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Humanitarian Mine Action

The Ottawa Treaty

International ban on landmines

In the late 1980s the landmines, especially those used in conflicts in Cambodia and Afghanistan, started to produce a humanitarian crisis and more and more NGOs as well as ICRC working in those areas as well as Mozambique, Angola and republics of former Yugoslavia started to advocate for ban of these inhumane weapons that are even in between conflict, but especially after, mainly and indiscriminately targeting civilian population.

After the failure of the CCW (Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons) and Amended Protocol II to in 1996 to substantially contribute to minimize the suffering of civilians from the landmines Canada and the core group of States started a political initiative that had an aim to culminate in a mine ban in a year´s time. This was done also because of the pressure and advocacy of the network of NGOs (called International Campaign To Ban Landmines – www.icbl.org ), active role of which was played by DCA as well, not only in Denmark but within worldwide church network. On 3-4 December 1997 Mine Ban Treaty was thus opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada. After 40 required ratifications in September 1998 the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force 1 March 1999. As of 20 September 2005 154 parties, worldwide, have signed the Treaty.

Denmark joined the treaty and it entered into force 1 March 1999. The Mine Ban treaty bans:

• Use of anti-personnel mines
• Production of anti-personnel mines
• Stockpiling of anti-personnel mines
• Transfer of anti-personnel mines

In addition States Parties are under the treaty obliged:

• to destroy all the stockpiles of their anti-personnel mines (except of those retained for training) in 4 years after the entry into force of the treaty for the respective state party (Article 4 of the convention)
• to destroy ALL anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control in 10 years after the entry into force of the treaty (that includes Denmark among other 22 countries that are having the deadline already in 2009)
• States parties in a position to do so should provide assistance for mine clearance and related activities, mine victim assistance, stockpile destruction and mine risk education.

The treaty is not only important because it is banning a use of an inhumane and indiscriminate weapon in 154 States, but also as it showed that the international community can work on issues also outside sometimes rigid and slow international fora for disarmament.

Further details about the treaty can be viewed at International Campaign to Ban Landmines .