AG/RES. 1875 (XXXII-O/02)

SUPPORT FOR ACTION AGAINST MINES IN PERU AND ECUADOR

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June 4, 2002) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

            HAVING SEEN the report of the Secretary General on the implementation of the resolutions on mine-clearing (CP/doc.3573/01); 

RECALLING: 

            Its resolutions AG/RES. 1411 (XXVI-O/96), AG/RES. 1496 (XXVII-O/97), AG/RES. 1569 (XXVIII-O/98), AG/RES. 1745 (XXX-O/00), and AG/RES. 1792 (XXXI-O/01); and 

            Its resolution AG/RES. 1644 (XXIX-O/99), operative paragraph 12, urging member states and permanent observers to lend assistance to the national mine-clearing programs being carried out by Ecuador and Peru in their territories;

AWARE that the presence of land mines in the vicinity of borders and power-grids constitutes a serious threat to civilian populations and stands in the way of economic development in rural and urban areas; 

RECOGNIZING: 

            The valuable cooperation being provided by both member states, such as Canada and the United States, and permanent observers, such as Austria, Spain, and Japan, to national efforts in Peru and Ecuador to carry forward their mine-clearing programs; 

            The efficient technical assistance activities being conducted by the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy and the Inter-American Defense Board in the area of mine-clearing programs in Peru and Ecuador; and 

The complete elimination of antipersonnel mine arsenals in Peru and Ecuador through assistance under the “Managua Challenge” Fund, pursuant to the mandates of the Ottawa Convention; 

            BEARING IN MIND that as a result of cooperation received, the governments of Peru and Ecuador have reported significant progress in mine-clearing, the destruction of arsenals, and transparency measures, which have been acknowledged by governments and international organizations committed to the goal of the Organization of American States of making the Western Hemisphere an antipersonnel-land mine-free zone; and 

            CONSIDERING the need to continue to support the efforts of the governments of Peru and Ecuador to expand the scope of international cooperation to mine-clearing in other areas of the two countries as they may require, 

RESOLVES: 

            1.         To acknowledge the significant efforts of the governments of Peru and Ecuador aimed at the total destruction of their mine stockpiles, as well as the progress they have made in clearing antipersonnel mines. 

            2.         To request member states, permanent observers, and the international community at large to continue to work with the governments of Peru and Ecuador in implementing the mine-clearing and integral action programs against antipersonnel mines conducted in their respective territories. 

            3.         To request member states, permanent observers, as well as the international community, to lend their support to preventive education programs for the civilian population on the danger of these mines, the physical and psychological rehabilitation of victims and their reinsertion into the work force, and the socioeconomic reclamation of demined areas. 

            4.         To urge the General Secretariat to continue to offer its full cooperation to the assistance programs for integral action against antipersonnel mines in Peru and Ecuador, as well as the demining centers in the two countries. 

            5.         To urge the General Secretariat to continue to lend, within the resources allocated in the program-budget, the necessary support required by the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD) in order to continue the mine-clearing programs and those aimed at preventive education of the population, the rehabilitation of victims and their reinsertion into the work force, and the reclamation of affected areas.

            6.         To instruct the General Secretariat to continue to work, through the UPD, on identifying and raising funds that make it possible to proceed with demining and integral action programs against antipersonnel mines being carried out by Peru and Ecuador in their respective territories. 

            7.         To instruct the Permanent Council to continue to consider this topic with a view to pursuing its work towards the objective of making the Western Hemisphere an antipersonnel-land-mine-free zone. 

            8.         To instruct the General Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-third regular session on the implementation of this resolution.