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Table of Contents
Country Reports
UZBEKISTAN, Landmine Monitor Report 2000
LM Report 2000 Full Report   Executive Summary   Key Findings   Key Developments   Translated Country Reports

UZBEKISTAN

Key development since March 1999: Uzbekistan is reported to have reinforced its border with Kyrgyzstan with landmines.

Mine Ban Policy

Uzbekistan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. According to a Russian Foreign Ministry official in May 2000, at high political levels the Uzbekistan government shares the goals and aims of the Mine Ban Treaty, but cannot immediately join because of financial constraints.[1] Uzbekistan is not known to have made any statements on landmines, or attended any diplomatic meetings on landmines, in 1999 or 2000.

In December 1999, Uzbekistan abstained on the vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B supporting universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. This contrasted with its vote in favor of similar resolutions in 1996 and 1997 (it was absent from the 1998 vote). The change comes in the wake of reports of Uzbekistan use of mines in 1999.

Uzbekistan is a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons, but has not ratified the original or the amended Protocol II on landmines. Uzbekistan is not a member of the Conference on Disarmament.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling

Uzbekistan is not believed to have produced or exported antipersonnel landmines. It inherited stockpiles of AP mines from the Soviet Union. One official from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that many of the mines have an expired shelf-life (ten to twelve years of storage). He said, “More than half of the stored mines are in fact the items of special menace, because they are equipped with the liquid type of explosive. These types of mines are difficult to destroy by the cheapest possible way – by burning – because it could lead to contamination of the air, which is harmful to the environment.”[2]

Use

In June-September 1999 a conflict took place when an armed group from Tajikistan intruded into Kyrgyz territory near the Uzbekistan border. The intruders were repelled during combat actions in which Kyrgyz armed forces and Uzbeki air forces took part.[3]

As a result of the conflict Uzbekistan is reported to have reinforced its unmarked border with Kyrgyzstan with landmines.[4] One of the reported cases is the mining by Uzbeki military of territory near the Kyrgyz settlement of Boz Adyr, which is a disputed area of the Kyrgyz-Uzbeki border. Initially the area was marked with warning signs, which later disappeared.[5] It has been reported that animals have been killed by detonating mines in the area. Local papers reported that the area had “been mined only recently.”[6]

Mine Action

Uzbekistan is not considered to have a mine problem.[7] Uzbekistan is not known to have contributed to any international mine action programs.

<TURKEY | YUGOSLAVIA>

[1] Analytical Note by Andrei Malov, Senior Counselor, Department of International Security, Disarmament and Arms Control, RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 13 May 2000.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Interview with Asel Otorbaeva, correspondent of Vecherny Bishkek daily, and Marat Bozgunchiev, Director of the WHO Information Center for republics of Central Asia, 17 May 2000.
[4] Email communication with Nick Megoran of Eurasia Insight, Central Eurasia Project, regarding the situation on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, 22 June 2000 and 1 July 2000; Daniyal Karimov, article in Delo newspaper, 3 May 2000.
[5] Daniyal Karimov, article in Delo newspaper, 3 May 2000.
[6] Email communication with Nick Megoran of Eurasia Insight, Central Eurasia Project, 22 June 2000 and 1 July 2000.
[7] U.S. State Department, Hidden Killers, December 1994, p. 24.