Tajikistan

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. In the past, the government has said that new legislation to implement the treaty domestically is unnecessary, as it relies on its criminal code to punish violations of the treaty.^[1] Tajikistan submitted its fifth Article 7 transparency report on 12 March 2007, covering calendar year 2006.^[2]

Tajikistan attended the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in September 2006 and gave presentations on mine clearance and victim assistance. Tajikistan also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 and April 2007; at the April meeting it again made presentations on mine clearance and victim assistance.

On 30 March 2007 the Tajikistan Mine Action Centre (TMAC) and the ICBL jointly held a workshop in the capital, Dushanbe, on Tajikistan’s progress and future challenges in fulfilling its obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty. According to the ICBL, “The main conclusion of this workshop is that Tajikistan has taken great strides towards fulfilling its obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty, but other States Parties to the treaty have fallen short in their legal duty to support Tajikistan’s efforts.”^[3]

Tajikistan participated in a workshop, Mine Action as a Confidence Building Measure, in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 26-27 March 2007, where presentations were made concerning mine action, victim assistance and donor issues related to Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines, but did not participate in the Eighth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November 2006. It has never submitted annual national reports as required under Article 13. Tajikistan became party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war on 18 May 2006. 

Production, Transfer, Use, Stockpiling and Destruction

Tajikistan reports that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.^[4] The most recent use of mines in Tajik territory occurred in 2000 and 2001, when Russian and Uzbek forces placed mines at various border locations inside Tajikistan.^[5] Tajikistan destroyed its stockpile of 3,084 antipersonnel mines inherited from the Soviet Union between 5 May 2002 and 31 March 2004, finishing just ahead of its treaty-mandated deadline.^[6]

A total of five unspecified Claymore-type mines were seized from criminal elements in 2006 and transferred to the Engineering Forces of the Ministry of Defense for destruction.^[7] Weapons, including antipersonnel mines, were widely dispersed among the general population during the 1992-1997 civil war.

Tajikistan is the only State Party to declare antipersonnel mines stockpiled on its territory by a state not party to the treaty. It reported that approximately 18,200 antipersonnel mines of various types are stockpiled with Russian Ministry of Defense units deployed in Tajikistan.^[8] These stockpiles are not under the jurisdiction or control of Tajikistan.^[9] In each of its Article 7 reports since 2003 Tajikistan has reported that intergovernmental talks are “currently underway” to clarify and complete data collection regarding these Russian mines.^[10]

Mines Retained for Training

Tajikistan initially retained 255 antipersonnel mines for training purposes. It indicated the mines would be utilized through 2010 when their shelf life expires.^[11] In its March 2007 Article 7 report it reported consuming 150 of the retained mines for refresher training of survey and demining personnel, leaving a total of 105 mines. It had consumed 50 each of PMN, OZM-72 and POMZ-2M mines, leaving 50 POMZ-2M, 50 MON-100 and five MON-200 mines.^[12] Tajikistan again used the new format adopted at the Sixth Meeting of States Parties for reporting on retained mines.

Landmine and ERW Problem

Tajikistan is contaminated with mines as a result of civil war in 1992-1997 and mine-laying along its borders by Soviet and Uzbek forces. In addition, the armed forces of the former Soviet Union used three types of cluster munitions in Tajikistan and recent analysis of data in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database revealed significant contamination from submunition duds. Tajikistan has not reported a problem with other explosive remnants of war (ERW).^[13]

The Tajikistan Mine Action Centre suspects that up to 25 square kilometers of land may be contaminated but believes technical survey will substantially reduce this figure. It has identified more than 150 mined areas, including 35 confirmed high priority tasks, 26 confirmed medium priority tasks and a further 80 tasks that are low priority and will be subject to re-survey and re-assessment.^[14] In its 2007 Article 7 report Tajikistan provided a detailed breakdown of all known minefields.^[15]

Minefields from the civil war are concentrated in the central Tavildra district and Rasht valley region, and in the western part of Gorno Badakhshan province. Soviet forces laid minefields along the border with Afghanistan to deter cross-border infiltration by hostile armed groups and drug traffickers. Uzbekistan’s security services also laid mines in 1999-2001 on the border with Tajikistan to deter infiltration of insurgents. Action to clear the mines has been hampered by uncertainty over their location and a dispute with Uzbekistan over the border’s demarcation.^[16] Mines are also present on Tajikistan’s border with Kyrgyzstan. In 2004 a survey of this area identified two minefields with an estimated contaminated area of 175,000 square meters.^[17]

As well as causing casualties, mine contamination in Tajikistan causes losses to livestock and denies access to scarce pasture and agricultural land, adding to the economic hardships in a mountainous country where less than 10 percent of land is suitable for cultivation.^[18]

Mine Action Program

The regulatory authority overseeing mine action in Tajikistan is the government’s interministerial Commission on the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law (CIIHL), chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for Security.^[19] TMAC, established in June 2003 with support from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is the CIIHL’s coordinating agency. In 2006-2007 TMAC continued to receive support from one UNDP technical advisor. The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) continued to manage mine action operations in 2006-2007, and provide national capacity-building with the expectation that mine action in Tajikistan would come under national management in 2007-2008.^[20]

TMAC revised national mine action standards in 2004, receiving government approval and distributing them in the same year. TMAC rewrote the standards in 2005, completing preparation in English of 25 chapters based on the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) at the end of October 2005. Twenty chapters were translated into Tajik in 2006 but still awaited government approval as of May 2007.^[21]

Strategic Mine Action Planning

CIIHL’s Five-Year Strategic Mine Action Plan 2004-2008 sets out a vision of making Tajikistan “safe from the negative humanitarian and economic impact of landmines.” This includes eliminating mine casualties, ensuring economic activity is not impeded and assisting in the provision of physical, social and psychological support to survivors. The plan, revised in April 2006, aims to clear all high and medium priority areas in the central region by the end of 2007, all low priority areas by the end of 2009, all high and medium priority areas in undisputed parts of the Tajik-Uzbek border “as soon as the political situation permits,” and all high and medium areas on the Tajik-Afghan border by 2009. TMAC planned to review the strategic plan in 2007 and anticipated “making minor modifications to targets.”^[22]

Priority in demining operations is given to settled land with a high or potentially high risk of casualties, land used for agriculture, land needed for infrastructure and delivery of essential community services such as water and fuel, and land required for reconstruction.^[23]

Tajikistan wants to accelerate demining by purchase of machines and hiring commercial companies but noted “as always, our plan depends on the generosity of our donor countries.”^[24] In April 2007 it warned donors that lack of response to its appeals for funds had become a serious constraint.^[25]

Although the strategic plan included expenditure of US$10.3 million from 2004 to 2006, by March 2006 only $5.3 million had been received since the program started in July 2003.^[26] In 2006 TMAC appealed for $3.25 million but as of February 2007 had received pledges of $2.5 million.^[27] For mine action in 2007 TMAC requested some $3 million but as of April had received only pledges of $1.2 million.^[28]

Demining

The 2006 end-year review of the UN’s Portfolio of Mine Action Projects commented that, as well as inadequate levels of funding for mine action in Tajikistan, late arrival of funds during 2006 resulted in two survey teams missing three months of the limited operational period and prevented deployment of survey teams after May 2006.^[29] Tajikistan reported similarly, adding that demining training was also affected.^[30]

In 2006 as in previous years the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) was the only demining operator in Tajikistan, with 163 staff in four survey, four manual clearance and six mine detection dog teams. Most operational staff are seconded from the Tajik Army Engineering Battalion, usually on two-year contracts. Others are drawn from the Tajik State Border Protection Committee and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.^[31] Tajikistan told the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in September 2006 that it expected to announce a date for completing nationalization of mine action “soon.”^[32]

TMAC’s six mine detection dog teams (12 dogs and 20 Tajik dog handlers) received two months training from Afghanistan’s Mine Detection and Dog Center and support by an international technical advisor. The teams became operational in 2006. FSD planned to use the dogs with survey teams for area reduction. ^[33]

Identification, Marking and Fencing of Affected Areas

FSD’s four survey teams did not conduct any survey in 2006 because of lack of funds. In January 2007 FSD surveyed parts of Khatlon region near the border with Afghanistan, identifying six new minefields.^[34]

After visting Tajikistan in February 2006, the Survey Action Center concluded that the national program’s requirements could be “met by auditing the existing database and resurveying some of the larger suspected hazardous areas.”^[35]

Survey teams completed a general survey of mined areas in 2005 after completing assessments on Tajikistan’s western border with Uzbekistan and its southern border with Afghanistan. More than 300 communities were surveyed and 25 mined areas were discovered. In 2004-2006 FSD survey teams installed hazard warning signs on the Afghan border, in the south of the country and on the western border with Uzbekistan. TMAC planned to complete marking suspect areas by 2008, subject to funding.^[36]

Mine/ERW Clearance

Despite slow arrival of funds in 2006, TMAC reported that FSD teams sharply increased productivity, manually clearing more than 300,000 square meters, more than double the amount cleared in 2005 (some 130,000 square meters). As a result, clearance costs fell to $7 per meter, down from more than $20 a meter two years earlier.^[37] Teams also area-reduced a further 1.2 square kilometers.

Of the cleared land, 207,590 square meters was “returned for communal use,” including part of Dashti Yazqulom minefield, Chorcharoq, Shull road, Ishtiyan Road, Marqak, Halqayar and Palace of Nation.^[39] Tajikistan was unable to make progress demining the border with Uzbekistan. The deputy head of Uzbekistan’s Border Guard announced in October 2005 that Uzbek security forces had started demining operations on its border with Tajikistan.^[40] However, Tajikistan complained at the Standing Committee meetings in April 2007 that there had been no progress to resolve either the problem of demarcating the border or clearing the mines along it. Uzbekistan had “disregarded” requests that it hand over minefield maps or records of any clearance conducted.^[41]

Tajikstan reported different data in its 2007 Article 7 report, providing a detailed breakdown by location of 5,062 antipersonnel mines.^[42]

Summary of Efforts to Comply with Article 5

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 no later than 1 April 2010. However, Tajikistan’s Article 7 report of February 2006, echoing previous statements, said that the period of four years until 1 April 2010 “is not enough for the completion of the foreseen scale of work.”^[44] In 2006 TMAC stated “there is no possibility of all landmines being cleared by 2010.”^[45] In September 2006 Tajikistan warned States Parties that “progress on this issue depends primarily on funding.”^[46]

Mine Risk Education

In 2006 mine risk education (MRE) coverage and capacity was significantly expanded in Tajikistan, despite the continued under-provision of MRE to mine-affected areas on the Tajik-Afghan border.^[47]

As in previous years, the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan and UNICEF were the main MRE providers.^[48] Overall in 2006, MRE volunteers conducted 1,786 meetings in 87 mine affected communities, where 20,132 people received some form of MRE.^[49] All MRE in Tajikistan is coordinated through TMAC, which hired an MRE officer in late 2006. Tajikistan reported on MRE in its Article 7 report submitted on 10 April 2007.

The Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan carried out MRE in 45 mine/UXO-affected communities in the 15 most affected areas of Sugd province, Rasht district, Gorno-Badakhshan province and Tursunzoda district. UNICEF increased in-school MRE activities from four to six highly affected areas. Over 15,200 children in 50 schools received MRE from 461 teachers.^[50] From May to November 2006, over 40 training activities were conducted every month.^[51]

UNICEF continued its MRE pilot project. UNICEF Tajikistan with the Ministry of Education provided training sessions for school teachers and representatives from education departments. In August 2006 a two-day workshop for 20 MRE focal points from Ayni and Panjakent districts was conducted in Panjakent. Participants received MRE training and were given booklets, posters and other materials for distribution. Similar exercises were conducted in other project areas. Over 30,000 people in the 15 target districts received MRE messages: 1,500 MRE manuals were delivered to teachers, 15,000 hazard warning leaflets and guidelines and 5,000 calendars were distributed among the program’s volunteers, military personnel, local authorities, teachers and other advocates of the program.^[52]

In 2006 the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan constructed an additional two safe playgrounds in Panjakent; 10 have been built in total. Children from communities in Sugd helped to prepare billboards for the play areas, which explain how to recognize safe and dangerous areas. MRE volunteers organized a competition on the topic Be Aware of Mines.^[53]

An evaluation of the UNICEF program was carried out in November 2006, to be finalized in July 2007.^[54]

Landmine/ERW Casualties^[55]

In 2006 there were at least 20 new mine/ERW casualties in Tajikistan, including six people killed and 14 injured; there were also 20 casualties in 2005. Eleven casualties resulted from antipersonnel mine incidents, seven from ERW and two from unknown devices. Two casualties were women, three were military and three were deminers (including one French military officer killed in Panj district during clearance activities and two TMAC deminers). It is likely that most ERW casualties were caused by submunitions, although the UNDP/TMAC data did not provide this breakdown. A recent study found that all ERW casualties in the Rasht valley were caused by cluster submunitions; children in Rasht were said to have been collecting cluster submunitions from pasture areas.^[56] The largest group of casualties was boys (8, 40 percent), mostly from ERW.

Half of all reported casualties were in the “direct rule districts” of the Rasht valley (five in Jirgatol, three in Rasht and two in Hissar district), as in previous years. Panj district in Khatalon region reported three casualties. Two casualties occurred in Asht and Aini districts on the Tajik-Uzbek border.^[57]

Casualties continued to occur in 2007 with seven new mine/ERW casualties by 15 June 2007. At least three of them were due to cluster submunitions, and occurred in Panj district where no MRE has been carried out.^[58]

The cumulative number of mine casualties in Tajikistan is not known. On 15 June 2007 TMAC’s database recorded 603 mine/ERW casualties (300 people killed and 303 injured) since 1992. The direct rule districts of the Rasht valley account for 55 percent of all recorded casualties in Tajikistan, with most in Tavildara and Rasht districts. As of June 2007, 152 casualties have been reported on the Uzbek-Tajik border since 2000, including 71 killed. According to TMAC, most of the casualties were civilians. The local population is at risk while engaged in farming, grazing animals, gathering wood and other activities that are considered primary sources of income in their communities.

Data Collection

There is no nationwide data collection mechanism in Tajikistan. TMAC collects data on mine casualties, by requesting information from official sources and questioning people in mine-affected communities.^[59] TMAC estimates that the under-reporting rate is 15-20 percent, and that this occurs mainly in Khatalon region on the Tajik-Afghan border. TMAC’s victim assistance officer will visit these areas to improve data collection.

TMAC has maintained casualty data in IMSMA since 2003. Although the latest version of IMSMA (version 4) is installed, TMAC continued to use the previous version as more training is needed and there has been no funding for training.^[60]

The Ministry of Health collects data from all healthcare facilities on the services provided, but the information is not centralized or used for planning due to a lack of resources. In February 2007 TMAC met with Ministry of Health officials to discuss the use of the standard IMSMA form in hospitals and health centers.

In 2006 TMAC started a needs assessment of survivors and their families; during field visits information was collected on 118 survivors. Questionnaires were also sent to NGOs. Results showed the need for economic assistance projects and proposals were drafted.^[61] TMAC intends to use the needs assessment to monitor and prioritize assistance to survivors and improve coordination among stakeholders.

Survivor Assistance

Mine/ERW survivors are a small proportion of people with disabilities in Tajikistan, but they belong to the poorest groups of society in remote areas. There are health facilities in the mine/ERW-affected areas, but some are reportedly in poor condition or not functioning. Central district hospitals provide specialized care but both emergency staff and specialized surgeons are lacking in mine/ERW-affected areas.^[62] All Tajiks have the right to free emergency medical services, but must pay for secondary treatment. Some survivors face bureaucratic problems in accessing medical services, such as obtaining passports and transit visas.^[63]

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is responsible for rehabilitation facilities. Basic assistive devices are available and most mine/ERW survivors have access to physical rehabilitation services at the National Ortho Centre in Dushanbe or its three satellite workshops.^[64] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides material, technical training and financial assistance for the center. There is no waiting list at the center and satellites.^[65]

Tajikistan has no peer-to-peer support groups or psychosocial rehabilitation programs specifically for survivors.^[66] Limited training for social workers was available through the School of Social Work in Stockholm, Sweden.^[67] Child mine survivors have access to the education system; teachers lack training on special needs though some teachers participated in short seminars on the issue.^[68]

Poor access to employment is exacerbated by high unemployment in Tajikistan. The government provides an insufficient pension of $10 per month for mine/ERW survivors or the families of those killed.^[69] Other benefits are available.^[70]

Tajikistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) states that mainstreaming survivor assistance into existing infrastructure is crucial in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal of poverty reduction.^[71] The PRSP aims to improve and unify all health, rehabilitation, vocational training and employment services for people with disabilities and improve the pension system.^[72]

Tajikistan has legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities, including mine survivors, to medical care, physical rehabilitation, socioeconomic reintegration and pensions.^[73] As of 21 June Tajikistan had not signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Progress in Meeting VA24 Survivor Assistance Objectives

Tajikistan is one of 24 States Parties identified at the First Review Conference in November-December 2004 as having significant numbers of mine survivors and “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.^[74] As part of its commitment to the Nairobi Action Plan, Tajikistan prepared its 2005-2009 objectives for the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in November-December 2005.^[75]

In 2006 Tajikistan revised its survivor assistance objectives. These were presented at the Standing Committee meetings in April 2007, together with plans to achieve the objectives and progress to date.^[76] TMAC’s victim assistance officer participated in the 2007 Standing Committee meetings. A Tajik mine survivor participated in the Seventh Meeting of States Parties.

During 2006 Tajikistan received support from the victim assistance specialist of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Implementation Support Unit (ISU), and has requested further support.^[77] Tajikistan provided information on survivor assistance in its Article 7 report.

Funding for survivor assistance is inadequate in Tajikistan, which impedes the realization of TMACs survivor assistance plans.^[78]

Survivor Assistance Strategic Framework

The mine action strategy for 2004-2008 acknowledges TMAC’s role in survivor assistance, as does the amended strategy. TMAC’s role includes coordinating with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection so that mine survivors receive appropriate treatment and rehabilitation, as well as improving service provision.^[79] Although reportedly survivors have equal access, the resources available to provide them with employment and educational opportunities remain limited.^[80]

The Assistance to Landmine Survivors project continued in 2006. A victim assistance officer (a trained psychotherapist) was recruited to monitor implementation of the project, draft the victim assistance component of the national mine action strategy, coordinate programs, assist in capacity development and integration of victim assistance into national disability planning, develop a comprehensive casualty data collection system and assist in fundraising.^[81]

On 27 July 2006 Tajikistan’s survivor assistance objectives and action plan 2005-2009 were adopted by the CIIHL and an interministerial group was established.^[82] The first quarterly meeting of the national Victim Assistance Working Group was held on 28 July 2006, and continued to meet regularly.^[83] In April 2007 TMAC started working with the NGO Harmony of the World to align Tajikistan’s legislation, including laws on disability, with its treaty obligations.^[84]

At least 1,882 people with disabilities received services in 2006, and under the Assistance to Landmine Survivors project at least 677 mine/ERW survivors and families received services; 14 survivors received emergency medical care, 54 physical rehabilitation, 34 psychosocial support, 97 socioeconomic reintegration services and 20 received educational or other assistance. Additionally, 458 survivors’ family members directly benefited from income-generation activities. Within this total, the ICRC-assisted National Orthopedic Center and its satellites assisted some 1,252 people with physical rehabilitation (including 47 survivors). The National Research Institute for Rehabilitation of Disabled People provided at least seven more survivors with physical rehabilitation. The Assistance to Landmine Survivors project directly assisted all new survivors with free treatment in national medical facilities; psychosocial support was provided to 19 child survivors at summer camp and to 15 survivors through TMAC field visits; 94 survivors and 458 family members received socioeconomic assistance; and 20 people received educational or other assistance. Three female survivors received assistance through the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan poverty-reduction project for social reintegration of vulnerable women in the Sugd region.^[85]

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection manages the National Orthopedic Center in Dushanbe and its satellite orthopedic centers, and provides physiotherapy courses. The satellite centers, through the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan, carried out repairs on prosthetic devices in remote areas. The ICRC had planned to hand responsibility for the satellite centers to the ministry in January 2007, but this was delayed because of the ministry’s lack of funding.^[86]

The National Research Institute for Rehabilitation of Disabled People conducts research on disability issues and provides medical care for survivors. Local wheelchairs are produced in Konibodom, 300 kilometers northwest of Dushanbe.^[87]

The Centre for Training and Reintegration of Former Military Personnel promotes economic reintegration of ex-combatants, including mine survivors. Occupational rehabilitation of other people with disabilities is also carried out in a special residential school in Dushanbe.^[88] The Assistance to Landmine Survivors project and Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan continued to include income-generation activities in their work.

An annual summer camp for child survivors was held September 2006, supported by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and implemented by the NGO Harmony of the World with the cooperation of TMAC and others; 19 young survivors from six districts of Tajikistan participated in the camp, receiving psychological support, physical rehabilitation and MRE.^[89]

Funding and Assistance

Landmine Monitor identified donations totaling $1,064,784 (€847,556) from four countries to Tajikistan in 2006, an increase of 15 percent from 2005 ($924,168 reported by three countries and the European Commission).^[90]

Donors reporting funding in 2006 were:

• Belgium: €10,000 ($12,563) in-kind for research assistance;^[91]
• Canada: C$595,000 ($524,671) consisting of C$130,000 to UNDP for demining and C$465,000 ($410,037) through OSCE for mine detection dog teams;^[92]
• France: €75,970 ($95,441) for technical assistance and training under the aegis of UNDP and OSCE;^[93]
• Germany: €343,954 ($432,109) consisting of €72,237 in-kind for technical assistance, and €271,717 to UNDP to support two mine clearance teams.^[94]

Tajikistan reported receiving international donations of $2,272,268 for mine action in 2006, consisting of $1,820,000 and €360,000 ($452,268) from unspecified donors.^[95]

The 2006 end-year review of the UN’s Portfolio of Mine Action Projects reported that Tajikistan received 71 percent ($2,137,496) of funds through the appeal process in 2006.^[96]

The review commented that, as well as inadequate levels of funding, late arrival of funds adversely affected demining operations in 2006.^[97]

FSD reported receiving CHF2,529,131 ($2,018,247) for its Tajikistan program in 2006, including CHF1,603,307 ($1,279,439) from governments (Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) and CHF 925,824 ($738,808) from the OSCE including EC and Canadian contributions.^[98]

The 2007 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects includes 12 project appeals for Tajikistan with budgets totaling $5,120,086, of which $25,350 had been funded at the time of publication (November 2006).^[99]

Summary of National Contribution to Mine Action

At the 2007 Standing Committee meetings Tajikistan reported that the government provided “sufficient technical assistance” amounting in 2006 to $500,000, an increase of $200,000 over 2005.^[100] In April 2006 TMAC reported annual government contributions to mine action totaling $544,000. TMAC also reported in-kind contributions through tax and duty waivers on equipment and supplies, and through national television and radio broadcasts.^[101] TMAC commented in 2007 that “if donor support declines, more governmental support will be needed to maintain the programme into the long term future.”^[102]

Tajikistan has aimed for full national ownership and management of mine action, starting in 2006 over a two or three year period.^[103]