AG/RES. 2002 (XXXIV-O/04)

SUPPORT FOR ACTION AGAINST ANTIPERSONNEL MINES IN ECUADOR AND PERU 

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June 8, 2004) 

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 

HAVING SEEN: 

            The Annual Report of the Permanent Council (AG/doc.4265/04 add. 5 corr. 1) and, in particular, the sections on matters assigned to the Committee on Hemispheric Security; and 

            The Report of the General Secretariat on the implementation of resolutions AG/RES. 1936 (XXXIII-O/03), “The Americas as an Antipersonnel-Land-Mine-Free Zone,” AG/RES. 1934 (XXXIII-O/03), “Support for the Program of Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines in Central America,” and AG/RES. 1935 (XXXIII-O/03), “Support for Action against Mines in Ecuador and Peru” (CP/doc.3864/04); 

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), AG/RES. 1792 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1875 (XXXII-O/02) , and AG/RES. 1935 (XXXIII-O/03); 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 border areas and in the vicinity of power grids constitutes a serious threat to civilian populations and stands in the way of economic development in rural and urban areas; and that their elimination constitutes an obligation and prerequisite for the development and integration of peoples, especially in border areas, and helps to consolidate a common strategy for combating poverty; 

RECOGNIZING: 

            The firm resolve of Ecuador and Peru to honor the commitments undertaken pursuant to the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on their Destruction; 

            The complete elimination of antipersonnel mine stockpiles in Ecuador and Peru through assistance under the “Managua Challenge” Fund; 

            The substantial progress made by Ecuador and Peru with respect to mine-clearing, destruction of stockpiles, and measures to enhance transparency, and the importance of these activities as confidence- and security-building measures; 

            The demining of the Zarumilla Canal located on the border between Ecuador and Peru, as evinced by the signature of the minutes of the proceedings in Tumbes, Peru, in June 2002; 

            The carrying out, in March 2004, of humanitarian mine-clearing tasks on the border between the Department of Tumbes in Peru and the El Oro Province in Ecuador, marking yet another step in the process of implementing and following through on the Brasilia Agreements of October 26, 1998; 

            The valuable cooperation being provided by OAS member states and permanent observers, and other countries, to national efforts in Ecuador and Peru to forge ahead with their mine-clearing programs; 

            The important work of coordination, promotion, and fund-raising carried out by the General Secretariat through the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy’s Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA), which is devoted to humanitarian mine-clearing, the physical and psychological rehabilitation of the victims and their families, prevention education, and the social and economic reclamation of demined areas; and 

            The efficient technical advice and support of the Inter-American Defense Board for the mine-clearing activities in Ecuador and Peru supported by the AICMA Program; 

            CONSIDERING the need to continue to support the efforts of the Governments of Ecuador and Peru to expand the scope of international cooperation to mine-clearing in other areas of the two countries as may be required; and 

            TAKING NOTE of the Declaration of Lima:  “Support for the Americas as an Antipersonnel-Land-Mine-Free Zone,” agreed upon in Lima, Peru on August 15, 2003, during the Americas Regional Mine Action Seminar “En Camino hacia un hemisferio libre de minas antipersonal” [Toward an antipersonnel-land-mine-free Hemisphere], 

RESOLVES: 

            1.         To recognize the work accomplished by the Governments of Ecuador and Peru in destroying their stockpiles and in mine-clearing on the common borders and in other areas of their respective territories. 

            2.         To recognize also the major progress made by the Governments of Ecuador and Peru in promoting education on the risks posed by antipersonnel mines, thereby considerably reducing the number of accidents caused by these devices. 

            3.         To encourage the Governments of Ecuador and Peru to continue their intensive cooperation in the area of mine action as an innovative form of confidence- and security-building.

             4.         To note with satisfaction the carrying out, in March 2004, of humanitarian mine-clearing tasks on the border between the Department of Tumbes in Peru and the El Oro Province in Ecuador. 

            5.         To urge member states, the permanent observers, and the international community in general to continue providing technical and financial assistance to the Governments of Ecuador and Peru for their mine-clearing programs and any integral action against antipersonnel mines that they carry out along their common border and inside their respective territories. 

            6.         To instruct the General Secretariat to continue to cooperate fully, through the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy’s Program for Integral Action against Antipersonnel Mines (AICMA), with programs to support integral action against antipersonnel mines in Ecuador and Peru, including work on humanitarian mine-clearing programs, the physical and psychological rehabilitation of the victims and their families, prevention education, and the social and economic reclamation of demined areas. 

            7.         To instruct the General Secretariat to continue to work, through the UPD, on identifying and raising voluntary contributions from member states, permanent observers, and other states, as well as other organizations, to the Specific Fund intended to continue to finance mine-clearing and integral action programs against antipersonnel mines carried out by Ecuador and Peru in their respective territories. 

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