Key developments since May 2004: Landmine Monitor was informed that
the Ministry of Defense stockpiles several tens of thousands of antipersonnel
mines and the Frontier Troops stockpile some 1,000 to 2,000 antipersonnel mines;
the shelf life for most if not all of these mines has expired. In 2004,
clearance of mined territory around the Uzbek-populated Shakhimardan enclave in
Kyrgyzstan was reportedly completed by Uzbekistan.
Mine Ban Policy
The Kyrgyz Republic has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Officials have
said that while Kyrgyzstan supports the goal of a mine-free world, it does not
yet have necessary alternatives for border defense, and it lacks financial and
technical resources to implement the
treaty.[1]On 3 December 2004,
Kyrgyzstan abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 59/84,
calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty; it abstained on similar
UNGA resolutions in recent
years.[2 ]
Kyrgyzstan participated in the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban
Treaty in Nairobi in November-December 2004 with a delegation headed by its
then-First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He stated: “Kyrgyzstan is
not a participant of this Convention. Along with speaking in favor of a
complete landmines ban, our country advocates a step-by-step advance to this
goal. As you well understand, joining such an important document requires that
all states should perform all commitments on its implementation immediately and
unconditionally. Together with this, being a young state with a transitional
economy... Kyrgyzstan has no right to charge itself with the admittedly
unfulfilled tasks, and first of all from the military, financial and technical
points of view.... I would like to underline that the world free from mines
remains our common goal. As we repeatedly say the way to its achievement should
be for Kyrgyzstan realistic, step-by-step, providing the support of the
necessary level of security and
stability.”[3 ]
Following the election-related mass protests in March 2005, President Askar
Akaev resigned and a provisional government was installed. In May 2005, a
Foreign Ministry official told Landmine Monitor that the issue of joining the
Mine Ban Treaty will receive in-depth study by the new government due to the
changed circumstances.[4 ]A new
government headed by President Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected and took office in
August 2005.
Kyrgyzstan attended the meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees
in Geneva in June 2005, but did not make any statements. In a meeting with the
ICBL, Ambassador Muktar Jumaliev stated that lack of resources for mine
clearance was the main concern for
Kyrgyzstan.[5 ]
Kyrgyzstan is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons or its
Amended Protocol II on landmines.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
Kyrgyzstan states that it has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines,
but inherited a stockpile of mines from the Soviet
Union.[6 ]In May 2005, a
knowledgeable military source indicated that the Ministry of Defense stockpiles
several tens of thousands of PMN and OZM-72 antipersonnel mines, and the
Frontier Troops stockpile some 1,000 to 2,000 antipersonnel mines. The shelf
life for most if not all of these mines has expired, and consideration is being
given to a destruction program.[7 ]
Kyrgyzstan has acknowledged that it used antipersonnel mines in 1999 and
2000 to prevent infiltration across its borders, but maintains that these areas
have since been demined.[8 ]According to the Ministry of Defense, Kyrgyz troops have not used
landmines on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border since that
time.[9 ]
It appears that criminal elements and drug smugglers in Kyrgyzstan also
possess antipersonnel mines. An unknown number of mines were seized during the
Kanal-2004 anti-drug operations, conducted by Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies in
September 2004.[10]
Landmine and UXO Problem
In 1999 and 2000, Uzbekistan laid antipersonnel mines on the border with
Kyrgyzstan to prevent incursions by an armed opposition group. Kyrgyz
authorities estimated that about 42 kilometers of the 1,300 kilometer border
were mined.[11 ]Uzbekistan also
laid minefields inside Kyrgyzstan around the Uzbek enclaves of Sokh and
Shakhimardan, and on other border areas. The Parliamentary Security Committee
estimates that the minefields around the Sokh and Shakhimardan enclaves are
about 250 meters wide and contain a high density of mines (about 2,000 to 3,000
mines per kilometer).[12]
The border with Tajikistan was previously mined. Although Kyrgyz officials
have stated, in July 2003 and again in February 2004, that all Kyrgyz-laid
landmines on the border have been
cleared,[13 ]April 2004 press
reports suggested that Kyrgyz mines remained on the Tajik side of the border and
Tajik inspectors reported finding antipersonnel minefields near the
border.[14 ]
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) is found at a former military training ground in
Kadamjai region of Batken district, where two people were killed by UXO in May
2005.[15 ]Seven live mines were
subsequently discovered at the training ground, and the Ministry of Defense
informed Landmine Monitor that it planned to conduct mine clearance there
“in the near
future.”[16 ]
Mine Action
A decree issued on 7 June 2001 forms the legal basis for mine clearance in
Kyrgyzstan. Mine clearance is carried out by engineering forces of the Kyrgyz
Army; additional engineering personnel were deployed in
2001.[17]
Kyrgyzstan has stated since 2003 that minefield-marking and clearance of the
Kyrgyz-Uzbek border will be resumed when the commission on delimiting the border
has completed its work. In May 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that
the commission had been working for more than two years, and acknowledged that
some of the disputed territory is
mine-affected.[18]According to a
Kyrgyz official, the failure to mark mined areas is due to lack of funding and
the failure by the Uzbek authorities to provide maps of the
minefields.[19 ]Uzbek clearance of
the border reportedly ceased in November 2004, after encountering difficulties
of terrain, weather and unreliable
maps.[20 ]
According to media reports, Uzbekistan completed mine clearance around the
Uzbek-populated Shakhimardan enclave inside Kyrgyzstan in 2004; the mined areas
were reported to be about three kilometers in
length.[21 ]In March 2005, a note
about the outcome of the clearance operations was reported as submitted by the
Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the government of
Kyrgyzstan.[22 ]
The Red Crescent Society in Kyrgyzstan continues a mine risk education (MRE)
program, in coordination with the Ministry of Emergency Situations, in seven
villages in the mine-affected zone of Batken oblast. Red Crescent volunteers
conducted MRE trainings for adults and schoolchildren. The program, established
in 2003, continued in 2004 and during
2005.[23]
Landmine/UXO Casualties and Survivor Assistance
In 2004 and early 2005, there were no known reports of new landmine
casualties in Kyrgyzstan. One Kyrgyz civilian was killed in a mine explosion in
2003.[24]
On 10 May 2005, two children, aged 17 and 14, were killed as a result of a
UXO explosion on a military training ground near their home in the Batken
region.[25]
The total number of landmine casualties in Kyrgyzstan is not known.
According to the National Red Crescent Society, 12 landmine/UXO casualties have
occurred in Batken region since 1999; seven people were
killed.[26 ]However, according to
one media report, at least 11 Kyrgyz citizens have been killed in landmine
explosions since 1999.[27 ]
The public health system is free of charge in Kyrgyzstan. Landmine and UXO
casualties receive the same medical assistance as all other citizens. Mine/UXO
survivors requiring prosthetic or orthotic services must travel to the Dushanbe
Orthopedic Center in Tajikistan, as there are no facilities in Kyrgyzstan.
Psychological and socioeconomic support is often not available due to the
economic problems in the country. All civilians with a disability are protected
under common law.[28 ]
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report
2004, p. 1029.
[2 ]Kyrgyzstan voted in support of
pro-mine ban UNGA resolutions from 1996 to 1998.
[3 ]Statement by Talantbek
Kushchubekov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nairobi Summit on a
Mine-Free World (First Review Conference), Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[4 ]Interview with Erkin Mamkulov,
First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bishkek, 12 May 2005. He said that
representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Security Council, Ministry
of Defense and Frontier Troops would meet in the near term regarding the issue
of joining the treaty.
[5 ]Email from Amb. Satnam Singh,
ICBL Diplomatic Advisor, 28 June 2005.
[6 ]Statement by Talantbek
Kushchubekov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, First Review Conference,
Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[7 ]Interview with confidential
military source, Bishkek, May 2005.
[8 ]Statement by Talantbek
Kushchubekov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mine Ban Treaty
intersessional meetings, Geneva, 12 February 2004.
[9 ]Interview with Col. Daniyar
Izbasarov, Director, Engineering Department, Ministry of Defense, Bishkek, 19
August 2005.
[10]“Kyrgyz operation
seizes over 130 kg of heroin, 50 kg of opium,” Kyrgyz TV (Bishkek),
28 September 2004.
[11 ]“Uzbekistan stopped
demining on Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in unilateral character,” 9 November 2004,
www.kyrgyzinfo.kg/; “Demining
alone: Uzbekistan clears mines from Kyrgyz-Uzbek border without agreement with
neighbor,” 24 August 2004, www.dw-world.de.
[12]Sultan Zhimagulov (Bishkek)
and Olga Borisova (Tashkent), “Kyrgyzstan Tries to Defend Itself from
Uzbek Mines,” Navigator (Kazakhstan), 14 March 2003, www.navi.kz/articles/2878. [13 ]Interview with Col. Daniyar
Izbasarov, Ministry of Defense, Bishkek, 3 July 2003. The Ministry of Defense
reportedly said in 2001 that one remote minefield remained, which would be
demined in the future. Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 689. Statement
by Talantbek Kushchubekov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mine Ban
Treaty intersessional meetings, Geneva, 12 February 2004.
[14 ]“Mines make childhood
dangerous pastime in Tajikistan,” Agence France-Presse (Dushanbe),
24 April 2004; “Jordan’s Queen Noor attends mine-clearing drill in
Tajik south,” Tajik Radio, 16 April 2004.
[15 ]“Two more Kyrgyz
teenagers died in mine blast,” 11 May 2005, www.akipress.org.
[16 ]Interview with Col. Daniyar
Izbasarov, Ministry of Defense, Bishkek, 12 May 2005.
[17]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1031.
[18]Interview with Erkin
Mamkulov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bishkek, 12 May 2005; see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1031.
[19 ]Interview with Col. Daniyar
Izbasarov, Ministry of Defense, Bishkek, 10 May 2005.
[20 ]See report on Uzbekistan in
this edition of Landmine Monitor.
[21 ]“Uzbekistan completed
mine clearance on the border of Shakhimardan enclave,” 2 September 2004,
www.kyrgyzinfo.kg; “Uzbekistan
completed mine clearing around enclave Shakhimardan,” 3 March 2005,
www.CentrAsia.org/newsA.html4?st=1109847240.
[22 ]“Uzbekistan completed
mine clearing around enclave Shakhimardan,” 3 March 2005. The content of
the note is not known.
[23]Interview with Kyal Sabitov,
MRE Program Coordinator, Red Crescent Society, Batken, 5 May 2005. See
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1032.
[24]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1032.
[25]Interview with Kyal Sabitov,
Red Crescent Society, Batken, 1 September 2005; Makhamadjan Urumbaev, “Two
Teenagers Killed by Explosion,” Vecherny Bishkek, 12 May 2005.
[26 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1032.
[27 ]“Uzbekistan set to
demine borders with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,” Kazakh TV (Astana), 14
August 2004.
[28 ]See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, pp. 1032-1033.