Kyrgyzstan has not signed the 1997 Mine Ban
Treaty. It attended the early treaty preparatory meetings in 1997, but only as
an observer, and did not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June
1997. It attended the regional conference on landmines in Turkmenistan that
month, but made no statement on mine ban policy. Kyrgyzstan did not participate
in the Oslo negotiations, but sent an observer to the Ottawa signing conference.
Also in 1997, the International Committee of the Red Cross held an informational
seminar on landmines in Bishkek at the request of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.[1] Kyrgyzstan voted
for the 1996 UNGA Resolution 51/45S urging states to vigorously pursue an
international agreement banning antipersonnel landmines, the 1997 UNGA
Resolution 52/38A supporting the December treaty signing, and the 1998 UNGA
resolution welcoming the addition of new states to the Mine Ban Treaty and
urging its full realization. Kyrgyzstan is not a party to the 1980 Convention
on Conventional Weapons (CCW), although it declared its intention to ratify the
CCW and its Landmine Protocol to the
ICRC.[2]
Kyrgyzstan is not known to produce or export antipersonnel landmines, though
it has no restrictions in place governing production or export of landmines.
It is thought to have inherited stockpiles of APMs from the Soviet Union.
There are landmines on the Kyrgyz-China border, laid during the time of the
Soviet Union. The perceived need to maintain those minefields may be the reason
Kyrgyzstan has not signed the ban treaty. How much of the Kyrgyz-China border
is mined or how many mines are laid is unknown. However, Kyrgyzstan has recently
begun discussions with China on how to clear the border minefields between the
two countries.[3] There are no
reports of casualties. Kyrgyzstan is not known to have made any contributions
to international mine action programs.
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