They are designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles. The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty prohibits antipersonnel mines, but not antivehicle mines or command-detonated (remote-controlled) mines..
Are anti-tank mines illegal?
They are designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles. The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty prohibits antipersonnel mines, but not antivehicle mines or command-detonated (remote-controlled) mines..
Are land mines considered a war crime?
Minefields may also have marked or unmarked safe routes to allow friendly movement through them. Placing minefields without marking and recording them for later removal is considered a war crime under Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which is itself an annex to the Geneva Conventions..
Are landmines against the Geneva Convention?
Despite widespread use of anti-personnel mines in the Second World War, the 1949 Geneva Conventions only addressed issues of mine clearance, prohibiting expressly the forcible use of prisoners of war for such purposes..
Does the Geneva Convention ban landmines?
Despite widespread use of anti-personnel mines in the Second World War, the 1949 Geneva Conventions only addressed issues of mine clearance, prohibiting expressly the forcible use of prisoners of war for such purposes..
Does the Geneva Convention ban mines?
Summary of key provisions It does so by obliging States parties never to use, develop, produce, stockpile or transfer anti-personnel mines, and by requiring that they destroy existing stocks of anti-personnel mines, clear mined areas, and assist victims..
What does the UN do to aid land mined countries?
Established in 1997, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) works to eliminate the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices by coordinating United Nations mine action, leading operational responses at the country level, and in support of peace operations, as well as .
What is the international convention against landmines?
The 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction is the international agreement that bans antipersonnel landmines..
What is the use of anti-personnel mines?
Typically, anti-personnel blast mines are triggered when the victim steps on them. Their primary purpose is to blow the victim's foot or leg off, disabling them. Injuring, rather than killing, the victim is viewed as preferable to increase the logistical (evacuation, medical) burden on the opposing force..
Where in the world are the most landmines located?
Egypt as a Case Study Egypt has been listed as the country most contaminated by landmines in the world with an estimate of approximately 23,000,000 landmines..
Which countries in the world produce anti-personnel mines?
Moreover, only 11 States continue to produce antipersonnel mines (China, Cuba, India, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam). Unfortunately, despite the normalization of the landmine taboo, these weapons continue to have deadly consequences..
Why should we ban landmines?
Such weapons continue to cause many casualties, often civilian. They restrict the movement of people and humanitarian aid, make land unsuitable for cultivation, and deny citizens access to water, food, care and trade. Every day, people die or lose limbs from stepping on a landmine..
General Regulations in International Humanitarian Law The use of mines must be limited to the period of hostilities. One of the most basic principles of the laws of war is that a distinction must be made between times of peace and of war, meaning that the weapons used must be limited and controlled.
If not destroyed, those landmines remain ready to be used any time. The biggest stockpiles of antipersonnel landmines are held by: Russia, Pakistan, India, China, and the United States.
Treaty in Detail It was adopted in 1997 and it entered into force on 1 March 1999. When they join the Mine Ban Treaty, states commit to: never use antipersonnel mines, nor to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer them. destroy mines in their stockpiles within four years.
1. Once planted, A/P land mines are not selective in their targets; they cannot distinguish civilians from soldiers. 2. Most of the civilians killed or injured
Anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (or Mine Ban Convention), adopted in 1997. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty.
Anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (or Mine Ban Convention), adopted in 1997. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty.
Are anti-personnel landmines illegal?
Both have caused great suffering in the past decades. Anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (or Mine Ban Convention), adopted in 1997. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty.
Are anti-personnel mines still used?
The use of anti-personnel mines has decreased dramatically since the convention was adopted. According to the 2006 Landmine Monitor, only three States had used antipersonnel mines since May 2005. A number of non-State armed groups were also reported to have used mines, though fewer than the previous year.
What is the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention?
The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is an instrument of international law that prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of anti-personnel mines. The Convention entered into force on 1 March 2009.
Why did the ICRC ban anti-personnel mines?
ICRC field surgeons have been direct witnesses to the horrendous and widespread suffering inflicted on civilians worldwide by anti-personnel mines. It was in response to the “epidemic” of injuries caused by anti-personnel mines that 10 years ago the ICRC called for a global ban on anti-personnel mines.
Are anti-personnel mines legal?
The legal global trade in anti-personnel mines has virtually halted
Most States not party to the convention that possess anti-personnel mines (e
g
China, the Republic of Korea, Poland, the Russian Federation, Singapore and the United States) have export or transfer moratoria in place
What is the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention?
The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is an instrument of international law that prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of anti-personnel mines
The Convention entered into force on 1 March 2009
What is the anti-personnel mine programme?
It is a comprehensive programme of action designed to respond to the humanitarian consequences of anti-personnel mines by committing States to remove the threat of mines already in the ground, assist mine victims and raise awareness among the civilian population of the dangers of anti-personnel mines
International law antipersonnel mines
Form of land mine designed for use against humans
An anti-personnel mine or anti-personnel landmine (APL) is a form of mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to an anti-tank mine, which target vehicles. APLs are classified into: blast mines and fragmentation mines; the latter may or may not be a bounding mine.
The Claymore mine is a directional anti-personnel mine developed
American directional anti-personnel mine
The Claymore mine is a directional anti-personnel mine developed for the United States Armed Forces. Its inventor, Norman MacLeod, named the mine after a large medieval Scottish sword. Unlike a conventional land mine, the Claymore may be command-detonated, and directional, shooting a wide pattern of metal balls into a kill zone. The Claymore can also be activated by a booby-trap tripwire firing system for use in area denial operations.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of
International organization
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations whose stated objective is a world free of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.
A land mine
Explosive weapon, concealed under or on the ground
A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it.
Land mines in Central America are a by-product of the Cold War-era conflicts of the 1980s. Contrary to the requirements of generally accepted international law, the minefields of Central America were usually unmarked and unrecorded on maps. Once placed, mines remain active for years, waiting the pressure of an unwary foot to detonate.
The region of Nagorno-Karabakh and areas around it are
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
The region of Nagorno-Karabakh and areas around it are considered to be some of the most heavily mined regions of the former Soviet Union. Mines were laid from early 1990s by both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces during and after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The worst-affected areas are along the fortified former contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, in particular in the districts of Aghdam, Fuzuli and Jabrayil. According to military experts from both Azerbaijan and Armenia, the ground in those areas is covered with carpets of land mines. The region has the highest per capita rate in the world of accidents due to unexploded ordnance.
Mine action is a combination of humanitarian aid and development studies that aims to remove landmines and reduce the social, economic and environmental impact of them and the explosive remnants of war (ERW).
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance, as well as surveying, mapping and marking of hazardous areas.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a
United Nations organization
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a service located within the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations that specializes in coordinating and implementing activities to limit the threat posed by mines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.
