Key developments since May 2003: In September 2004, the OSCE
expressed concern about new mine-laying by both Georgian and South Ossetian
forces. Earlier in 2004, insurgents in Ajaria province reportedly laid
landmines that were subsequently cleared by Georgia. In September 2003, Georgia
and Abkhazia agreed to jointly demine the Kodori Gorge. The Survey Action
Center conducted an Advance Survey Mission to Georgia in July 2004 to assess the
need for a Landmine Impact Survey. The ICBL Georgian Committee held mine risk
education sessions for 119 teachers in the Kakheti region. In 2003, there were
at least 40 mine/UXO casualties in Georgia, a significant decrease from the 96
recorded in 2002.
Key developments since 1999: It appears that Georgian Armed Forces
have used antipersonnel mines each year from 2001-2004, despite repeatedly
government denials. In addition, private armed groups from Georgia have
infiltrated into Abkhazia and laid antipersonnel mines. In 2002 NATO agreed to
provide assistance for clearance of UXO around military sites, but in mid-2004,
the project had not yet started. The US transferred demining equipment to
Georgia in 2001 and 2002 and trained Georgian demining instructors. Georgia has
frequently expressed its support for the goals of the Mine Ban Treaty, and has
voted in favor of every annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for
universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. The ICBL Georgian Committee recorded
266 landmine/UXO/IED casualties between 2001 and April 2004.
Mine Ban Policy
Georgia has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, but it has expressed support
for the global ban on antipersonnel mines on several occasions. In a July 2003
letter to Landmine Monitor, the First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, David Aptsiauri, said Georgia “fully shares the concern of the
international community regarding the challenge of anti-personnel
landmines” and it “does its utmost to...facilitate the process of
elimination and eradication of the above-mentioned
threat.”[1]
Georgia has said that the principal reasons for not joining the Mine Ban
Treaty are its lack of jurisdiction over mined areas in Abkhazia and Samachablo,
and the difficulties of clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by
the forces of the former Soviet Union and
Russia.[2] Georgia has also
said that “without financial and technological assistance, Georgia will
not be able to fulfill its obligations” under the Mine Ban
Treaty.[3]
Georgia participated in the Ottawa Process in 1997 as an observer, including
the negotiations in Oslo and the signing ceremony in
Ottawa.[4] Georgia has voted in
favor of every annual UN General Assembly resolution supporting a ban on
antipersonnel mines since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 58/53 in December
2003, calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Georgia has attended
three of the five annual Meetings of States Parties (1999, 2000, and 2002) and
one session of the intersessional Standing Committees, in February 2003.
The ICBL Georgian Committee (ICBL-GC) organized a press conference on 2 April
2004 to discuss the mine problem in Georgia and local NGOs hosted a regional
conference in Tblisi in December 1999. ICBL Ambassador and Nobel Laureate Jody
Williams has visited Georgia twice to urge accession to the treaty, in February
and December 1999.
Georgia is party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its
original Protocol II, but it has not ratified Amended Protocol II. Regarding
its participation in Amended Protocol II, “the Defense Ministry of Georgia
on this stage does not consider expedient to join the Amended Protocol II of
1980 CCW because of the existence of territories uncontrollable by
Georgia.”[5] In November
2003, Georgia attended the Fifth Annual Conference of State Parties to Amended
Protocol II as an observer.
Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling
Georgian officials have maintained that Georgia has never produced, exported,
or imported antipersonnel landmines since
independence.[6] Georgia
inherited what is believed to be a small stockpile of antipersonnel mines from
the former Soviet Union, but the exact size and composition of that stock
remains unknown.[7]
In 2002, Russia began to destroy its obsolete ammunition and landmine
stockpiles held at three military bases in
Georgia.[8] On 15 March 2002,
Russia reportedly destroyed 500 mines stored at its former base at Sagarejo.
The United States reportedly said in 2004 that it is prepared to fund
Russia’s withdrawal from two of the military bases in
Georgia.[9]
Use
Georgia has had an official moratorium on the use of antipersonnel mines in
place since September 1996.[10]
However, it appears that Georgian armed forces have used antipersonnel mines
every year since 2001. Georgia has denied any use.
Most recently, in September 2004, it was reported that representatives of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed concern
“about the fact that Georgia and South Ossetia are mining the conflict
area.” A news account said that, according to the OSCE’s
information, the conflicting parties are reinforcing their defense facilities,
including mining the areas. Roy Reeve, the head of the OSCE mission to Georgia,
said the mine-laying is absolutely unacceptable and will be discussed with the
defense ministries of Georgia and South
Ossetia.[11]
On 19 August 2004, Russian peacekeeping forces moving in to occupy an area
vacated by Georgian troops in the contested Tskhinvali region of South Ossetia
alleged that Georgian forces had mined the territory. Russian General
Svyatoslav Nabzdorov was quoted by media stating that, “[Georgian] troops
left behind some surprises for the peacekeepers who arrived here.... We removed
two of these surprises – tripwire
mines.”[12] The General
later said that Georgian forces had placed at least 215 tripwired antipersonnel
mines and 20 other mines.[13] A
humanitarian worker in the area reported that a joint Ossetian-Georgian
peacekeeping group discovered the Ossetian village of Sarabuk to have been mined
prior to the arrival of Georgian. The worker said that two peacekeepers had
died in mine explosions, but both deaths occurred in Ossetian-held territory,
and not in the formerly Georgian-held Tskhinvali area. As numerous illegal
armed groups operate in the area, it is difficult to assess who is responsible
for laying the mines.
In February 2002, a representative of the Georgian Ministry of Defense
admitted that in 2001, Georgian Armed Forces laid antipersonnel mines in several
passes in the Kodori Gorge near
Abkhazia.[14] There were
reports, and a statement from CIS peacekeepers, in July 2002 that Georgian
forces were again laying mines in Kodori gorge. A representative of the
President of Georgia in Kodori, Emzar Kvitciani, was quoted in March 2003 as
saying Georgian troops regularly mine the
area.[15] Officials from the
Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs denied that Georgia had placed new
mines in the Kodori area.[16]
In a July 2003 letter to Landmine Monitor, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs said, “I would like to assure you that since 1996 (when President
of Georgia H.E. Eduard Shevardnadze declared unilateral moratorium on use,
import and export of antipersonnel mines) onward Georgian corresponding agencies
have been strictly abstaining from usage of antipersonnel
landmines.”[17]
In April 2004, the renegade leader of the Georgian province of Ajaria, Aslan
Abashidze, reportedly ordered the planting of mines at the Batumi oil terminal.
According to media, Georgian forces cleared the mines in May
2004.[18] They found 200
antivehicle mines on the edge of the Cholokhi
River.[19] After Abashidze fled
in May 2004, Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili ordered the Ajaria
insurgents to surrender their stockpiles of weapons and officials received large
quantities of arms and munitions, including
landmines.[20] The Ministry of
Internal Affairs of Georgia published a list of weapons seized in Adjaria that
included 52 antivehicle mines, but no antipersonnel
mines.[21] However, during a
field visitto Adjara, the ICBL GC saw both
antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in the Helvachauri security office, seized
from the population of Helvachauri district in
Adjara.[22]
Since its first edition in 1999, Landmine Monitor has reported numerous
instances of private armed groups from Georgia infiltrating into Abkhazia and
laying antipersonnel mines.
In late 1999, the resumption of fighting in Chechnya resulted in mine-laying
in Georgia, which borders Chechnya. On 9 August 1999, two Russian Su-25
aircraft entered Georgian airspace from Dagestan, where Russia was involved in
fighting against Dagestani rebels, and bombed in and around the village of Zemo
Omalo. The Georgian military identified the weapons used as KSS-1S cluster
bombs, containing PFM-1S antipersonnel
mines.[23] In May 2001, a
Georgian official stated that there have been cases of Russian mining of the
Chechen stretch of the Russian-Georgian border near the villages of Shatili and
Omalo.[24] Russian soldiers
also laid mines around their military bases in Georgia.
Both Georgian and Abkhazian forces laid tens of thousands of mines during the
intense fighting in 1992-93. Allegations of ongoing use by both sides have
continued since that time. (See Landmine Monitor report on Abkhazia).
Landmine Problem, Survey and Assessment
The majority of landmines are located near the Inguri River separating
Georgia and Abkhazia. (See entry on Abkhazia in this Landmine Monitor Report
2004.) Outside of the Abkhazia, mines laid around Russian military bases pose
the main danger to civilians in Georgia. In July 2004, the Survey Action Center
(SAC) conducted an Advance Survey Mission to Georgia to assess the need for a
national Landmine Impact Survey. It concluded that the landmine problem was
largely confined to Abkhazia and a limited number of military bases and
strategic locales, but that mines also exist in the border areas with Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Chechnya, Turkey and
Ingushetia.[25] In late 2003,
the US State Department and Defense Department undertook an assessment mission
to Georgia that concluded the impact of landmines in Georgia was
minimal.[26] Also in 2003, a
project coordinator with the Slovenian-based International Trust Fund, Iztok
Hocevar, conducted an assessment of the mine situation in
Georgia.[27] In mid-2002, HALO
Trust conducted a Level One Survey of affected areas surrounding three Russian
military bases in Georgia. It determined while the areas were mined, the
presence of fencing, barbed wire, and military guards meant the areas did not
constitute an immediate humanitarian
threat.[28]
Mine Clearance and Coordination
Responsibility for mine clearance in the zone of military actions and at
military bases is entrusted to the Ministry of Defense, whereas the Ministry of
Internal Affairs is responsible for populated areas, roads, and railroads, and
the Department of Border Guards is responsible for border areas. A Georgian
Mine Action Center, in the form of a local NGO without a coordination mandate,
was established in early 2004, with plans to conduct humanitarian demining
operations in Georgia.
The US transferred demining equipment to Georgia in 2001 and 2002 and trained
20 Georgians as demining instructors, who have in turn trained 34 others, giving
Georgia a force of 54 trained
deminers.[29] In
September-November 2000, under the “Beecroft Initiative,” US
military conducted simultaneous humanitarian demining training of Georgian,
Armenian, and Azerbaijani soldiers at the Gori military base near Tbilisi.
In September 2003, Georgia and Abkhazia agreed to jointly demine the Kodori
Gorge.[30] According to a press
account, experts believe that there are hundreds of antipersonnel mines in the
gorge, and that a lack of minefield maps combined with broken terrain will make
it impossible to use mechanical clearance equipment. Operations were postponed
initially due to weather
conditions.[31] In June 2004,
the Georgian presidential envoy to the Kodori Gorge area stated that each side
was ready to begin the clearance work, and that the UN Mission in Georgia would
provide assistance.[32] As of
September 2004, the demining operation had still not commenced, due to security
risks in the area.[33]
On 1 October 2002, Georgia’s then-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Irakli
Menagarishvili, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NATO Maintenance
and Supply Agency (NAMSA) that opens the way for the implementation of a
Partnership for Peace Trust Fund Project to demilitarize and dispose of over 300
missiles at former military bases, as well as to clear UXO at military
sites.[34] According to NATO,
Luxembourg will be the lead donor for the project, contributing
€1,250,000, while Georgian authorities will contribute in kind
support.[35] On 23 October
2003, Luxembourg signed the financial management agreement for the Trust Fund
Project. The project – the first of its kind in Georgia – should
help prevent environmental contamination and allow future civilian use of the
land.[36]
Under the agreement, NATO will provide material assistance and training to
clean up a former military site near
Tbilisi.[37] A local demining
organization formed by former Georgian military engineers, “Jani,”
will clear the 10,000-hectare site, which will then be handed over to the local
population for agricultural
use.[38] As of August 2004, the
clearance project had not yet started because, according to the SAC Advance
Survey Mission, Russia has not officially handed the land to be cleared over to
Georgia.[39]
In February 2004, the media reported that Russia would deploy engineering
troops to demine around a former engineering ammunition depot in Sagarejo, in
western Georgia. A Russian Army officer reportedly stated that most ammunition
at the site would be removed or destroyed, so that Georgia could assume control
of the facility.[40] The
ICBL-GC subsequently surveyed the Sagarejo depot and found that while the
Russian engineers had deployed a clearance machine to demine the roads inside
the military base, it did not clear other areas, including some concealed by
overgrown vegetation. ICBL-GC found several PFM-1 and PMN-2 type mines,
including one discovered while in the presence of a Survey Action Center
representative. HALO Trust marked the Sagarejo depot in July 2004, but one week
later none of the preventive signs could be found.
On 29 January 2001, then-President Eduard Shevardnadze and his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer signed an agreement on the elimination of
landmines on the border of the two
states.[41]
Mine Action Funding
The United States provided $4.3 million in demining assistance to Georgia
between 1993 and 2003, the bulk of which went to support the HALO Trust mine
clearance operations in Abkhazia, while the remainder was used to purchase mine
detectors, body armor, and
vehicles.[42] In its fiscal year
2003, the US provided $1.05 million in demining assistance. In late 2003, the
US expressed concerns that the Georgian government was not “sufficiently
committed to alleviating this [landmine] problem,” and that there was a
high risk that funding designated for demining would be
misappropriated.[43]
Georgia’s change in government in November 2003 apparently means US
support will continue. A US Embassy official indicated that in 2004 the US
planned to provide $1.5 million in mine action assistance for
Georgia.[44]
According to the United Nations Mine Action Investments database, in 2003,
the Netherlands provided $300,000 to mine action in Georgia, and Canada donated
$68,960.[45]
Mine Risk Education
Organizations involved in mine risk education (MRE) in Georgia, outside of
Abkhazia, have included the ICBL Georgian Committee, the HALO Trust, the
Ministry of Education, and UNICEF. In 2003, 2,610 people attended MRE sessions
conducted by these organizations.Between January and July 2004, 18,685
people attended MRE sessions. Between 1999 and 2002, about 2,000 people
attended MRE sessions.[46]
The ICBL-GC has carried out mine risk education activities in Georgia since
1998. In 2003, it conducted several MRE activities in the Kakheti region, in
the administrative departments of Akhmeta, Dedoplistskaro, Lagodekhi, Sagaredjo,
and Telavi. The ICBL-GC distributed a brochure for military schoolteachers that
included photographs and technical information about mines. In February 2004, it
held an MRE training for 119 military schoolteachers and 20 students, and
provided the teachers with MRE materials such as brochures, workbooks,
calendars, stickers, and posters. The ICBL-GC created a database of landmine
victims in the Kakheti region, conducted several field visits and prepared two
video presentations on the landmine/UXOs problem. It met with local government,
police, and hospital workers to discuss the mine situation in the Kakheti
region. It made a film while visiting two military bases that was later
released at a press conference in Tbilisi. In 2003, the ICBL-GC also posted
billboards in Tbilisi with the slogan “Mine Danger for Everyone”
that display photographs and statistics on landmine
victims.[47]
In July 2003, HALO Trust opened an office in Zugdidi to enable it to liaise
with local authorities and increase the provision of mine risk education to
internally displaced persons (IDPs) and people traveling between the Zugdidi
region and Abkhazia. HALO identified a need to conduct MRE for people crossing
the border illegally, often accompanied by their
children.[48] As of July 2004,
HALO had provided MRE to 23,125 people from the Zugdidi region, including 18,456
people between January and July 2004. It did not conduct any mine clearance in
the Zugdidi region.[49]
In December 2003, UNICEF helped produce Georgian-language mine risk education
pamphlets that were to be distributed to the IDP families in
Zugdidi.[50] UNICEF has
provided support to the ICBL-GC for its MRE
activities.[51] A needs
assessment conducted in July 2003 called on UNICEF to develop and implement MRE
activities for Chechen refugees in the Pankisi
valley.[52] However, as of
September 2004, UNICEF had not developed any activities for Chechen refugees in
Georgia.[53]
Landmine Casualties
There are no official statistics on the number of people killed or injured by
landmines and UXO in
Georgia.[54] In 2003, the
ICBL-GC collected data on 40 new casualties in Georgia caused by landmines, UXO,
or improvised explosive devices (IED); eight people were killed and 42 injured,
including eight children, three women, and nine military personnel. This
represents a significant reduction from the 97 casualties (31 killed and 66
injured) recorded in 2002, and the 111 casualties (37 killed and 74 injured)
recorded in 2001. In April 2003, three Georgian soldiers were injured in a
landmine explosion during a US-sponsored training
exercise.[55]
The ICBL-GC database currently provides the only source of information on
mine casualties in Georgia, outside of the territory of Abkhazia. However, an
advance survey mission to Georgia in July 2004 questioned the accuracy of the
data due to the lack of comprehensive details on each casualty recorded. The
ICBL-GC is in the process of developing a more detailed mine casualty database
in part to address this
issue.[56]
Casualties continue to be reported in 2004. Between January and September,
the ICBL-GC recorded 42 new mine/UXO/IED casualties. Seven casualties were
reported near the Sagarejo military base.
The total number of landmine casualties in Georgia is not known. The total
300 casualties recorded by the ICBL-GC since 2001 includes 54 children, 21
women, and 43 Armed Forces personnel, Security forces, deminers or Russian
peacekeepers..
In Iraq, on 25 August 2003, four deminers with the Georgian Armed Forces were
injured during mine clearance operations in
Tikrit.[57]
Survivor Assistance
Hospitals throughout Georgia, including in Abkhazia, routinely run short of
basic medical supplies due to a lack of funding, and many people cannot afford
medical care. Specialized rehabilitation and psychological support is limited,
or unavailable, for many mine
survivors.[58]
The ICRC regularly provides equipment, supplies, and medicines to Zugdidi
Republican Hospital, Sukhum Republican Hospital, Agudzera and Tkvarcheli
hospitals, two facilities in Darcheli and Jvari, and the Gali and Ochamchira
hospitals receive first aid supplies. Since 2001, ICRC-supported hospitals
treated 37 mine casualties: seven in 2003; 16 in 2002; and 14 in 2001. In 2003,
four surgeons from Georgia and Abkhazia attended an ICRC seminar on war surgery
in Moscow; five surgeons attended ICRC seminars on war surgery in both 2001 and
2002.[59]
The ICRC, in collaboration with local authorities, has supported two
prosthetic/orthotic centers in Tbilisi and Gagra since 1995. The centers are
the only major facilities available for physical rehabilitation in Georgia. In
2003, the ICRC handed over the management of the center in Tbilisi to the
Georgian Foundation for Prosthetic and Orthopedic Rehabilitation, with a view to
improving prospects for long-term sustainability. The ICRC will continue
providing technical and financial support to the center through 2004. The
Tbilisi Orthopedic Center continues to have several hundred people on the
waiting list for services; 458 amputees were on the waiting list at the end of
2002. Since 1999, the two centers produced 2,505 prostheses (550 for mine
survivors) and 3,375 orthoses (at least two for mine survivors), and distributed
more than 90 wheelchairs and 3,516 crutches; including 373 prostheses (80 for
mine survivors), 1,082 orthoses (two for mine survivors), 20 wheelchairs (two
for mine survivors) and 1,230 crutches (88 for mine survivors) in 2003. The
ICRC also provides on-going training for orthopedic technicians. In 2003, three
technicians attended short technical courses in Sochi in Russia, and in May
2002, one technician was sent to Germany for a three-month upgrading course in
prosthetics and orthotics. In May 2001, five orthopedic technicians attained
internationally recognized qualifications after completing a three-year training
course in prosthetics and orthotics, equivalent to the International Society of
Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) level II standard; 14 students completed
two-year training courses in
2000.[60]
In early 2004, the ICBL-GC conducted psychological support sessions for two
landmine survivors in Sagarejo. A psychologist and a psychiatrist from
“NDOBA” Trust, the first psychosocial support service in Georgia,
participated in the sessions.
The Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs has developed a special
program, “Medical and Psycho-Social program for Invalids,” for the
care and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities at rehabilitation centers
in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi. The program provides outpatient treatments,
prosthetic/orthopedic assistance, and consultations on legal
rights.[61]
Two mine survivors from Georgia participated in the Raising the Voices
training in Geneva, Switzerland in February 2004.
Disability Policy and Practice
The June 1995 Law on the Social Protection of the Disabled outlines the
rights of persons with disabilities; however, it has not been fully implemented
because of the economic situation in
Georgia.[62]
[1] Letter to Landmine Monitor from David
Aptsiauri, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 July
2003. See Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp. 583-584, and earlier Landmine
Monitor reports for pro-ban
statements. [2] Interview with a
representative of the Ministry of Defense, Tbilisi, 6 February 2002. The
representative also provided written answers to questions submitted by Landmine
Monitor. One written answer stated: “There do still exist the mined
territories in Abkhazia and Samachablo, on which do not apply the jurisdiction
of Georgia and naturally on these territories Georgia cannot carry out
monitoring nor demining works. Besides on the territory of Georgia there are
hundreds of military objects left by forces of former Soviet Union and Russia,
objects where are set mines, explosive substances and the sources which cause
various professional diseases, and in the budget of the state and the Defense
Ministry of Georgia there were not foreseen the means for liquidation of sources
of danger.” [3] Note Verbale
from the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), FSC. DEL/12/01, 17 January
2001. [4] At the signing ceremony,
Georgia’s Ambassador stated, “Georgia believes that the human and
social costs of antipersonnel mines far outweigh their military significance....
Georgia...will in every way support and promote the ban on the use of the
mines.... Therefore, Georgia supports the Ottawa Process and its goal--the
prohibition of use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines
and their destruction.” Address of H.E. Tedo Japaridze, Ambassador of
Georgia at the Signing Ceremony of the Mine Ban Treaty, Ottawa, 3-4 December
1997. [5] Letter (#11/316) to ICBL-GC
from N. Laliashvili, Head of Defense Politics and Euro-Atlantic Integration
Department, Ministry of Defense, 23 June 2004 (unofficial translation by
ICBL-GC). [6] This was originally
reported in Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Interview with Col. K. Kalandadze,
Head of Engineering Department, Ministry of Defense, April
1998. [7] Information provided to the
ICBL Georgian Committee by the Ministry of Defense, 6 February
2002. [8] As reported in Landmine
Monitor Report 2001, p. 878. The Sagarejo, Batumi, and Akhalkalaki bases are
believed to be mined. [9] “US
would aid withdrawal of Russian bases from Georgia,” Xinhua (Moscow), 14
January 2004. [10] The moratorium was
proclaimed by President Shevardnadze at the United Nations in September 1996 and
has been repeated by officials many times since. See Landmine Monitor Report
1999, p. 792, and Note Verbale to the OSCE, 17 January
2001. [11] “OSCE voices concern
over landmines in Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone,” Interfax (Tbilisi), 10
September 2004. [12] “Russian
general says withdrawing Georgians left behind booby traps,” Channel One
TV (transcript), Moscow, 20 August
2004. [13] “Situation in the
Northern Caucasus,” Strana.Ru Information Agency, 24 August
2004. [14] Interview with a
representative of the Ministry of Defense, Tbilisi, 6 February 2002. The use of
mines was confirmed in his written answers to questions submitted by Landmine
Monitor. He also stated mines were used in the Pankisi gorge. He confirmed the
mine-laying in July 2002, saying that the areas where the antipersonnel mines
were laid are inaccessible to vehicles. Telephone interviews with Ministry of
Defense official, 23 and 24 July
2002. [15] “Kodori main
direction is permanently mined,” Akhali Taoba, No. 74, 17 March 2003, p.
7. Kvitciani reiterated his remarks a few days later in an interview with the
ICBL Georgian Committee. ICBL GC interview with Emzar Kvitciani, representative
of President of Georgia in Kodori, 23 March 2003. For more information, see
Landmine Monitor 2003, pp.
584-585. [16] Letter to ICBL Georgia
Committee from Shota Dogonadze, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
#8-14/621, 23 May 2003. [17] Letter
from David Aptsiauri, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
10 July 2003. [18] “Georgians
press ahead with mine clearance work at Ajarian oil terminal,” Itar-Tass
(Tbilisi), 6 May 2004; www.civil.ge/eng/article.html?id=6819
(Civil Georgia, 2 May 2004). [19]
“At Choloki river were found ATM”, Akhali Taoba, 14 June
2004. [20] “Adzharia: Arms
Surrender Deadline Over, Midnight,” RIA Novosty (Tbilisi), 16 May
2004. [21]http://www.primenewsonline.com/index.html?action=show&type=news&id=26021
(11 May 2004) [22] ICBL GC monitoring
group field visit to Helvachauri district, Adjara, 24 August 2004.
[23] See “Prime-News,”
(television), Tbilisi, Georgia, 10 August 1999; “Georgian Deputy Says Type
of Russian Bomb Established,” RIA (news agency), 11 August
1999. [24] Interview with Mr. Sergo
Gumberidze, Security Council Staff, 23 May
2001. [25] Email from Mike Kendellen,
Director for Survey, Survey Action Center, 29 September
2004. [26] Letter to the ICBL Georgian
Committee from David Aptciauri, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 22
January 2004; Humanitarian Mine Action Subgroup Minutes of December 11, 2003
Meeting, Fact Sheet, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of
State, Washington, D.C., 23 December
2003. [27] Letter from David
Aptciauri, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 22 January
2004. [28] Email to ICBL Georgia
Committee from Tim Turner, Program Manager, HALO Trust, Abkhazia, Georgia, 28
October 2002. [29] US Department of
State, “Humanitarian Mine Action Subgroup Minutes of June 14,
2002.” [30] “Georgia to
cooperate with Abkhaz separatists in mine clearance,” Interfax (Georgia),
22 September 2003. [31]
“Georgia: joint mine clearance in Kodori Gorge postponed until next
spring,” Kavkasia-Press (Georgia), 10 September
2003. [32] “Georgia, Abkhazia
Agree to Demine Kodori Gorge,” Interfax News Service (Tbilisi), 10 June
2004. [33] Interview with David
McMahon, Program Manager, HALO Trust, Sukhum, 8 September
2004. [34] NATO Press Release,
“NAMSO Signs Memorandum of Understanding with Georgia on Logistics Support
for Demilitarization,” #2002: 113, 2 October
2002. [35]
Ibid. [36] NATO, “Financial
management agreement for Trust Fund project with Georgia signed today,”
#2003:127, 28 October 2003, available at www.nato.int/docu/pr/2003/p03-127e.htm
, accessed 12 October 2004. [37] NATO
Press Release, 2 October 2002. [38]
Ibid. [39] Email from Mike Kendellen,
Survey Action Center, 29 September
2004. [40] “Russian Servicemen
to Clear Mines in Georgia,” Interfax News Service (Tbilisi), 27 February
2004. [41] “Georgia, Turkey
agree to develop strategic partnership,” ITAR/TASS (Ankara), 29 January
2001. [42] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September
2002. [43] Letter from David
Aptciauri, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 22 January 2004;
Humanitarian Mine Action Subgroup Minutes of December 11, 2003 Meeting, Fact
Sheet, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State,
Washington, D.C., 23 December
2003. [44] Email to ICBL GC from David
Habecker, Political Adviser, US Embassy to Georgia, 12 July
2004. [45] Mine Action Investments
database, www.mineactioninvestments.org,
accessed 29 July 2004. [46] Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p. 825; Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 881; Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 656; Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 586; email to
Landmine Monitor (HI) from Narine Berikashvili, Coordinator, Georgian ICBL
Committee, 29 July 2004. [47] In
February 2003, the Ploughshares Foundation provided $10,000 to ICBL-GC for its
MRE and advocacy activities. In January 2004, Canada provided $21,232 to
ICBL-GC for its MRE and advocacy work. Previously, in 2002, the ICBL-GC
conducted a school program survey in Tbilisi and discovered that while some
schools teach limited mine risk education; the teachers did not have any MRE
training manuals or materials. Results of School Program Survey conducted by
ICBL Georgian Committee, October 2002.
[48] Laurence Desvignes, “Mine
Action Needs Assessment Mission - Georgia,” UNICEF, July 2003, p.10. See
also Landmine Monitor report on
Abkhazia. [49] HALO Trust, Report to
Landmine Monitor, 28 July 2004. [50]
Mine Action Support Group Newsletter, February
2004. [51] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 881. [52] “Mine Action
Needs Assessment Mission - Georgia,” July 2003, p.
17. [53] Telephone interview with
Ingrid Kolb-Hindarmanto, Program Coordinator, UNICEF Georgia, 10 September
2004. [54] Unless otherwise stated,
all information in this section is based on the ICBL-GC casualty database which
records information obtained from hospitals in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions,
and in Tbilisi, as well as media reports and surveys since
2001. [55] “Three Georgian
soldiers wounded in US training exercises,” Agence France-Presse, 16 April
2003. [56] Survey Action Center,
“Advance Survey Mission to Georgia: 17 July to 26 July 2004,” p.
10. [57] “Wounded among Georgian
Peacekeepers” Mtavari Gazeti, 28 August 2003; “Wounded peacekeeper
returned home,” Svobodnaya Gruzia, 23 October
2003. [58] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 883. [59] ICRC, “Annual
Report 2003,” Geneva, June 2004, p. 223; ICRC Special Reports, “Mine
Action 2002,” Geneva, July 2003, p. 44; “Mine Action 2001,”
July 2001, p. 34. [60] ICRC Physical
Rehabilitation Programs, “Annual Report 2003,” Geneva, 9 March 2004,
pp. 15-16, 26; ICRC, “Annual Report 2003,” June 2004, p. 223;
“Annual Report 2002,” June 2003, p. 10; “Annual Report
2001,” 14 April 2002; “Annual Report 2000,” 31 March 2001;
“Annual Report 1999,” 31 March 2000, p. 11; email from Maia
Tsotsoria, Head of Communication Unit, ICRC Georgia, 13 January 2004; statistics
provided by ICRC Mission in Tbilisi, 17 March
2003. [61] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, pp. 883-884; Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp.
587-588. [62] Letter to ICBL GC from
Marina Gudusauri, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs,
Ref. 17/06-134, 23 April 2001.
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