Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlargentina



Argentina <![CDATA[Argentina reports that it is mine-affected by virtue of its claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. The islands were mined, mostly by Argentina, during its armed conflict with the United Kingdom in 1982. Upon ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty, Argentina lodged a declaration reaffirming “its rights of sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime areas which form an integral part of the territory.”

There is concern that areas of mainland Argentina may also be affected by landmines. As part of a human rights project regarding some 2,000 people “disappeared” in the 1970s, forensic anthropologists began excavating a possible burial site at an army ammunition storage area in Tucuman province in June 2007. The anthropologists uncovered what they suspected were landmines and immediately ceased work until their safety could be guaranteed. Under a 20 June 2007 directive from the Ministry of Defense, the army was told to urgently undertake the necessary mine clearance operations as required by a judicial resolution in Tucuman Federal Court. The directive also ordered that mine clearance be executed with the appropriate technical and financial requirements using military personnel.” The burial site area is 93,263m2 in size.

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Argentina is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2010. In June 2008, at the Standing Committee meetings, Argentina declared it rejected the extension request submitted by the UK for clearance of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands on the grounds that the UK was illegally occupying them.

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