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Key developments since May 2001: Belarus has reiterated its willingness to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as it has received the necessary assistance to enable it to destroy its stockpile of nearly 4.6 million antipersonnel mines. In 2001, Belarus destroyed 3,276 stockpiled mines, and cleared 3.5 million square meters of land, including 11,926 UXO and 65 antipersonnel mines. In March 2002, Canada donated 20 mine detectors to Belarus—the first time the country has received international assistance for its mine and UXO clearance.
While Belarus has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, government officials have reaffirmed their support for the treaty on a number of occasions.[1] In September 2001, a representative of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared, “Belarusian public opinion and [the] Belarusian Government view successful implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines as one of the important conditions for strengthening international security.”[2] In January 2002, the Army Engineer Corps Chief of Staff said, “Belarus expresses a willingness along with the international society to join the ban movement, complying with the terms of the Ottawa Convention and to join it in the foreseeable future.”[3]
Belarus claims that its accession to the Mine Ban Treaty is dependent on finding environmentally safe technologies to enable the destruction of its 3.6 million PFM-1 and PFM-1S antipersonnel mines and receiving the necessary funding.[4] Research into the environmental effects of open-air detonation of PFM mines, which is being carried out by the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2002. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Michael Khvostov: “As soon as an environmentally safe technology of destruction of PFM mines is identified and a formal agreement of cooperation between Belarus and international donors is signed Belarus will immediately accede to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.”[5]
Belarus has consistently voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, including UNGA Resolution 56/24M adopted in November 2001, which calls for universalisation of the treaty.
Belarus attended as an observer the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 and made a statement in support of the treaty. Belarus attended the intersessional Standing Committee meeting on Stockpile Destruction in May 2001 and January 2002, with the sponsorship of the UNDP office in Minsk. At the Standing Committee meetings in May 2002, Belarus was represented by Alexsandr Baichorov from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lieutenant-Colonel Igor Lapchinsky from the Ministry of Defense.
Military and political authorities welcomed Landmine Monitor Report 2001. The Ministry of Defense expressed its gratitude to the Support Centre for Associations and Foundations (SCAF)/Belarus Campaign to Ban Landmines (BCBL) for support and cooperation in the elimination of the landmine problems in Belarus.[6]
Belarus is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its original Protocol II on landmines. As reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2001, Belarus is said to have completed domestic procedures for the ratification of CCW Amended Protocol II on 7 October 1996, but has not yet submitted the instrument of ratification “due to financial constraints on its implementation.”[7] Belarus participated as an observer in the Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in December 2001.
In 2001, Belarus requested support and cooperation with humanitarian demining from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)[8] but as of June 2002 it had not received any response, official or unofficial.
The Ministry of Defense claims that Belarus has never produced and will not produce or modernize antipersonnel mines or their components, including Claymore-type mines or any other mines, in the future.[9] Government officials say that since 1992, Belarus has not exported antipersonnel mines.[10] The current moratorium on the export of all types of landmines—in place since 1995—has been extended to the end of 2002.[11] A decree at the beginning of 1998 banned the transit of antipersonnel mines and certain other goods through the territory of the Republic of Belarus.[12]
Belarus’s mine stockpiles—concentrated primarily in the Gomel region—consist of landmines left behind from the Soviet era.[13] Details of Belarus’s stockpile of nearly 4.6 million antipersonnel mines, including 3.6 million PFM and PFM-1S, were included in Landmine Monitor Report 2001.[14]
In 2001, Belarus destroyed 3,276 antipersonnel mines, including 3,244 PMN-2 blast mines, 17 MON-50, and 15 MON-200 directional mines. This is an increase of more than 2,000 over the number destroyed the previous year (1,216).[15] Between 1997 and January 2002 Belarus destroyed, by detonation, a total of 11,459 antipersonnel mines and booby-traps.[16] The numbers and types destroyed are detailed in the following table:[17]
Belarus military officials argue that the MON series, OZM-72 and POMZ-2M mines can be converted to command-detonated devices, which are not illegal under the Mine Ban Treaty.[19]
Belarus has declared its intention, in spite of its economic problems, to destroy some 900,000 antipersonnel mines (except for the PFM-1/1S type) without international assistance.[20] The government has estimated that it would need US$46 million to develop the technologies necessary to carry out the destruction of all its stocks, including PFM-1 mines.[21]
Belarus is still contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from World War II. As reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2001, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) conducted an assessment mission to Belarus in 2000. UNMAS found that the majority of contaminated areas are agricultural lands and forests and that UXO poses a greater threat than landmines.[22]
The Ministry of Defense cleared 11,991 UXO and antipersonnel mines in 2001, the largest number since 1994, and over 4,000 more pieces than were recovered in 2000.[23] Details of clearance since 1992 are included in the table below.
[25] Other regions include Gomel (802), Grodno (590), Mogilev (589), and Brest (500).
In 2001, a total area of 3.5 million square meters was cleared, most of which could not previously be used for agricultural or other economic purposes.[26]
The areas still needing to be cleared total some 350 million square meters.[27] Belarus provided UNMAS with a list of areas, in priority order, that remain to be cleared, broken down by region and district. The list was reprinted in Landmine Monitor Report 2001.[28] The most affected are: Doubrovitsa district (172 km2) in Vitebsk; Slavgorod district (36 km2) and Dribinsk district (24 km2) in Mogilve; and Loyevsk district in Gomel (24 km2).
The primary responsibility for mine/UXO clearance in Belarus rests with the Ministry of Defense.[29] Deminers from the Ministry of Defense carry out planned clearance operations at the request of local authorities. Deminers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are supposed to react to emergency calls.
In March 2002, Belarus received international humanitarian demining assistance for the first time—20 modern mine detectors at a cost of US$46,000 were donated to Belarus by Canada and a corresponding training of Belarus deminers by international trainers, sponsored by Canada, took place in April 2002.[30]
Mine awareness is provided to the civilian population in affected areas by the Ministry of Defense Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams prior to the commencement of clearance operations.[31] A proposal by a group of NGOs, including BCBL and SCAF, to the Ministry of Education to include mine awareness education in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools conflicted with plans to reduce the existing national curriculum as Belarus is moving from a six-day to a five-day school week.[32] In spite of the fact that 58 children were killed or injured in Belarus by landmines and UXO in the ten years to 1999, UNICEF has not had any involvement with mine awareness issues in Belarus due mainly to a lack of resources.[33]
In 2001, three people were killed by UXO and four others were injured, including one child.[34] There were 105 mine and UXO victims recorded in Belarus between 1990 and 2001. Landmine Monitor has a breakdown year-by-year, for injuries and fatalities, for adults and children. For the entire period, 14 adults were killed and 33 injured and 23 children were killed and 35 injured.[35]
Medical, surgical, rehabilitation, and reintegration services are available through the Ministry of Health network of hospitals and healthcare institutions.[36] In 2001, the Belarus Prosthetic Rehabilitation Center produced 1,309 wheelchairs, 12,061 prosthetic devices, and 4,312 other assistive devices.[37]
Despite the existence of prosthetic and rehabilitation facilities in Belarus, according to Vladimir Yarmolik, the Executive Director of the Belarus Red Cross, some 600 mine/UXO victims in Belarus are on the waiting list to receive electric wheelchairs and other devices.[38] The types of prosthetic devices needed are not produced locally due either to a lack of funding or to inadequate technology.
Physiotherapy and psychosocial rehabilitation facilities appear to be very limited. Reintegration of survivors appears problematic, although companies are requested to engage disabled people. The average monthly pension of a disabled person in Belarus is roughly US$48.[39] The Belarus Red Cross considers the development of a mine victim assistance program one of its priorities, but lacks the necessary funding.[40]
A national disability law exists in Belarus.[41]
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[1] Statement by Ivan Grinevich, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Third Meeting of States Parties, Managua, 18-21 September 2001; Statement by Colonel Sergei Luchina, Chief of Staff, Engineers Corps, Belarussian Armed Forces, to a press conference in Minsk, 19 January 2002; Statement by Vladimir Malevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations in Geneva, to the Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 11-15 September 2000. See also Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 860.
[2] Statement by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Third Meeting of States Parties, 18-21 September 2001.
[3] Statement by Colonel Sergei Luchina, Chief of Staff, Engineers Corps, Belarussian Armed Forces, Minsk, 19 January 2002.
[4] Interview with Vladimir Novosiad, Committee on State Legislation, House of Representatives, National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, 5 February 2002.
[5] Interview with Michael Khvostov, Belarussian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minsk, 11 February 2002.
[6] Statement by Colonel Luchina, Belarusian Armed Forces, 19 January 2002.
[7] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 861.
[8] Letter from Belarusian Ministry of Defense to Support Centre for Associations and Foundations, 23 March 2002.
[9] Letter no. 18/197 from the Ministry of Defense to Support Centre for Associations and Foundations, 11 February 2002; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 862.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Decree no. 335 of the President of the Republic of Belarus, “Introduction in the Republic of Belarus Moratorium on Export of Landmines,” 22 August 1995; Decree no. 42 of the President of the Republic of Belarus, “About the Prolongation of the Moratorium on Export of Landmines Till the End of 2002,” 4 February 2000.
[12] Decree no. 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, and Statement by Ivan Grinevich to the Third Meeting of States Parties, Managua, 18-21 September 2001.
[13] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 11 February 2002.
[14] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 862-863.
[15] Ibid., p. 863.
[16] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 11 February 2002.
[17] Ibid.
[18] The total of the chart (4,586,525) is a slightly higher figure than previously reported (4,584,953) despite the destruction of 3,276 mines in 2001. According to the Ministry of Defense there were mistakes in the numbers provided to Landmine Monitor for the last report. Interview with Colonel Sergei Luchina, Chief of Staff, Engineers Corps, Belarusian Armed Forces, Minsk, 19 July 2002.
[19] Interview with Colonel Sergei Luchina, Chief of Staff, Engineers Corps, Belarusian Armed Forces, Geneva, 29 January 2002.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 23 March 2002. For details of the potential difficulties in destroying PFM-series mines see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 863-864.
[22] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 865.
[23] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 11 February 2002.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Letter from Ministry of Defense, 23 March 2002.
[26] Interview with Colonel Luchina, Belarusian Armed Forces, Minsk, 19 January 2002.
[27] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 866-867.
[28] Ibid.
[29] For details of Belarus’s mine clearance capacity, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 865-868.
[30] Interview with Colonel Luchina, Belarusian Armed Forces, Minsk, 18 July 2002.
[31] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 868.
[32] Interview with Iouri Zagoumennov, Director, Support Center for Associations and Foundations (SCAF), Minsk, 18 July 2002.
[33] Interview with Neil Buhne, UN Resident Coordinator for Belarus, Minsk, 18 July 2002.
[34] Interview with Colonel Luchina, 5 February 2002; letter no. 18/197 from the Ministry of Defense to Support Centre for Associations and Foundations, 11 February 2002; and interviews with survivors.
[35] Landmine Monitor has full details of all the landmine survivors injured in 1999-2001.
[36] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 869.
[37] Interview with Larisa Andreeva, Head of Planning Department, Belarus Prosthetic Rehabilitation Center, Minsk, 21 January 2002.
[38] Interview with Vladimir Yarmolik, Executive Director of the Belarus Red Cross, 29 March 2002.
[39] Interview with Lilia Vitskhovskaya, Center of Social Information, Minsk, 27 March 2002.
[40] Interview with Vladimir Yarmolik, Belarus Red Cross, 29 March 2002; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 869.
[41] For details see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 869-870.
