Key developments
since March 1999: In March 2000, the Nagorno-Karabakh Minister of
Agriculture said that thirty percent of the territory’s most productive
agricultural lands are not being used because of the danger of mines. HALO
Trust, which had carried out mine clearance in Nagorno- Karabakh in 1995-96,
resumed operations in January 2000.
Background
Nagorno-Karabakh is an autonomous region of
western Azerbaijan, but the majority of the inhabitants are Armenian. In 1988,
the region voted to secede and join Armenia, which led to armed conflict from
1988-1994 involving forces from all three armies. In the midst of the conflict,
the region proclaimed itself the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) on 2 September
1991, and declared independence on 6 January 1992. Armenian forces occupied 20%
of Azerbaijan territory. The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions in
1993, calling for the withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from Azeri
territories and reiterating the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan with
Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral
part.[1] These resolutions have
not been implemented. In May 1994 Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire
agreement; however, negotiations for a final peace agreement are still going on
under the auspices of the OSCE.
Mine Ban Policy
There have been no public comments regarding
landmines by officials of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Nagorno-Karabakh military has
told the Landmine Monitor researcher that mines are viewed as useful weapons in
numerous tactical military tasks and that as long as the war lasts, mines are
necessary. The military recognizes that mines kill both enemy and
friend.[2]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use
Nagorno-Karabakh is not known to have produced
mines. Stocks now held are of former Soviet production, but types and numbers
are unknown. The most commonly used mines during the conflict were Soviet PMN-2
and OZM-72, as well as Soviet MON mines and Italian
TS-50.[3] During the armed
conflict, the fighting parties used antipersonnel mines extensively, in areas
claimed by Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, though the heaviest
concentration of mines by far is in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Landmine Problem
The region of Nagorno-Karabakh is considered to be
one of the most heavily mined regions of the former Soviet Union. The
Nagorno-Karabakh Minister of Agriculture Mr. Armo Tsaturian, said that thirty
percent of the territory’s agricultural lands are not being used because
of the danger of mines. He pointed out that these lands are the most productive
areas in the valleys and foothills. The Minister also reported that eight
hectares of vineyards are also inaccessible because of the
mines.[4] Approximately 15,000
hectares of land, roads and forests must be surveyed for future mine
action.[5] Nearly five thousand
hectares of these territories are arable lands.
The United Nations and the U.S. had estimated the number of mines in
Nagorno-Karabakh at 100,000, but after its 1998 assessment mission, the UN Mine
Action Service concluded that the mine problem was not nearly as bad as original
estimates portrayed.[6]
Mine Action
In 1995-96, the British demining NGO HALO Trust
carried out mine clearance in Nagorno-Karabakh and cleared more than 2,000 mines
and 9,000 items of UXO from 883,000 square metres of land. In addition, HALO
trained local specialists. In January 2000, HALO resumed operations in
Nagorno-Karabakh and aims to support the existing mine clearance capacity,
provide specialist training and to establish a mines action centre to coordinate
the clearance work with the needs of the development community.
In 1993, Nagorno-Karabakh created a Working Group on Mine Problems (WGMP),
under the Special Governmental Commission, whose task was to collect information
on the landmine problem. In 1999-2000, headed by a special representative of
the Prime Minister, its activities were expanded to include coordination among
the various relevant ministries dealing with the various aspects of the mine
problem, including mine clearance, minefield marking and mapping, mine awareness
activities, and provision of basic medical aid courses.
Ministry of Defense engineer regiments deal with mine clearance while
Emergency Services Department teams are responsible for the clearance of UXO.
They inform the WGMP of their activities, except when the information is
classified. With HALO support, the Emergency Services Department cleared over
1,000 UXO in the first three months of 2000, compared to 37 items of UXO
destroyed in the whole of 1999.
Mine Awareness
The International Committee of the Red Cross
office in Stepanakert initiated mine action programs in May 1994. The programs
seek to educate the public, and in particular children, about the danger of
mines. ICRC cooperates with the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as
with the WGMP. The ICRC and the government created a map indicating the
dangerous zones in the territory, which has been distributed among the village
communities. Recently the WGMP and the ICRC prepared a notebook for
schoolchildren which illustrates types of mines and UXO. Some 46,000 copies of
this notebook will be distributed for free among schoolchildren. The WGMP has
also prepared several mine awareness videos and posters, and special radio and
television programs are continuously broadcast throughout Nagorno-Karabakh.
Landmine Casualties and Victim Assistance
The Nagorno-Karabakh Ministry of Health reports
that between June 1993 and May 1999 the number of victims of explosions,
including mines, was 687 of whom 180 died and 507 were
injured.[7] Among the victims
the children are gradually outnumbering the adults.
At a session of the WGMP in June 2000, the following statistics were
presented: in 1995, there were eighty-two mine incidents; in 1996, sixty-four;
in 1997, there were twenty-five incidents; in 1998, sixteen; and in 1999,
thirty. According to the WGMP, twenty-eight of the victims in 1999 were male.
As of June 2000, there have been twelve incidents, with five deaths and seven
injuries.[8]
[1] UN Security Council Resolution,
S/RES/822, 30 April 1993; UN Security Council Resolution, S/RES/853, 29 July
1993; UN Security Council Resolution, S/RES/874, 14 October 1993; UN Security
Council Resolution, S/RES/884, 12 November
1993. [2] Discussions with soldiers and
members of the special mine clearing regiment, including Lt.-Colonel Anatoly
Galayan, Commander of the mine-clearing regiment, NKR Ministry of Defense, late
1999 and early 2000. [3] UNMAS,
“Joint Assessment Mission,” 5 November 1998, p.
8. [4] Azat Artsakh (Karabakh
newspaper), 4 April 2000. [5] Program of
the NKR Special Governmental Commission, presented at the 8 June 2000 meeting of
the WGMP. [6] UNMAS, “Joint
Assessment Mission Report: Azerbaijan,” 5 November
1998. [7] Annual report of the NKR
Ministry of Health, 1999. [8] Meeting of
the Working Group on Mine Problems, 8 June 2000.
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