Key developments since May 2003: In 2003, the HALO Trust cleared
779,660 square meters of land, and destroyed 537 antipersonnel mines, 91
antivehicle mines, and 653 UXO. Between 1 January and 28 July 2004, HALO
cleared 1,430,773 square meters of land. In September 2003, Abkhazia and
Georgia agreed to jointly demine the Kodori Gorge, but as of September 2004 no
demining had taken place. In 2003, HALO provided mine risk education to 14,926
persons. Between January and August 2004, 56,185 people received MRE.
Abkhazian authorities reported a decline in the use of landmines in Abkhazia by
private armed groups from Georgia. There have been no confirmed instances of
mine use by the armed forces of Abkhazia or Georgia since 2002.
Key developments since 1999: In 2001, Abkhazian authorities for the
first time acknowledged that Abkhazian soldiers were using antipersonnel mines.
Abkhazia maintains that both Abkhazian and Georgian forces used landmines in the
Kodor Valley in October 2001 and in mid-2002. Throughout the period, private
armed groups from Georgia have infiltrated into Abkhazia and laid antipersonnel
mines. The Abkhazian Mine Action Center was established January 1999. HALO
Trust conducted a nationwide survey of the mine problem in 1999, and determined
that about 18 million square meters of land was dangerous or suspect. Between
18 December 1997 and 28 July 2004, HALO cleared a total of 4,555,216 square
meters of land, and destroyed 4,816 antipersonnel mines, 521 antivehicle mines,
and 4,338 UXO. The most important elements of Abkhazia’s infrastructure
have been demined. Systematic mine risk education programs have been underway
since early 1999. By the end of 2003, 61,955 people had received MRE. The
Gagra Orthopedic Center identified 244 landmine amputees between 1995 and
2003.
Mine Ban Policy
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the 1992-93 conflict between
Abkhazia and the government of Georgia was characterized by significant use of
mines by both sides. A cease-fire agreement was reached in May 1994, but
skirmishes have continued.
Abkhazia is not an internationally recognized State, so it cannot become
party to the Mine Ban Treaty. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Abkhazia is ready to consider joining the ban on antipersonnel mines only in the
context of a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Georgia, and a security
guarantee on behalf of the international
community.[1] In June 2003,
Prime Minister Raul Khadzhinba told Landmine Monitor that it was difficult to
embrace a ban because of “the problem of new use by the persons who use
the mines and other explosive devices to create the instability and atmosphere
of fear.”[2]
Abkhazia is not believed to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel
mines. Abkhazian forces maintain a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, though its
size and composition is unknown. Russian engineering units serving with
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping forces may also stockpile
antipersonnel mines.
The Abkhazia Committee of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (AbCBL)
was established in late 1999 and has conducted the Landmine Monitor research for
Abkhazia since that time.
Use
Since 1996, private armed groups from Georgia, allegedly linked to the
government, have regularly infiltrated into Abkhazia and laid antipersonnel
mines.[3] Two Georgian groups
have claimed responsibility for most of the mine attacks in Abkhazia, the "White
Legion" and the "Forest Brothers,” both operating in the lower Gali
region.[4] The government of
Georgia has denied providing any support for the use of mines by Georgian
partisans.[5] According to the
Abkhazian Minister of Defense and others, in 2003 there was a significant
decline in the use of landmines by these groups in
Abkhazia.[6]
As of early September, there had been no instances or allegations of new use
of antipersonnel mines in Abkhazia in 2004, either by the private armed groups
from Georgia or by the armed forces of Georgia and
Abkhazia.[7] According to
Abkhazian Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Eshba, considerable progress has been
made in reducing tensions between Abkhazian and Georgian forces in and around
the Kodor Valley.[8]
In 2001, Abkhazian authorities for the first time told Landmine Monitor that
Abkhazian army soldiers were using antipersonnel mines. The Head of Military
Headquarters of the Abkhazian army stated that mines were used only for
self-protection, such as around observation posts in the forests around Gal and
Kodor Valley regions. He stated that the soldiers always dug up and removed the
mines when they left the
area.[9] An Abkhazian military
official told Landmine Monitor that both Abkhazian and Georgian military forces
used antipersonnel mines in October 2001 in the northern part of the Kodor
Valley.[10]
Minister of Defense Eshba acknowledged that Abkhazian soldiers had also used
antipersonnel mines in 2002 for self-protection. The Minister told Landmine
Monitor that in mid-2002, regular troops from both Abkhazia and Georgia mined
areas around the Marukh mountain pass at the north of the Kodor Valley on the
border with Russia.[11] There
were other allegations of mine use in Abkhazia in 2002 by Georgian military
forces and by Russian peacekeeping
forces.[12]
The head of the Abkhaz Engineering Corps said that in 2003, “Abkhazian
forces are not using and have no intention to use antipersonnel
mines.”[13] On 25 March
2003, according to a report in the Black Sea Press Agency, a 100-person
Abkhazian unit from Gudauta mined their positions in the 24-kilometer area of
responsibility of Russian peacekeeping forces in Gal
region.[14] Abkhazia’s
Minister of Defense denied this claim as a “provocative
falsification.”[15] There
was no independent confirmation of the mine-laying. There were no allegations
of mine use by Abkhazian or Georgian armed forces during the rest of 2003.
Both Georgian and Abkhazian forces laid tens of thousands of mines during the
1992-93 fighting. Georgian military units laid the majority of landmines in
Ochamchira and Sukhumi districts, while the Abkhazian forces were reported to
have laid the majority of mines in the Gali
district.[16] Most mines used
in the conflict have been of Soviet manufacture, including PMN-2, PMN, MON-50
and MON-100 mines.[17]
Landmine Problem
The HALO Trust, a British demining NGO, conducted a survey of the mine
problem in 1999 and determined that approximately 18 million square meters of
land was dangerous or suspect; of this, five million square meters of land
required priority one or two mine
clearance.[18] By May 2003,
approximately 40 percent (about two million square meters) of this high-priority
land had been demined. The most heavily affected areas are located in the
Sukhum, Ochamchira, Tquarchal, and Gal regions.
According to HALO, “Abkhazia resembles the worst-affected areas of
Bosnia, yet receives a fraction of the international aid deployed in the
Balkans.”[19] Mines and
unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminate agricultural land, orchards, and
industrial estates—a huge blow to the economy, which was based in part on
citrus fruits, vineyards, and light
industry.[20]
Mines are also an obstacle to the repatriation of some 300,000 displaced
people. As Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees return and start to
use the land again, the priority status of certain mine-affected land may
change.[21] Tourist visits in
Abkhazia have raised the priority level of some parts of the territory that were
previously marked as low priority, and demining operations are expected to begin
in those areas in 2004.[22]
Mine Action and Mine Clearance
Mine action in Abkhazia is coordinated by the Abkhazian Mine Action Center
(AMAC), which was established January 1999. AMAC deals with survey, marking
contaminated areas, and mine risk education activities. AMAC forwards maps and
data to HALO, which has implemented demining operations in Abkhazia since
1997.[23]
AMAC is funded through HALO. In 2003, donors included Germany, the
Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Tokyo Broadcasting System
Project “Mine-Free” Committee (in cooperation with Association for
Aid and Relief Japan’s “Zero Landmine Campaign”), and the
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial
Fund.[24] In previous years,
other donors supporting mine action in Abkhazia have included Japan, Canada,
Finland and the private foundations Pro Victimis and Anti-Landmyn
Stichtung.[25]
In 2003, HALO employed 380 national staff, divided into fourteen manual mine
clearance teams and located in three main regions (seven teams in Ochamchira
region, four in Gal and three in Sukhum), a minefield marking/explosive ordnance
disposal/survey team, and five mechanical mine clearance teams (six armored
medium-wheeled front end loaders and a customized stone crusher working in
Sukhum, Gulripsh, Ochamchira, and Gal
regions).[26] In 2002, HALO
transferred its headquarters from Sukhum to Ochamchira. In 2003, demining work
concentrated on the banks of the Inguri River in Gal, where IDPs regularly cross
to avoid the heavy tolls at official crossing points, and in residential and
agricultural areas in Ochamchira region to allow for the eventual return of IDPs
in Georgia. HALO also occasionally assists with the removal and destruction of
unexploded ordnance in Zugdidi region of
Georgia.[27]
HALO has devised a work plan to make Abkhazia mine-safe in five years,
although if it is successful in securing funding, it hopes to finish the plan in
three years. In 2003, demining of the Sukhum and Gulripsh regions had been
nearly completed with exception of some mountainous sites. Some of the most
important parts of Abkhazia’s infrastructure have been demined, such as
Babushera Airport (Gulrypsh region), the M-27 highway, bridges linking populated
areas, and the banks of the Gumista River in the capital of Sukhum.
In 2003, HALO cleared 779,660 square meters of mine-affected land (423,178
square meters cleared manually and 356,482 square meters cleared using
mechanical equipment), and destroyed 537 antipersonnel mines, 91 antivehicle
mines, and 653 items of unexploded
ordnance.[28] Between 1 January
and 28 July 2004, HALO cleared 1,430,773 square meters of land (747,122 square
meters manually and 683,651 square meters using mechanical equipment) and
destroyed 280 antipersonnel mines, 69 antivehicle mines and 521
UXO.[29]
In 2002, HALO cleared 858,688 square meters of land and destroyed 456
antipersonnel mines, 127 antivehicle mines, and 749 items of UXO. Mine
clearance rates in 2002 increased significantly compared to previous years,
because of the use of new mine clearance equipment, more deminers working, and
improved clearance
procedures.[30]
Between 18 December 1997 and 28 July 2004, HALO cleared a total of 4,555,216
square meters of mine-affected land (2,018,588 square meters cleared manually
and 2,536,628 square meters cleared using mechanical equipment). It destroyed
4,816 antipersonnel mines, 521 antivehicle mines, and 4,338
UXO.[31]
Since 1994, the special engineering unit of the Russian peacekeeping forces
deployed in Abkhazia has also engaged in mine clearance in Abkhazia. In
November 2002, a Russian Ministry of Defense official stated that Russian forces
have cleared 23,000 explosive objects during peacekeeping operations in
Abkhazia.[32]
In September 2003, Georgia and Abkhazia agreed to jointly demine the Kodori
Gorge.[33] According to a press
account, experts believe that there are hundreds of antipersonnel mines in the
gorge, and that a lack of minefield maps combined with broken terrain will make
it impossible to use mechanical clearance equipment. Operations were postponed
initially until early 2004 due to weather
conditions.[34] As of September
2004, the demining operation had still not commenced, due to security risks in
the area.[35]
Mine Risk Education
The HALO Trust has been conducting mine risk education (MRE) in Abkhazia
since 1999. In 2003 and 2004, it deployed three MRE teams in
Abkhazia[36] and another in the
Zugdidi region of Georgia.[37]
In 2003, HALO provided mine risk education to 14,926
persons.[38] Between January
and August 2004, HALO provided MRE to 56,185 people; it distributed 16,002 MRE
textbooks, and 47,904
leaflets.[39] HALO’s MRE
activities increased in 2004 as IDPs/refugees living across the border in the
Zugdidi region of Georgia were included in the program for the first
time.[40]
Between 1999 and 2002, 47,029 people received mine risk education in
Abkhazia.[41] The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has helped HALO develop its MRE program. The
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund has been the principal donor for
HALO’s MRE work in
Abkhazia.[42] UNICEF has
provided additional support.[43]
Landmine Casualties
One mine casualty was reported during 2003. A man stepped on antipersonnel
mine in Kodor Valley in October 2003 and received treatment from the Republican
Hospital in Sukhum.[44] On 1
January 2004, two children were killed and another injured in a UXO incident. In
April 2004, a HALO deminer was injured by an antipersonnel landmine as the
result of a violation of Standard Operating
Procedures.[45]
In 2002, there were reports of twelve landmine casualties, of which six were
killed and six injured.[46]
According to the Ministry of Interior, in 2001, one person was killed and four
others injured in landmine and UXO incidents. In 2000, two people were killed
and one injured.[47]
According to HALO, there were 299 mine and UXO accidents between 1992 and
July 2004.[48] Data collected
by the Gagra Orthopedic Center identified 244 landmine amputees between 1995 and
2003: 208 male, 20 female and 16
children.[49] More than 50 CIS
peacekeepers have reportedly been killed by landmines in Abkhazia over the past
several years.[50]
The HALO Trust, ICRC, Association of Invalid Support, the newly created
Charitable Foundation for the Disabled and Amputees (“Veresk”), and
the AbCBL collect information on landmine casualties in Abkhazia, but in the
opinion of the AbCBL their data sometimes overlaps and none of the casualty
lists should be considered complete.
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
Health facilities in Abkhazia are in poor condition due to a lack of
resources. The ICRC regularly provides equipment, supplies, and medicines to
Sukhum, Agudzera, and Tkvarchal hospitals, while hospitals in Gal and Ochamchira
receive first aid supplies. In November 2003, the ICRC signed an agreement with
the health authorities to begin a centralized blood-transfusion program at the
Sukhum hospital to serve the entire territory of
Abkhazia.[51] In 2003, four
surgeons from Georgia and Abkhazia attended an ICRC seminar on war surgery in
Moscow.[52] Médecins
sans Frontières (MSF) continues to provide emergency medical care and
surgical equipment in support of health facilities in Abkhazia, including a
clinic in Sukhum.[53] UNICEF
provided rapid response delivery of school kits, which were delivered by UNHCR
and UNOMIG.[54] In February
2002, a new Abkhazian NGO, Agency for Development and Support, in cooperation
with the Swedish Heart to Heart Foundation, delivered a truckload of second-hand
hospital equipment to Abkhazia for distribution to local
hospitals.[55]
The Gagra Orthopedic Center, established by the ICRC in cooperation with the
Ministry of Health, provides physical rehabilitation services and orthopedic
devices free-of-charge. The Gagra Rehabilitation Center provides rehabilitation
and accommodation for amputees waiting for their prostheses to be
made.[56] In 2003, staff from
the Gagra center attended a training session at a center in Sochi,
Russia.[57]
In mid-2003, HALO founded a program with the Sukhum Rehabilitation Centre for
child landmine survivors in Abkhazia. Participants included six young mine
survivors, and their
parents.[58] HALO’s MRE
team cooperated with the Children Rehabilitation Centre to host rehabilitation
camps for 15 child mine survivors and their families in 2004, with financial
assistance from UNICEF.[59]
Abkhazian NGOs created by persons with disabilities include the Charitable
Association of the Disabled, the Association of the Disabled of Gudauta region,
and the Society of the
Blind.[60] The Sukhum-based
Association of Invalid Support (AIS), formerly the Association of Invalids with
Spinal Injuries, provides physical rehabilitation, psychosocial support, and
vocational training, including computer classes, to persons with disabilities.
The AIS has hosted the AbCBL since 2001. The AIS initiated a “Forum for
the Organizations of Disabled” in May 2001, to promote their interests in
the local and international institutions; this led to the founding, on 14
February 2003, of the “Coordination Council on the Issues of Disabled in
Abkhazia.” This coalition of governmental and non-governmental
organizations seeks to address the needs of persons with disabilities, including
mine survivors.[61] An
Abkhazian landmine survivor participated in a Raising the Voices training in
Geneva, Switzerland in February 2004.
Adopt-A-Minefield has supported the creation of a Charitable Foundation for
the Disabled and Amputees (“Veresk”) that purchases and distributes
mobility devices to mine survivors and other persons with disabilities in
Abkhazia.[62]
Abkhazian legislation does not specifically mention landmine survivors as all
persons with disabilities are treated
equally.[63]
[1] Interview with Sergey Shamba, Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Sukhum, 27 February
2004. [2] Interview with Raul
Khadzhinba, Prime Minister, Sukhum, 23 June
2003. [3] See for example, US
Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2002,
Georgia,” Online Version, 31 March
2003. [4] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, pp. 795-796. [5] Letter to
Landmine Monitor (HRW), from Merab Antadze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
19 July 2002. [6] Interviews with
Vyacheslav Eshba, Minister of Defense; Maxim Gvindzhiya, First Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs; and David McMahon, Program Manager, HALO Trust; Sukhum, 8
September 2004. [7]
Ibid. [8] Interview with Vyacheslav
Eshba, Minister of Defense, 8 September
2004. [9] Interview with Vladimir
Arshba, Head of Military Headquarters of Abkhazian Army, Sukhum, October
2001. [10] Interview with
representative of the Engineering Forces, Abkhazian Ministry of Defense, Sukhum,
3 November 2001. See also, Apsnypress (Abkhazian State Press Agency), accessed
at: www.apsnypress.narod.ru , 9
October 2001; RFE/RL Caucasus Report, Vol. 5, No. 13, 12 April
2002. [11] Interview with Vyacheslav
Eshba, Minister of Defense, Sukhum, 23 June 2003; see also Landmine Monitor
Report 2002, pp. 795-796. [12] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2003, pp.
732-733. [13] Interview with Col.
Khuta Kurt-Ogly, Head of Engineering Forces, Ministry of Defense, Sukhum, 16
June 2003. This was confirmed in a telephone interview on 6 September
2004. [14] “Abkhazian side mined
its block-posts in ‘Security Zone,’” Black Sea Press Agency,
25 March 2003; Independent TV Channel “Rustavi 2,” 25 March
2003. [15] Interfax news agency, 25
March 2003. [16] UNDP,
“United Nations Needs Assessment Mission to Abkhazia, Georgia,”
March 1998. [17] Information
provided to the AbCBL by HALO and AMAC, Sukhum, Abkhazia, May 2000; also, HALO
and AMAC, “Abkhazia Minefield Survey Report,” March 2000, pp.
40-46. [18] In 1999, HALO conducted a
full technical survey of all suspect areas in Abkhazia. The results of this
survey were published in March 2000 in the Abkhazia Minefield Survey Report.
Because the original survey was so comprehensive, only two areas (constituting
20,000 square meters) of suspected mine-affected land have since been
identified. HALO now has only one Survey Team that also serves as a Minefield
Marking and EOD Team. Interview with Tim Turner, Program Manager, HALO,
Ochamchira, 16 June 2003. [19] HALO,
“The Caucasus,” accessed at: www.halotrust.org/cauc.html
. [20]
Ibid. [21] Interview with Tim Turner,
Program Manager, HALO, 16 June
2003. [22] Ibid, 23 February
2004. [23] HALO Abkhazia,
“Report on Activity of the Humanitarian Organization on Mine Clearance
(November 2001-January
2002).” [24] Information
provided by Tim Turner, HALO, 10 June
2003. [25] Information provided by
HALO to the AbCBL, 25 January 2000. Also, HALO/AMAC, “Abkhazia Minefield
Survey Report,” p. 4. [26]
Information provided by Tim Turner, HALO, 10 June
2003. [27]
Ibid. [28] Information provided by
HALO, 28 July 2004. [29]
Ibid. [30] Ibid. According to
HALO’s statistics, prior to 2002, on average about 370 square meters of
land were cleared per year. [31]
Information provided by HALO, 28 July 2004 and 8 September
2004. [32] Presentation by Maj. Gen.
Alexander Averchenko, Ministry of Defense, Russian Federation, “Making the
Ottawa Convention a Reality: Military Implications,” ICRC Seminar on
Landmines and ERW, Moscow, 4 November
2002. [33] “Georgia to cooperate
with Abkhaz separatists in mine clearance,” Interfax, 22 September
2003. [34] “Georgia: joint mine
clearance in Kodori Gorge postponed until next spring,” Kavkasia-Press
(Georgia), 10 September 2003. [35]
Interview with David McMahon, Program Manager, HALO Trust, Sukhum, 8 September
2004. [36] The HALO Trust, “HALO
Portfolio of Humanitarian Mine Clearance & Small Arms Light Weapons
Destruction Projects 2004,” Dumfries, November 2003, p.7. See also
Landmine Monitor 2003, pp.
734-735. [37] See Landmine Monitor
country report on Georgia. [38]
Information provided by HALO, 28 July
2004. [39] Interview with David
McMahon, HALO, 8 September 2004. [40]
Ibid. [41] Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p.798; Landmine Monitor Report 2003,
p.734. [42] ICRC, “Mine Action
2002,” p.44. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2003,
p.734. [43] Mine Action Support Group
Newsletter, February 2004. [44]
Information provided by the ICRC mission to Abkhazia, 28 April
2004. [45] Information provided by
HALO, 8 September 2004. [46] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p.
735. [47] Abkhazian Ministry of
Interior, “List of terrorist attacks committed on the territory of
Abkhazia”, Sukhum, 2001. [48]
Information provided by HALO, 28 July
2004. [49] Interview with Christopher
Mehley, ICRC, Sukhum, 1 April 2003; ICRC statistics dated 29 January
2003. [50] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 798. [51] ICRC, “Annual
Report 2003,” p. 223. [52]
Ibid. [53] “Report of the UN
Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia,” S/2004/315, 20
April 2004, p. 7; interview with MSF personnel, Sukhum, 11 July 2003; MSF,
“Activity Report 2002,” www.msf.org [54]
Ibid. [55] Interview with Otar
Kakalia, Director, Agency for Development and Support, Sukhum, 23 March
2003. [56] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 800. [57] ICRC, “Annual
Report 2003,” p. 223. [58]
Information provided by HALO, 28 July
2004. [59]
Ibid. [60] Interview with Daur
Lataria, Director, Society for the Blind, Sukhum, 27 June
2003. [61] Interview with Alhas
Tkhagushev, Director, AIS, Sukhum, 21 March
2003. [62] Interview with Victoria
Dumaa, Coordinator, Charitable Foundation for the Disabled and Amputees
“Veresk,” Sukhum, 7 September
2004. [63] See Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 800.
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