[UPDATE October 2020: On 23 October, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report documented incidents of use of cluster munitions by Azerbaijan following the outbreak of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh in late September 2020. A second HRW report on 30 October found cluster munition use by Armenia during the conflict, but could not confirm whether it was direct use by Armenian forces or if Armenian forces supplied cluster munitions to forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.]

Ten-Year Review: Non-signatory Azerbaijan says it cannot accede to the convention until its dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories is resolved. Azerbaijan participated as an observer in a meeting of the convention for the first time, in September 2019. Azerbaijan has voted in favor of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the convention since 2015.

Azerbaijan is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions but inherited a stockpile of cluster munitions from the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan denied using cluster munitions in Nagorno-Karabakh in April 2016 and instead accused Armenia of using them.

Policy

The Republic of Azerbaijan has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Azerbaijan says it cannot join the convention until its conflict with Armenia is resolved, including the status of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan last commented on the Convention on Cluster Munitions in August 2010, when a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said Azerbaijan cannot join “at this stage” because of Armenia’s “ongoing occupation” of Nagorno-Karabakh and “seven areas adjoining regions.”[1]

Azerbaijan participated in some Oslo Process meetings that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions but did not attend the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.[2]

Azerbaijan participated as an observer in the convention’s Ninth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2019. This marked the first time Azerbaijan has attended a meeting of the convention.

In December 2019, Azerbaijan voted in favor of a UNGA resolution that urges states to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions “as soon as possible.”[3] Azerbaijan has voted for the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Azerbaijan is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Azerbaijan is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it inherited a stockpile from the Soviet Union.

According to Jane’s Information Group, Azerbaijan’s air force possesses RBK-250, RBK-250-275, and RBK-500 cluster bombs.[4] RBK-250 bombs with PTAB submunitions were observed among the abandoned Soviet-era ammunition stockpiles located near Saloğlu village in northwest Azerbaijan in 2005.[5]

Azerbaijan received 50 Extra surface-to-surface missiles from Israel for its Lynx multi-barrel rocket launchers in 2008–2009.[6] The Extra missile can have either a unitary or submunition warhead, but the variant acquired by Azerbaijan is not known.[7]

Azerbaijan also possesses Grad 122mm and Smerch 300mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include cluster munition rockets.[8] Azerbaijan acquired 12 Smerch 300mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers from Ukraine in 2007–2008.[9]

Use

There is credible evidence that at least two types of ground-fired cluster munition rockets were used in Nagorno-Karabakh during the first week of April 2016, during fighting across the line of contact separating local Armenian-backed separatists and Azerbaijani forces. Ground fighting was confined to areas close to the line of contact, but Azerbaijan launched artillery and rockets more than 10 kilometers into Nagorno-Karabakh from 1 April until 5 April 2016, when a ceasefire went into effect.[10]

Within 10 days, emergency clearance operations by HALO Trust destroyed approximately 200 unexploded M095 DPICM-type submunitions near the villages of Nerkin Horatagh and Mokhratagh, close to the town of Martakert in northeast Nagorno-Karabakh.[11] It also cleared remnants of Israeli-produced LAR-160 surfaced-fired rockets, which deliver the M095 DPICM submunitions.[12] The cluster munitions were reportedly fired from Azerbaijan.[13]

Azerbaijan and Armenia both denied using cluster munitions in the brief conflict and accused the other side of using the weapon against civilians. In April 2016, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that “cluster munitions used by the Armenian troops against the civilian Azerbaijani population living densely along the line of contact…do not bear any military goal and serve solely to perpetrate mass killings among the civilians.”[14] Armenia’s Ministry of Defense issued photographs on 6 April 2016 showing the remnants of 300mm Smerch cluster munition rockets, which it alleged Azerbaijan fired into Nagorno-Karabakh.[15]

Cluster Munition Monitor was not able to conduct an independent investigation to make a conclusive determination about responsibility for the 2016 cluster munition use.

RBK-series cluster bombs were used in Nagorno-Karabakh during the 1988–1994 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and HALO deminers have cleared unexploded PTAB-1M submunitions near Mugalny village.[16]

Jump to a specific section of the profile:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

Mine contamination in the Republic of Azerbaijan is the consequence of the armed conflict with Armenia between 1988–1994, which saw landmines laid by both sides. In addition to landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination resulted from ammunition abandoned by the Soviet Army in 1991.

The most heavily contaminated areas are along the borders and confrontation lines between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and the Nakhchivan region.[1] Some of the contaminated areas are under the control of Armenian forces and so the full extent of contamination is not known.[2] (See Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh impact profiles for further information).

Since cluster munition remnants clearance last took place in 2011 up to early 2020, Azerbaijan was not believed to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants. However, in September 2020, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated and involved the use of cluster munitions.[3] On 28 October 2020, a cluster munition attack in Barda, 230km west of Baku, killed at least 21 civilians and injured at least another 70.[4]

Mine risk education is well established in Azerbaijan. Conducted under the auspices of Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), risk education is integrated into the school curriculum and conducted at community level in mine and ERW-affected areas.[5] The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Emergency Situations operates a hotline through which residents can report the presence of explosive ordnance.[6]

Victim assistance is assigned to the information department of ANAMA, which is responsible for coordinating access to all pillars of victim assistance including medical care, physical rehabilitation including prothesis, psychosocial support, and livelihood assistance.[7]

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Management and coordination

Mine Action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination[8]

Coordination

ANAMA was set up with the support of UNDP at the request of the government of Azerbaijan in 1998.[9] As of June 2020, UNDP continued to support ANAMA with capacity development.[10]

ANAMA is responsible for coordinating and monitoring mine action in the country and reports to the Deputy Prime Minister as head of the State Commission for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.[11]

Strategies and policies

Mine action is integrated into the Azerbaijan Socio-Economic Development plan 2019–2023 and is considered a key contributor to meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[12]

All clearance operations are carried out in line with the annual plan approved by the government of Azerbaijan and based on requests from landowners such as local executive authorities, farmers, and different state organizations involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in mine/ERW-affected areas.[13]

Legislation and standards

As of June 2020, Azerbaijan was still in the process of reviewing its national mine action law.[14]

The Azerbaijan National Mine Action Standards are in line with the Internationl Mine Action Standards (IMAS).

Information management

ANAMA uses an IMSMA database and has received technical assistance from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in its development and use.[15] Azerbaijan was reported as a country that had improved its information management system in 2019.[16]

Gender and diversity

Only 11% of the mine action program staff in Azerbaijan comprise women, mainly employed in administrative positions in ANAMA.[17]

Risk Education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination[18]

Coordination

ANAMA coordinates the risk education program at the national level and works with the Ministry of Education in integrating risk education into the curriculum. The District Executive Authority coordinators are involved in coordinating risk education activities at the district level.

The Mine Risk Education TWG was established in 2000. Coordinated by ANAMA, it consists of representatives from several ministries including education, health, social protection, defence, and youth and sport, as well as from the Republic Children’s Organization, the Red Crescent Society, and other non-governmental organization (NGO) implementing partners.[19] The TWG holds an annual meeting at the beginning of each year to discuss and approve the annual risk education activity plan.

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination[20]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2019) [21]

Notes: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

* In areas controlled by Azerbaijan.

** This includes 1.01km² contaminated by antipersonnel mines and 1.43km² by antivehicle mines.

Landmine contamination

At the end of 2019, Azerbaijan reported a total of 9.44km² of mined areas in the regions under its control. The full extent of contamination in the areas under the control of Armenian forces is unknown.

In 2019, additional contamination was found, mainly in former Soviet Army firing ranges and training polygons. ANAMA has reported that precise figures for the extent of the contamination require country-wide survey, which will be carried out once resources are available.[22]

The Nakhchivan region and Nagorno-Karabakh are also affected by mine contamination.[23] (See Nagorno-Karabakh impact profile for more information).

Cluster munition remnant contamination

Use of cluster munitions during the escalation in conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September–October 2020 resulted in contamination in both Azerbaijan and Nagorno- Karabakh. In October 2020, Smerch cluster munition rockets containing 9N235 submunitions were fired at Barda city, resulting in casualties.[24] The extent of contamination caused by cluster munition use during the 2020 conflict is unknown.[25]

ERW contamination

The extent of ERW contamination in Azerbaijan remains unknown. Ammunition abandoned by the Soviet Army in 1991 along with ERW resulting from the conflict with Armenia have both contributed to ongoing contamination. The number of ERW cleared by ANAMA during 2019 dwarfed the number of mines cleared (see clearance section below).

Casualties

Casualty data presented below corresponds with Azerbaijan excluding Nagorno-Karabakh. (See Nagorno-Karabakh impact profile for additional information).

Casualties overview[26]

Casualties in 2019—details

For 2019, ANAMA reported seven mine/ERW casualties.[27]

The total number of casualties from mines/ERW in Azerbaijan is unknown. The variation in past annual casualty figures reported by key actors is due to differing collection methodologies. ANAMA collects casualty data through a network of district representatives and from media reports. Only incidents that occur in mine/ERW hazard areas and that can be verified are recorded in the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA). The Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (AzCBL) gathers information in affected districts, with the exception of the Nakhchivan region, from its regional coordinators, civil and military hospitals, and rehabilitation centers, as well as from the local media.[28]

Addressing the impact

Mine Action

Operators and service providers

Clearance operators

Clearance

Land release overview[29]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

* This includes 3.7 km² cleared with no antipersonnel mines found.

Land release: landmines

ANAMA deploys mechanical clearance assets and mine detection dog (MDD) teams alongside manual clearance teams. Between 2011–2018, a total of 25 MDD were bred and trained.[30] In terms of mechanical clearance, ANAMA possesses six mechanical demining machines: four mini flail demining machines and two medium flail demining machines.[31]

Clearance operations are carried out in line with an annual plan approved by the government of Azerbaijan and based on requests from landowners and state organizations involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation.

In 2019 ANAMA released land through clearance and technical survey. Mine clearance output has increased between 2015 and 2019, but that included clearance of areas with no contamination.

Risk Education

Operators and service providers

Risk education operators[32]

Beneficiary numbers

Beneficiary numbers[33]

Note: N/A=not applicable.

In addition to the figures reported in the table above, a further 750 children participated in the ICRC’s forum theatre throughout 2019. The data for these participants was not disaggregated by gender.[34]

Each year via the curriculum, risk education messaging is delivered to 55,000 children in 1,200 schools across conflict-affected districts of Azerbaijan.[35]

During 2019, ANAMA oversaw 158 community risk education groups operating across 10 affected districts. These groups delivered risk education training to 26,663 residents throughout the year.[36]

UNICEF trained 60 youth leaders as risk education peer trainers in 2019. A total of 112 adolescents (58 boys and 54 girls) participated in risk education peer training provided by these youth trainers.

Implementation

Risk education in Azerbaijan is delivered mainly through schools and community sessions.

In 2004, ANAMA, the Ministry of Education, and UNICEF signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on integrating risk education into the school curriculum. Textbooks for students and corresponding manuals for teachers were introduced. By the end of 2019, a total of 3,635 teachers had received risk education training across 1,200 schools in 26 districts.[37]

ANAMA and the Afghan government collaborated on the integration of risk education into the Afghan educational curriculum. Azerbaijan provided the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority with copies of the risk education student textbooks and teacher manuals translated into Dari. This pilot project was funded by the government of Azerbaijan and produced 24,000 textbooks along with 1,500 teacher manuals.[38]

ANAMA conducts training of trainers for volunteers to conduct community-based risk education sessions. The community risk education is coordinated by members of the District Executive Authority who report to ANAMA.[39] One hundred fifty-eight community committees have been set up in 11 frontline districts. ANAMA also uses billboards to raise public awareness in contaminated areas. In 2019, ANAMA produced over 100 billboards and displayed them in and around affected areas.[40]

Emergency risk education sessions are delivered in areas where items of ERW are found or a casualty occurs. Two hotline numbers to the Ministry of Internal Affairs are in place for people to report ERW finds.[41]

As part of the Azerbaijan Youth Advocates Program, UNICEF trains Youth Advisory Council members as peer educators for risk education.[42]

The ICRC delivers risk education training predominantly through face-to-face sessions with both children and adults.[43] Risk education is conducted in schools through a week-long participatory forum theatre activity.

Mine Mark started risk education activities in Azerbaijan in 2019. The pilot project was focusing on child-friendly spaces and was utilizing games, puzzles, and other materials specific to the target audience.[44]

In 2002, the risk education program was evaluated by UNICEF and ANAMA, but no further evaluation has taken place since. However annual monitoring has been conducted by the Ministry of Education and ANAMA.[45]

Target groups

ANAMA has collected data on mine/ERW incidents since 2000 and use the victim data to target risk education activities. The civilian accidents in 2019 were caused by people undertaking agricultural and animal herding activities. ANAMA reported that the incidents mainly happened in restricted military areas or areas under military surveillance and that people entered the areas intentionally.[46]

ANAMA considers children as a high-risk group and targets them through the school program.[47]

Teachers and parents are targeted to ensure that they understand and can reinforce the risk education messaging delivered to children.[48]

ICRC also identifies adult men as the largest casualty group due to their need to access hazardous areas to farm and cultivate the land. They are also the most difficult to reach for risk education sessions.[49]

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Victim assistance providers and activities overview[50]

ANAMA is responsible for coordinating access to all pillars of victim assistance, notably: medical care, physical rehabilitation (including prothesis), psychosocial support, and socioeconomic reintegration. [51]

Policy

The Republic of Azerbaijan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has stated that it supports the goals of the treaty, including a comprehensive ban, but that it “cannot accede to the Ottawa Convention without settlement of the armed conflict, restoration of territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and having a threat of hostility resumption, even though Azerbaijan stopped planting of additional mines…Therefore adherence to the Ottawa Convention will be possible only after the final settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”[1]

Still, Azerbaijan has demonstrated support for the treaty. It has voted in favor of the annual UN General Assembly resolution promoting universalization of the treaty every year since 2005, including Resolution 73/61 in December 2018.[2] Azerbaijan submitted voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency reports in 2008 and 2009. While the reports have details about mine clearance, victim assistance, and mine risk education, they do not include any information on Azerbaijan’s stockpiled antipersonnel mines.

Azerbaijan did not attend the 2014 Mine Ban Treaty Review Conference in Maputo. However, it did attend the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, but it did not provide a statement.

Azerbaijan is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Azerbaijan is also not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and use

The disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is contaminated by landmines, remnants from the Nagorno-Karabakh War fought from 1992–1994 between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has stated on several occasions that it does not produce or export antipersonnel mines.[3] Azerbaijan’s landmine stockpile is a legacy of the Soviet era, but the types and quantities in the stockpile are not known.

Officials have stated that Azerbaijan has not used antipersonnel mines since the end of open conflict with Armenia in 1994. They have also said that while Azerbaijan does not intend to use antipersonnel mines in the future, it does not rule out the possibility.[4] Azerbaijan apparently has not taken any specific legal measures to prohibit production, trade, or use of antipersonnel mines.