(New Beginnings, No. 17)
Published as Peter McCarthy.
‘Landmines have killed or maimed more people than all nuclear, biological and chemical weapons combined. Every week, approximately 500 people, nearly all civilians, are killed or maimed by these devices. The 100 million landmines currently scattered over 62 nations world-wide have killed more people in times of peace than they did during the wars in which they were deployed.’
(From “Landmines: the Real Weapons of Mass Destruction”, The Defense Monitor, Vol. 25, No. 5, July 1996, published by the Center for Defense Information, Washington DC, USA.)
There has been progress since then. In December 1997, in Ottawa, Canada, 122 nations committed themselves to adopting a convention prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, and on their destruction. The treaty calls on States and parties to stop using, producing, and trading anti-personnel mines. It obliges them to destroy their stockpiles of such mines within four years of their ratification of the treaty. The Mine Ban Treaty came into force on 1 March 1999. By December 2000, it had been signed by 139 countries and ratified by 109.
Trade in mines has ceased, and more than two-thirds of producer countries have stopped making mines or mine-parts. Vast stockpiles of anti-personnel mines have been destroyed. Italy, which had been one of the largest producers, has adopted the treaty, implemented stringent legislation, and has begun scrapping its mines. It is regarded as a model for others to follow.
But there is a dark side. Russia, China and the USA, three of the largest producers, have refused to sign the treaty. Israel and its Arab neighbours also refuse.
Implementation remains a problem: in many instances, signatories are unstable or authoritarian regimes that sign the treaty but ignore its obligations. Monitoring by international agencies of States’ compliance depends largely on their goodwill, which is not always there. Guerrilla groups disregard the treaty and use mines freely.
There has been progress, but there’s still a lot to be done. For further information, visit www.landmines.org