Turkmenistan is the only country in Central Asia
that has signed and ratified the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. It signed on 3 December
1997 and was the fourth country to ratify on 19 January 1998. However, it has
not yet passed national legislation implementing the treaty. At the treaty
signing conference, Her Excellency Mrs. Aksoltan Ataeva noted,
“Turkmenistan from the very beginning actively supported the idea of
comprehensive elimination of antipersonnel
miens.”[1] Turkmenistan
attended the early treaty preparatory meetings, endorsed the pro-treaty Brussels
Declaration, and participated in the Oslo negotiations. It was absent from the
pro-ban 1996 UNGA resolution vote, but voted in favor of the pro-treaty 1997 and
1998 UNGA resolutions.
The Turkmenistan government hosted the first regional conference on landmines
in Central Asia in Ashgabat in June 1997. Forty participants attended,
representing governments and nongovernmental organizations. The conference
addressed the importance of expanding mine clearance efforts and assistance for
victims. As the first forum for discussion of landmines in Central Asia, the
conference raised the profile of the landmine issue, possibly opening the door
to further action.[2]
Ambassador Ataeva said, “The Ashgabat Joint Communique has become an
important document which marked the beginning of active involvement of Central
Asian states in the large scale political campaign.... The Conference has been a
step forward toward creating conditions for signing the International Convention
by a greater number of
states.”[3]
Turkmenistan is not a party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons
(CCW), although at an International Committee of the Red Cross-sponsored
conference on international humanitarian law in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 1997,
Turkmenistan declared its intention to ratify the CCW and its
Protocols.[4]
The government declares, “There are no uncleared landmines” in
Turkmenistan.[5] There are no
reports of landmine casualties. Turkmenistan is not believed to have ever
produced or exported landmines. Turkmenistan acknowledges that it “has a
small stockpile of
landmines,”[6] likely
inherited from the USSR. Turkmenistan is not known to have contributed to any
international mine action programs.
[1] Statement of H.E. Mrs.
Aksoltan Ataeva, Head of Delegation of Turkmenistan, to Ottawa Treaty signing
conference, 3-4 December 1997.
[2] Communication from ICBL
conference representative.
[3] Statement by Amb. Ataeva,
Ottawa, 3-4 December 1997.
[4] International Committee
of the Red Cross, Annual Report 1997.
[5] Essen Aidogdyev,
Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the United Nations, New York,
letter to Human Rights Watch, N051/’99, 18 March 1999.
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