Tajikistan: Protocol on military issues

In order to achieve peace and national reconciliation and form unified national armed forces and in accordance with the Protocol on the Basic Principles for Establishing Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan of 17 August 1995, the Moscow Agreements and Protocol of 23 December 1996 and the Statute of the Commission on National Reconciliation of 21 February 1997, the delegations of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition (hereinafter referred to as the Parties) have agreed on the Following fundamental military issues:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The reintegration, disarmament and disbandment of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition as well as the reform of the governmental power structures of the Republic of Tajikistan shall be carried out during the transition period by the President of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Commission on National Reconciliation in close cooperation with the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) and in accordance with the timetable set forth in paragraphs 5, 9 and 11 of this Protocol.

2. The practical implementation of the provisions of this Protocol shall be carried out by a subcommission on military issues of the Commission on National Reconciliation and also by a joint central review board established on the basis of parity.

3. The Government and the United Tajik Opposition shall exchange the necessary information concerning the reintegration of the Opposition's military units and the reform of the power structures of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan.

4. Armed units which are not included in the information provided by the Parties shall be obliged to make themselves known to the subcommission on military issues of the Commission on National Reconciliation and provide it with the necessary information within two months from the date on which the Commission begins work. Armed units which do not cooperate in carrying out the provisions of this protocol shall be considered illegal and shall be subject to forcible disarmament.

II. THE REINTEGRATION, DISARMAMENT AND DISBANDMENT OF THE ARMED UNITS OF THE UNITED TAJIK OPPOSITION

5. The reintegration, disarmament and disbandment of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition shall be carried out in stages.

(a) During the first stage, the United Tajik Opposition shall assemble its armed units in the assembly points agreed upon by the Parties in the Vanj, Garm, Djirgatal, Komsomolobad, Kofarnigan, Rushan, Tavildara and Tajikabad districts and the towns of Khorog and Magmurud in the Lenin district, where personnel shall be registered and counted and given medical examinations. At the assembly points, an inventory shall be taken of weapons, military equipment and ammunition, which shall be stored in separate, securely guarded premises. This stage shall be carried out within two months of the date on which the Commission on National Reconciliation begins its work.

(b) During this stage, the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition situated in the territory of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, shall be transferred in stages to the territory of Tajikistan to previously determined assembly points from among those specified above through the Ishkashim and Nizhny Pyanj passage points. The armed units of the United Tajik Opposition shall cross the border without weapons or ammunition. With the consent of Afghan authorities, the subcommission on military issues of the Commission on national Reconciliation and UNMOT shall travel to the Islamic State of Afghanistan and draw up a register of the weapons and ammunition. The collective peacekeeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) shall, under the supervision of UNMOT, accompany the personnel, weapons and ammunition to the assembly points, where the weapons and ammunition on the register shall be stored in separate, guarded premises. The base camps and training centres of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition situated outside Tajikistan shall be dismantled and closed simultaneously with the transfer of the units referred to the assembly points in the territory of Tajikistan.

(c) During the second stage, no later than one month after the assembling of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition in the assembly points has been completed, those units shall be made into corresponding units of the regular armed forces of Tajikistan. They shall take a military oath and shall be given new uniforms, be assigned to the corresponding governmental power structures of Tajikistan in separate units and be subordinated to the corresponding chain of command. The relevant laws and military regulations of Tajikistan shall apply to them. The leadership of the United Tajik Opposition shall publicly announce the disbandment of its armed units.

(d) During the third stage, the Joint Review Board shall certify the personnel of the reintegrated units of the United Tajik Opposition, determining, on an individual basis, fitness for further military service and the nature of such service and shall also make recommendations for appointments to command positions. Persons who do not express the wish to continue service or who are found unfit for service for reasons of health or found to be incompetent and persons having a criminal record prior to May 1992 shall be demobilized and returned to civilian life.

(e) The measures provided for in the first, second and third stages of the reintegration of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition into the power structures of the Government of Tajikistan shall be carried out within six months of the date on which the Commission on National Reconciliation begins its work.

(f) In the fourth stage of reintegration, the former units of the United Tajik Opposition will be completely merged with the governmental power structures. This process must be fully completed by the end of the transition period, i.e. before 1 July 1998.

6. The reintegrated units of the United Tajik Opposition shall be sent to their places of permanent assignment and quartered in separate barracks. A separate unit, the strength of which shall be determined by the President of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition, shall be stationed in Dushanbe a week before the Commission on National Reconciliation begins its work.

7. Former members of the governmental power structures who were compelled to quit their posts because of the civil conflict and have expressed the wish to continue their service shall on the recommendation of the Joint Review Board be reinstated into their former or equivalent positions.

8. Persons who were members of the armed units of the United Tajik Opposition and expressed the wish to receive military training shall be afforded equally with other nationals of Tajikistan the possibility of attending the relevant training institutions.

III. REFORM OF THE POWER STRUCTURES OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TAJIKISTAN

9. The reform of the power structures of the Government of Tajikistan shall take place on the basis of a re-evaluation of the personnel, including command personnel. This shall be conducted by the Joint Central Review Board within six months from the time when the Commission on National Reconciliation begins its work.

10. The Joint Central Review Board shall take its decisions on assignment to reserve status and reintegration into civilian life on the basis of three criteria: state of health, record of convictions prior to May 1992 and acknowledged professional unfitness.

11. Units formed by local authorities during the civil conflict (as civil defence forces, guard units, unsupervised formations, etc.) shall be disbanded within six months from the time when the Commission on National Reconciliation begins its work, and the formation of new units shall be halted. Persons expressing the wish to continue their service shall be integrated into the power structures of the Government of Tajikistan in accordance with the principles and procedures specified in paragraph 5 of the present Protocol. Members of these units not expressing the desire to continue their service, possessing a record of convictions prior to May 1992 or unfit for service on grounds of health shall be disarmed and reintegrated into civilian life.

IV. CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURES

12. While the measures provided in the present Protocol are being implemented, the Government of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition shall comply strictly with the provisions of the Tehran agreement and prevent any attempts to destabilize the situation in Tajikistan. At all stages of the reintegration of the governmental power structures, joint measures shall be taken to combat crime in the country. For purposes of building mutual trust during the first, second and third stages of reintegration, constant contacts shall be established and maintained at the level of unit commanders, contacts among personnel shall be organized and special measures for joint training shall be conducted.

V. THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL organizATIONS

13. In order to ensure the full and effective implementation of the provisions of the present Protocol, the Parties request the United Nations, through its Observer Mission in Tajikistan, to monitor the process of implementation of the agreements indicated above, and to provide expert advisory assistance and good offices at all the stages specified in the present Protocol.

Talbak Nazarov, Head of the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan

Khoja Akbar Turajonzodah, Head of the Delegation of the United Tajik Opposition

Gerd Dietrich Merrem, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Tajikistan

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