ARMENIA IS TO JOIN OTTAWA CONVENTION ON PROHIBITION OF ANTIPERSONNEL MINES
Support A1+!Armenia demands for time to join the Ottawa Convention on Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines. Jemma Hasratyan, coordinator of Armenian National Committee of the international movement for prohibition of antipersonnel mines, told this at the conference in UNO’ Armenian Office.
Mrs Hasratyan phrased the reason for not joining the convention this way: ”No one in the region has joined it”. According to her, only Turkey in the region has joined the Ottawa Convention.
Varujan Nersisyan, head of armament control department of Foreign Affairs Ministry, added that ”Armenia would face an unpleasant situation if applying Ottawa Convention”. The point is that the countries signing the Convention are obliged not to produce, accumulate, use or spread mines. The countries possessing mines are obliged to destroy them.
Russia has recently appeared among the states not producing antipersonnel mines. According to Vostanik Adoyan, head of Defense Ministry department for sappers, Armenia demines only the territories, which are not of defense importance.
As to mine clearing and destruction along the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier, ”The problem will remain unsettled till the peace treaty is signed”, Mr Adoyan says.
Under the data of trade union of health employees, 343 people died because of explosion of antipersonnel mine. Jemma Hasratyan said that a Centre for Humanitarian Mine Clearing was set up in Armenia, which will be busy with demining inside the country.
By Mr Adoyan’s word, Centre for Humanitarian Mine Clearing is ready to carry out demining in the neighboring countries of Armenia.
