Five years of civil war
in Tajikistan were formally brought to a close on 27 June 1997, when a peace
accord was signed between the government and the opposition, the United Tajik
Opposition (UTO).The implementation of the peace accord, however, has to date
been plagued with difficulties and delays, and political instability and an
overall absence of law and order remain. Since the end of June 1997, the
country has witnessed fresh waves of fighting between rival government groups,
high levels of political and criminal violence, and renewed hostage-takings of
Tajik citizens and international personnel by armed factions. In mid-January
1998, following months of laborious negotiations, the UTO withdrew temporarily
from the peace process, claiming that the government was reneging on many of its
pledges. In March 1998, in clear violation of the peace accord, hostilities
between armed groups allegedly loyal to the UTO and government troops erupted
into full-fledged fighting near Dushanbe, the
capital.[1] Landmines were used
throughout the fighting, and unconfirmed media reports suggest that landmines
may have been used as recently as November 1998, when conflict again erupted in
the north.
Mine Ban Policy
Tajikistan has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty. It
attended the early treaty preparatory meetings, but did not endorse the
pro-treaty Brussels Declaration and did not participate in the Oslo
negotiations. It attended the regional conference on landmines in Turkmenistan
in June 1997, but made no formal statement on mine ban policy. Tajikistan voted
in favor of the 1996 UN General Assembly Resolution 51/45S urging states to
vigorously pursue an international agreement banning antipersonnel landmines,
but was one of eighteen countries which abstained from the 1997 UNGA Resolution
52/38A supporting the December treaty signing. It was absent from the vote on
the pro-treaty 1998 UNGA resolution. Tajikistan is not a party to the 1980
Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use
It does not appear that Tajikistan manufactures
its own mines, but rather has utilized the stockpiles which the Soviet Union
stored in the republic. It is not known if Soviet stocks have been supplemented
with new imports. Tajikistan is not known to have exported APMs, but it has no
restrictions on landmine production or export in place. Information on the size
and composition of Tajikistan’s current stockpile of antipersonnel is not
available. Most of the mines laid by the government were of Soviet origin (see
below). The UTO also has a stockpile of mines, apparently including Soviet,
Italian and Pakistani mines. It is unknown if the UTO received its supply of
mines from outside sources or if they were stolen from Tajikistan’s
stockpiles.
Both the government and the UTO opposition have been responsible for laying
mines. According to the UN military observer team (UNMOT) in Tajikistan, the
Tajik government used primarily Soviet PMN, PMN-2, PMD-6 and OZM antipersonnel
mines. The UTO used a mix of antipersonnel, antitank (Italian TC-6, Pakistan
P2Mk2 and Soviet TMN series), and booby-trapped antitank
mines.[2] Several CIS
countries sent peacekeeping forces to Tajikistan, including Russia’s
Border Forces. The RBF planted antipersonnel mines along the Tajik/Afghan
border.[3]
As recently as November 1998, rebel forces were concentrated in the Aini
village, and news sources stated that the road may have been mined in order to
prevent government forces from using
it.[4]
Landmine Problem
Tajikistan has a serious problem with
antipersonnel landmines. The U.S. State Department has estimated that there are
approximately 100,000 landmines in
Tajikistan.[5] The UN Mine
Action Service has estimated the total at
200,000.[6] The mined areas are
not generally well marked. The major areas affected by landmines are the central
Tavildara region, the Garm Valley, Khalaikhum, and the border with Afghanistan.
UNMOT observers discovered two minefields near the Tajik/Afghan border which it
believed were laid by the Tajik army in
1994.[7] Major roads and
highways were mined. The Dushanbe-Khujand highway was one major road which was
alleged to be mined. However, five days after the failed November 1998
rebellion, this highway was opened to civilian travel and there have been no
reports of landmine accidents. The Dushanbe-Aini highway was another strategic
area that was possibly mined.
The United Nations carried out assessment missions in Tajikistan in 1996 and
1997. The 1996 assessment mission concluded that a Mine Action Plan needed to
be developed and a Mine Action Centre needed to be set up. The 1997 mission
concluded that the landmine problem in Tajikistan was not as severe as
originally thought, that mines had a limited humanitarian and developmental
impact, and did not affect returning
refugees.[8] The UN recommended
moving ahead with the Mine Action Plan and Mine Action Center, but on a reduced
scale.
Mine Action
There are no humanitarian mine clearance programs
underway in Tajikistan. The 1996 UN assessment mission estimated that it would
cost $736,425 to demine areas where civilians and UN and aid workers were at
risk.[9] The Tajik government
has expressed support for mine awareness campaigns, but has limited funds. The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has implemented mine awareness
programs. The ICRC set up a data collection system to try to gather more
detailed information about the whereabouts of landmines, and printed leaflets in
Russian and Tajik which alerted people returning to their homes about the
possible presence of
landmines.[10] The ICRC
delivered medical supplies for the treatment of landmine and other war-related
casualties. It is unknown how capable the Tajik hospitals are of caring for mine
victims. In 1997, the ICRC flew fourteen amputees to Azerbaijan for the fitting
of artificial limbs.[11]
Civilians and military personnel have been killed an injured by landmines.
The Deputy Premier of Tajikistan, Munnavar Nazriyev, was killed by a landmine in
1994, on the day a ceasefire was to come into
effect.[12] The remote geography
and poor medical facilities means that most mine casualties go unreported. The
number of civilian casualties is uncertain.
[4] Galina Gridneva and
Valery Zhukov, “Tajik Troops Taking Measures Against Rebels,”
ITAR-TASS World Service, 5 November 1998. Other news sources stated that
the Dushanbe-Aini road had been successfully cleared of landmines: “Tajik
Government Forces Recapture District Centre in North,” BBC Worldwide
Monitoring, 8 November 1998.
[5] U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. A2.
[6]UNMAS Working
Document: Mine Action Profiles, 15 November 1998.
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