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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 Tavush provinces, 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.
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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]
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.
Landmines were used by all sides throughout the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The 900 kilometer-long border line is replete with landmines; territories along the contact 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 Tavush provinces. 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 of Synik 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]
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]
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]
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.
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.
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.
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]
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[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.
