Contamination and Impact

Mines

Tajikistan is contaminated by mines and other ordnance, although the precise extent of contamination remains to be determined. Tajikistan is contaminated with landmines as a result of civil war in 1992–1997 and mine-laying along its borders by Russian and Uzbek forces. In 2004, a mine threat along the border with Kyrgyzstan was also reported,[1] although re-survey operations did not find any contamination.[2]

A major mine threat appears to be along Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan. Russian forces emplaced mines on the Tajik-Afghan border in 1992–1998 to protect the border and their border posts from armed groups attempting to enter Tajikistan from Afghanistan.[3] Minefield records provided by Russia identified 607 mined areas covering an approximate area of 8.57km² and containing more than 260,000 antipersonnel mines. During non-technical survey operations conducted by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) in 2009, it was found that most of the minefields had been destroyed due to flooding of the Panj river and others were destroyed when the mines’ self-destruction system activated.[4] As of the end of 2009, 217 mined areas covering some 8.5km² were reported to remain in Tajikistan.[5]

As of the end of 2009, non-technical survey of suspected mine contamination in Central region, 95% of which has been completed, reportedly confirmed 243 mined areas covering some 11km² in total.[6]

A further 57 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) along the Uzbek border have not yet been re-surveyed.[7] No date has been set for the re-survey given outstanding border issues between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.[8] Uzbekistan has claimed that 95% of its minefields along the border with Tajikistan have been demined, but Tajikistan earlier stated that mine records were not provided by its neighbor.[9] Three percent of the border between the two countries has still to be delineated.[10]

Cluster munition remnants

There is also said to be a residual threat from cluster munition remnants, particularly in Central region, although the precise location and extent of contamination is not known.[11] In 2008, clearance operations included the destruction of 66 unexploded submunitions.[12] In 2007, the Tajikistan Mine Action Center (TMAC) found unexploded submunitions in the town of Gharm in the Rasht valley.[13]

Other explosive remnants of war

The extent of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination is similarly not known, and may include UXO from Ministry of Defense training exercises.[14] In accordance with Protocol V on explosive remnants of war of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, Tajikistan plans to conduct a specialized survey to identify and record all areas contaminated with UXO or abandoned explosive ordnance.[15]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The CIIHL is Tajikistan’s national mine action authority. The CIIHL is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for Security.[16] During 2009, the CIIHL met only once to discuss its 2008 annual report, and to approve the annual plan for 2009 and Tajikistan’s Article 5 deadline extension request.[17]

TMAC was established on 20 June 2003 and functions as an executive body of the CIIHL in accordance with an agreement between Tajikistan and UNDP. TMAC is responsible for the coordination and monitoring of all mine action activities in Tajikistan. TMAC also develops the national mine action plan and standards, tasks operations, and presents certificates of cleared sites to local authorities.[18] As of April 2010, the government of Tajikistan was considering changing TMAC’s status to make it a fully national body and a distinct legal entity, either under the government or directly under the President.[19]

In 2006, a national mine action strategy was formulated for 2006–2010 and approved by the government.^[20] In December 2009, UNDP contracted a consultant to develop the new national mine action strategy for 2010–2015.^[21] As of April 2010, the strategy was not yet approved.^[22] TMAC was waiting for its status to be clarified before finalizing it and obtaining government approval.^[23]

Since its establishment, TMAC has operated with UNDP support, including chief technical advisors (CTA) from 2003 to 2007. At the end of 2007, the CTA position was ended, and since March 2008, a local project analyst has been employed to support TMAC’s director with planning, resource mobilization, and treaty reporting obligations. However, in order to train the project analyst, an institutional capacity development consultant was hired for six months (April–September 2008). TMAC is gradually taking over full responsibility as the sole mine action entity in Tajikistan. UNDP has also played an important role mobilizing donor resources for mine action.[24]

FSD has been the sole international demining operator in Tajikistan for many years, but as of June 2010, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was preparing to launch a demining program in the second half of the year.[25]

Program evaluations

UNDP conducted an evaluation in 2008 that concluded that the Tajik government had limited ownership of the mine action program. It noted little or no government funding, and alleged insufficient discussion with donors.[26] The evaluation also criticized a lack of government ownership, as well as the lack of a long-term explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) capacity, poor access to external technical assistance, and deteriorating relations with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.[27] For its part, TMAC believes that over the past three years it has promoted greater national ownership of mine action and supported its integration into the government’s development plan.[28]

In September–October 2009, as a follow-up to the 2008 evaluation, UNDP conducted a feasibility study on the development of an EOD capacity within the Committee of Emergency Situations (CoES) that will ensure a residual clearance capacity after the closure of the mine action program.[29] The study recommended the project continue, and trainings with UNDP support began in 2009 for four CoES regional centers, including 684 CoES volunteers.[30] A further UNDP mission was conducted from 12 November to 11 December 2009.[31] The report on the mission recommended that TMAC be given official status through a decree issued by competent national authorities.[32]

In October 2009, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) conducted an evaluation of FSD’s mine action program in Tajikistan at the request of the German Federal Foreign Office.[33] As of June 2010, the results of the evaluation were not publicly available.

Land Release

Survey in 2009 cancelled or released 5.6km² compared to almost 25km² in 2008. Based on TMAC data, mine clearance also reduced significantly, from 0.74km² in 2008 to 0.16km² in 2009.[34] No battle area clearance (BAC) was conducted in 2009 because of a lack of tasks,[35] compared to 0.16km² in 2008.

Five-year summary of land release

Survey in 2009

Both technical and non-technical survey is conducted to support land release in Tajikistan. FSD has three dedicated non-technical survey teams, and its nine multipurpose demining teams are trained and equipped to also conduct technical survey.[36] Results in 2009 by FSD’s teams are included in the table below.

In 2009, FSD’s non-technical survey teams identified new SHAs along the Afghanistan border in areas of Tajikistan that had not been surveyed in previous years.[37]

Non-technical survey in 2009[38]

Mine clearance in 2009

As of the end of 2009, the program’s mine clearance capacity consisted of FSD’s nine multipurpose demining teams (nine deminers and a team leader in each team) and five mine detection dog (MDD) teams (two dogs per team).[39] FSD has been clearing mined areas primarily along the Afghanistan border.[40]

In April 2010, the United States provided the Ministry of Defense with a Mini MineWolf demining machine. In 2009, the Ministry of Defense established one multipurpose humanitarian demining team, which started operations in late November. The team consisted of one team leader, two section leaders, 10 deminers (five each in two sections), and support staff.[41]

Mine clearance in 2009[42]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the 10-year extension granted at the Second Review Conference in 2009, Tajikistan is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2020.

In general, mine clearance has proceeded slowly, with a total of only some 2km² cleared in the last five years, and operations were only initiated several years after Tajikistan became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Furthermore, Tajikistan has still to establish the full extent of mine contamination, although re-survey has clarified the mine threat on the border with Afghanistan.

In 2009, operations continued to progress, albeit at a slow pace. Much of the contamination is located in the mountains, which makes operations difficult, and severe weather in some areas restricts operations to only three or four months a year.[43] In 2009, for example, mine clearance operations started only in April.[44]

New national and international capacity should speed up land release significantly, and should enable Tajikistan to fulfill its Article 5 obligations well before the 2020 deadline.

Clearance of cluster munition contaminated area in 2009

No clearance of cluster munition contaminated area took place in 2009.[45]

Battle area clearance in 2009

No BAC took place in 2009.[46] All teams were said to be deployed in mined areas and BAC was not considered a priority.[47]

Community liaison

There is no formal community liaison capacity in the demining teams,[48] although FSD reports that it conducts regular briefings of communities and local authorities.[49]

Quality management

Mine clearance in Tajikistan is conducted in accordance with the National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), which were adopted in March 2008 based on the International Mine Action Standards. FSD’s standing operating procedures (SOPs) are approved by TMAC.[50]

In February 2009, an NMAS on land release was approved by TMAC.[51] The national standard land release form has eight criteria for determining whether land can be released without the need for clearance.[52]

As of April 2010, based on a number of lessons learned in 2009, TMAC was in the process of developing and revising the NMAS and SOPs.[53] Revisions concerned safety during demining operations, EOD, worksite discipline, MDD operations, and technical survey.[54]

TMAC has a two-person quality management section. In 2009, they conducted quality assurance of clearance operations and training, and carried out quality control of eight cleared areas.[55]

Safety of demining personnel

There was one demining accident in 2009. On 17 June, a deminer lost the sight in his right eye.[56]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

There is limited mine/ERW risk education (RE) capacity in Tajikistan. RE is implemented through the volunteer network of the Tajikistan Red Crescent Society, which is currently working in five districts across the Rasht valley.[57]