Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention (APLC) (Ottawa Convention)

Overview

Potential Facility Impacts

Current Activities

Overview

Purpose and Background

The Ottawa Convention [long title: Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction], also referred to as the Mine Ban Treaty or APLC, obligates States Parties to never under any circumstances use, develop, produce, stockpile, retain, or transfer anti-personnel landmines (APL) to anyone, directly or indirectly. States Parties to the Convention are also obligated not to assist, encourage, or induce anyone, directly or indirectly, to engage in any activity prohibited by the Convention.

The Convention defines an "anti-personnel mine" as a mine designed to explode by the presence, proximity, or contact with a person, resulting in the incapacitation, injury, or death of one or more persons. The Convention does not address anti-tank or anti-vehicle mines, anti-handling devices attached to an anti-vehicle mine to prevent its removal, or command-detonated munitions triggered manually by combatants.

Each State Party also undertakes to destroy or to ensure the destruction of all APL in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control. Under the Convention, stockpiled APL are to be destroyed within 4 years of the Convention's entry into force and all mines in the ground, whether in minefields or elsewhere, are to be destroyed within 10 years of the Convention’s entry into force. A small number of APL may be retained solely for training purposes and to develop mine clearance and destruction techniques.

back to top

Potential Facility Impacts

Key Verification Measures

The Ottawa Convention includes several verification measures, including annual reporting requirements and, when necessary to clarify a compliance concern, fact finding missions. States Parties report information on all stockpiled APL and mined areas to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on an annual basis. These reports contain information on mines retained for training purposes, mine destruction activities, and measures taken to prevent civilians from entering mined areas. In addition, States Parties provide detailed technical information about their past mine production activities in order to facilitate mine clearance.

When a compliance concern arises, it is first addressed by the U.N. Secretary-General. When necessary, a meeting of States Parties may be held to determine whether an obligatory fact-finding mission needs to be conducted. A fact-finding team may stay no longer than fourteen days on the territory of the requested State Party, and no more than seven days at one specific site. Based on the mission team's report, the meeting of States Parties may propose corrective actions or legal measures in accordance with the UN Charter.

The United States has not signed the Ottawa Convention and is not a State Party to the Convention. Two U.S. concerns stated at the December 1999 signing ceremony in Ottawa, were:

• APL play a crucial role in the defense of South Korea; and
• the Convention's definition of anti-personnel landmines prohibits the munitions used by the United States that contain both anti-tank and anti-personnel sub-munitions and anti-handling devices.

In February 2004, the United States announced that it would not sign the Ottawa Convention but would seek global support for a worldwide ban on the sale or export of all persistent mines, which are capable of exploding many years after initial deployment. The United States also works toward ending its use of persistent anti-vehicle and anti-personnel landmines. Between 2004 and 2010, U.S. forces are prohibited from using persistent mines outside of the Korean Peninsula unless specifically authorized by the President. After 2010, the exception for persistent mines in Korea will expire. In addition, U.S. facilities located on the territory of host countries that are States Parties, could be subject to the Convention's fact-finding missions.

To promote effective adherence to the Convention, the States Parties established the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) in 2001. The ISA provides information and support to States Parties and prepares annual reports. It is part of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).

At the Convention's first Review Conference (RevCon), held in Nairobi, Kenya from November 29 – December 3, 2004, the States Parties determined to:

• increase funding for humanitarian mine action, and harmonize their efforts with other key mine action programs worldwide;
• examine their own policies on the continued use of persistent anti-vehicle landmines, which pose substantial dangers to innocent life yet are not covered under the Ottawa Convention;
• agree to negotiate, at the CD, a ban on the sale or export of all persistent mines, including anti-vehicle mines; and
• eliminate all non-detectable landmines, which pose a particular hazard to de-miners.

At the Ninth Meeting of the States Parties, held in Geneva from November 24-28, 2008, the States Parties reviewed the Geneva Progress Report 2007-2008. Priorities included promoting universal adherence to the Convention, facilitating the destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines, clearing mined areas, and providing victim assistance. The States Parties also assessed and considered 15 States Parties’ requests for extensions of their Article 5 (destruction of anti-personnel landmines in mixed areas) deadlines.

The Eighth Meeting of States Parties was held in Amman, Jordan, from November 18-22, 2007 (two months after the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention.) The meeting was attended by 156 States Parties. Issues discussed included:

• the adoption of the Dead Sea Progress Report as a practical means for measuring progress on the application of the Nairobi Action Plan;
• a voluntary template to facilitate the preparation and assessment of extension requests relating to Article 5 deadlines;
• amending the Article 7 reporting format to facilitate reporting stockpiled anti-personnel mines discovered and destroyed after stockpile destruction deadlines have passed; and
• the activities of the ISU.

back to top

Current Activities

Recent Developments

On March 1, 2009, the States Parties marked the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention. As of March 2009, 150 States Parties no longer held stockpiled APL and, collectively, the States Parties had destroyed nearly 42 million mines.

The Second RevCon was held from November 30 – December 4, 2009 in Cartagena, Colombia. The Review Conference was preceded by two Preparatory Meetings, which were held May 29, 2009 and September 3-4, 2009. Ambassador Susan Eckey of Norway was elected as President of the Conference. Ambassador Clara Ines Vargas Silva of Colombia served as Secretary-General of the Conference.

A delegation from the United States attended the Second Review Conference—the first delegation to attend an Ottawa Convention meeting since the convention entered into force—and described U.S. policy as follows:

• to abide by the provisions of Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW);
• to remain strongly committed to humanitarian assistance for victims of explosive remnants of war (having provided more than $1.5 billion toward humanitarian mine action and removing explosive remnants of war in 47 countries); and
• to end all use of persistent mines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, by the end of 2010.

The U.S. delegation also announced that the United States was conducting its first comprehensive review of U.S. landmine policy since 2003. This review was initiated at the direction of President Barack Obama and will take some time to complete, since the United States must ensure that all factors are considered. These factors include possible alternatives to meet U.S. national defense needs and security commitments to U.S. allies, and to ensure the protection of U.S. troops and the civilians they protect around the world.

The Tenth Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 29 – December 3, 2010.

Inspection Status

No fact-finding missions have been required or requested to date.