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Key developments since May 2000: A limited Level One Survey was completed in the Fizuli region. With the results of the survey, the National Mine Database was created. Other surveys are on-going. A total of 27 deminers and 16 mine surveyors were trained during 2000; 163,860 square meters of land were cleared, along with the marking and fencing of 289,991 square meters. In December 2000, mine action was suspended due to lack of funds. Ten mine incidents occurred in 2000 in which four people died and six were injured.
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Azerbaijan has not acceded to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The government has repeatedly stated that it cannot join the treaty because of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.[1]
Azeri representatives participated as observers at the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, but did not attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. Azerbaijan was one of 22 governments to abstain on the vote in November 2000 on the UN General Assembly resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.
The Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) has continued its work throughout the country to raise awareness about the danger of antipersonnel mines and the importance of joining the Mine Ban Treaty. ACBL has carried out meetings, particularly in the frontline districts, to discuss mine-related issues such as recent mine incidents, mine awareness and mine clearance problems, and problems with assistance to mine victims. In relevant areas, the problems of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons were discussed and the organization “Refugees against Mines” was established. Additionally, ACBL has worked to educate journalists to the issues and has prepared special exhibits on the landmine problem.
Azerbaijan is not known to be an antipersonnel mine producer or exporter. The number of antipersonnel mines in Azeri stockpiles, believed left behind with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, remains unknown.
Mines were used throughout the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and sporadically after the signing of the armistice in May 1994.[2] There have been no credible allegations of use in this reporting period (since May 2000). In the summer of 2000 several programs were broadcast on Azeri television showing the training of the Azeri army in which the soldiers were being taught how to use mines and how to demine.[3] In response, ACBL sent a letter of protest to the Azeri programs broadcasting the use of mines by the Azeri army.[4] In reply to this letter, a representative of the Ministry of Defense told the ACBL that in the course of training Azeri deminers, they had to be taught how to place mines as well as demine them.[5]
The conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh resulted in twenty percent of Azerbaijan’s territory being occupied by Armenia and fifteen percent of the Azeri population becoming internally displaced. UNMAS estimated that 19,500 square kilometers of land is mine-affected. Western areas of Azerbaijan including the Fizuli, Agdam, Ter-Ter, and Geranboy districts are mine-affected.[6]
UNMAS has also stated that approximately 24 of the 65 Azerbaijan regions are believed to be contaminated, that seven Azeri regions controlled by Armenians are suspected of having mines, and that 14 other regions “contain defensive minefields laid by the Azerbaijan Defense Forces.”[7]
A limited Level One Survey was completed in the Fizuli region. Funded by the UN Development Program and the Norwegian government, it targeted reconstructed areas. With the results of the survey, the National Mine Database was created to help improve the National Mine Action Plan. Other surveys are on-going in the Khanlar, Ter-Ter, and Geranboy regions.[8]
UNDP and the government of Azerbaijan were to jointly finance the “Azerbaijan Mine Action Program,” which they launched in April 1999. On 10 March 2000, The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (АNАМА) announced that donors had provided US$2,265,000 for the project (of a total needed of US$3.5 million).[9] It was also announced that a national plan on demining was developed and published. Several administrative buildings were constructed, training zones for deminers were determined, and equipment purchased. In the autumn of 2000, the Norwegian government announced that it would be donating US$112,140 to construct ANAMA’s building in Goradiz, Fizuli district.[10]
In April 2000, the UK-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) was contracted by UNOPS to provide training and supervision to a national NGO, Relief Azerbaijan, under the coordination of ANAMA. A total of 27 deminers and 16 mine surveyors were trained in 2000. MAG continues to provide supervision under contract until August 2001.[11]
Since November 2000 deminers the have been using six mine detecting dogs purchased from the MineTech Company in Zimbabwe, at a cost of $5,000 each. The dogs arrived in-country together with six guides on 27 October 2000 and were immediately taken to the town of Goradiz where they started their demining work. According to Azeri authorities these dogs significantly increase the efficiency of the work, covering up to nine thousand square meters a day.[12] The guides and dogs look for the mines, which are then marked, and civilian deminers, selected from local population and trained by the NGO “Dayag,” carry out the demining.[13]
According to the United Nations, in the year 2000, a total of 163,860 square meters of land were cleared, along with the marking and fencing of 289,991 square meters.[14] Press accounts state that from June to late November 2000, 40 kilometers of roads were demined and restored in Fizuli district; during this work 2,592 UXO, 1,117 shells and 37 mines were neutralized. The mines were mainly of former Soviet production, although some Italian antipersonnel mines and other “hand-made UXO” were found.[15] However, in December 2000, Dayag and its deminers had to suspend their work due to lack of funds.[16]
In September-November 2000, under the “Beecroft Initiative,” US military personnel conducted humanitarian demining training of Georgian, Armenian, 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....”[17] Once trained, the soldiers were to carry out demining operations in their own countries, as well as teach other soldiers current demining techniques. The US military provided $48,000 in demining assistance to Azerbaijan between October 1999 and September 2000.
Since 1996, the ICRC, UNDP, and the HALO Trust have carried out mine awareness programs in Nagorno-Karabakh. The US Department of State granted US$500,000 on 18 May 2000 to the UNDP for its work.[18]
At the beginning of 2000, ANAMA was to undertake mine awareness programs. In the National Mine Action Plan, ANAMA was to give instructions on the mine and UXO threat first to refugees and IDPs living near mined areas, particularly in Fizuli and neighboring districts. According to preliminary estimates, it was projected that 100,000 people would pass through the mine awareness program.[19] AMANA received US$150,000 for mine awareness in 2000 and another US$150,000 for help for mine victims.[20] However at the end of year, the head of ANAMA stated, “Now UNICEF is dealing with this work.”[21]
At a press conference held on in January 2001 by the ACBL for the publication of a book on mines on Azeri territories, it was noted that UNICEF had made a public statement in May 2000 about its intention to conduct a mine awareness program, but no work had been done throughout the year. Moreover, at a press conference held by Karabakh war invalids it was noted that the funds granted for assistance to mine victims (US$150,000) and for mine awareness programs among refugees (US$150,000) seemed to have disappeared.[22] Subsequently, UNICEF announced that it was beginning a new mine awareness program designed for 800 teachers, 500 health officials, and 200 representatives of public organizations, and that the program would be carried out jointly with ANAMA.[23]
On 8 February 2001, ACBL and other public organizations sent an open letter to the heads of the local UNICEF and ANAMA offices about their concerns about the awareness program. Subsequently the head of ANAMA, Ilyas Badalov, stated that ANAMA did not implement the project and the monies allocated for the two projects (totaling US$300,000) had not yet been received, thus could not have been spent in 2000.[24]
In a media interview the director of ANAMA noted that the number of civilians and members of the military that have died as a result of mine explosions both during the war and after the signing of the peace agreement totals around 1,400 people, with civilians accounting for two times more than the military. He added that this information was only preliminary and that further research was being carried out in districts located near the ceasefire line.[25] Data from the Karabakh Invalid’s Society indicates that there are more than 7,806 invalids from the conflict. More than seventy percent are mine victims.[26]
In 2000, ten mine incidents occurred in the border area of Azerbaijan in which four people died and six were injured. Two soldiers were among the dead but the remainder were civilians, including a thirteen-year-old child.[27]
In 1994, the ICRC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Social Defense, established a prosthetic and orthopedic center in Baku. In 2000, 89 mine victims were treated and 103 prostheses supplied.[28] A second center in Baku, operated by the government, provided 166 upper leg prostheses and 768 lower leg prostheses in 2000. However, no statistics are kept by the center to identify the number of patients who received their injuries because of a landmine explosion. In 2000, the cost of operating the government center was US$350,000.[29]
Psychosocial or physical rehabilitation programs are almost non-existent in Azerbaijan. The ACBL pays special attention to the needs of the disabled, particularly those injured by landmines. A special program was designed to involve more mine victims in public life. However, due to the absence of donor support the implementation of this program has been delayed.
Due to the absence of donor funding, the victim assistance component of the National Mine Action Plan,[30] budgeted to cost US$150,000, has not been implemented.[31]
In April 1997, the Parliament of Azerbaijan adopted the Law of Prevention of Disability, Rehabilitation of Invalids and their Social Protection. This law applies to all disabled people in Azerbaijan, including landmine survivors. Benefits include pensions, free medicines, free public transport, and free telephone services. However, the government does not have the means to fulfill its commitments.[32] With inflation rising because of the conflict, many disabled people held protests in January and February 2001 to pressure the government to increase pensions.
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[1] Reply to Questionnaire on Antipersonnel Landmines of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the OSCE, Vienna, 8 December 2000. This reply was essentially a repeat of its statement to the OSCE of the previous year; See Landmine Monitor 2000, p. 799.
[2] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp.762-765 and Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 800.
[3] AzTV1, 3 August 2000; ANS (private channel), 8 August 2000 (in Azeri).
[4] ACBL’s letters addressed to AzTV1, 5 August 2000 and to ANS, 9 August 2000. See also: Sharq (“East,” newspaper), 6 August 2000 (in Azeri), and Information Bulletin of ACBL, #10, 2000.
[5] Interview with of the head of press service of Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel Ramiz Melikov, 12 January 2001.
[6] UNMAS, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 53.
[7] UNMAS, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” June 2000, p. 37.
[8] UNMAS, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, pp. 55-56.
[9] For details see, Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 801-802.
[10] “Norwegian Government is to grant US$ 112.140 to Azerbaijan,” Azadliq (newspaper), 24 October 2000.
[11] Email from Tim Carstairs, Director of Communications, Mines Advisory Group, 17 July 2001.
[12] “With enough dogs here, six more dogs brought from Zimbabwe,” Yeni Musavat (“New Musavat,” newspaper), 25 October 2000 (in Azeri).
[13] “The Dayag (Relief) NGO is demining Fizuli district,” Express, 16 February 2001 (in Azeri).
[14] UNMAS, “Portfolio of Mine-related Projects,” April 2001, p. 56.
[15] “Fizuli on its way to revival,” Zerkalo, 28 October 2000; “Deminers are ready to demine Nagorny Karabakh,” Zerkalo, 28 November 2000.
[16] Interview with Shahin Ibrahimov, director of Dayag, in Fizuli district, 10 January 2001.
[17] US Department of State, Press Statement, 25 October 2000.
[18] US Department of State, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, “FY00 NADR Project Status,” 27 December 2000.
[19] “Demining process is more expensive than production and installation of mines” Zerkalo, 11 March 2000; “No mine fields on the Armenian territory” Express (newspaper), 11-13 March 2000 (in Azeri).
[20] “Demining process is more expensive than production and installation of mines” Zerkalo, 11 March 2000.
[21] “Fizuli district on its way to revival,” Zerkalo, 28 November 2000.
[22] “US$ 300,000 are lost,” Express, 3-5 February 2001; “We are going to protect our rights,”525 Gazet (newspaper), 3 February 2001.
[23] Citing Tehnaz Dastour, UNICEF representative for the Caucasus, in Echo, 3 February 2001.
[24] “The Dayag (Relief) NGO is demining Fizuli district,” Express (Baku newspaper), 16 February 2001.
[25] G. Akhmedov, “Deminers are ready to demine Nagorny-Karabakh,” Zerkalo, 28 November 2000.
[26] Etimad Asadov, chairman of the Karabakh Invalids’ Society, speaking on ANS TV, 3 December 2000.
[27] Information Bulletin of ACBL, N 7-12, 2000.
[28] Telephone interview with Ali Mageramov, Assistant Director of ICRC’s Orthopedic Center, 11 January 2001.
[29] Telephone interview with Shakhin Mamedov, Head of Department, The State Orthopedic Center, 9 January 2001.
[30] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p 801.
[31] Ilyas Badalov, Director of ANAMA, cited in article by Tariel Jalally, “Fizuli is being cleared of mines,” Express, 16 February 2001.
[32] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” February 2001.
