The Mine Ban Treaty and the US Government: 10 Years and Waiting

Washington, DC, 3 December 2007 -- Ten years ago today, the treaty banning the use, production, trade and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines was signed in Ottawa, Canada by 122 states.  As of today, 156 governments have ratified the treaty. These states include mine-affected countries as well as former users and producers of the weapon, including most members of NATO.

The United States is one of only 39 countries have not yet joined. Other outliers include Russia, China, India and Pakistan.  

“Despite the absence of important countries, the norm banning antipersonnel mines is firmly taking hold,” said Stephen Goose, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Arms Division and member of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines steering committee.

Globally, the treaty has guided states parties in the destruction of more than 40 million stockpiled mines, the clearance of vast mined areas and the assistance of landmine survivors.  In 2007, only two governments —Burma and Russia—used antipersonnel mines, and trade has been almost non-existent. The number of producing countries has dropped from more than 50 in the early 1990s to about a dozen—including the United States.  

“We remain disappointed that the Bush Administration decided in 2004 to never join the Mine Ban Treaty,” said Lora Lumpe, coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines, “but the wide acceptance of the treaty has definitely restricted U.S. actions—in terms of use and exports of landmines. However, we are greatly disturbed by efforts this year to re-start anti-personnel landmine production.”  

Budget documents released earlier this year reveal that the administration is poised to begin producing a new anti-personnel landmine system for the first time since 1997. The first “Spider” mine systems are to be produced by September 2008.

The U.S. military maintains the third largest landmine stockpile in the world, after China and Russia, holding more than 10 million antipersonnel mines and 7.5 million anti-vehicle mines.

There is no evidence that the U.S. has used antipersonnel landmines, with the exception of the North/South Korean border area, since 1991.

U.S. law has barred the export of antipersonnel landmines since 1992.  This export provision will expire in October 2008 unless renewed by Congress.

The goals of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines are:

• U.S. accession to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and policies that move towards accession (eg, a U.S. ban on the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines); 
• increased resources for humanitarian demining and mine risk education programs;
• increased resources for victim rehabilitation, assistance, and psychosocial and economic inclusion;
• enactment of a U.S. prohibition on the use of cluster munitions in or near populated areas;
• enactment of a U.S. prohibition on the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians; and
• U.S. support for an international instrument prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines is comprised of more than 500 national organizations and thousands of individuals, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the United Methodist Church, the United Nations Association-USA, Physicians for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Handicap International USA, Amnesty International, and the American Association of Pediatrics.

For further information, or to arrange an interview with ICBLspokespeople, please contact Simona Beltrami, tel. +39 333 7142251, e-mail simona@icbl.org, or the ICBL office in Geneva, +41 (0)22 9200325. To speak with USCBL representatives, contact Lora Lumpe, tel. +1 202 361 3028, e-mail lora@fcnl.org