HI UPDATE on the Mine Ban Treaty

For an update on the Status of the Mine Ban Treaty, see the following:

http://treaties.un.org/pages/Treaties.aspx?id=26&subid=A&lang=en

Mine areas in Jordan have been cleared – Jordan’s National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR), under the leadership of its Director Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al-Hussein, declared on 21 March that all known minefields in the country are safe after nearly 20 years of demining.

Finland joined the Mine Ban Treaty on 9 January 2012 - Finland deposited its instrument of accession at the UN in New York on Monday, 9 January 2012, the UN announced. Finland will now destroy its stockpile of more than one million antipersonnel mines within four years, as required by the treaty. Finland provides millions of Euro to global demining efforts each year. “We hope other nations will now follow Finland’s lead, particularly Poland, the only European nation not to have fully joined the ban treaty,” said Firoz Alizada (ICBL) in a press release by ICBL on 12 January 2012. At the 11th Meeting of States Parties, Mr Hautala, the Finnish Minister for International Development, had already stated that: “Finland will be committed to the promotion of the universalization of the Ottawa Convention in the future.”

Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty

The 11th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 28 November to 3 December 2011, welcomed Tuvalu and South Sudan to the mine ban community. “This breaks a long period of stagnation on the universalization front,” said ICBL.

• Belgium, appointed as the new coordinator of the Universalization Contact Group, called upon States Parties to “further invest in the concept of regional universalization champions” and welcomed new initiatives in this regard. “Promoting adherence to the Ottawa Convention should be part of our mainstream foreign policy,” said Belgium.
• Somalia reported that it is on the verge of acceding to the Mine Ban Treaty, Lao PDR that it is taking steps to prepare to join and Tonga stated in a letter to the Implementation Support Unit that it had started the process to become a State Party.
• Myanmar, participating for the first time in a meeting of States Parties, said that it believed that if they [antipersonnel mines] are indiscriminately used by insurgents or armed groups outside the legal fold of a country, it would cause deaths and injuries to non-combatants including women and children” and also “that the legitimate right” of every state “ self defense in matters of its national security must be recognized and respected in considering this issue” (Speaking Notes delivered to the Ban Advocates during a meeting).
• The US attended the conference as an observer and affirmed in a statement: “While no decisions have been made, I can assure you that the review [on its mine policy] is active and ongoing, and we are making real progress.” The US also insisted that it “remains committed to a continuing partnership with other states and non-governmental organizations in this [addressing the humanitarian impact of antipersonnel mines] effort.”
• Burundi reported to be mine-free, after clearing all its mined land way ahead of its April 2014 deadline, bringing the total number of countries declared mine-free to 19.

In a press release on 2 December 2011, ICBL condemned new use of mines by Israel, Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, and Myanmar and reported serious allegations of mine use in Syria. On victim assistance, ICBL said: “Still more than 4,000 landmine victims are reported each year. Assistance and services for landmine survivors are insufficient and difficult to access in most states actually affected by landmines.”

More information on:
www.cambodia11mspgov.kh; www.apminebanconvention.org; www.icblcmc.org

Upcoming events:
- ISC meetings on the MBT: 21-25 May 2012, Geneva
- 11th Meeting of States Parties to the MBT, 3-7 December 2012, Geneva