4 April is the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, designated by the General Assembly in 2005 to raise awareness and seek assistance for mine action. Today, the organization calls for the establishment and development of national mine action measures in countries where explosive remnants of war pose a serious threat to the security, health and lives of civilians and impede socio-economic development at national and local levels.

Today, in the age of technology, mines have given way to more precise weapons. However, the experience of recent years has shown that mines are still a dangerous and potentially catastrophic force. Moreover, the use of the latest high-tech technologies has created an additional opportunity for the “development” of this field.

Mine weapons are now particularly popular among countries that do not have strong military capabilities, as well as among so-called third world countries or terrorist communities that cannot afford modern high-precision weapons. The main reasons for this are their extreme simplicity of design and ease of operation compared to other weapons, as well as their low cost. They are easy to install and can remain in a combat position for months or even years without requiring additional maintenance. They are not affected in any way by the state of the war (continuation, termination) or the changing political course of a country. They simply lie where they were buried and wait for their victims.

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) organizes a multimedia exhibition at UN Headquarters in New York to raise awareness of the threats posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices. Each year, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is organized under a specific theme.

Unfortunately, the problem of landmines has not bypassed Azerbaijan too. Thus, during almost 30 years of occupation, our lands were not only vandalized but also contaminated by mines.

Even after the end of the 44-day Patriotic War and the conflict, Armenia, contrary to its obligations, misused the Lachin road for illegal purposes, including the continuation of the landmine threat. This fact was confirmed in 2022 when more than 2,700 anti-personnel landmines produced in Armenia in 2021 were revealed in the Lachin and Kalbajar regions. Following counter-terrorism measures in September 2023, findings about more than 500,000 landmines had been planted in the Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeeping contingent were temporarily deployed and along the perimeters of these territories, are among the proofs that demonstrate the scale of this threat. At the same time, it has proved that the statements about the alleged non-production and non-export of landmines by Armenia during the last decades were completely unfounded.

Throughout the post-conflict period a total of 350 Azerbaijanis became landmine victims in the explosions which happen almost on a daily basis as a result of Armenia’s ongoing landmine threat. Among them 65 persons lost their lives, including 50 civilians and 15 military personnel.

Geography of landmine cases that have occurred so far, the fact that majority of them have taken place outside the former contact line, particularly in places where civilian facilities, residential areas, as well as cemeteries are located, proves that Armenia’s landmine threat has been purposefully aimed at high casualties among the civilian population. This, in turn, is yet another manifestation of the existing ethnic hatred and intolerance of Armenia against Azerbaijanis.
The leading role in ensuring the high pace of large-scale construction works in the liberated territories and the safe return of the inhabitants to their native lands after the victory in the Patriotic War belongs to the Azerbaijan Republic Mine Action Agency (ANAMA).

According to Decree No. 1251 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated January 15, 2021, the Mine Action Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ANAMA) was established on the basis of the Agency founded in 1998 by order of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev. ANAMA is the main executive body of the government in the mine clearance field as a competent authority, in addition, it coordinates and manages activities carried out regarding mine hazards in the liberated and war-affected areas. Since the beginning of its activity, the Agency has a history of successful cooperation with many international organizations. In its work it relies on international standards IMAS and on the results of its work issues an international level certificate for all cleared territories. ANAMA carries out manual demining, demining operations using mechanical demining machines and demining dogs.

The Armenian side’s failure to provide the maps of the mined territories has a negative impact on the planning and implementation of humanitarian demining activities and hinders the implementation of infrastructure projects in the liberated territories, the reconstruction of towns and villages and the return of internally displaced persons to their lands at the next stage. The failure of the Armenian side to provide this information means a deliberate violation of international humanitarian norms.

Recommended literature:

1. Kün, Haydi. Canlanan torpaq : minalı ərazilərdən üzümlüklərə, bir qadının dünyanı qorumaq missiyası: [“Sülhün Kökləri” təşkilatının qurucusu] / H. Kün ; tərc.: A. Umudlu, Q. Aşırov ; red.: V. Sultanlı, A. Nəbi ; ön sözün müəl. K. Ruterford ; Beynəlxalq Avrasiya Mətbuat Fondu. - Bakı : AVE Print, 2022. - 258 s.
2. Преступления армянских террористических и бандитских формирований против человечества : XIX-XXI вв.: краткая хронологическая энциклопедия / Институт Права и Прав Человека НАНА ; авт. идеи Р. Ф. Мустафаев ; сост.: А. И. Мустафаева [и др.]. - Повторное изд. - Баку : Elm və təhsil, 2020. - 332 с.
3. Hidden Seeds of Death = Gizli ölüm toxumları / Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Pasha Life Insurance ; project manager, ed. M. Marjanli ; trans.: I. Asadov [et al.] ; ed.: G. Lysenko [et al.]. - Dubai : IRS Publishing House, 2023. - 173 p.