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]