Key developments since May 2003: Belarus acceded to the Mine Ban
Treaty on 3 September 2003 and the treaty entered into force on 1 March 2004.
Decrees issued in September and October 2003 banned the stockpiling and use of
antipersonnel mines that are not command-detonated, and assigned engineering
forces to continue stockpile destruction. On 8-9 December 2003, the Belarus
Campaign to Ban Landmines/SCAF in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs held a treaty implementation seminar in Minsk. A National Plan of
Action for implementing the treaty has been drafted. Belarus ratified CCW
Amended Protocol II on 2 March 2004. Belarus destroyed approximately 223,000
antipersonnel mines in 2003, but still had a stockpile of nearly 4 million
mines, including 3.37 million PFM and PFM-1S, as of July 2004. In August 2003,
experts from the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency conducted a stockpile
destruction assessment mission, and on 7 July 2004, Belarus and NAMSA signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on stockpile destruction. In 2003, Belarus cleared
a total of 4,169 mines and 6,798 UXO. In August 2003, the Specialized Demining
Center of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Belarus was established in
Minsk.
Key developments since March 1999: Belarus acceded to the Mine Ban
Treaty on 3 September 2003 and the treaty entered into force on 1 March 2004.
Even as a non-signatory, Belarus attended every annual Meeting of States Parties
and intersessional meeting since September 2000. It has participated in
numerous regional landmine meetings, and hosted landmine workshops in Minsk in
March 2000 and December 2003. In January 2003, Belarus extended its export
moratorium (in place since 1995) for five years. On 28 July 2003, Belarus
completed the domestic steps necessary to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty with the
approval of Presidential Decree 330. Belarus has destroyed some 300,000
antipersonnel mines since 1992. On 7 July 2004, Belarus and NAMSA signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on stockpile destruction. In 2000, the UN Mine
Action Service conducted an assessment of mine and UXO contamination in Belarus.
From 1999-2003, Belarus cleared 4,732 mines and 46,227 UXO. .
Mine Ban Policy
Belarus acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 September 2003. On 12 March
2003, the President of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, had stated that the
government was ready to accede to the treaty, and Presidential Decree No. 300
was issued on 28 July 2003, the key final domestic step necessary to join the
treaty. The treaty entered into force for Belarus on 1 March 2004. Belarus
submitted its initial Article 7 report on 1 July 2004, nearly two months before
the deadline of 28 August
2004.[1]
For national implementation measures, Belarus cites Articles 294, 295, 298,
and 299 of its Criminal Code which impose penalties for activities relating to
the trafficking of explosive materials, such as theft, manufacture, transfer,
sale, and storage, as well as the negligent discharge of duty by a person
entrusted with protection of explosive materials. Penalties range from
correctional labor or restricted freedom to 15 years of
imprisonment.[2]
The Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 525 on 6 May
2004.[3] This decree assigned
responsibilities to all the government bodies regarding their functions and
roles in implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. In line with this Decree, the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, as well as the other national
agencies involved (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection,
Ministry of Justice, State Border Committee), developed programs of action to
implement the Mine Ban Treaty. As of mid-2004, the Belarus Council of Ministers
was considering approval of a National Action Plan for implementation.
Belarus has long demonstrated its support for a comprehensive ban on
antipersonnel mines. It participated in the Ottawa Process as an observer and
told the December 1997 treaty signing conference that the government could not
at that time sign the treaty only because of lack of funds for stockpile
destruction and mine clearance.[4]
Belarus has attended every Mine Ban Treaty annual Meeting of States Parties as
an observer since 2000, noting that it could not attend the First Meeting of
States Parties in 1999 due to financial constraints. The country has attended
every intersessional Standing Committee meeting, including those held in
February and June 2004. Belarus has voted in favor of every annual pro-mine ban
UN General Assembly resolution except the first one, in 1996, when it abstained.
Belarusian parliamentarians have expressed the commitment to support the ban on
antipersonnel mines on several occasions, including in December 2000 and in
January 2003.[5]
The Belarus government, especially the Army Corps of Engineers and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have collaborated closely the NGO Support Center
for Associations and Foundations (SCAF). SCAF is the country representative
since 1999 of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and provider of
the annual country report for the ICBL’s Landmine Monitor
initiative.[6] Colonel Sergei
Luchina, the Head of the Engineer Forces of Belarus, played a critical role in
the government’s steps toward joining the Mine Ban Treaty and was promoted
in May 2004 to the rank of General of the Armed Forces.
On 8-9 December 2003, the Belarus Campaign to Ban Landmines/SCAF in
cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a seminar in Minsk
entitled, “The Second International Ottawa Convention Implementation
Workshop.” Participants included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Alexander Gerasimenko and other government officials, and representatives from
several European countries, the United States and Canada, the ICBL, and several
NGOs. The European Commission sent an official statement congratulating Belarus
on its accession to the treaty and welcomed cooperation in the elimination of
landmines.[7] Previously, Belarus
hosted a workshop on demining and stockpile destruction in Minsk on 6-7 March
2000. Belarus participated in regional meetings on landmines held in Lithuania
(June 2004), Austria at the OSCE headquarters (8-9 March 2004),Ukraine (February
2003), Russia (November 2002), and Armenia (October 2002).
Belarus is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).
The parliament of Belarus ratified CCW Amended Protocol II and submitted the
instrument of ratification to the depository on 2 March 2004. Belarus attended
the Fifth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II on 26
November 2003.
Production, Transfer and Use
Prior to joining the treaty, Belarus stated a number of times that it had
never produced landmines and that it would not produce or use them in the
future.[8] Officials stated that
antipersonnel mine use was not part of the military’s doctrine or
training.[9]
Government officials indicate that Belarus has not exported antipersonnel
mines since independence in 1992. In 1995, a moratorium on the export of
antipersonnel mines was established which was extended through the end of 2002.
On 13 January 2003, Presidential Decree No. 19 extended the export moratorium
through the end of 2007.[10] In
addition, a 1998 decree prohibits the transit of antipersonnel mines and certain
other goods through the territory of
Belarus.[11] Regulations
regarding transit of antipersonnel mines in Belarus are also part of
Presidential Decree 134 adopted on 4 December
2003.[12]
Decrees issued in September and October 2003 banned the stockpiling and use
of antipersonnel mines that are not command-detonated, and assigned engineering
forces to continue their
destruction.[13]
Stockpiling and Destruction
Belarus inherited its stockpile of antipersonnel mines from the Soviet Union.
Belarus reported that as of 1 July 2004, it has 3,988,057 mines in its
stockpile, including 3,374,864 of the PFM and PFM-1S type. It intends to
destroy 3,869,706 of its stockpiled mines by 1 March 2008, the four-year
deadline mandated by the Mine Ban Treaty. Belarus will retain its 110,821 MON
series mines, since these Claymore-type directional fragmentation mines will be
command-detonated and therefore legal under the Mine Ban
Treaty.[14] Belarus intends
retain 7,530 mines for training and development purposes, as permitted in
Article 3: 1,500 PMN; 1,512 PMN-2; 1,500 OZM-72; 1,518 POMZ-2M; 2,500
POMZ-2.[15]
Antipersonnel Landmines Stockpiled as of July
2004[16]
Type
Number
MON-50
46,032
MON-90
27,430
MON-100
29,159
MON-200
8,200
OZM-72
200,847
PMN
46,925
PMN-2
116,616
POM-2
19,624
POM-2 (BKF)
29,200
POM- SV (BKF)
8,500
POMZ-2M
66,361
POMZ-2
14,299
PFM-1
1,792,944
PFM-1S
707,072
PFM-1S (BKF)
413,712
PFM-1S (9m27k3)
461,136
Total
3,988,057
Since the treaty entered into force, Belarus Engineer Forces destroyed 80 PMN
landmines in an event held in March 2004 and witnessed by international and
domestic media.[17] Between 1992
and January 2004, Belarus destroyed an estimated 300,000 antipersonnel mines
without any international assistance, including approximately 223,000 mines in
2003 alone.[18]
According to the Head of the Engineer Forces of Belarus, the country faces
several challenges in destroying the stockpile, including lack of funding to
build the necessary facilities, and difficulty obtaining appropriate mine
destruction technology and finding ecologically safe methods of mine
destruction.[19] Belarus
estimates that it costs $1 to destroy one antipersonnel mine (except PFM-1
mines).[20] Belarus has declared
that it is “incapable of disposing of stockpiled antipersonnel mines
independently.”[21]
In October 2002, the Belarus Campaign to Ban Landmines appealed to the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) to establish an EAPC fund without delay
for the elimination of antipersonnel mine stockpiles in Belarus and to assist in
the country’s continued demining
efforts.[22] The Belarus CBL
again called for support on 11 November 2003, as part of a Landmine Monitor
delegation. In August 2003, through the support of the Canadian government,
experts from the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) conducted an
assessment mission in Belarus as preparation for the development of an EAPC
project on antipersonnel mine stockpile destruction. On 7 July 2004, Belarus
and NAMSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding which establishes the legal
framework for NAMSA to provide logistics services. Plans are under
consideration for a demilitarization project to be carried out in Belarus under
NAMSA management, with funding from NATO's Partnership for Peace Trust
Fund.[23]
Landmine/UXO Problem
Belarus did not declare any mined areas or areas suspected of containing
mines in its initial transparency measures report submitted in July
2004.[24] While Belarus primarily
has a problem with unexploded ordnance (UXO), each year it reports clearance of
landmines, including more than 4,000 in 2003. There is an unknown number of
German and Soviet mines scattered in World War II-era battlefields in Belarus,
in particular in the Vitebsk, Gomel, and Minsk regions, as well as in Brest and
Mogilev regions. The majority of the affected areas are agricultural land and
forests and none are believed to be marked or
fenced.[25] Every year the
combination of low temperatures and soil pressure brings wartime landmines and
unexploded ordnance to the surface, even in areas where post-conflict mine
clearance was carried out. The Dubrovno district in Vitebsk is believed to be
the most mine- and UXO-affected area in Belarus where, despite clearance
operations carried out in 1945-1947 and again in 1993-1994, local authorities
maintain an estimated 200,000 mines and UXO remain in an area of approximately
170 square kilometers.[26]
At the December 2003 workshop held in Minsk, participants discussed the level
of clearance assistance needed for Belarus and several speakers noted that a UN
Mine Action Service (UNMAS) assessment conducted in 2000 indicated that affected
areas in Belarus mainly consist of unexploded ordnance, and that Belarus should
therefore be well-prepared to combat the problem on its own, with perhaps some
international assistance in training and
equipment.[27]
Landmine/UXO Clearance
Primary responsibility for mine/UXO clearance rests with the Ministry of
Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2003, both ministries cleared a
combined total of 10,967 mines and UXO. The Ministry of Defense reported that
it had located and destroyed at least 3,601 landmines and 3,370 UXO. The items
were cleared from the following regions: Minsk (953), Brest (1,085), Gomel
(544), Mogilev (399), Grodno (1,224), and Vitebsk
(2,766).[28] The Ministry of
Internal Affairs cleared 568 landmines and 3,428
UXO.[29]
From 1999-2003, Belarus cleared 4,732 mines and 46,227 UXO. This compares to
937 mines and 114,133 UXO in the previous five years, 1994-1998.
Mines and UXO cleared, 1992-2003
Type
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
AP mines
28
1,220
347
50
182
108
250
289
164
65
45
4,169
UXO
18,733
57,443
84,985
7,527
10,521
6,396
4,704
10,437
7,566
11,926
9,500
6,798
Total
18,761
58,663
85,332
7,577
10,703
6,504
4,954
10,726
7,730
11,991
9,545
10,967
The Ministry of Defense claims to have cleared over 138.7 million explosive
devices on a territory of 409 square kilometers since the end of World War
II.[30] In March 2000, the
Ministry of Defense reported that an estimated 50,000-80,000 explosive items
were detected and defused each year over the past decade and of that number,
more than 2,500 were antipersonnel
mines.[31] In 2004, Col. Sergei
Luchina reported that 3,330,000 square meters of land were cleared of mines and
UXO in the last decade.[32] The
cleared areas were in the district of Krupsky in the Minsk region, in the
district of Dubrovensky in the Vitebsk region, and the small town of Titovka in
the district of Bobruisk, in the Mogilev
region.[33]
Ministry of Defense deminers carry out clearance operations at the request of
local authorities. In 2003, they responded to 926 calls for emergency UXO
disposal, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs received 832
calls.[34] The Ministry of
Internal Affairs deploys ten Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams of 10-15
personnel to respond to urgent
calls.[35] Manual methods, dogs
and machines are used in the clearance operations. The 2000 UNMAS report said
that deminers lacked sufficiently suitable detection and personal protection
equipment, and noted that the mine detection equipment was based on dated,
Soviet-era technology; it said there is a shortage of vehicles and fuel for use
in mine/UXO clearance
operations.[36] In March 2002,
Canada donated 20 metal detectors to Belarus—the first time the country
had received international assistance for its mine and UXO clearance
efforts.[37]
In August 2003, the Specialized Demining Center of the Ministry of Interior
of the Republic of Belarus was established in Minsk to conduct research, train
deminers and other specialists involved in demining operations, and carry out
the more difficult demining operations that require great expertise and special
equipment. The deminers are instructed to leave the center and respond to an
urgent request for a clearance operation within ten minutes of receiving an
emergency UXO disposal
call.[38]
Mine/UXO Risk Education
The Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Affairs EOD teams conduct
mine/UXO risk education for the civilian population in affected areas prior to
the commencement of clearance operations. This training is conducted by
individual EOD team officers, with no standard script or educational materials
available, based only on the officers’ personal educational experience
with the issues. Films depicting EOD clearance and interviews with the officers
of the Engineer Forces and representatives of the Belarus Campaign to Ban
Landmines are shown regularly on national television. Risk education has not
been integrated in the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools.
The Ministry of Education expressed a need for international assistance in risk
education at the December 2003 workshop in
Minsk.[39] UNICEF has stated that
it is committed to assisting Belarus in meeting the challenges of risk
education.[40]
Landmine/UXO Casualties
In 2003, two people were killed and seven injured by
UXO.[41] On 15 May, one person
was killed and another injured during the destruction of UXO in the Gomel
region. On 2 June, two people were injured, one of who lost a leg, and on 19
September, one person was killed and another injured in the Vitebsk region when
UXO they were handling exploded. On 4 August, a man was injured when a UXO
buried in the ground exploded after he lit a fire above it in the town of
Bobruisk, Mogilev region and two more people were injured in the Vitebsk region
on 21 September, for the same
reason.[42]
There was an increase in UXO casualties in Belarus in 2003, but the figures
provided must be considered with caution in the absence of a comprehensive
nationwide monitoring and analysis system. In 2002, two people were killed by
UXO and another two injured by
landmines.[43] In 2001, three
people were killed by UXO and four others were injured, including a
child.[44] In 2000, six people,
including two children, were injured by UXO in
Belarus.[45]
According to the Ministry of Defense, between 1944 and 2002 there were 6,023
mine and UXO casualties, consisting of 2,629 people killed and 3,394
injured.[46]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
Medical, surgical, rehabilitation and reintegration services available
through the Ministry of Health network of hospitals and healthcare institutions
throughout Belarus are ranked favorably in comparison to other CIS
countries.[47] There are 20
specialized rehabilitation centers, 286 local branches in outpatient clinics, 20
inpatient clinics, and 26 sanatoriums in Belarus. The majority of mine/UXO
casualties reach a surgical facility in less than three
hours.[48] The military hospital
in Minsk acts as a central treatment facility for all trauma victims, including
landmine/UXO casualties. The expert level of the staff is high, but due to
financial constraints, the hospital is in need of modern equipment and
medicines. No separate record of mine casualties is
kept.[49]
Most prosthetic and rehabilitation facilities are available in Belarus. All
persons with disabilities are assisted through individual programs of
rehabilitation; however, due to economic hardships this care is often not
adequate. Psychosocial support programs appear to be very limited. The centers
are in need of international expertise and welcome collaboration with
international organizations in this
respect.[50]
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection ensures the medical, social and
professional rehabilitation of people with disabilities. The main service
provider is the Belarus Prosthetic Rehabilitation Center
(BPRC).[51] The BPRC is the main
producer of prosthetics in the country, and has its own hospital that can
accommodate 80 people at a given time for medical, prosthetic and rehabilitation
services; it serves approximately 800 in-patients annually. The BPRC has modern
equipment and uses the most advanced technologies.
The BPRC contains an Education Center that provides vocational training for
persons with disabilities. The BPRC and the Ministry of Labor and Social
Protection also cooperate closely with other stakeholders in the socio-economic
reintegration of the disabled in Belarus, such as the Department of Employment,
research institutions, and NGOs and their international counterparts. NGOs
working in this area include the Belarus Foundation for Mercy and Health,
Belarus Association of Handicapped, Belarus Association of Veterans of War,
Army, and Security Forces, and the Belarus Association of Disabled by
War.[52] Through collaboration
with the Center for Professional Re-training of Disabled in Dortmund, Germany, a
program aimed at vocational training in technical drawing for persons with
disabilities was initiated on 1 December 1999. Other programs have also been
developed in shoe-making and computer
graphics.[53]
Economic reintegration of survivors nevertheless appears problematic,
although national disability laws exist and companies are requested by law to
engage people with a
disability.[54] On 18 August 2002,
the Ministry of Health approved “Instructions on how to determine the
group and the cause of disability.” One of the causes of disability
listed is “Disability since childhood that is a result of injury,
shell-shock or battle during the Second World War (or is a consequence of war
such as explosion of
UXOs).”[55]
A landmine survivor from Dubrovno district participated in the Raising the
Voices training in Geneva in February 2004.
Belarus used voluntary Form J in its Article 7 report to simply state that it
“needs financial and technological assistance for dealing with the
problems at hand.”[56]
[1] The report was submitted in English and
Russian and its time period is specified “as of 1 July
2004.” [2] Article 7 Report, Form
A, 1 July 2004. [3] Decree No. 525,
“On Implementation of Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their
Destruction,” 6 May 2004. [4]
Statement by Mikhail Khvostov, Ambassador of Belarus to Canada, to the Landmines
Treaty Signing Conference, Ottawa, 3 December
1997. [5] Interview with Olga Abramova,
Committee on International Affairs and Relations with CIS, House of
Representatives, National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, 11
December 2000; interview with Olga Abramova and Vladimir Novosiad, Members of
Parliament, Minsk, 29 January 2003. [6]
The government has stated its support for the Landmine Monitor on several
occasions, most recently December 2003, noting that it views the initiative as
providing important research on all aspects of landmine issues. Statement by
Alexander Khainovsky, Deputy Head, Department of Arms Control, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs at the Second International Ottawa Convention Implementation
Workshop, Minsk, 8 December 2003. [7]
Ottawa Convention Implementation by the Republic of Belarus. Materials of the
Second International Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8
December 2003. [8] Statement by
Alexander Baichorov, Head of the Arms Control Department, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 10 February 2004; Ministry of
Defense Letter #18/17, to SCAF, 20 January
2003. [9] Statement by Sergei Martynov,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geneva, 17 December 1999. Also, ICBL meeting with
Sergei Martynov, Geneva, 17 December
1999. [10] Decree #19 of the President
of the Republic of Belarus, “About the Prolongation of the Moratorium on
Export of Landmines Till the End of 2007,” 13 January
2002. [11] Decree #27 of the Council of
Ministers of the Republic of Belarus, “About State Control Over Transit
Through the Territory of the Republic of Belarus of Specific Goods,” 10
January 1998. [12] Decree #134 of the
President of the Republic of Belarus, “About Circulation of Arms on the
Territory of the Republic of Belarus,” 4 December
2003. [13] Decree #742 of the Minister
of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, 1 September 2003, and Decree #851 of the
Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus, 6 October
2003. [14] Article 7 Report, Form B, 1
July 2004. Although not reflected in its initial transparency report, it is
possible that Belarus will retain a certain number of OZM-72 bounding
fragmentation mines because an option for command detonation is part of the
original design of the mine. Belarus classified the OZM-72 as a
“non-directional fragmentation
mine.” [15] Article 7 Report, Form
B, 1 July 2004. [16] Ibid; Letter from
Belarus Ministry of Defense to Belarus CBL/SCAF, 9 March
2004. [17] “Belarus starts
destroying antipersonnel mines” Belapan News Agency, 10 March 2004; Lt.
Col. Vladimir Kud, “To scrap landmines” WPS: defense and security,
17 March 2004. [18] Statement by Maj.
General Misuragin, Minsk, 6 March 2000. Based on this statement and previous
editions of Landmine Monitor Report, Belarus destroyed 22,963 antipersonnel
mines in 2002; 3,276 in 2001; 1,244 in 2000; 6,939 from 1997-1999, and some
42,500 from 1992-1996. [19] Statement by
Col. Sergei Luchina, Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 11 February
2004. [20] Statement by Col. Sergei
Luchina, Press Conference, Minsk, 19 January
2004. [21] Article 7 Report, Form J, 1
July 2004. [22] Appeal by BCBL to the
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, 17 September
2002. [23] NAMSA, “NAMSA signs MOU
with Belarus,” Press Release, 7 July
2004. [24] “Not applicable”
is entered on the appropriate forms as it is on the form detailing warning
measures provided to the population. Article 7 Report, Form C, Form I, 1 July
2004. [25] Statement by Col. Sergei
Luchina, Press Conference, Minsk, 19 January
2004. [26] Presentation by Michail
Leschinsky, Head of Dubrovno Local Authority, Second International Ottawa
Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8-9 December
2003. [27] UNMAS, “Assessment
Mission Report: Republic of Belarus, 31 July-4 August 2000.”
[28] Letter from Belarus Ministry of
Defense, 20 January 2004. [29]
Presentation by Col. Gennady Pozniak, Ministry of Interior, Second International
Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8-9 December
2003. [30]
Ibid. [31] Presentation by the
representative of the Belarus Ministry of Defense, Minsk, 6-7 March
2000. [32] Statement by Col. Sergei
Luchina, Press Conference, Minsk, 19 January
2004. [33] Letter from Belarus Ministry
of Defense, 20 January 2004. [34] Ibid;
Presentation by Col. Gennady Pozniak, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Second
International Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8-9 December
2003. [35] Presentation by Col. Gennady
Pozniak, Ministry of Interior, Minsk Workshop, 8-9 December
2003. [36] UNMAS, “Assessment
Mission Report,” p. 13. [37]
Interview with Col. Sergei Luchina, Belarusian Armed Forces, Minsk, 18 July
2002. [38] Presentation by Col. Gennady
Pozniak, Minsk Workshop, 8-9 December
2003. [39] Presentation by Vassily
Ananko, Belarus Ministry of Education, Second International Ottawa Convention
Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 9 December 2003.
[40] Presentation by Ben Lark, UNICEF,
the Second International Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8-9
December 2003. [41] Letter from
Belarus Ministry of Defense, 22 July 2004; confirmed through interviews with
local authorities conducted by Belarus CBL
representatives. [42]
Ibid. [43] Letter from Belarus Ministry
of Defense, 20 January 2004; confirmed through interviews with local authorities
conducted by Belarus CBL representatives. For details see Landmine Monitor
Report 2003, p. 561. [44] Interview with
Col. Luchina, 5 February 2002; letter no. 18/197 from the Ministry of Defense to
Support Centre for Associations and Foundations, 11 February 2002; interviews
with survivors. [45] Interview with
Col. Luchina, January 2001; MoD Letter #17/1071, 29 November 2000.
[46] Letter from Belarus Ministry of
Defense, 20 January 2003. [47]
Assessment Report of Belarus Healthcare system by the WHO mission in January
2003, Evening News shown on Belarus National TV, 25 January
2003. [48] Statement by Col. Sergei
Luchina, Press Conference, Minsk, 19 January
2004. [49] Presentation by Lt. Col.
Andrei Korzun, Senior Doctor, Central Military Hospital, Second International
Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 9 December
2003. [50] Interview with Rita Sushko,
Head of Department on Disabled, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Minsk,
23 January 2003. [51] Presentation by
Belarus, Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic
Reintegration, Geneva, 10 February
2004. [52] Presentation by Ivan Volkov,
Director of the Belarus Prosthetic Rehabilitation Center (BPRC), Second
International Ottawa Convention Implementation Workshop, Minsk, 8-9 December
2003. [53] Presentation by Belarus,
Standing Committee on Victim Assistance, 10 February 2004; Presentation by Ivan
Volkov, BPRC, Minsk Workshop, 8-9 December
2003. [54] Interview with Rita Sushko,
Ministry of Labor, 23 January 2003. For details see Landmine Monitor Report
2001, pp. 869-870. [55] The Ministry of
Health approved instructions on 18 August
2002. [56] Article 7 Report, Form J, 1
July 2004.