Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlportugal



Portugal <![CDATA[Portugal signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 19 February 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 August 1999. National legislation had been under consideration since then, but in February 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided that new legislation is not needed because “the Portuguese penal code already typifies and punishes the activities forbidden by the Convention as dangerous crimes.”

Portugal is not mine-affected, but there are mine survivors in Portugal from the colonial wars and more recently from Angola and Mozambique. Studies indicate that mine accidents accounted for over half of all casualties in the Portuguese Army during the colonial wars.

In 1996, four Portuguese officers were injured by landmines in Bosnia. On 1 July 2000, three Portuguese UN soldiers were injured by shrapnel at a popular beach ten kilometers from Dili when they disturbed an unidentified unexploded device.

The latest Article 7 Report states that in 2001 Portuguese authorities provided assistance to a group of 12 children from Angola at the Military Hospital of Coimbra. In February 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that, to date, twenty boys have been treated, and twelve girls are awaited. However, in March 2002, the doctor responsible for the physiotherapeutic department stated, “There are no children in hospital, most of them returned. Of the total of 32 children that were treated in the hospital, only four of them are still in Coimbra, living in the headquarters of Madre Teresa Association and only one awaits surgery on his stump.” Besides the physiotherapeutic care, the children also receive psychological support. The criteria for selection are determined by the military hospital.

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