What is the Ottawa Process or the Mine Ban Treaty?

The political initiative launched in October 1996 and culminating in the opening for signature of the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, in December 1997 is known as the Ottawa Process. The Ottawa Process was unorthodox, historic and unprecedented. The treaty, which prohibits the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction, is the product of an unusually cohesive and strategic partnership between non-governmental organizations, international organizations, United Nations agencies and governments.

The treaty was drafted by Austria and developed outside of traditional diplomatic channels, in a series of meetings in Vienna, Bonn, Brussels and Oslo over the course of 1997. A group of likeminded governments formed a "Core Group" that, in close cooperation with the NGOs of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), helped to steer the Ottawa Process. Significantly, the "friends of the Ottawa Treaty" spanned the regions of the world and included representatives in both mine-affected and mine-producing countries.

The Mine Ban Treaty was adopted in Oslo, Norway, in September 1997 and signed by 122 States in Ottawa, Canada, on December 3, 1997. It entered into force less than two years later, on March 1, 1999, quicker than any treaty of its kind in history. Now that the treaty has entered into force, states may no longer sign it, rather they may become bound without signature through a one step procedure known as accession. According to Article 16 (2), the treaty is open for accession by any state that has not signed.

For more information on the Mine Ban Treaty go to www.icbl.org.