Key
developments since May 2001: In 2001, Abkhazian authorities for the
first time told Landmine Monitor that Abkhazian soldiers are using antipersonnel
mines. Abkhazia maintains that both Abkhazian and Georgian forces used
landmines in the Kodor Valley in October 2001. Private armed groups from Georgia
continued to cross into Abkhazia and lay antipersonnel mines. From 1998 through
February 2002, HALO Trust cleared a total of 945,868 square meters of land. The
most important elements of Abkhazia’s infrastructure have been demined.
As of March 2002, mine awareness education had been provided to about 40,000
people in Abkhazia.
MINE BAN POLICY
After the disintegration of the USSR, the
long-standing dispute over the political status of Abkhazia resulted in the
outbreak of war between Abkhazia and Georgia, with significant use of mines by
both sides, followed by a cease-fire agreement in May 1994. Peace negotiations
are ongoing, but no progress has been made on agreement on the political status
of Abkhazia. On 3 November 1999, a national referendum took place, resulting in
an Abkhazian declaration of independence, which remains unrecognized by the
international community.[1]
Because Abkhazia is not an internationally-recognized State, it cannot become
party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
In early April 2002, in an interview with Landmine Monitor, the Abkhazian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Shamba, reaffirmed the readiness of
Abkhazian authorities to ban landmines in the context of a signed and
internationally-recognized peace treaty with Georgia. He stated, “Our
attitude towards landmines develops in the light of mine war against
Abkhazia.”[2]
USE
In its previous three annual editions, Landmine
Monitor did not report use of antipersonnel mines by either the Georgian Armed
Forces or Abkhazian forces.
In 2001, Abkhazian authorities for the first time told Landmine Monitor that
Abkhazian army soldiers are using antipersonnel mines. The Head of Military
Headquarters of the Abkhazian army stated that mines are used only for
self-protection, such as when soldiers have overnight stays in observation posts
in the forests around Gal and Kodor Valley regions. He claimed that afterwards,
the soldiers always dig up the mines and leave the ground
clear.[3]
An Abkhazian military official told Landmine Monitor that both Abkhazian and
Georgian military forces used antipersonnel mines in October 2001, when Abkhazia
claims that Georgian armed irregulars, with the active support of regular
Georgian troops, moved into the northern part of the Kodor Valley in violation
of the cease-fire agreement of May
1994.[4]
Private armed groups from Georgia continued in 2001 and 2002 to cross into
Abkhazia and lay antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. It has been alleged that
these groups are linked to the Georgian
government.[5] In January 2002,
the armed groups “White Legion” and “Forest Brothers”
reportedly began mining footpaths linking Georgia’s Zugdidi region with
the Gali region of Abkhazia, including paths to Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) peacekeeping positions, and mining the left bank of the Inguri
River, separating Abkhazia and Georgia. They reportedly warned the CIS
peacekeepers of
mine-laying.[6]
The government of Georgia denies any use of antipersonnel mines, or any
support for armed Georgian partisans in use of antipersonnel
mines.[7]
The CIS peacekeepers from Russia are said to have previously laid mines,
including in areas around their checkpoints for the purpose of
self-protection.[8] In August
2001, the Russian Federation told Landmine Monitor that its peacekeeping forces
in Abkhazia had not used
mines.[9]
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, AND STOCKPILING
It is not believed that Abkhazia has ever produced
or exported antipersonnel mines. Abkhazia currently maintains a stockpile of
antipersonnel mines, though its size and composition is unknown. Mines used in
the conflict have been of Soviet manufacture. Russian engineering units serving
with the CIS peacekeeping forces may also have a stockpile of antipersonnel
mines.[10]
In early May 2002, Russian peacekeepers and United Nations military observers
on patrol in the Georgian-controlled section of the Kodor valley in Abkhazia
reportedly found a stockpile of weapons in a school, including 600 landmines. The Georgians are reported to have said that they “did not manage to
get rid of it on time,” and promised to remove them as soon as “the
roads open.”[11]
LANDMINE AND UXO PROBLEM
According to HALO Trust, which has carried out
survey and clearance work, “Abkhazia resembles the worst-affected areas of
Bosnia, yet receives a fraction of the international aid deployed in the
Balkans.”[12] Mines in
Abkhazia are now an obstacle to the repatriation of more than 300,000 displaced
people. Mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminate agricultural land,
orchards, and industrial estates—a huge blow to the economy, which was
based in part on citrus fruits, vineyards, and light
industry.[13]
HALO Trust estimated in 1998 that there were close to 50,000 mines in
Abkhazia, but further clearance work and extensive survey led them to conclude
in 2000 that the maximum number of mines in Abkhazia was never more than
15,000.[14] In January 2001,
Abkhazian authorities estimated that there were between 30,000-35,000 landmines
in approximately 102 mined locations throughout Abkhazia, mostly located in the
Sukhum, Ochamchira, Tquarchal, and Gal
regions.[15] In March 2002,
Georgian Minister of Defense David Tevzadze reportedly claimed that there are no
fewer than 70,000 mines in
Abkhazia.[16]
Some, but not all, of Abkhazia’s mined regions are mapped. The Abkhaz
Ministry of Defense provided HALO Trust with maps of Abkhazian and Georgian
minefields on the Gumista
River.[17] HALO Trust reports
that Georgian authorities also provided maps of minefields along the
Gumista.[18]
In Ochamarie, the most mine-affected region of Abkhazia, minefields were not
mapped. According to HALO Trust, in Ochamchire “mine laying took place in
a much less disciplined and random manner during inter-communal fighting,”
and little to no information exists regarding the exact locations of
mines.[19]
About seven percent of contaminated land in Abkhazia is considered Priority 1
(land next to human habitation, where pressure for use of land is great), about
23 percent is Priority 2 (land close to human habitation, cleared land likely to
be used), about 22 percent is Priority 3 (land not close to human habitation,
cleared land may be used), and about 48 percent is Priority 4 (land not close to
human habitation, cleared land is unlikely to be
used).[20]
MINE ACTION COORDINATION AND FUNDING
Mine action in Abkhazia is coordinated by the
Abkhazian Mine Action Center (AMAC). AMAC deals with survey, marking
contaminated areas, mine awareness activities, and anti-mine campaigns. AMAC
forwards maps and data to HALO Trust, which implements demining
operations.[21] HALO Trust
transfers the information into digital format, and it is accessible in a
user-friendly format to ensure that any visitor can quickly and easily be given
accurate information regarding mines or UXO reported in
Abkhazia.[22]
In its fiscal year 2001, the United States provided US$1 million to HALO
Trust, to fund clearance operations in Ochamchira
province.[23] Another US$1.1
million is allocated for HALO Trust for
2002.[24] Germany has reported
providing US$146,119 to HALO in
2001.[25]
MINE CLEARANCE
From 1998 through February 2002, HALO Trust
cleared 3,493 antipersonnel mines, 233 antivehicle mines, and 2,386 items of
UXO.[26] A total of 945,868
square meters of land have been deemed
mine-free.[27] The most
important elements of Abkhazia’s infrastructure have been demined, such as
Babushera Airport (Gulrypsh region), the M-27 highway, and bridges linking
populated areas. HALO Trust has also demined fields around the central water
supply station in Sukhum and areas around water-pipes. Two water pumping
stations have been completely
demined.[28] Approximately 80
percent of arable land was mined in Abkhazia, and as of early 2002 some 20
percent of that mined land is back in
use.[29]
HALO Trust operates in Abkhazia with two demining platoons; it has nine
23-man-strong manual mine clearance teams, three mine awareness teams (each
consisting of five mine awareness specialists), one Explosive Ordnance Disposal
(EOD) team, six mechanical mine clearance vehicles (big excavators), five
armored medium-wheeled loaders, and a stone-crusher working in
Abkhazia.[30]
In 2001, HALO Trust cleared 405 landmines and 306 items of
UXO.[31] Notably, it completed
demining of the banks of the Gumista River, in
Sukhum.[32]
In 2002, HALO Trust transferred its headquarters from Sukhum to Ochamchira.
In January 2002, HALO Trust demining teams cleared the territory of the tea
factory in Kindyg village in Ochamchira. As of mid-2002, HALO had three manual
mine clearance teams operating in Ochamchira, three teams in Sukhum, and three
teams in Gali. One team was conducting mine clearance around a factory in the
village of Kaman, to the north of Sukhum. Two teams were working on the
territory to the north of Ochamchira and the village of Adzubzha. In Gali, the
teams were demining in Tageloni, Zeni, and Tsipuria on the bank of the Ingur
River.[33]
In October 2001, the Abkhazian army cleared mines allegedly laid by the
Forest Brothers. The army removed or destroyed 96 antipersonnel mines. During
this operation, an Abkhazian reservist was injured by a
mine.[34]
The CIS peacekeeping forces conduct some demining in their areas of
deployment.
MINE RISK EDUCATION
Since 1999, AMAC and HALO Trust have been running
a mine awareness/mine risk education program in Abkhazia aimed at schoolchildren
in mine-affected communities. This program is now conducted in cooperation with
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC conducts training
for HALO Trust personnel to prepare them to implement mine risk education
programs. As of March 2002, mine risk education had been provided to about
40,000 people in
Abkhazia.[35]
In its mine risk education planning, the ICRC is targeting the key sections
of the population such as shepherds, non-ferrous metal and wood collectors,
hunters and people living next to mine-affected areas. During the harvest
season, when there is increased transit across the Ingur River, HALO Trust
places mine risk education stands at crossing-points to ensure that newcomers
and returnees are aware of the dangers from mines and
UXO.[36]
The processes of mine risk education and mine clearance are directly linked.
While conducting mine risk education in villages, the local population (mostly
children) provide HALO Trust with important information concerning minefields or
UXO in the area.[37] HALO Trust
mine risk education programs are sponsored by USAID and the Diana, Princess of
Wales Memorial Foundation.
LANDMINE/UXO CASUALTIES
There is no systematic data collection on landmine
casualties in Abkhazia. According to the Ministry of Interior, in 2001, one
person was killed and four others injured in landmine and UXO
incidents;[38] in 2000, two
people were killed and one
injured;[39] and in the first
three months of 2002, one person was killed and seven others
injured.[40] In one reported
incident in April 2001, four children were injured when a landmine
exploded.[41]
The Abkhazian Campaign to Ban Landmines (AbCBL) believes the information
collected by the government underestimates the actual number of new mine
casualties. The AbCBL, together with the NGO Association of Invalids with
Spinal Injuries (AIS), is monitoring the situation in the field and is
developing a database of persons with disabilities which will include data on
landmine survivors. The AbCBL information on mine incidents comes from a range
of sources, including interviews with survivors, media sources, national and
international NGOs, government agencies, United Nations Military Observers, and
the internet. However, the AbCBL admits that it is not always possible to
report objectively on all landmine incidents.
In January 2001, two CIS peacekeepers were severely injured in an antivehicle
mine incident,[42] and on 12
April 2002, two CIS peacekeepers were injured as the result of a landmine
incident in the northern part of the Kodor
Valley.[43] More than 50 CIS
peacekeepers have reportedly been killed by landmines in Abkhazia over the past
several years.[44]
Other reported landmine/UXO casualties in 2002 include an incident on 8
January 2002, in which an old man was killed after his horse-carriage hit a
device that reportedly consisted of two antivehicle
mines.[45] On 7 May 2002, four
people were killed and two injured when their horse stepped on an antivehicle
mine in the Ochamchira region; two were killed instantly, and the other two died
an hour after the explosion. The two injured people received first aid at the
Ochamchira city hospital, after which they were transferred to Sukhum for
further treatment.[46]
The Gagra Orthopedic Center (GOC) collects data on landmine survivors. In
2001, four new mine survivors were registered, another four in each of 2000 and
1999, 10 in 1998, 16 in 1997, 12 in 1996, 22 in 1995, 57 in 1994, 99 in 1993, 12
in 1992, and year of the incident is unknown for five registered mine survivors.
Of the mine survivors registered at the Center, 219 are men, 24 are women, and
two are children.[47] Mine/UXO
survivors from the Gal region are usually taken to western Georgia for treatment
and are not included in the Gagra Orthopedic Center database.
SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
Health facilities in Abkhazia are in poor shape
due to a lack of resources. The ICRC provides equipment, supplies, and
medicines to three referral hospitals and two front-line hospitals in Abkhazia.
In October, emergency surgical assistance was also provided to the Agudzera
military referral hospital and several other facilities. In 2001, three
mine/UXO casualties benefited from ICRC
assistance.[48] Médecins
sans Frontières (MSF) continues to provide emergency medical care and
support to health facilities in
Abkhazia.[49]
The three main Abkhazian organizations working with the disabled, including
landmine survivors, are the Gagra Orthopedic Center, the Association of Invalids
with Spinal Injuries (AIS), and the Gagra Rehabilitation Center (GRC).
The Gagra Orthopedic Centerwas established by the ICRC in cooperation
with the Ministry of Healthcare. The Center provides physical rehabilitation
and orthopedic devices. All the services at the GOC are provided free-of-charge
for patients. In 2001, the Center provided 96 prostheses, 21 orthoses, 255
crutches, and two
wheelchairs.[50] The
responsibility for running the GOC was shared between the ICRC and the Ministry
of Healthcare in 2001, but all responsibilities have now been handed over to
Abkhazian health
authorities.[51]
The activities of the Sukhum-based NGO, Association of Invalids with Spinal
Injuries, initially focused on people disabled by spinal injuries; however, with
increased funding AIS has now expanded its activities. AIS programs cover
physical rehabilitation, psycho-social rehabilitation, and vocational training,
including computer classes. Two mine survivors are employed by the AIS.
AIS’s physical rehabilitation activities are implemented in cooperation
with the Center for Humanitarian Programs and the Agudzera Republican Hospital.
About 40 people have benefited from the programs, including eight mine
survivors. AIS also promoted the creation of the Association of the Disabled in
Abkhazia, which has branches in Gagra, Gudauta, and Sukhum. The budget for the
AIS program in 2001 was US$19,688 (621,342 rubles), of which US$4,753 (150,000
rubles) was spent on social services and US$1,901 (60,000 rubles) on medicines
distributed by the Obligatory Health Insurance
Foundation.[52]
In the past, the Gagra Rehabilitation Center provided a wide range of
rehabilitation facilities and was capable of accommodating a few hundred
patients. Currently it serves more as an accommodation facility for amputees
waiting for their prostheses to be made; there are 150 staff and about 30
patients. The GRC covers all the expenses for care and accommodation of
patients in the Center. The annual budget of the Center is US$27,788 (877,000
rubles), with the Ministry of Healthcare providing US$24,715 (780,000 rubles) a
year directly from the State
Budget.[53]
The politically-oriented “Amtsahara” movement is attempting to
raise awareness of the problems facing disabled people in Abkhazia.
In the past, a number of disabled persons who could not receive adequate
treatment in Abkhazia were taken to the Yerevan Center for Medical
Rehabilitation in Armenia by the Center for Humanitarian Programs. High-level
discussions are taking place between Abkhazian and Armenian government
officials, and representatives of NGOs and private enterprises, on future plans
to send people for treatment in
Armenia.[54]
DISABILITY POLICY AND PRACTICE
Abkhazian legislation does not specifically
address the needs of landmine survivors; all persons with disabilities in
Abkhazia are treated equally. However, it appears that priority is given to the
support of disabled war veterans. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is
responsible for assistance to the disabled in Abkhazia, however there is little
evidence that the pensions provided are adequate to provide a minimum standard
of living.
The Obligatory Health Insurance Foundation is managed by the Ministry of
Healthcare. Three percent of taxes from local enterprises are directed towards
the foundation. The Ministry of Healthcare provides the Obligatory Health
Insurance Foundation with the sum of US$3,802 (120,000 rubles) annually to
assist those disabled by spinal
injuries.[55] A government
project on the creation of a Voluntary Health Insurance Foundation is being
considered.[56]
[1] UN Security Council Resolution,
S/RES/1287, 31 January 2000, called the referendum “unacceptable and
illegitimate.” [2] Interview with
Sergei Shamba, Abkhazian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sukhum, 1 April
2002. [3] Interview with Vladimir
Arshba, Head of Military Headquarters of Abkhazian Army, Sukhum, October
2001. [4] Interview with representative
of the Engineering Forces, Abkhazian Ministry of Defense, Sukhum, 3 November
2001. See also, Apsnypress (Abkhazian State Press Agency), accessed at:
www.apsnypress.narod.ru, 9 October 2001; RFE/RL Caucasus Report, Vol. 5, No. 13,
12 April 2002. [5] A. Studenikin,
“Terrorism as Means for Achieving Political Goals, on the Example of
Contemporary Georgia,” Research paper submitted to the international
conference “Terrorism in Today’s World: Factors, Aspects and
Tendencies,” sponsored by William R. Nelson Institute, James Madison
University, held in Kishinev, Moldova, 29-30 September 2001; See also,
Apsnypress (Abkhazian State Press Agency), accessed at: www.apsnypress.narod.ru,
9 October 2001; RFE/RL Caucasus Report, Vol. 5, No. 13, 12 April 2002.
[6] Anatoliy Gordienko, “In
Abkhazia are mined the posts of Russian peacemakers,” Nezavisimaya Gazeta,
23 January 2002, p. 5; Abkhazian State Press Agency, Apsnypress Report No. 10,
22 January 2002, available at: www.apsnypress.narod.ru;
“Prime-News,” TBS (Georgian news agency), 22 January 2002;
“Black Sea Press,” Issue 4, 22 January
2002. [7] Letter from Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs Merab Antadze to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 19
July 2002. [8] See Landmine Monitor
Report 1999, pp. 810-811. [9] Response
to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Vassily V. Boriak, Counselor to the
Embassy of the Russian Federation to the US, 16 August 2001. It was unclear if
this meant no use of mines ever or no use of mines in that Landmine Monitor
reporting period (since May 2000). [10]
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
929. [11] Apsnypress Report No. 092, 6
May 2002. The article is based on an interview with Colonel Yuri Alekseev, CIS
Peacekeeping Force. Available at:
www.apsnypress.narod.ru. [12] HALO
Trust, “The Caucasus,” accessed at:
www.halotrust.org/cauc.html. [13]
Ibid. [14] UN Development Program,
“United Nations Needs Assessment Mission to Abkhazia, Georgia,”
March 1998; Email to Landmine Monitor from Richard Boulter, Desk Officer Europe,
HALO Trust, 28 July 2000. [15] Interview
with Huta Kurt-Ogly, Head of AMAC, 21 January
2001. [16] www.izvestiya.ru, 14 March
2002. [17] Interview with Simon Conway,
Program Manager, HALO Trust, Abkhazia, Sukhum, 28 January
2001. [18] Email from HALO Trust
Caucasus Desk Officer to Abkhazian Committee of the ICBL, May
2002. [19]
Ibid. [20] HALO/AMAC, “Abkhazia
Minefield Survey Report,” March 2000, p.
22. [21] HALO Trust, Abkhazia,
“Report on Activity of the Humanitarian Organization on Mine Clearance
(November 2001 - January
2002).” [22] HALO Trust,
“Mid Term Report,” 1 January - 30 June
1999. [23] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” November 2001, p.
29. [24] US Department of State, Fact
Sheet, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5
April 2002. [25] United Nations Mine
Action Investment Database. [26] HALO
Trust, Abkhazia, “Clearance Statistics, 01/01/97 -
29/02/02.” [27] Ibid. A total of
380,967 square meters was manually demined and 564,901 square meters
mechanically demined. [28] Interview
with HALO Trust representative, Sukhum, 12 March
2002. [29]
Ibid. [30] HALO Trust, Abkhazia,
“Report on Activity of the Humanitarian Organization on Mine Clearance
(November 2001 - January
2002).” [31] HALO Trust, Abkhazia,
“Clearance Statistics, 01/01/97 -
29/02/02.” [32] HALO Trust,
Abkhazia, “Report on Activity of the Humanitarian Organization on Mine
Clearance (November 2001 - January 2002).” In total, it uncovered some
5,000 mines from the Gumista area, using both manual and mechanical mine
clearance methods. [33] HALO Trust,
Abkhazia, “Report on Activity of the Humanitarian Organization on Mine
Clearance (November 2001 - January
2002).” [34] Interview with
Colonel Huta Kurt-Ogly, Head of AMAC, Engineering Forces, Ministry of Defense,
Sukhum, 18 March 2002. [35] Interview
with Julie Aiba, Mine Awareness Officer, HALO Trust, Sukhum, 1 April
2002. [36] Interview with Chris Barron,
Program Manager, HALO Trust, Sukhum, 1 April
2002. [37] Interview with Julie Aiba,
Mine Awareness Officer, HALO Trust, Sukhum, 1 April
2002. [38] Abkhazian Ministry of
Interior, “List of terrorist attacks committed on the territory of
Abkhazia”, Sukhum, 2001. [39]
Ibid. [40]
Ibid. [41] “Two dead, four
children injured in Abkhazia incidents,” Agence France-Presse (AFP), 10
April 2001. [42] Apsnypress (Abkhazian
State Press Agency), 31 January
2001. [43] Apsnypress (Abkhazian State
Press Agency), 12 April 2002. [44]
Vladimir Mukhin, military correspondent for Nezavisimaya Gazeta,
”Peacekeeping an explosive issue in Abkhazia. Some efforts to allow NATO
to bring in troops,” The Russia Journal, 24 February-2 March 2001, Issue
No. 7 (100), p. 18. [45] Interview with
UNOMIG officer, Gal, January 2002. [46]
Apsnypress (Abkhazian State Press Agency), 7 May
2002. [47] Data provided by the Gagra
Orthopedic Center, 2 April 2002. [48]
ICRC Special Report, Mine Action 2001, ICRC, Geneva, p. 34; see also Landmine
Monitor Report 2001, p. 883. [49] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
933. [50] Interview by Landmine Monitor
Georgia with Rainer Knoll, Head of Orthopedic Program, and Peter Schoenenberger,
Ortho-prosthetist, ICRC Orthopedic Center, Tbilisi, 8 January
2002. [51] Interview with Sandra
Dessimoz, Head of Mission, ICRC Abkhazia, Sukhum, 27 March
2002. [52] Interview with Alena
Kuvichko, AIS Administrative Manager, 25 March
2002. [53]
Ibid. [54] Interview with Vika Zhiba,
Head of the Obligatory Health Insurance Foundation, Sukhum, March
2002. [55] Interview with Liudmila
Avidzba, Healthcare Minister, 26 March
2002. [56] Interview with press office
of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Abkhazia, 1 April
2002.
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