Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlgeorgia



Georgia <![CDATA[Mine Ban Policy

Georgia has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In April 2007, Georgia said, “Georgia is well aware that the negative impact of landmines far outweighs their military value, and tries to make its possible contribution in facilitation of the process of elimination and eradication of this threat. …Georgia fully shares the principles and objectives of the Ottawa Convention and the concern of the international community regarding the challenge of anti-personnel landmines.”

In September 2006, Georgia told States Parties, “Over the years, one of the principle reasons for not acceding to the Convention has been the existence of ... territories uncontrolled by the central authorities of the state and therefore, incapability to fulfill the obligations put forward in the convention. However,…discussions concerning the possibility of reconsideration of the above-stated position have started.”

Despite its denial of past use, it appears that Georgian Armed Forces used antipersonnel mines every year from 2001 to 2004. Opposition forces and Russian peacekeepers also alleged that Georgian forces laid mines in South Ossetia in 2006 and 2007, and in Kodori Gorge in July 2006. Landmine Monitor has not been able to confirm the allegations. In June 2008, South Ossetian authorities blamed Georgia for laying a mine which killed a boy outside Tskhinvali. Georgian authorities responded that the Russian mine type in the incident is not one held in their arsenal.

There have been allegations of use of antipersonnel mines by both Georgia and Russia during the heavy fighting related to South Ossetia in August 2008. Each side has denied it.

Georgia is affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of armed conflict over the breakaway areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The majority of the mines in Georgia are said to be located near the Ingur river that divides Abkhazia from the rest of the country. It is also claimed that mines have been emplaced in the Kodori Gorge on paths leading to Upper Abkhazia. According to a Russian news source, on 17 June 2008 six bags of Russian-made mines and munitions were found by road constructors at a Georgian Ministry of Defense training center near Kodjori, about 30km from the capital, Tbilisi.

Following the armed conflict in August 2008, there was evidence of a potentially significant problem with unexploded ordnance (UXO) in South Ossetia and elsewhere in Georgia. Assessments prior to the conflict had concluded that the mine problem in South Ossetia was minor and its impact low. Mine casualties, however, had continued to occur through June 2008.

The remaining problem in Georgia comes from mines laid around former Russian military bases. At least five bases are considered mine-affected, but lack of good record-keeping means that the total number may be higher. All former Russian military bases on territory under Georgian control have been closed and transferred to Georgia; the last of these was handed over in November 2007. According to the Ministry of Defense, Georgia plans to clear any affected areas. There is also a former Soviet military base in Gudauta in Abkhazia, which continues to be used by the Russian military.

Due to a lack of comprehensive data collection, the total number of casualties in 2007 is not known. The ICBL Georgian Committee (ICBL-GC) reported that it had recorded casualties from South Ossetia and Abkhazia from media reports in 2007–2008, but details were not made available.

Landmine Monitor identified three people injured by mines in South Ossetia in 2007: two Russian peacekeepers and a civilian woman. The two Russian soldiers were seriously injured on 15 January 2007, when their armored vehicle detonated a mine near Sveriakho (South Ossetia). A Georgian disability NGO observed media reports of five casualties in South Ossetia in 2007, including two people killed. However, the US Department of State reported that no deaths due to landmines were reported in the South Ossetia conflict zone in 2007.

Casualties continued to be reported in 2008. According to Georgian television news, on 3 April a 32-year-old police officer lost his right leg to a landmine near Tskhinvali in South Ossetia. On 14 June 2008, a 14-year-old child died in a mine explosion in Ernegi village, also within the conflict zone. In addition, a Georgian soldier was killed by what appears to have been a landmine in Iraq in June 2008.

]]> <![CDATA[]]>