Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Republic of Belarus acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 September 2003, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2004.

Belarus has cited various articles of its criminal code as national implementation measures, as well as decrees specific to antipersonnel mines.[1]

Belarus submitted its eleventh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report on 24 March 2014.

Since joining the Mine Ban Treaty a decade ago, Belarus has participated in every Review Conference, Meeting of States Parties, and intersessional meeting. It attended the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2013, the treaty’s intersessional Standing Committee meetings in April 2014, and the Third Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014. At each meeting, Belarus provided an update on its joint stockpile destruction project with the European Union (EU) and Spanish company Explosivos Alaveses SA (EXPAL).

Belarus is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It submitted an annual report as required by Article 13 on 24 March 2014. Belarus is also a party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, and it submitted a national report pursuant to Article 10 on 24 March 2014.

Use, production, and transfer

Belarus has said it did not produce or export antipersonnel mines after independence in 1992 and never used antipersonnel mines for protection of its borders or for other purposes.[2]

Stockpiling and destruction

Belarus’s original stockpile of antipersonnel mines, inherited from the former Soviet Union, totaled approximately 4.5 million. It completed the destruction of non-PFM types at the end of 2006.[3]

Belarus failed to meet its deadline of 1 March 2008 to destroy all stockpiles of antipersonnel mines it owns, possesses, or has under its jurisdiction or control.[4] A 2010–2011 stockpile inventory saw the Ministry of Defence revise down the number stockpiled to 3,356,636 PFM-1 mines remaining to be destroyed.[5] This change has been reflected in subsequent Article 7 reports.[6]

Belarus has repeatedly stated that it requires international assistance in order to destroy its remaining antipersonnel mines.[7] Attempts to provide assistance through projects financed through the European Commission (EC) collapsed in 2006 and 2008 for various reasons.[8]

A new program was “re-launched” by the EU on 30 June 2010, with a period of performance stipulated at 28 months.[9] In December 2010, the EU announced that the contract was awarded to the company EXPAL for a total value of €3,900,000 (US$5,171,790).[10]

The joint destruction project by Belarus and EXPAL requires:

1.      Installation and commissioning of a custom-built destruction facility at a military base near Rechitsa in southeast Belarus on a site approved by the EU in 2009;

2.      The provision of monitoring equipment to enable the project team to supervise and report on the destruction process in real time;

3.      The complete destruction of the stockpiled PFM-1 and PFM-1S series munitions (by cold detonation technology in an armored kiln).

In December 2011, Belarus told States Parties that “all necessary administrative procedures have been finalized by EXPAL and Belarusian authorities,” that construction of the destruction facility was underway, and that destruction was about to begin. Belarus announced an expected completion date of May 2013.[11] However, in May 2012, Belarus reported that the construction of the destruction facility was taking longer than planned and described steps it had taken to facilitate the import of necessary materials.[12] Subsequent information provided informally to the Monitor indicated that destruction would begin by the end of 2012 and that the contractor would need to request a one-year extension (at least) to the initially set deadline of May 2013.[13]

In December 2012, Belarus informed States Parties that there had been delays in the construction of the facility, including a change in subcontractors in mid-2012, but it said the destruction should begin in the first half of 2013. It emphasized that the PFM-1 are unique and industrial technology to destroy them is not fully developed, so an additional safety system was needed in case the liquid used to destroy the mines in the facilities unexpectedly leaks.[14]

In May 2013, Belarus informed States Parties that EXPAL was in the process of completing the construction of the destruction facility, which it said was “90 percent operational.” Work remaining to be done included the assembly of the chamber where the mines would be destroyed and the installation of an alarm system. Belarus stated, however, that it could not provide an exact deadline for when the mines would be destroyed.[15]

At the April 2014 intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Belarus reported that EXPAL had completed the construction of the destruction facility and that personnel were testing and adjusting equipment. Belarus announced that EXPAL destroyed the first mines at the facility on 26 March 2014, when it conducted two tests that destroyed two KSF-1 canisters, each containing 144 PFM-1 mines.[16]

In June 2014, Belarus informed States Parties that the destruction facility opened in May 2014 and was expected to reach its planned operational capacity of the destruction of 8,500 mines a day by the end of June.[17] Belarus stressed its full support for the convention’s goals and pledged to spare no effort to complete its obligations “in the near future” but did not provide a timeline for the expected completion of the stockpile destruction.[18]

Mines retained for research and training

In Article 7 reports submitted in 2014 and 2013, Belarus reported the retention of 6,022 antipersonnel mines for research and training purposes.[19] This is eight fewer mines than the 6,030 mines that Belarus retained without change from 2004 until 2012.[20] The eight mines were destroyed in February 2012 during training in mine detection and mine destruction activities.[21] Belarus has said that it retains antipersonnel mines for training of mine detection dogs, testing of protective equipment and mine detectors, and training of personnel.[22]

Policy

The Republic of Belarus has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Belarus last commented on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in November 2010, when a government representative described it as “too strict” and not applicable for Belarus as it may threaten its security.[1] Belarus has said that it “shares the humanitarian concerns” caused by the use of cluster munitions but it has also objected to the way in which the convention was negotiated.[2] It has expressed a preference that cluster munitions should be addressed through the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), to which it is party. However, it is not known if this position will be reevaluated in the aftermath of the 2011 failure of the CCW to agree on the draft protocol on cluster munitions which has left the Convention on Cluster Munitions as the sole international instrument on the weapons.

Belarus did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and has not attended any meetings of the convention in the period since 2008, not even as an observer.[3]

Belarus is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In 2010, Belarus said, “Our country is not a producer of cluster munitions.”[4] It is not known to have used or exported cluster munitions.

Belarus inherited a stockpile of cluster munitions from the Soviet Union. In 2010, Belarus said that it doesn’t have a “major” stockpile of cluster munitions, but it has not provided any information on the types or quantities.[5]

According to Jane’s Information Group, RBK-500 cluster bombs are in service with the country’s air force.[6] Belarus also possesses Grad 122mm, Uragan 220mm, and Smerch 300mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[7]

According to a CMC member in Belarus, cluster munitions with expired shelf-life are regularly destroyed by the Ministry of Defense.[8]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Belarus has a residual mine problem from World War II, although in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 reports, Belarus has declared no known or suspected areas containing antipersonnel mines under its jurisdiction or control.[1] In 2009, for example, only three out of more than 45,000 items of explosive ordnance cleared were antipersonnel mines.

Cluster munition remnants

It is not known if there are any cluster munition remnants in Belarus.[2]

Other explosive remnants of war

Belarus is primarily contaminated by large quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance from World War II, World War I, and even from the Napoleonic Wars. According to the Ministry of Defense, more than 350km² are affected by ERW.[3] Heavy contamination has been reported in Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev, and Vitebsk regions.[4] Most of the contaminated areas are said to be agricultural land or forest. None of the areas containing ERW are marked or fenced and little information is available to indicate the potential density of contamination.[5]

There is also a residual problem from abandoned explosive ordnance. For example, in December 2009, an arsenal of artillery shells, mortar shells, and more than 100 different types of grenade left from World War II was found in a forest near Pekalichi village in Jlobin region by clearance personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[6]

Contamination also includes explosive ordnance from military testing, as opposed to armed conflict.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Belarus has neither a national mine action authority nor a national mine action center. Demining and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) is conducted by both Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs’ personnel. The Ministry of Defense conducts planned clearance operations while the Ministry of Internal Affairs responds to emergency requests for EOD in cities, towns, and villages, and is also responsible for the detection and clearance of unexploded air-dropped bombs.

The Ministry of Defense engineers have 30 five-person clearance teams across 22 military districts with a total of 150 personnel. Their equipment, which includes mechanical demining assets, was most recently upgraded in 2008.[7] The Ministry of Internal Affairs has 10 EOD units with a total of 100 personnel and 20 mine detection dogs (MDDs): two MDD units with 10 dogs in each.[8]

In 2009, in accordance with Article 7 of Protocol V to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), Belarus officially applied for international assistance for clearance of ERW on its territory.[9]

Land Release

Belarus does not report on the size of area cleared, nor does it distinguish antivehicle mines from ERW destroyed during clearance operations.[10]

Since 1944, more than 27 million ERW are reported to have been cleared in Belarus.[11]

Quality management

There is no external quality assurance or quality control capacity in Belarus.[12]

Casualties

Casualty Overview

No new casualties from mines or new explosive remnants of war (ERW) were identified in the Republic of Belarus in 2013. However, casualties continued in 2014 with two people injured in an incident involving tampering with an unexploded World War II grenade.[1]

In 2012, two ERW casualties were identified. In April of that year, a father and son were killed in a tampering incident caused by an unexploded grenade.[2] No landmine casualties have been reported in Belarus since 2004.

There were at least 6,191 mine/ERW casualties (2,675 killed; 3,516 injured) in Belarus from 1945 to the end of 2013.[3]

Victim Assistance

Most mine/ERW survivors in Belarus were injured by ERW left over from World War II or during military service in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The total number of mine/ERW survivors in Belarus is unknown, and it has not been reported how many of the 3,513 registered survivors are still alive.

There is no specific victim assistance coordination or planning in Belarus. The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is the main government agency responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.[4] The Ministry of Health and several other agencies also had a “State Programme on Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons” for the period from 2011 to 2015.[5]

As of 1 September 2014, Belarus had not signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Support for Mine Action

Belarus failed to meet its deadline of 1 March 2008 to destroy its stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. After a tender process on 21 December 2010, the European Commission (EC) awarded the Spanish company, Explosivos Alaveses (EXPAL), a 28-month contract valued at €3,900,000 (US$5,171,790).[1] Licensing and problems in importing equipment from Germany and Spain have delayed the start of the project. As of 21 May 2012, EXPAL had not destroyed any stockpiles.[2]