Key
developments since May 2000: Armenian deminers participated in joint
training with Georgian and Azeri deminers conducted by the US military in the
fall of 2000. Landmine Monitor researchers carried out site visits along the
border area in the Synik, Vayots Dzor, and Tavushprovinces, developing
new information on the impact of mines and on mine survivors. As of May 2001,
the database compiled by the Armenian National Committee of the ICBL contained
details of 335 landmine survivors in eleven provinces of Armenia.
Armenia has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty and
continues to make clear that accession is contingent on regional issues. (See
also reports on Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh.) As it has every year since
the first such resolution in 1997, Armenia voted for UN General Assembly
Resolution 55/33V supporting universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty in November
2000.
In speaking on the issue at the United Nations on 12 October 2000,
Armenian Ambassador Movses Abelian said, “Armenia welcomes the increasing
momentum to achieve a global ban on the production, stockpiling, transfer and
use of antipersonnel mines (APMs). We also welcome the unilateral moratoria
announced by individual states on the production, sale, transfer, import, or use
of APMs. Notwithstanding Armenia's security considerations and the defensive
value of APMs, we nevertheless believe that the human and social costs of
landmines far outweigh their military significance. Armenia's full
participation in the Ottawa Convention is contingent upon a similar level of
political commitment by the other parties in the region to adhere to the
Convention.”[419]
Armenia did not attend the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban
Treaty in September 2000. It did not participate in the intersessional Standing
Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. An official from the
Department of Arms Control and International Security said that lack of funding
for such participation was the
cause.[420]
Armenian
authorities reiterated their willingness to be bound by Amended Protocol II
(Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional Weapons, but said they believe
that it should be done simultaneously by all neighboring states, and toward that
end, expressed readiness for bilateral talks with
Azerbaijan.[421] Ambassador
Abelian noted that his government “decided, on a voluntary basis, to
submit the annual report required under [Amended Protocol II] Articles 11 and
13, and to contribute to improving the coordination and effectiveness of global
mine action.”[422] After
completing a national demining plan, Armenian authorities plan to compile the
annual report for Amended Protocol
II.[423]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
Armenia is not believed to be a producer or
exporter of antipersonnel mines. It has not imported mines since its
independence. Stocks, left from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, are said
to be
“negligible.”[424]
There have been no allegations of Armenian use of antipersonnel mines in this
reporting period (since May 2000), and the government of Armenia is not known to
have accused any other party of use of antipersonnel mines.
Landmine Problem/Survey and Assessment
Landmines were used by all sides throughout the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The 900 kilometer-long border line is replete with
landmines; territories along thecontact line are regarded as
contaminated.[425] Site visits
along the border area begun last year by Landmine Monitor researchers were
continued for this report in the Synik, Vayots Dzor, and Tavushprovinces. The previously reported data that 16.69 square kilometers of
farmland and 14.48 square kilometers of non-privatized lands were still mined in
Synik province were confirmed during the new study, as well as an additional
three square kilometers of woodlands and territories adjoining ten kilometers of
roads.
Because the situation remains tense in the border villages ofSynik province, Defense Ministry specialists have cleared only the
administrative territories of Srashen and Nerkin Hand villages of mines. In the
municipality of Kapan and its adjoining suburbs, which is the administrative
center of Synik province, civilians encounter UXO and
mines.[426] Local residents
also report that there are mined areas in the districts of Meghri and Sissian of
the Synik province that adjoin the border with Azerbaijan. However, officials so
far have not conducted surveys or assessments of the landmine risk.
In the
course of the visits it was discovered that in Tavush province about 100 square
kilometers of arable lands were officially put into disuse. Also in disuse is
the Joegas reservoir (with 45 million cubic meter of water) in the village of
Berkaber, located 300 meters from the border, because the pumping stations are
still mined.[427] Some 11.7
square kilometers of mined land cannot be cultivated.
Site visits by
Landmine Monitor researchers also revealed that territories in a number of
villages (such as Voskepar and Koti in former Noyemberian district, Paravakar
and Aygepar Vazashen in former Shamshadin district, and Vazashen in former
Ijevan district) in Tavush province have not been used for a long time because
of mines. The study in that region will be continued and an agreement to that
effect was reached with the community heads.
Sometime in late 2000-early
2001, the Armenian government began collecting information about mined lands
from local governments in provinces next to the border, including data about the
structural breakdown of affected lands (arable lands, orchards, woodlands,
pasture lands, etc.) in order to establish a database to determine the need in
financial and other terms for developing a coherent strategy for removal of
mines from the lands not immediately adjacent to the borderlines.
The
reconstruction of the border regions of Armenia was discussed at a Cabinet
meeting on 14 December 2000. Programs for the border areas were developed by the
Department of Migration and
Refugees;[428] an estimated
US$83 million is needed for the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the
border regions affected by the war. The Department has recently submitted a
plan for a detailed assessment in 170 borderline communities to the UN
Development Program for an estimated cost of US$37,000. At the initiative of
the Department on Migration & Refugees, the Armenian National Committee of
the ICBL is designing a questionnaire on the landmine situation in order to
conduct a survey of the residents in 132 most dangerous communities in Syunik,
Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Vayots
Dzor.[429]
In April 2001, the
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General described the outcome of his
visit to Armenia on 18-19 May 2000. Focusing on the conflict-induced internally
displaced, the Special Representative visited Tavush. He reported that at
present agricultural activities are severely curtailed: about 25% of cultivable
land and about 40% of irrigated land is not being utilized, primarily due to the
lack of agricultural equipment and seeds, damage to irrigation systems, lack of
agricultural labor and the significant presence of
landmines.[430]
Mine Action Funding and Mine Clearance
In July 2000 during the visit of the Armenian
Defense Minister Serge Sarkissian to the US an agreement was reached about US
assistance to Armenia for demining. In September-November 2000, under the
“Beecroft Initiative,” US military conducted simultaneous
humanitarian demining training of Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani soldiers
at a military base in Georgia. The initiative was designed to “speed the
pace of reducing the landmine threat that endangers populations in Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia, and to strengthen confidence and security in the
southern Caucasus”[431]
Once trained, the soldiers were to carry out demining operations in their own
countries, as well as teach other soldiers current demining techniques. US
Defense Department’s cost for deploying the US military trainers was
estimated at $3.2 million dollars, and the State Department’s demining
assistance to the three nations totaled over $1 million dollars. Armenia
received $300,000 to purchase equipment for mine clearance and to participate in
the training. The deminers were from the Armenian Ministry of Defense and
Ministry for Emergencies.[432]
Armenian combat engineers between 1994 and 1999 conducted partial demining
in Syunik region, however material and technical resources ran
out.[433]
Coordination and Planning
The OSCE Office in Yerevan plans to stress to
international organizations, heads of the South Caucasus countries and NGOs the
need for residents in borderline districts in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
(i.e. Tavush, Ghazagh and Marneulie districts respectively) to establish
contacts. An example of possibilities for cooperation was the Armenian
initiative to bring together representatives of the military, Ministries of
Foreign Affairs, agencies in charge of mine clearance operations and heads of
the borderline districts of the Tavush region of Armenia and of the Ghazagh
region of Azerbaijan. A meeting was held in on the Armenian-Azerbaijan border
in January 2001 and attended by the representatives of the Armenian Defense
Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Tavush regional Governor. The
Azeri side was represented at the meeting by ANAMA. At the meeting, the
possibility for joint mine clearance operations was discussed.
On February
13 the Defense Minister of Armenia Mr. Serzh Sarkissian met with the British
Ambassador to Armenia Timothy Jones where, among other issues, the HALO Trust
operations in Nagorno-Karabakh were
discussed.[434]
Mine Awareness
An analysis by the Armenian National Committee of
the ICBL of the country’s landmine situation was published in the
“National Human Development Report 2000” prepared by UNDP. Due to
the Committee’s efforts, training sessions and talks have been introduced
for high school students in the borderline regions of Armenia to avoid landmine
casualties to the maximum possible extent. On 2 May 2001, members of the
Committee met with the UNDP regarding the implementation of joint regional
initiatives in raising landmine awareness of the residents of the border areas
and on designing top-priority programs for overcoming landmine hazards. In
particular, a training program targeting teachers, children, and adolescents in
Tavush prepared by members of Armenian National Committee from the town of
Ijevan was submitted to the UNDP Armenia office. The program will be launched as
soon as funding is secured and will then be used to design a manual for teachers
to replicate it in other regions.
Landmine Casualties
Reliable data on landmine casualties is difficult
to obtain.[435] According to
official information, within the past few years, thirty Armenians have been
killed because of landmine explosions. In 1999, official data recorded five
casualties, including two people
killed.[436]
During 2000,
three landmine incidents were reported in the media. On 4 August 2000, near
Aygehovit in the Noyemberian district of Tavush province, a 19-year-old soldier
was wounded by a landmine while on active duty. He was brought to the hospital
in Noyemberian where his right leg was
amputated.[437] On 20 August
2000, a landmine exploded near the border village of Voskevan in the Tavush
province, killing a 63-year-old
resident.[438] In another
incident, on 28 October 2000, an active duty soldier was wounded in a landmine
explosion near Meghri in Syunik province. He was taken to the town of Sisian
for emergency medical aid and his right leg was amputated. In April 2001 he
required a further amputation in the military hospital of the Defense
Ministry.[439]
As of May
2001, the database compiled by the Armenian National Committee contained details
of 335 landmine survivors, including both soldiers and civilians, in eleven
provinces of Armenia.[440] The
data broken down by the year of incident is available for 310 victims and
presents the following picture:
Year of incident
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Number of victims
2
2
14
44
61
41
21
42
41
30
12
An analysis of the available data revealed that the overwhelming majority
of the mine survivors were young people aged between 18 and 25 (59%). Six were
women and 10 were children.
In field research conducted by the Armenian
National Committee of the ICBL in a number of provinces additional information
on landmine casualties has been obtained. In the Masis district of Ararat
province, eighteen people have been killed and eleven wounded by landmine
explosions between 1992 and
2000.[441]Difficulties
arose with the field study because social services departments in provincial
governors’ offices do not keep a separate record of those killed or
injured by landmines.
Survivor Assistance
Medical assistance for military personnel differs
from that available to civilians, but generally, Armenia has an adequate
material-technical base and qualified personnel for rendering specialized
medical assistance, producing prosthetic devices and for rehabilitation of
landmine survivors. Nevertheless, the lack of adequate funding poses a serious
threat as the existing facilities and personnel cannot be used efficiently and
are not easily accessible for landmine
victims.[442]
Three thousand
people with disabilities have been registered with the Yerevan Prosthetic and
Orthopedic Center. Of those, 50 to 60 percent are casualties of the armed
conflict, both during and after the war. Because of a lack of funding, the
center stopped providing medical assistance in October 2000. In 2000, the
operating budget of the Center was 400 million AMD, of which only 90 million AMD
was received. The Center paid 60 million AMD in taxes and wage arrears,
leaving only 30 million AMD (about $55,000) available for the purchase of
prostheses from Germany.[443]
After a protest by disabled people in January 2001, Deputy Minister of
Finance, Pavel Safarian, announced that the government would allocate $732,000
to the Center this year, and had worked out a timetable for the Center’s
financing. It was to receive $112,000 by 15
February,[444] but by 26
February, the Enterprise had received 85 million AMD (about $157,000) from the
State budget.[445] Operations
were resumed on 19 February. In March, the Center was expecting to receive the
second installment of the promised funding.
In another survey, the Armenian
National Committee interviewed 38 landmine survivors in April-May 2001 who had
sought medical assistance from the Yerevan Prosthetic and Orthopedic Center. Of
the 38 interviewed, five were
civilians.[446] All those
interviewed had received initial medical assistance in district hospitals after
their accidents. Thirteen were subsequently given medical treatment in various
specialized departments and clinics in Yerevan. The survivors had received
medical care, including prosthetic appliances, free of charge.
Social and
psychological rehabilitation was seen as a major problem among the survivors.
The pensions received are inadequate to support a single person, and even more
difficult for those with families. The survivors believe that neither the state
nor society in general pays adequate attention to the issue of their
reintegration into society nor is willingness shown to help them solve the
formidable problems that they face. Many expressed feeling of loneliness, lead
secluded lives and are concerned about their uncertain future.
The Armenian
National Committee of the ICBL continues with its landmine victims survey in
order to clarify the situation, and to work out well-targeted recommendations to
submit to the government for providing long-term assistance to people with
disabilities.
Disability Policy and Practice
The rights of disabled persons are regulated by
the “Law on Social Protection of the Disabled in Armenia,” adopted
in May 1993. There are no laws specific to civilian landmine victims, however,
military victims and their families are entitled to benefits under the law
“On social security system for military personnel and their family
members.”[447]
[419] Statement of Armenian
Ambassador Movses Abelian to the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and
International Security, New York, 12 October 2000.
[420] Interview with Garik
Chilingarian, Deputy Head of the Department of Arms Control and International
Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yerevan, 21 September
2000.
[421] Information
provided by Garik Chilingarian, Deputy Head of the Department of Arms Control
and International Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 May 2001.
[422] Statement by
Ambassador Abelian, 12 October
2000.
[423] Information
provided by Garik Chilingarian, 25 May
2001.
[424]Interview with Lt.
General Vagharshak Harutiunian, Minister of Defense, Republic of Armenia, 19
April 2000.
[425] For
details, see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
794-795.
[426] “Report
on mined territories and the damage caused by the minefields,”
Governor’s Office, Syunik Province, August 2000. Landmine Monitor
researchers in Armenia videotaped interviews with residents of the villages and
of Kapan for this report in July
2000.
[427] Tatevik Nazinian,
special correspondent in Tavush, “We must make sure that innocent children
do not become disabled,” Noratert (Tavush newspaper), 27 April
2000.
[428]Armenian
Government Decree #56, 14 December 2000.
[429] Interview with Mr.
Samvel Harutiunian, Head of the Resettlement Department of the Department on
Migration & Refugees, Yerevan, 25 May
2001.
[430] Presentation of
Francis Deng, Special Representative of the Secretary General, “Profiles
in Displacement: Armenia,” at the 57th Session of the UN
ECOSOC Commission on Human Rights, 5 April
2001.
[431] US Department of
State, Press Statement, 25 October
2000.
[432]Information
provided by Department of Arms Control and International Security, Armenian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, January
2001.
[433]“On
post-conflict rehabilitation of the borderline regions,” Department on
Migration & Refugees, Program Outline,
2000.
[434]MEDIAMAX
News Agency, from the press service of the Defense Ministry, 13 February
2001.
[435]See Landmine
Monitor Report 2000, p.
796.
[436]Official from the
Defense Ministry cited in an article by M. Agabekov, “Somewhere a landmine
went off, wounding or killing someone,” Novoye Vremya (newspaper),
13 May 2000.
[437]“Another victim
in the border region,” Golos Armenii (newspaper), 10 August
2000.
[438]“Landmine
Victim,” SNARK (news agency), August
2000.
[439]Meeting with
Arthur Grigorian in the office of Armenian Committee, 20 April 2001.
[440] The database contains
full details including the names and addresses of victims, both civilian and
military.
[441]Letter from
Mr. S. Zakarian, head of Social Services at the Masis branch of the
“Yerkrapa/Defender of Motherland” Union, 4 August 2000.
[442] For details see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp.
796-797.
[443] Telephone
interview with Karineh Gharibian, Deputy Director of the Yerevan Prosthetics
Enterprise, 1 February
2001.
[444] Haylur (News
program), National Television of Armenia, 31 January 2001, 23.42.
[445] Interview with Mr.
Hovik Abrahamian, State Minister for Regional Governance, 26 February
2001.
[446] Full details of
the survey are available from the Armenian National of the
ICBL.
[447] For full details
see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 798.
About Us
Our Research Products
