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Table of Contents
Country Reports
BELARUS, Landmine Monitor Report 1999

BELARUS

Mine Ban Policy

Belarus has not signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Belarus authorities have stated that lack of funding needed for destruction of the existing stockpiles of landmines and mine clearance is the reason Belarus cannot sign the Mine Ban Treaty at this time. The government has said that Belarus would need tens of millions of US dollars to destroy its stockpiles of antipersonnel mines.[1] Belarus has stated that it hopes it will become a part of the treaty in the future, and that it welcomes international cooperation, financial and technical assistance for clearance and destruction of millions of antipersonnel mines stockpiled in Belarus.[2] Belarus legislators have also stated that they are committed to support the total ban of landmines as soon as assistance needed for destruction of existing stockpiles is provided.[3]

At the treaty signing conference in December 1997, Ambassador Mikhail Khvostov said that Belarus “welcomes the fact that the Convention foresees the mechanisms of international cooperation, financial and technical assistance for clearance and for destruction of stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. We believe that should these mechanisms proved to be effective, the Convention will soon be signed by those nations which entirely share its humane purposes, but because of a number of objective reasons are in no position to sign it now. And among those signatures there will be the signature of the Republic of Belarus.”[4] Belarus attended the early ban treaty preparatory meetings, but did not endorse the pro-ban treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997. It attended the Oslo treaty negotiations and the Ottawa treaty signing conference, but only as an observer in each case.

On 10 December 1996, Belarus was one of only ten countries to abstain in the vote on UN General Assembly 51/45S urging states to vigorously pursue an international agreement banning antipersonnel landmines (passed 156-0). However, subsequently Belarus voted for the 1997 UNGA Resolution supporting the treaty signing and the 1998 UNGA Resolution welcoming the addition of new states to the Mine Ban Treaty, urging its full realization and inviting state parties and observers to the First Meeting of State Parties in Mozambique.

Belarus is a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Protocol II on landmines. According to a Foreign Ministry official, it has ratified the amended Protocol II but not deposited its instrument of ratification yet.[5]

Belarus has recently indicated that it supports a ban on mine transfers at the Conference on Disarmament, of which it is a member.[6] However, Belarus was not one of the 22 CD members, including the Russia and the U.S., that in February 1999 jointly called for the appointment of a Special Coordinator on AP mines, and the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate a transfer ban.[7]

Production

According to officials in the Belarus Ministry of Defense, Belarus has never produced, is not producing and will not produce antipersonnel landmines, or their components, including Claymore-type mines. They state that Belarus is not producing or conducting research on any munitions which might function like an antipersonnel mine and pose dangers to civilians (such as antitank mines with anti-handling devices, submunitions, cluster bombs), and that Belarus is not engaging in research on alternatives to antipersonnel landmines.[8]

There have been allegations in the past that Belarus produced antipersonnel mines, perhaps most notably by the U.S. State Department in 1993.[9]

Transfer

According to government sources, Belarus is not exporting AP mines nor has it exported them in the past.[10] Again, there have been allegations by the U.S. government and others of past export, but no documented cases of export are known.[11]

In 1995 President Alexandr Lukashenka announced a moratorium on the export of all types of landmines from 1 September 1995 until the end of 1997.[12] In late 1997 the president extended the export moratorium to the end of 1999.[13] A decree at the beginning of 1998 banned the transit of AP mines and certain other goods through the territory of the Republic of Belarus.[14]

Information on the importation of AP mines in the past is not available.

Stockpiling

Belarus has very significant stockpiles of antipersonnel mines, as indicated by its own estimate that it would require tens of millions of dollars to destroy its AP mines. In many countries, the cost of destruction has averaged $1 per mine. Belarus officials have thus far only acknowledged “millions” of stockpiled mines.[15] The Belarus Ministry of Defense has indicated it will disclose the quantity of AP mines in its stockpiles as soon as international donors are identified who are ready to assist Belarus in the destruction of these stockpiles.[16] Belarus is currently negotiating with potential international donors to assist in this matter.

The Belarus Ministry of Defense has identified the priorities in destruction of landmine stockpiles and disclosed the quantity of the types of mines to be destroyed first: one million PFM-1 landmines (BLU-43/B and BLU-42/B type).[17] Officials indicate the budget for destruction could be considerably reduced if the equipment was provided as in-kind assistance by other governments. One of the technologies badly needed by the Belarus government is the one to destroy AP mines BLU-43/B and BLU-42/B.[18]

In accordance with Protocol II of the CCW, in 1996-1998 Republic of Belarus destroyed some 5,000 AP mines of different types and also some 1,000 booby traps.[19]

Use

The Belarus Ministry of Defense states that AP mines are not used on Belarus territory, for border defense or otherwise.[20]

Landmine Problem

Belarus has a problem with landmines leftover from World War II. There are an unknown number of World War II vintage German and Soviet mines scattered about old battlefields.[21] In particular the Vitebsk, Gomel and Minsk regions where the major WWII battles were fought are mine affected. No records exist of the mined areas and no research has been conducted yet in this respect. Mined areas are marked as soon as they are located. Recently most of the UXO have been found in the Brest, Gomel, Mogilev, Minsk and Vitebsk regions. The Vitebsk region is the most affected.[22]

Mine Clearance

No national program on humanitarian mine action currently exists in Belarus. The organization and co-ordination of mine clearance is done by the Department of Engineer Forces in the Main Headquarters of the Belarus Military Forces. There are forty-four mobile military groups that belong to the engineers' detachments of the Belarus army that are currently undertaking mine clearance and training operations in Belarus. For example, five districts in the Brest region and two districts in the Grodno region are served by two mobile military groups of six deminers.

Almost every day the groups are called to clear UXOs. Two specially equipped automobiles are used to deliver the groups to the location of detected UXO. Just recently the group cleared over one hundred UXOs, including AP mines, in the Baranovichi district, Brest region. UXOs are destroyed by explosion either on the spot or taken to a safe area for destruction.[23]

Annually, thousands of AP mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) left after World War II are lifted from the Belarus soil. From 1991 until 1997 some 120,000 UXOs (including 1,000 AP mines) were cleared.[24] In 1996, 10,703 UXOs were cleared at a cost of more than $100,000.[25]

The total area cleared in Belarus from 1991 until 1997 is 300 square kilometers (most of it had not been used for agricultural or production purposes before clearance). The location of areas recently cleared: Krupsky district, Minsk region, Dubrovensky district, Vitebsk region, Baranovichi district Brest region. The cost of mine clearance is $12,000 per square kilometer. The records of areas cleared are maintained and these records are accessible.[26] The major obstacle to a more effective mine clearance program is lack of funding.

The population has benefited from the clearance. The cleared land is used in most cases for agricultural purposes, but also construction and production purposes.

Mine Awareness

The demining groups use mine clearance operations for education aimed at UXO victim prevention. Deminers meet with the local population and educate them on the rules of behavior when they come across mines or other UXO. This policy has resulted in an absence of UXO victims on the territories served by the groups during six recent years.[27] However, no systematic work has been done in this respect.

There are two nongovernmental organizations in Belarus which work on the landmine issue. The Belarus Support Center for Associations and Foundations (SCAF) was founded in 1996. Its mission is to promote the development of civic society in Belarus through providing support to NGO initiatives. The Belarus Campaign to Ban Landmines (BCBL) was initiated by SCAF in 1998 to support public education programs regarding the landmines crisis and to support efforts toward a comprehensive, worldwide ban on landmines.

SCAF has received a positive reaction from the Belarus Ministry of Education and the Belarus Ministry of Defense which have agreed to collaborate in the development and initiation of mine awareness education programs in Belarus schools.[28]

Landmine Casualties

The landmine victims in Belarus can be divided into three groups. The first group comprises civilians who were affected by landmines during the Second World War when they were children. For example, just in the Rechitski District, Gomel region there are sixteen disabled people who stepped on landmines in 1941-1945. The second group comprises former military personnel affected by landmines during the Afghanistan war in the 1980s. The third group includes civilians affected by UXOs left after the Second World War.

In 1997 two children were killed and twelve people (including two children) were injured by landmines. In 1998 two people were killed and six injured.[29]

The following cases serve as examples:

Sergei Sidorenko (born in 1976) was injured by an UXO in the forest near the village of Voitovo, Vitebsk district, Vitebsk region on 19 November 1997. Both his legs were affected. It took less than three hours to get medical help and surgical care. No psychiatric counseling was received. He was able to return to his work five months after the injury had been received. The health care was provided free of charge and he was also receiving financial support while disabled.[30]

Victor Nakhaev (born in 1963) was injured by an UXO near the village of Levki, Orsha District, Vitebsk region on 4 April 1998. He lost his left arm. It took a quarter of an hour to deliver him to the hospital. The first surgery was done one hour after the incident. There was another surgery one month later. The health care was provided free of charge. No psychiatric counseling was received. He has not been provided with a prosthetic device yet and needs assistance in this respect. He is disabled and has not returned to his work. He receives pension from the government (some $10 a month). He was also assisted in receiving a new apartment.[31].

Two students, Alexey Dralov and Alexey Toliadonok (both born in 1981), were killed by UXO in 1998 near the railway station in Kruglevschina, Dokshitsi district, Vitebsk region.[32]

Nikolai Kovalev (born 1976) was injured by an UXO in the field of the collective farm named after M.Frunze, Rechitsi District, Gomel region on 22 August 1997. He and three of his colleagues, who received minor injuries, were collecting potatoes.[33]

The example of Retchitsa district in the Gomel region could demonstrate the effect of the AP landmines on the life of the population of one of the 200 districts in Belarus. In the 1960s, some thirty pupils from the local school were killed and three injured by the AP landmines.[34] The disabilities of fifteen people in the district are caused by the AP landmines explosions that took place before 1996.[35]

In all cases it took less than three hours to get medical help and less than one hour to get surgical care. Each disabled person is assisted through individual programs of rehabilitation. However due to the current economic crisis, this care is not adequate.

Survivor Assistance

Medical, surgical, rehabilitation and reintegration services are available for landmine victims/survivors in Belarus through the network of central, regional and local hospitals and other health care institutions co-ordinated by the Belarus Ministry of Health.

Medical facilities (ability to stop bleeding, resuscitate from shock with fluids, relieve pain, and arrange for transport to a surgical facility) are available through the local and regional hospitals. However, due to the lack of funding, most of them are currently experiencing shortages. Surgical facilities are available through public hospitals throughout the country.

Prosthetic and rehabilitation facilities are available in Belarus. The Belarus Prosthetic-Rehabilitation Centre (BPRC) is the main producer and supplier of prosthetics. This network has the capacity to produce 259 wheelchairs and 1,220 prosthetic devices monthly. During ten months in 1998 some 1,670 prosthetic devices and 1,053 mobility devices were produced. They are distributed through the regional and local departments of social welfare among those who need them. The BPRC network has high potential for increasing the production and exporting prosthetic and mobility devices to other countries. It also welcomes co-operation with international donors and counterparts to improve its services to the UXO victims/survivors in Belarus.[36]

A private agency in support of the veterans of the war in Afghanistan was initiated by Victor Sivochin.[37] His organization, “La Makha,” is developing individual programs of support and rehabilitation for Afghanistan war veterans affected by AP mines and other weapons. There are no particular social and/or economic reintegration programs for landmine survivors currently available in Belarus. However, the Act on Local Governments allows and encourages the private, public and non-governmental organizations to provide support to those who may need it.

The Law on Psychiatric Counseling has been just adopted by the Belarus parliament and hopefully will result in better services to be provided to AP mines victims/survivors. A national disability law exists in Belarus: "Law on Social Protection of People With Disabilities in the Republic of Belarus."[38] According to this law, the National Council on the Problems of Disabled and Handicapped co-ordinates the activities aimed at implementation of the law. It comprises top executives of the main ministries dealing with the problems of the disabled (Ministry of Social Protection, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, etc.). The council is headed by the First Deputy of the Prime Minister of Belarus.[39]

The law ensures tax reduced status of enterprises producing technical and other devices for the disabled. The profit of any enterprise in Belarus used for production of devices for the disabled or for providing services for disabled is tax exempt.[40]

The rehabilitation of the disabled is made according to his or her individual rehabilitation program, developed and approved by a special committee. The individual rehabilitation program is an official document that is to be followed by governmental, non-government and private agencies. The disabled receive medical and surgical care free of charge. They also receive a discount for major medicines.[41]

The disabled are guaranteed to receive secondary, professional and higher education free of charge. The employment of disabled is protected by the state. The state also assists enterprises in equipping the workplaces for the disabled with needed devices.[42] The disabled are provided with a technical or any other device needed free of charge as soon as it is part of the individual rehabilitation program. Those who in line with their rehabilitation program get transportation devices (for example, automobiles) also get support for their maintenance and repair.[43]

The main agency responsible for protection and social reintegration of people with disabilities is the Belarus Ministry of Social Protection.

<AZERBAIJAN | ESTONIA>

[1] Statement by H.E. Mikhail Khvostov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Canada, at the Landmines Treaty Signing Conference, Ottawa, 3 December 1997. Belarus officials have told Landmine Monitor that it may cost $50 million to destroy stocks and clear mines.

[2] Statement of Mr. Ivan Grinevic, Third Secretary at the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus at the Regional Conference on Landmines, Budapest, 26-28 March 1998.

[3] Interview with Piotr Zhushma, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs and Relations with CIS, House of Representatives, National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, 22 February 1999.

[4] Statement by H.E. Mikhail Khvostov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to Canada, at the Landmines Treaty Signing Conference, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

[5] Interview with Ivan Grinevic, Third Secretary at the Belarus Foreign Ministry, Minsk, 15 February 1999.

[6] Statement of Sergei Martynov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus at the Conference on Disarmament, 11 February 1999.

[7] Statement by Bulgarian Ambassador Petko Draganov to the Conference on Disarmament, undated but February 1999.

[8] Letter # 17/1043 from the Belarus Ministry of Defense to the Support Center for Associations and Foundations ( SCAF), “About Information on Landmine Issues,” 24 November 1998. Also, interviews with Ignaty Misuragin, Colonel, Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Belarus Ministry of Defense and Sergei Luchina, Colonel, Deputy Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Belarus Ministry of Defense, Minsk, 21 January 1999.

[9] U.S. Department of State, Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7 December 1993. More recently, the Belarus government indicates that a misunderstanding was caused by incorrect translation of the statement made by the representative of the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Budapest Landmine Conference in March 1998, when the statement made in Russian, “Belarus doesn’t produce antipersonnel mines,” was translated as, “Belarus will discontinue production of antipersonnel mines.”

[10] Statement of Mr. Ivan Grinevic, Third Secretary at the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus at the Regional Conference on Landmines, Budapest, 26-28 March 1998.

[11] U.S. Department of State, Outgoing Telegram, Unclassified, Subject: landmine export moratorium demarche, 7 December 1993.

[12] Decree # 335 of the President of the Republic of Belarus, “Introduction in the Republic of Belarus Moratorium on Export of Landmines, ” 22 August 1995.

[13] Decree # 628 of the President of the Republic of Belarus, “About the Prolongation of Moratorium on Export of Landmines Till the End of 1999,” 4 December 1997.

[14] Decree #27 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, “About State Control Over Transit Through the Territory of the Republic of Belarus Specific Goods,” 10 January 1998.

[15] Statement by H.E. Mikhail Khvostov, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.

[16] Interview with Ignaty Misuragin, Colonel, Head of Department of Engineer Forces, and Sergei Luchina, Colonel, Deputy Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Belarus Ministry of Defense, Minsk, 21 January 1999.

[17] Letter #1274/18 from the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs to SCAF, 1 February 1999 and Letter #17/70 from the Belarus Ministry of Defense to SCAF, 26 January 1999.

[18] Interview with Sergei Luchina, Colonel, Deputy Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Minsk, 21 January 1999.

[19] Interview with Sergei Luchina, Colonel, Deputy Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Minsk, 21 January 1999.

[20] Letter #17/1043 from the Belarus Ministry of Defense to SCAF.

[21] U.S. Department of State, Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, 1993.

[22] Nikolai Zhuchko, “Deminers Make Mistakes...”

[23] Nikolai Kuts, “Among Terrible Remnants of the Past”, 7 Days, 24 October 1998.

[24] Letter #17/1043 from the Belarus Ministry of Defense to SCAF.

[25] Nikolai Zhuchko, “Deminers Make Mistakes...”

[26] Letter #17/1043 from the Belarus Ministry of Defense to SCAF.

[27] Ibid.

[28] The following agencies have made a commitment to promote mine awareness education in Belarus: 1) Main Department of General Secondary Education, Belarus Ministry of Education; 2) Department of Engineer Forces, Belarus Ministry of Defense; 3) BCBL/SCAF.

[29] Interviews with Ignaty Misuragin, Colonel, Head of Department of Engineer Forces, and Sergei Luchina, Colonel, Deputy Head of Department of Engineer Forces, Minsk, 21 January 1999.

[30] Interview with Sergei Sidorenko, Sirozh, Vitebsk Region, 17 December 1998.

[31] Interview with Victor Nakhaev, Levki, Orsha District, Vitebsk region, 18 December 1998.

[32] Interviews with relatives of Alexey Dralov and Alexey Toliadonok, Kruglevschina, Dokshitsi district, Vitebsk region, 19 December 1998.

[33] Interview with Nikolai Kovalev, M. Frunze, Rechitsi District, Gomel region, 21 December 1998.

[34] Data is provided by Vitaly Kovalev, Rechitsa, Gomel region.

[35] Interviews, Rechitsa district, Gomel region, 11-12 January 1999.

[36] Letter # 12-17/458 from the Belarus Ministry of Social Protection to SCAF “About Co-operation with NGO SCAF”, 13 November 1998; BCBL Interviews with Representatives of the Belarus Prosthetic-Rehabilitation Centre network, 18-20 November 1998.

[37] N. Nalivaiko, “There is a Hope for Afghanistan Veterans”, Republic, 30 May 1998.

[38] Law on Social Protection of People With Disabilities in the Republic of Belarus, 25 November 1991.

[39] Ibid., article 6, p. 36.

[40] Ibid., article 4, p. 36.

[41] Ibid., article 13, 15 pp. 39-40.

[42] Ibid., article 29 p. 44.

[43] Ibid., article 40 p. 48.