A private prosecution option is available under Australia Law but leave must first be sought prior to commencing any action. Based on evidence presented when seeking leave, the state or crown may decide to override the application and pursue the prosecution either singularly or jointly with the applicant.
To succeed, the applicant would need to produce evidence to convince a judge that the case had merit and a 'beyond reasonable doubt', or likely chance of success.

Posted by MoW on June 22, 2015 07:08

I note that one of the Demining rats from the Belgian NGO, APOPO has died in Cambodia.

Apparently it costs thousands if dollars to train one of these rats so this is a sad death for the trainers as well as for the rat.

In May 2014 two deminers working for the HALO Trust were killed by an anti-tank mine in Cambodia. The reports I read suggested that they had been a bit careless when clearing away some vegetation around the mine. Mine clearing in Cambodia is not as dangerous as it might seem provided the deminers are extremely careful - all the time. The worst aspects are the heat and the tedious nature of the work ensuring every square inch is cleared.

The deminers in Cambodia earn approximately US$10 per day and it costs approximately another US$10 per day per deminer to cover an assortment of other costs. US$10 per day might represent about two or three times the rate of pay of an unskilled Cambodian worker.

The rats also require human handlers so it will be interesting to see whether they can ever be cost-effective in Cambodia.

Ian Yarwood
Solicitor - Perth, Western Australia
Director, Imprint Solutions Ltd

Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 22, 2015 10:15

"The rats also require human handlers so it will be interesting to see whether they can ever be cost-effective in Cambodia."
Why does it have to be cost effective? Every human life spared makes it worthwhile in human costs.

Posted by stevenl on June 22, 2015 17:28

Dear stevenl

When I referred to cost-effectiveness I did so within the context of the relative costs of having a human being with a metal detector.

I invite you to go to the Apopo.org website and go to the page that discusses the adoption of HeroRats. (Yes, anyone can adopt a rat!)

Now click on the FAQ about how much it costs in total to train a HeroRat. Answer: 6000 Euros!

That is enough money to pay a Cambodian deminer for about three years. If one considers all the costs of transporting the deminer, maintaining equipment, feeding the deminer, keeping him or her safe from malaria and other diseases then the 6000 Euros will keep a deminer in the field for about 18 months.

APOPO might have more success with the rats in Africa than it has in Cambodia. We will wait and see. I should stress that APOPO has already done valuable work in mapping minefields in Cambodia.

It is often good to try new ideas and new technology in clearing of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs). One of the most innovative NGOs working in Cambodia is the US NGO called Golden West. Amongst other things they turn old bombs into hundreds of small charges that are used to safely destroy mines.

By the way, some of the deminers working in Cambodia now are former child slave soldiers who were forced to lay landmines for the Khmer Rouge. Their skills are now being used to voluntarily destroy the mines.

The best known is Akira of Cambodian Self Help Demining.

Anyone can look up more on the internet. (:

Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 22, 2015 19:31

stevenl

Ian sponsors on regular basis few Cambodian deminers, so he knows well the costs :)

Posted by Sue on June 23, 2015 00:54

Hi Sue

You have been doing your research again haven't you? (:

There is one Aussie businessman who has been paying $5,000 (AUD) per calendar month for years to the Vietnam Veterans Mine Clearing Team - Cambodia Inc to help cover the wages of the deminers at Cambodian Self Help Demining. He is the cousin of "Mac", one of the VVMCT team. He also gives to an organisation in Sri Lanka.

I have seen spreadsheets of costs for CSHD. One cost that is not included is the time put in by an American volunteer, Bill Morse and his wife Jill who really keep the organisation running 7 days per week. Their time is "free" but priceless.

The time of the VVMCT team has also been "free but priceless."

Regards, Ian

Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 23, 2015 08:17

Dear stevenl

"Every human life spared makes it worthwhile in human costs."

It was remiss of me to say in my earlier reply that I liked the sentiment of your comment.

I also hope that the Apopo HeroRats prove to be cost-effective in locating landmines in Cambodia.

I am merely a lawyer Steven but I have been able to ask experts in the field of landmine and UXO clearance of the relative strengths and weaknesses of different methods. Tony Langer mentioned to me once that the sniffer dogs in Cambodia cannot work for long periods of time because of the heat. He also said that if a dog is "having a bad day" then this can make life difficult for the handler. I gather that the rats also prefer to work in the cool of the early mornings.

I could imagine that a rat could work ok in a relatively flat field with little vegetation. On the other had if there is a lot of vegetation then a human deminer needs to remove the vegetation with clippers then check with a metal detector. If any metal is detected then the deminer needs to carefully dig around to uncover the source which is sometimes a landmine but more often a piece of shrapnel or an old bullet casing especially if the minefield is located on an old battlefield.

The rats will only locate the landmines and UXOs, which are the things that can still kill and injure, but a human deminer locates all metal objects in a given area.

I spent part of one of my vacations last year visiting a hot minefield in Cambodia covered in reasonably thick vegetation. It was being cleared by human deminers of CSHD and I would imagine that they would have been more effective in that environment than HeroRats or sniffer dogs

Regards, Ian

Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 23, 2015 13:50