GEORGIA: HALO TRUST CONTINUES TO CLEAR THE LAND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002229

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2018
TAGS: PARM PGOV GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: HALO TRUST CONTINUES TO CLEAR THE LAND

REF: TBILISI 1592

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary. The HALO Trust, a British Demining/Explosive
Remnants of War (ERW) clearance NGO conducted an emergency
ERW survey of Georgia, and is engaged in Battle Area
Clearance (BAC) training, clearance operations, and
mine/Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) risk education projects in
Abkhazia and the undisputed areas of Georgia. Department of
State provided funding of 4.4 million dollars for these
on-going activities. Other donors included the European
Union and the Governments of the United Kingdom and Germany,
who contributed to the clearance programs, and UNICEF, who
contributed to risk education. HALO is progressing well, and
has cleared a total of 1,040 items of cluster munitions, UXO
and abandoned ordnance (AO) in the area between Gori and
South Ossetia to date, and over 15,000 mines, UXO and AO in
the separatist region of Abkhazia. While HALO expects to
complete minefield clearance in Abkhazia, excluding the Upper
Kodori region, by the end of 2009, HALO estimates that at
least another six months of clearance will be required to
remove all known ERW from the Gori-Tskhinvali corridor, and
another two years of clearance will be required in the Upper
Kodori. Furthermore, clearance operations in the separatist
region of South Ossetia have yet to begin. HALO has also
confirmed, that cluster munitions were used in civilian areas
by both Georgia and Russia during the August conflict. End
Summary.

OPERATIONS STATISTICS


2. (U) Two BAC training courses were completed this year and
produced a total of 156 new staff. The majority of the staff
are from affected villages within the former buffer zone.
HALO is currently deploying 14 sub-surface clearance teams,
12 surface clearance teams, and 2 survey/EOD teams. Each
team consists of five searchers and one team leader. 24 of
these teams are locally recruited and four are from Gali, in
the ethnic-Georgian majority area of the separatist region of
Abkhazia. In total, there are 192 operations staff based in
Gori and 18 support staff.


3. (C) As of November 22, a total of 491 cluster munitions,
462 AO and 87 unexploded ordnance had been cleared from
villages in the Gori-Tskhinvali corridor since early
September. This clearance, primarily of agricultural land,
has allowed residents to harvest their crops safely. Despite
denials by the Government of Russia that cluster bombs had
been used at all and earlier denials by the government of
Georgia that they had used cluster munitions in civilian
areas, HALO Trust did confirm that cluster munitions were
found from both countries in ethnic Georgian villages in the
Gori-Tskhinvali corridor. Although the true targets of the
bombs cannot be established, they are all located in the
primary battleground between Tskhinvali and Gori. Russian
cluster munitions were discovered in Akhaldaba, Dzlevijvari,
Karaleti, Karbi, Kvemo khviti, Kvemo Nikozi, Ruisi, Variani,
and Variani Meurneoba. Georgian cluster munitions were found
in Brotsleti, Ditsi, Ergneti, Kvemo nikozi, Meghvreskisi,
Pkhvenisi, Shindisi, Tirdnisi and Variani. (Note: In
responding to similar allegations by Amnesty International,
the Georgian government explained that it directed cluster
munitions against military targets; Amnesty found that
legitimate military targets were within the general vicinity
of the cluster munitions, but still questioned the
justifiability of their use. According to Amnesty, the
Russian government did not respond to queries on the topic.
QRussian government did not respond to queries on the topic.
End Note.)


4. (U) HALO also completed an emergency ERW survey, which was
published on October 31, 2008. Included was a survey of the
Gori-Tskhinvali corridor, minefields in Abkhazia from the
1992 conflict, minefields and UXO in the Upper Kodori, and
Soviet legacy minefields. In the Gori-Tskhinvali zone, HALO
identified 16 villages, of 131 visited, affected by cluster
munitions. They also found other UXO, primarily S-8
air-to-surface rockets, as well as abandoned ordnance.
Specific details and clearance required for each village
visited can be found in the survey. General contamination
maps have been produced for 15 of the 16 villages
contaminated by cluster munitions, and these have been
included in the survey report. The one exception is Ergneti
on the South Ossetian border, where Georgian police
restricted access until an Ossetian checkpoint was recently
moved back. These maps show the approximate extent of
cluster contamination in each location, and will be further
refined by survey teams revisiting the tasks and during the
course of surface clearance. An initial assessment of South
Ossetia will be completed as soon as HALO is able to gain
full access to the region.


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5. (U) In Abkhazia, HALO has cleared 280 minefields from the
1992-1993 war, with 22 remaining, since they began work there
in 1997. This amounts to over 15,000 mines, UXO and AO
having been destroyed. HALO expects to complete minefield
clearance in Abkhazia by the end of 2009. These numbers
exclude the Upper Kodori, to which they gained access only in
August. 13,671 items of abandoned ordnance in Upper Kodori
have been destroyed since September. Almost all the
immediate threat posed by UXO and AO has been removed from
around villages and housing. Most of the UXO were cleared
from damaged ammunition depots in the center of Azhara
village using an armored Volvo loader to clear rubble for
inspection. The minefield survey is underway, with thirty
minefields in Upper Kodori already surveyed. HALO estimates
that the area will require an additional two years of
clearance.


6. (C) A HALO Trust officer reported that that on a recent
trip to the Upper Kodori region, he was extremely troubled to
see recently built Georgian administrative buildings, banks
and schools that had been vandalized by Abkhaz militia.
However, on a happier note, he was heartened to hear that
Abkhaz HALO demining teams were helping the remaining ethnic
Georgians bring in their maize and potato crops after
completing their clearance activities for the day. The teams
in the Upper Kodori lodge with ethnic Georgian families,
paying them rent, which is greatly appreciated by the
communities. The landlady that the officer stayed with was
so grateful for the overall help and general security
provided by the deminers that she was in tears thanking him.
This underscores that the project is not only a critical
humanitarian operation, but also a key peacebuilding
initiative.


7. (U) In addition to mines and UXO from the 1992-1993 war
and the 2008 conflict, Soviet legacy minefields continue to
pose a threat to the population. HALO identified three of
these as high priority, Red Bridge border minefield, Mtskheta
former military base, and Alinja former military base, and
one, Akhalkalaki former military base, as medium priority.

RISK EDUCATION


8. (U) HALO has provided risk education training to
schoolchildren, IDPs, NGOs, international organizations, and
government staff. Approximately 5,500 people received
leaflets and on-the-spot advice during the emergency phase at
the end of August and early September. 44,627 schoolchildren
in Shida Kartli region have had risk-awareness lessons, 1,159
adults in affected villages attended risk-awareness evening
classes, and 108 residents of the Gori IDP camp have attended
ERW awareness sessions. In addition to those directly
affected by the threat, HALO also provided ERW awareness
training to 251 NGO staff working in the affected area, 300
EU monitors, and 46 OSCE military monitors and mission staff.
In addition, 22 Border Police staff received training, and
90 police in Gori District will receive training in December.
TEFFT