UZBEK DE-MINING PLEDGE STRIVES TO MOLLIFY NEIGHBORS
Erica Marat: 7/15/04
Said Dilovarov

Uzbekistan is signaling a desire to improve relations with neighboring states, saying it is ready to begin de-mining its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Tashkent’s effort to tightly control its frontier has been a major source of regional tension in recent years.

When Uzbek officials revealed Tashkent’s de-mining intentions at an OSCE conference in mid June, they provided no timetable for completion of the operation. Observers believe that Tashkent will require Western considerable economic assistance to fulfill its pledge. Uzbekistan has saturated its borders with mines, saying such action was necessary to prevent incursions by Islamic militants and to discourage drug traffickers. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. So far, Tashkent has not taken any visible action to implement its de-mining pledge.

Along the Uzbek-Tajik frontier, 68 Tajik citizens have been killed and 59 have been severely wounded by mines over the last three-and-a-half years. Uzbek authorities have been generally tight-lipped about mine-related incidents. In addition, Tashkent has not publicly disclosed information about the number of mines it has sown, or the precise location of minefields. Mines have caused about 30 deaths along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. Many of the victims have been women and children.

Both Tajik and Kyrgyz officials have lauded Uzbekistan’s de-mining commitment. For Tajikistan in particular the landmine issue has been a major source of friction in its dealings with Uzbekistan. Uzbek President Islam Karimov has been critical of the Tajik government, alleging that Dushanbe is not doing all that it could to contain Islamic radicals. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition to landmine-related deaths, bilateral relations have been jolted by several incidents in recent months, including an Uzbek cut-off of gas supplies to Tajikistan.

In March, 22 Uzbek paratroopers were detained by Tajik security forces in the northern Isfara region near the frontier, when an Uzbek pilot apparently became disoriented during a training exercise. A 23rd soldier was reportedly wounded after detonating a mine in the border zone, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. Tajik officials also attributed the incident to a "strong wind." Tajikistan allowed the 22 troops to return to Uzbekistan without delay. However, some Tajik officials were reportedly angered by the reluctance of Uzbek authorities to accept responsibility for the incident.

The lack of clearly defined borders among Central Asian states has exacerbated the landmine issue, as some mine fields are located in or near disputed areas. In Tajikistan’s case, roughly 15 percent of the 1,500-kilometer-long frontier with Uzbekistan has yet to be demarcated. The Tajik Border Control Agency has suggested that lingering questions about the frontier serve to discourage international donors from becoming involved in de-mining programs.

Some political experts in Tajikistan believe that it may take years before actual de-mining begins. They say that Uzbek implementation of its pledge will come only after precise borders have been settled upon, and a general thaw takes hold in Tajik-Uzbek relations.

Meanwhile, border-related issues have also fueled tension in Uzbek-Kazakh relations. There have been several shooting incidents in recent months along the joint border, and, in early July, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev expressed "serious concern" over an incident in which an Uzbek car hit and seriously injured a Kazakhstani border guard as he tried to stop and search the vehicle, according to the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency.

Uzbekistan appears to have sent a signal designed to mollify Kazakhstan. According to a July 14 report in the Kazakhstani newspaper Ekspress-K, Tashkent for the first time acknowledged wrongdoing by Uzbek border forces in a frontier incident. Quoting a local Kazakhstani border officer, the newspaper said Uzbekistan admitted that the June 1 killing of Nurzhugit Botanov was unjustified, and added that a criminal case has been opened against two Uzbek border guards involved in the incident. Botanov, according to news reports, was attempting to cross the border when he got into a heated dispute with Uzbek guards, who ended up shooting him.

Editor’s Note: Erica Marat is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asian affairs, and who is a PhD candidate at the University of Bremen. Said Dilovarov is a pseudonym for a Tajikistan-based freelance writer.

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Posted July 15, 2004 © Eurasianet
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