the care of the social institutions of their home countries. Generally this problem is solved by specific contracts offered by the main western insurance companies. However the problem is not always taken care of for expatriates from countries outside of the western world, and whose situation is similar to that of mercenaries.

This is the case of professional demining operators from India or Pakistan. Furthermore, the policies offered to demining personnels remain very uncertain. It is quite common to see companies or NGO's «skip over» these specific risks and restrict their coverage to civil liability for damage caused to third parties. Some hiring contracts for local demining agents provide for compensations in case of casualties resulting in total or partial disabilities, either temporary or permanent. Evaluation of these guaranties and therefore, of the allowances, is left to the care of local laws and is sometimes «phoney».

MINIMAL DUE GUARANTIES:

The insurance should cover:

· all health- and surgery-related expenses, evacuations towards the hospital agreed upon in the safety plan of action, evacuations towards more distant structures and if necessary, repatriation towards the home country.

· death- and disability-capitals (loss of the eyes, of a limb...), determined according to the criteria in use in western countries for the expatriates and those of the beneficiary State for local operators.

· a disability pension for total temporary disabilities, equal to 75 % of the gross weekly wages, for a duration of up to 104 weeks.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE PREMIUMS

· for an expatriated demining operator actually working in the field in mine and ammunition detection and destruction, a specialized insurance offers a guarantee in the form of a 150,000 ECUs allowance, a medical-surgical-evacuation guaranty of 250,000 ECUs as well as a 280 ECUs weekly pension for 104 weeks, for an annual premium of 7,500 ECUs.

· for the same level of guaranty, the annual cost of the premium for an expert supervising mine clearing operations with no personal risk goes down to 4,500 ECUs. This example was provided by a British company who employs many mine clearance specialists of Indian origin. Obviously, the amount of the allowances and pensions may be higher or lower, with the annual premium varying in proportion. It also varies depending on the number of insured people, as it is relatively more costly to insure one single person, for example an expert-controller, than a full team.

· another European commercial company offers a 5,000 ECUs premium for a one-year guaranty for demining experts working in the field in a treacherous situation.

Insurance of mine clearance operations should be subjected to a specific codification which does not exist yet and which could derive from the positions taken by the most reliable intervenors. In this kind of activity, all different aspects of the fight should be taken into consideration, each presenting a specific level of danger. Before this normalization is achieved, it appears as necessary to make sure that the sponsors, as they have a moral responsibility, request by contract that the demining organizations provide the best possible insurance to the operators, no matter what their origin might be.

The amount of the premium in this insurance will be clearly indicated in the contract proposal. The ideal would be for the International Industrial Bureau to consider this issue and give recommendations with regards to working conditions, insurance and social security cover.