Summary: Non-signatory Uzbekistan has never provided its views on cluster munitions or commented on its position on accession to the convention. It abstained from voting on a key UN resolution on the convention in December 2016 and has never participated in a meeting of the convention. Uzbekistan is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but has a stockpile inherited from the Soviet Union.

Policy

The Republic of Uzbekistan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Uzbekistan has never attended a meeting on cluster munitions or made a public statement on cluster munitions.

Uzbekistan did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the convention.

In December 2016, Uzbekistan abstained from the vote on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[1] It also abstained on the first UNGA resolution on the convention in December 2015.[2]

Uzbekistan is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Uzbekistan is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but it has a stockpile inherited from the Soviet Union.

According to Jane’s Information Group, KMG-U dispensers are in service with Uzbekistan’s air force.[3] It also possesses Grad 122mm and Uragan 220mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[4]

Policy

The Republic of Uzbekistan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Uzbekistan has stated that mines are necessary for national security to prevent the flow of narcotics, arms, and insurgent groups across its borders. Uzbekistan has not attend any international meetings on the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all past pro-ban UN General Assembly resolutions, including Resolution 71/34 on 5 December 2016.

Uzbekistan is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its original Protocol II on landmines, but has not joined CCW Amended Protocol II or CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Uzbekistan has stated that it does not produce antipersonnel mines.[1] It is not known to have exported the weapon. It inherited a stockpile of antipersonnel mines from the Soviet Union. The size, composition, and condition of the stockpile are not known. One Ministry of Defense official indicated the stock consisted of OZM-72, PОМZ, and PMN antipersonnel mines, while another said it contains all types of mines that were made in the Soviet Union. The mines are held by both the Ministry of Defense and the Committee on State Border Protection.[2]

Uzbekistan has used antipersonnel mines in the past, including on its borders with Afghanistan in 1998, Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and Tajikistan in 2000.

Recommendations for action

• The Republic of Uzbekistan should take the necessary measures to identify the extent and impact of mine contamination and clear mined areas in a timely manner.
• Uzbekistan should be more transparent in detailing the extent of its mine contamination and clearance operations.

Contamination

Uzbek forces have laid mines along its international borders at various times, including on its borders with Afghanistan in 1998, with Kyrgyzstan in 1999, and with Tajikistan in 2000. In 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized as “unacceptable” Uzbekistan’s emplacing of mines along parts of its border that have not been delineated.[1]

Soviet troops also laid mines on the Uzbek-Afghan border. Survey on the Tajik side of the border over several years had identified a total of 57 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) as of December 2008 (size unknown), which were subsequently deemed to be on Uzbekistan territory (see Tajikistan’s Mine Action country profile). Uzbekistan had reportedly cleared 95% of the minefields along the Tajik border by the end of 2007 in demining operations conducted by Uzbek army deminers in cooperation with Tajik border troops.[2]

In 2005, media reports cited Kyrgyz officials in Batken province as saying Kyrgyz border guards had checked previously mined areas of the border around the settlements of Ak-Turpak, Chonkara, and Otukchu, which had been cleared by Uzbek deminers, and confirmed that they were free of contamination.[3]

Program Management

There is no functioning mine action program in Uzbekistan.

Land Release

There are no reports of any land release occurring in 2016.

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.