Key developments since May 2004: Vice Prime Minister Saidamir Zuhurov
led Tajikistan’s delegation to the First Review Conference. In December
2004, Tajikistan voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 59/84
supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, after being the only State Party to abstain from
voting on similar resolutions the previous two years. Tajikistan initiated mine
clearance operations in its central region in June 2004. In August 2004,
general survey began in Sugd region in the north. In 2004 through May 2005,
only 56,900 square meters were cleared, including 252 mines and UXO. In May
2005, general survey was concluded in Tursunzade district—the first
assessment in the west of the country, close to the Uzbek border. In 2004,
Tajikistan received some US$2.45 million in mine action funding, which was a
significant increase. In 2005, UNICEF started a mine risk education project.
At the First Review Conference, Tajikistan was identified as one of 24 States
Parties with the greatest needs and responsibility to provide adequate survivor
assistance. In June 2005, as part of its commitment to the Nairobi Action Plan,
Tajikistan presented some of its objectives for the period 2005–2009 to
address the needs of mine survivors.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Tajikistan acceded to the Mine Ban
Treaty on 12 October 1999 and the treaty entered into force on 1 April 2000.
The government believes that comprehensive domestic implementation legislation
is unnecessary.[1] Tajikistan relies
on its criminal code to punish violations of the treaty. The code, adopted in
September 1998, imposes penalties for activities related to trafficking in
weapons and explosive material, including illegal acquisition, transfer, sale,
storage, transportation or carrying of explosive materials, and illegal
manufacturing of explosive materials or devices. Penalties for violations range
from three to 20 years of imprisonment.[2]
Tajikistan submitted its third Article 7 transparency report on 14 March
2005, covering calendar year 2004.[3]
It includes voluntary Form J with reporting on victim assistance and mine action
funding.
Vice Prime Minister Saidamir Zuhurov led Tajikistan’s delegation to the
First Review Conference in Nairobi in November-December 2004; he was one of the
highest level officials in attendance. In his speech to the plenary, Vice Prime
Minister Zuhurov stated that Tajikistan’s governmental coordinating
committee had approved a five-year strategic mine action plan for 2004-2008 at
its sixth meeting in April 2004.[4]
On 3 December 2004, Tajikistan voted in favor of UN General Assembly
Resolution 59/84, calling for universalization and full implementation of the
Mine Ban Treaty. In 2002 and 2003, Tajikistan was the only State Party to
abstain from voting on the annual pro-ban UNGA
resolution.[5]
Tajikistan attended the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in Geneva in
June 2005, where it made detailed presentations to the Standing Committee on
Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, and the
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration.
Tajikistan has not engaged in the extensive discussions that States Parties have
had on matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2 and
3. Thus, it has not made known its views on the issues of joint military
operations with non-States Parties, foreign stockpiling and transit of
antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling
devices, and the permissible number of mines retained for training. Tajik
officials have stated that their armed forces would refuse orders by Russian
forces to lay mines, and that Tajik forces are under a separate command and
control structure.[6]
Tajikistan acceded to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended
Protocol II on landmines in October 1999. It participated in the Sixth Annual
Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2004, but has
not submitted annual national reports as required under Article 13.
Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling and Destruction
Tajikistan reports that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel
mines.[7] The 1996 Law on Armaments
expressly regulates all issues related to the registration, shipment, transport,
acquisition, transfer, and storage of armaments and munitions on the territory
of Tajikistan.[8] The most recent use
of mines in Tajik territory occurred in 2000 and 2001, as Russian and Uzbek
forces placed mines at various border locations inside
Tajikistan.[9]
Tajikistan inherited a stockpile of 3,339 antipersonnel mines from the Soviet
Union. It provided details on the lot numbers, production locations and
manufacturing dates of the mines in its initial transparency
report.[10] It destroyed 3,084
antipersonnel mines between 5 May 2002 and 31 March 2004, finishing just ahead
of its treaty-mandated
deadline.[11]
Tajikistan reported that it retains 255 antipersonnel mines for training
purposes, in the absence of inert drill mines. It will retain these mines
through 2010 when their shelf life expires. The numbers and types of mines
retained are: POMZ-2M (100); PMN (50); OZM-72 (50); MON-100 (50); MON-200
(5).[12] The number of retained
mines has not changed since Tajikistan’s initial declaration in February
2003. Tajikistan has not yet reported in any detail on the intended purposes
and actual uses of its retained mines — a step agreed to by States Parties
in the Nairobi Action Plan that emerged from the First Review Conference.
Weapons, including mines, were widely dispersed
among the general population during the 1992-1997 civil war. There are
occasional media reports of the seizure or discovery of hidden depots of
firearms, explosives and munitions by Tajik forces. On 29 July 2004, Russian
border guards based in Tajikistan discovered a large ammunition cache along the
Tajik-Afghan border, containing antipersonnel mines and other types of
explosives.[13]
Russian Stockpiles
Tajikistan was the first State Party to declare the antipersonnel mines
stockpiled by a non-State Party on its territory. It reported that
approximately 18,200 antipersonnel mines of various types are stockpiled with
Russian Ministry of Defense units deployed in
Tajikistan.[14] These stockpiles
are not under the jurisdiction or control of
Tajikistan.[15] In each of its
Article 7 reports, Tajikistan has reported that intergovernmental talks were
underway to clarify and complete data collection regarding these Russian
mines.[16]
Landmine and UXO Problem
Tajikistan is contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) as a
result of civil war in 1992-1997 and mine-laying inside its border by Russian
and Uzbek forces. Minefields from the civil war are concentrated in the central
region and in the western part of Gorno Badakhshan. Records of some minefields
laid by government forces during the civil war exist, as do records of mines
laid by Russian forces on the border with Afghanistan. However, heavy
snowfalls, avalanches, rock and mud slides make locating those mined areas very
difficult.[17] Mines laid by
Uzbekistan in 1999-2001 affect Tajik territory in its northern Sugd region.
Mines laid by Russian Border Forces along the border with Afghanistan affect
fewer people as the population is sparse.
It is unclear whether there are still mines along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
In July 2003, a Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense official said all Kyrgyz-laid
landmines on the border had been
cleared.[18] In April 2004,
however, press reports suggested that there were still landmines on the Tajik
side of the border that had been emplaced by Kyrgyz
troops.[19] The same month, Tajik
inspectors reported finding antipersonnel minefields near the border, although
it was not clear which country had laid the
mines.[20]
It was expected that in January 2005 the Tajik Mine Action Cell would publish
a report on mine contamination based on general survey and clearance since
August 2003.[21] As of August 2005,
however, the report had not been published.
Mine Action Program
The Tajik Mine Action Cell (TMAC), established in June 2003 with support from
the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is an executive agency of the governmental
Commission on the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law (CIIHL). It
is mandated to carry out mine-related activities, coordinate the work of other
ministries, departments and local authorities, as well as other bodies such as
local and international NGOs.[22]
TMAC is responsible for the planning and coordination of all mine action
activities in Tajikistan, including assessment, technical survey, marking and
clearance of mined areas, together with mine risk education and elements of
victim assistance.[23] UNDP
continues to provide technical advice and funds to train staff and equip
TMAC.[24]
At the First Review Conference, Tajikistan’s Vice Prime Minister
Saidamir Zuhurov announced that, “CIIHL approved a five-year strategic
mine action plan for 2004-2008 at its sixth meeting in April
2004.”[25] The plan aims to
eliminate all mine incidents and ensure that economic activity and development
projects are not impeded by landmines or UXO. Specific objectives include:
a general assessment of affected communities on the border with Uzbekistan
and in Sugd region;
assess the extent of mine-contaminated areas on the border with Afghanistan
progressively, as responsibility is handed over by Russian border troops;
continue technical survey in the central region;
mark mine-affected areas on the border with Uzbekistan;
carry out mine risk education in concert with technical survey and mine
clearance efforts;
by 2006, expand survey and clearance capacity to six survey teams, four
manual clearance teams and four mine detection dog
teams.[26]
The mine action plan is partly integrated into Tajikistan’s national
development plan, the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper.[27] Vice Prime Minister
Zuhurov noted that in order to implement its demining program, Tajikistan needed
financial support of some $9 million. He promised that Tajikistan would speed
up visa procedures and customs clearance, provide maps and premises for
training, and exemption from all
taxes.[28]
TMAC’s work is guided by the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS,
10 series). Implementing bodies, local state bodies, private companies, NGOs
and the population of mine-affected areas are said to be consulted and involved
in mine action planning.[29]
TMAC uses the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database,
which includes information gathered by general survey and clearance operations
in order to prioritize tasks for clearance based on the humanitarian and
socioeconomic impact of mined areas on local
populations.[30] IMSMA data is also
used by mine action operators in
Tajikistan.[31]
Survey and Assessment
In August 2004 a survey team commenced general survey in Sugd region. This
was completed by mid-2005, despite delays caused by bad weather and late
financing.[32] In May 2005, general
survey was carried out in Tursunzade district, in western Tajikistan, some 65
kilometers from the capital Dushanbe. TMAC intends to carry out a general
survey of its southern border, as soon as responsibility has been handed over by
the Russian forces.[33]
Mine and UXO Clearance
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Tajikistan must destroy all
antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as
possible, but not later than 1 April 2010.
The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) started survey and clearance
operations in June 2004 in the Rasht Valley and Tavildara districts of the
central region, after re-training of TMAC personnel by FSD officers. By
September 2005, two new clearance teams had been created to speed up operations.
There are four clearance teams and two survey
teams.[34] From June 2004 to May
2005, 56,900 square meters of land were cleared, destroying 252 mines and
UXO.[35]
In 2004, two clearance teams were deployed close to Garm in the Rasht Valley
and Vanj in Gorno Badakhshan autonomous oblast. The teams at Garm were faced
with the primary task of repairing minefield marking that had been damaged or
removed during the winter period. They have since commenced clearance
activities. The team in Vanj started work on a new clearance task in May-June
2004.[36]
Clearance was also undertaken on the Tajik-Afghan border near Kumsangir from
August 2004. The territory (2,178 square meters) adjacent to a water pipe was
cleared to permit the pipe to be replaced, giving year-round water supply to
30,000 local people.[37]
In 2004, as TMAC clearance teams were not available at the time, military
forces located and cleared 69 mines adjacent to a construction camp on the
Shagon to Zigor road construction project. When completed, the road will
provide year-round access to Gorno
Badakhshan.[38]
FSD reported that mine action activities in Tajikistan are very dependent on
weather conditions and mountainous terrain, which prevent teams operating until
May each year. FSD had only been able to deploy operationally for eight months
of 2004.[39]
At a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), in Vienna on 11 June 2004, the Uzbek Defense Minister, Kodir Ghulomov,
announced that his country was ready to consider the issue of demining its
borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. As of May 2005, according to a Tajik
official, there was no evidence that Uzbekistan had started mine clearance on
the borders.[40]
Under an agreement with UNDP, since March 2004 and continuing in 2005, France
has provided two military instructors to assist FSD with the training and
supervision of two survey and clearance teams, and two emergency response
teams.[41] Two other emergency
response teams have been deployed on general survey in the Direct Rule District
and Khatlon region, also carrying out explosive ordnance disposal.
There were no reports of demining accidents in 2004 or 2005 through
May.[42]
Mine Risk Education
Mine risk education (MRE) programs are coordinated through TMAC. The IMAS
for MRE have not been applied and there are no national MRE
standards.[43]
MRE programs seek to target schoolchildren, shepherds and those living in
rural areas.[44] The Ministry of
Education has started incorporating MRE into school
activities.[45] MRE activities
focus on 13 districts: six in Sugd region, six in the Rasht valley and one in
Tursunzoda.[46] Programming is said
to require strengthening, in particular in Sugd province along the Tajik-Uzbek
border, due to the rate of ongoing
casualties.[47] Most of the
casualties were either grazing cattle or collecting firewood when the incident
occurred.[48]
Organizations undertaking MRE programs during the reporting period included
the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan, which continued an MRE program initiated
in 2001 with the support of ICRC, and also UNICEF, which initiated support to
MRE in May 2005 through a pilot project in Rasht district.
[49]
Regional Red Cross committees are involved in MRE in 13 districts, managed by
a Dushanbe-based coordinator and assistant. Schools in affected areas have had
one or two teachers trained by Red Cross volunteers; a teaching guide was being
prepared during 2005 in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. Community
meetings and trainings have been held, posters and games distributed, and mine
signs erected in schools, teahouses, government offices and
mosques.[50]
UNICEF initiated an MRE program in Tajikistan in 2005, holding an MRE
workshop in Rasht on 15–23 August 2005. Participants included teachers,
school inspectors, representatives of youth committees from the at-risk areas of
Rasht, Tavildara, Darvoz and Vanj, and representatives of the Red Crescent,
TMAC, Ministry of Education, ICRC and
FSD.[51]
During 2004, the TMAC MRE program reportedly received funding from the US
Department of State ($40,000) and UNDP ($50,000) to put up around 2,000 mine
warning signs along the Uzbek-Tajik
border.[52] The UNDP and US
Ambassador to Tajikistan visited the Khujand Prison Workshop to supervise the
production of the 2,032 mine warning signs on 2 December 2004. It was initially
thought that, subject to weather conditions, all the signs would be in place by
the end of March 2005.[53] As of
April 2005, this had been partially completed, with the remainder waiting the
thawing of mountain snow. The signs are not to be placed all the way along the
border, but only placed jointly by border guards and the local population in the
most affected areas. Japan has provided $30,000 for making and putting up 800
warning signs for the southern
regions.[54]
In April 2005, TMAC announced it would seek to make a mine action film for
MRE purposes, focusing on the problems caused to the civilian population due to
the presence of mines.[55]
Funding and Assistance
For 2004, Tajikistan reports that it received US$2.3 million from seven
countries, UNDP and OSCE.[56]
Landmine Monitor identified funding of $2,498,478 for mine action in Tajikistan
contributed by seven donor countries and the European Commission (EC) in
2004:
In 2005, Tajikistan needed $3.7 million for mine action, according to the
five-year action plan.[64]
Landmine Casualties
In 2004, TMAC recorded 14 new mine casualties, including seven people killed
and seven injured; 13 casualties were recorded in Sugd
region.[65] In 2003, 12 new mine
casualties were recorded, including six people killed and six
injured.[66]
In March 2004, an Uzbek paratrooper was injured when he accidentally landed
in a minefield on the Tajik side of the
border.[67]
Casualties continued to be reported in 2005 with four people killed and 10
injured to 30 April. Of the total casualties in 2004 and 2005, only two were
military personnel; five children were killed and six injured.
In the past no information has been available on landmine casualties on the
Tajik-Afghanistan border. However, in April 2005, a Tajik shepherd reportedly
lost his arm when a mine exploded near him in the Badakhshan region on the
border with Afghanistan.[68]
TMAC collects data on mine casualties in Tajikistan, in cooperation with the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Red Crescent Society of
Tajikistan (RCST), by requesting information from official sources and
questioning people in mine-affected communities. TMAC started gathering data on
mine casualties in 2003.
The total number of mine casualties in Tajikistan is not known. As of 28
April 2005, TMAC’s IMSMA database contained records on 470 mine
casualties, including 239 people killed and 231 injured since 1992 in
Tajik-Uzbek border communities.
Survivor Assistance
At the First Review Conference in Nairobi, Tajikistan was identified as one
of 24 States Parties with significant numbers of mine survivors, and with
“the greatest responsibility to act, but also the greatest needs and
expectations for assistance” in providing adequate services for the care,
rehabilitation and reintegration of
survivors.[69]
Tajikistan submitted the voluntary Form J with its annual Article 7 Report to
report on survivor assistance activities and other
issues.[70]
In June 2005, as part of its commitment to the Nairobi Action Plan,
Tajikistan presented some of its objectives for the period 2005 to 2009 to
address the needs of mine survivors, which include: creating an accurate
database on mine casualties and developing a nationwide injury surveillance
mechanism; reducing deaths and minimizing physical impairments in mine incidents
by improving emergency response capabilities; providing quality physical
rehabilitation services for amputees; strengthening the capacity of the
orthopedic center through training and the recruitment of more rehabilitation
specialists; providing psychosocial support to assist survivors to live with
their disability; assisting mine survivors to return to their pre-injury
employment, or prepare for and find suitable employment; implement and enforce
laws and public policies to guarantee the rights of mine survivors and other
persons with disabilities.[71]
The Five Year Strategic Mine Action Plan 2004-2008 acknowledges TMAC’s
role in mine victim assistance, which includes ensuring that information is
passed to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MoLSP) so that mine
survivors receive the appropriate treatment and rehabilitation, and encouraging
the establishment of an Advisory Committee to assist the MoLSP to improve the
provision of physical rehabilitation and psychosocial support for mine
survivors. The plan also includes the priority of ensuring that mine survivors
have equal access to employment and educational
opportunities.[72]
Mine casualties have the same rights to free medical services as the rest of
the population in Tajikistan. There are health facilities in the mine-affected
areas, but some are reportedly run down or not functioning. Casualties are
transferred to the nearest hospital or clinic, by ambulance if one is available.
The typical time between injury and reaching medical care ranges from 30 minutes
to three hours, depending on where the incident occurred. The Ministry of
Health has no healthcare workers trained in emergency response in the
mine-affected areas. Seven medical staff have been trained within the mine
action program to provide first-aid to mine casualties. There are trauma
specialists in Tajikistan; however, they lack training in the latest
developments in trauma care. Ongoing medical care is available; however, due to
difficulties in accessing services, and the lack of equipment and training of
medical personnel, the services do not meet the needs of mine casualties and
survivors.[73]
In early 2005, the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) conducted a
six-week training course for Tajik deminers on providing first aid to mine
casualties.[74]
ICRC, in collaboration with MoLSP and RCST, jointly run the Dushanbe
Orthopedic Center, the only center providing physical rehabilitation and
prostheses in Tajikistan. The government of Tajikistan is taking over more of
the costs of running the center in accordance with the ICRC exit strategy. RCST
coordinates an outreach program which provides transport to the center,
accommodation during treatment, and follow-up for amputees from remote areas.
In 2004, the Dushanbe center assisted 755 people, produced 358 prostheses (37
for mine survivors), 209 orthoses and 354 crutches, and distributed 11
wheelchairs.[75] Mine survivors and
other persons with disabilities from Sugd region reportedly face difficulties
accessing the Dushanbe center due to the cost of purchasing passports to enable
them to travel through Uzbekistan to reach the
capital.[76] The orthopedic
technicians and physiotherapists at the center receive on-the-job training by
ICRC. Four prosthetics technicians were trained in Yerevan, Armenia, to ISPO
Category II standards. MoLSP also runs satellite orthopedic centers in Khujand
(in the north), Kulob (in the center) and Khorog (in the southeast); however,
these centers reportedly lack
capacity.[77] In 2004, the
government allocated $190,000 for activities at the orthopedic centers; $235,000
is allocated for 2005. On 15 December 2004, MoLSP and UNDP reached an agreement
on ongoing financial support to the Dushanbe orthopedic center in 2005; UNDP and
Italy will provide $34,000 to support the cost of transport and accommodation
for people visiting the center.[78]
There are no trained specialists in psychological support in the hospitals or
clinics that treat mine survivors, or peer support groups. Child mine survivors
have access to the education system; however, teachers are not trained in the
special needs of children with a disability. Tajikistan acknowledges the need
to develop psychosocial support
programs.[79]
Access to employment by landmine survivors is exacerbated by high
unemployment in Tajikistan. On 26 January 2005, within the framework of an
agreement between UNDP and RCST, a new program was initiated to facilitate
access to income generation opportunities for mine survivors in six districts,
including three in Sugd district and three in Rasht valley; 72 families will
benefit from the project. Under the program, survivors will be provided with
two sheep or goats for their future use or benefit. The budget is
$20,000.[80]
The Center for Training and Reintegration of Former Military Personnel
promotes economic reintegration of ex-combatants, including mine survivors.
Occupational rehabilitation of other persons with disabilities is also carried
out in a special residential school in
Dushanbe.[81]
[1] Email from Peter Isaacs, UNDP
Chief Technical Advisor, Tajik Mine Action Cell (TMAC), 15 September 2004. The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has offered to provide guidance
on the introduction of comprehensive legislation.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form A, 14
March 2005.
[3] Tajikistan submitted its
initial Article 7 report on 3 February 2003, covering calendar year 2002. The
report had been due on 28 September 2000. It submitted its second report on 4
February 2004, covering calendar year 2003.
[4] Statement by Vice Prime
Minister Saidamir Zuhurov, Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World (First Review
Conference), Nairobi, 2 December 2004.
[5] Tajikistan has had an uneven
record with respect to the annual pro-ban UNGA resolutions. It voted in favor
in 1996, abstained in 1997 and 1998, voted in favor in 1999, and was absent in
2000 and 2001.
[6] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, Deputy Head of the Board of the Constitutional Guarantees of Citizens
Rights, Executive Board of the President, Geneva, 13 May 2003.
[7] Article 7 Report, Forms E and
H, 3 February 2003.
[8] Article 7 Report, Form A, 3
February 2003.
[9] Article 7 Report, Form C, 3
February 2003. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 790.
[10] Article 7 Report, Form B, 3
February 2003.
[11] Article 7 Report, Form G, 14
March 2005. The text in Forms A, D and F cites a total of 3,029 mines
destroyed, but the detailed listing in Form G adds to 3,084. This includes:
1,591 POMZ-2; 633 PMN; 436 OZM-72; 424 MON-100 mines.
[12] Article 7 Reports, Form C, 3
February 2003 and 14 March 2005.
[13] “Russian troops find
large arms cache on Tajik-Afghan border,” Asia-Plus (Dushanbe), 29
July 2004.
[14] Article 7 Report, Form B, 3
February 2003.
[15] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, Deputy Head of the Board of the Constitutional Guarantees of Citizens
Rights, Executive Board of the President, Geneva, 5 February 2003.
[16] Article 7 Reports, Form B, 3
February 2003, 4 February 2004 and 14 March 2005.
[17] Email from Peter Isaacs,
UNDP Chief Technical Advisor, TMAC, 15 September 2004; “Tajik-Uzbek border
mine problem ‘alarming’ – clearance specialist,” BBC
Monitoring Central Asia (Dushanbe), 11 September 2003; “Mines make
childhood dangerous pastime in Tajikistan,” Agence France-Presse
(Dushanbe), 24 April 2004.
[18] Interview with Col. Daniyr
Izbasarov, Director, Engineer Department, Kyrgyz 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. See Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 689.
[19] “Mines make childhood
dangerous pastime in Tajikistan,” Agence France-Presse (Dushanbe),
24 April 2004.
[20]“Jordan’s Queen
Noor attends mine-clearing drill in Tajik south,” Tajik Radio, 16
April 2004.
[21] Information provided to
Landmine Monitor by Peter Isaacs, TMAC, 15 September 2004.
[22] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, Manager, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005; Article 7 Report, Form A, 4
February 2004.
[23] Email from Peter Isaacs,
TMAC, 15 September 2004.
[24] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[25] Statement by Vice Prime
Minister Saidamir Zuhurov, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 2 December
2004.
[26] UN, Final Report, First
Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of
the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on
Their Destruction, Nairobi, 29 November-3 December 2004, APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9
February 2005, pp. 64–65.
[27] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[28] Statement by Vice Prime
Minister Saidamir Zuhurov, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 2 December
2004.
[29] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[30] Remarks by database
operator, TMAC, at stakeholder’s meeting, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[31] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May 2005.
[32] Interviews with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April and 12 September 2005.
[33] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May 2005.
[34] Email from Peter Isaacs,
TMAC, 15 September 2004; interview with Jonmahmad Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 12
September 2005.
[35] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May 2005.
[36] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May 2005.
[37] Interviews with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May and 12 September 2005.
[38] Interviews with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May and 12 September 2005.
[39] See www.fsd.ch, accessed on
30 July 2005.
[40] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[41] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 792.
[42] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 25 May 2005.
[43] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[44] Interview with Azam
Salokhov, MRE coordinator of RCST, Dushanbe, 29 April 2005.
[45] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 14 June 2005.
[46] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005. The 13 districts are Asht, Isfara,
Kanibadam, Pyanjakent, Taboshar, Shahriston, Nurabad, Rasht, Jirgital,
Tajikobod, Darvoz, Vanch and Tursunzoda.
[47] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 14 June 2005.
[48] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[49] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 14 June 2005; minutes of the Mine Action Donors’
Consultative Committee, TMAC, Dushanbe, 21 April 2005.
[50] Interview with Azam
Salokhov, MRE coordinator of RCST, Dushanbe, 29 April 2005.
[51] Email from Julie Myers,
Project Officer, Landmines and Small Arms, UNICEF, 6 September 2005.[52] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 14 June 2005. However, the US Department of State reports
only $7,000 funding to Tajikistan for mine action in 2004.
[53] Mine Action Support Group,
Newsletter, January 2005, p. 51.
[54] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action
Technologies, Geneva, 14 June 2005.
[55] Minutes of the Mine Action
Donors’ Consultative Committee, TMAC, Dushanbe, 21 April 2005.
[56] Article 7 Report, Form J, 14
March 2005.
[57] UNDP, “Funding Update
by Donors,” www.undp.org, accessed 22
August 2005. Canada did not include this donation in its Article 7 report or in
its funding report to Landmine Monitor.
[58] EC, “Contribution to
the Landmine Monitor 2005,” email from Nicola Marcel, RELEX Unit 3a
Security Policy, European Commission, 19 July 2005. Average exchange rate for
2004: €1 = $1.2438, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve,
“List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.
[59] Email from Amb. Gerard
Chesnel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2005; email exchanges with Anne
Villeneuve, Handicap International, July-August 2005.
[60] Mine Action Investments
database; emails from Manfredo Capozza, Humanitarian Demining Advisor, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, June-July 2005.
[61] Email from Kitagawa Yasu,
Japanese International Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL), 10 August 2005, with
translation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs information sent to JCBL on 11 May
2005. Average exchange rate for 2004: ¥108.15 = US$1. US Federal Reserve,
“List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.
[62] UNDP, “Funding Update
by Donors,” www.undp.org, accessed 22
August 2005. UK did not include this donation in its Article 7 report or in its
funding report to Landmine Monitor.
[63] USG Historical Chart
containing data for FY 2004, by email from Angela L. Jeffries, Financial
Management Specialist, US Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military
Affairs, 20 July 2005.
[64] Interview with Jonmahmad
Rajabov, TMAC, Dushanbe, 24 May 2005.
[65] Unless otherwise stated all
information in this section provided at interview with Jonmahmad Rajabov, TMAC,
Dushanbe, 28 April 2005.
[66] TMAC, “Information
about mine victims among the population of Republic of Tajikistan for the period
till 20.1.05.”
[67] “23 Uzbek paratroopers
land in Tajikistan; one wounded by landmines,” Associated Press
(Dushanbe), 25 March 2004.
[68] “Demining delayed due
to lack of money,” IRIN (Dushanbe), 26 April 2005.
[69] United Nations, Final
Report, First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines and on Their Destruction, Nairobi, 29 November–3 December 2004,
APLC/CONF/2004/5, 9 February 2005, p. 33.
[70] Article 7, Form J, 14 March
2005.
[71] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 17 June 2005; response by Tajikistan to the co-chairs of the Standing
Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration Questionnaire,
June 2005 [hereinafter, SC-VA Questionnaire].
[72] Commission on Implementation
of International Humanitarian Law, “Five Year Strategic Plan:
2004–2008,” Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.
[73] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 17 June 2005; SC-VA Questionnaire, June 2005; see also Landmine
Monitor Report 2004, p. 795.
[74] “Donors meet to
discuss landmines,” IRIN (Dushanbe), 21 April 2005; “Mine
Action Donors’ Consultative Committee,” minutes of meeting held at
TMAC, Dushanbe, on 21 April 2005.
[75] Response to Landmine Monitor
Survivor Assistance Questionnaire by George Gridillian, Ortho Project Manager
Assistant, Dushanbe Orthopedic Center, 30 May 2005; see also ICRC Physical
Rehabilitation Program, “Annual Report 2004,” Geneva, July 2005, pp.
31-32.
[76] “Mine Action
Donors’ Consultative Committee,” minutes of the meeting held at
TMAC, Dushanbe, on 21 April 2005.
[77] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 17 June 2005; SC-VA Questionnaire, June 2005.
[78] Article 7, Form J, 14 March
2005.
[79] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 17 June 2005; SC-VA Questionnaire, June 2005.
[80] Presentation by Tajikistan,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration,
Geneva, 17 June 2005; SC-VA Questionnaire, June 2005; Article 7, Form J, 14
March 2005; “Mine Action Donors’ Consultative Committee,”
minutes of the meeting held at TMAC, Dushanbe, on 21 April 2005.
[81] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 796.
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