ICBL | CMC - International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Cluster Munition Coalition - Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor (2024)

FAQs

What does international campaign to ban landmines do? ›

International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), international coalition of organizations in some 100 countries that was established in 1992 to ban the use, production, trade, and stockpiling of antipersonnel land mines.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a global network of non-governmental organizations, active in some 100 countries, that works for a world free of antipersonnel landmines, where landmine survivors can lead fulfilling lives.

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.

The Convention provides a comprehensive international response to the suffering caused by the use of cluster munitions and their remnants, to prevent the proliferation and future use of these weapons. The Convention was opened for signature in Oslo on 3 December 2008 and entered into force on 1 August 2010.

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.

The Mine Ban Treaty is one of the world's most widely accepted treaties: over 80% of the world's countries are States Parties to the treaty. There are currently 164 States Parties. Only 32 states remain outside the treaty, but most of them do not actually use or produce antipersonnel mines.

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.

As a result of the decision, the United States will not develop, produce, or acquire anti-personnel landmines, not export or transfer anti-personnel landmines except when necessary for activities related to mine destruction or removal and for the purpose of destruction.

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.

Many landmines today also follow the IEBL dividing the two entities, which are the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. By 1996, some two million land mines and unexploded munitions littered Bosnia. In September 2013, land mines and unexploded munitions remained scattered in 28,699 locations.

What country has the most unexploded landmines? ›

Cambodia. Cambodia is a country located in Southeast Asia that has a major problem with landmines, especially in rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades of war which has taken a severe toll on the Cambodians; it has some 40,000 + amputees, which is one of the highest rates in the world.

Summary: World War II concluded decades ago, but live mines lurking on the ocean floor still pose threats, potentially spewing unexpected geysers or releasing contaminants into the water.

Global ban

This makes it illegal in every country that joins the convention for anyone to use cluster munitions or engage in any production or trade of the weapon. Other weapons that have been banned in this way include antipersonnel landmines as well as biological and chemical weapons.

The US last produced cluster munitions in 2016. Yet the United States still possesses a stockpile of cluster munitions, which it is now drawing on to supply Ukraine. The US transfers stand in stark contrast to the actions of countries that have prohibited cluster munitions.

A November 2017 policy directive issued under President Donald Trump allows US forces to use cluster munitions that result in more than 1% unexploded ordnance (UXO). The US last used cluster munitions during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with the exception of a single attack in Yemen in 2009.

First World War

Nevertheless, antipersonnel mines were not a big factor in the war because machine guns, barbed wire and rapid-fire artillery were far more effective defenses. An exception was in Africa (now Tanzania and Namibia) where the warfare was much more mobile.

Antipersonnel landmines are weapons that cannot discriminate between a civilian and a combatant. They are designed to be exploded by a person's presence, proximity, or contact and pose and remain active for decades, endangering children, agricultural worker, or anyone who steps in their path.

MAPA has successfully cleared more than 18 million landmines from Afghanistan since its founding by the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in 1989.

Personnel Landmines (APLs)

The convention requires States Parties to stop the production, use, and transfer of APLs, as well as to destroy all stockpiled APLs, except for the “minimum number absolutely necessary” for training purposes.