States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
Prepared by Handicap International Belgium For a briefing to the Political Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Brussels, Belgium11 November 2003
To date, the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Mine Ban Treaty) has 141 States Parties and an additional 9 signatories.
Among EAPC member countries, the vast majority have joined the Mine Ban Treaty: 33 states have ratified, 2 more are signatories. So far, 11 EAPC members remain Non Signatory States, as detailed below.
States Parties
Signatories
Non Signatories
* These countries are non-States Parties to the CCW Amended Protocol II, which regulates the use of mines
The Landmine Monitor Report 2003 indicates that 82 countries have a mine/UXO problem, of which 18 are EAPC member countries.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia FYR, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Bold: States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty
Italic: Signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty
Sixty-five countries reported new mine/UXO casualties globally in the Landmine Monitor reporting period, of which 13 are EAPC member countries.
States Parties in which new casualties were reported are Albania, Belarus, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia FYR, Tajikistan and Turkey. No new casualties were reported in Denmark or Moldova.
Signatory State Ukraine reported new casualties in this reporting period.
Four of the mine-affected EAPC member countries in which new casualties have been reported are non-signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Uzbekistan.
Only six of the 11 non-signatories did not report new mine casualties in 2002: Armenia, Estonia, Finland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and the US.
Many casualties are believed to go unreported. Comprehensive data on landmine/UXO casualties is difficult to obtain, particularly in countries experiencing ongoing conflict, or with minefields in remote areas, or with limited resources to monitor public health services. Based on available data, findings from the Landmine Monitor Report 2003 include:
Mine casualties:
In addition, UXO casualties were reported in
Bold States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty
Italic Signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty
The Landmine Monitor Report 2003 confirms that six governments used antipersonnel mines during this reporting period. The only EAPC member state in this list is Russia, which used mines on a regular basis.
There are credible allegations of mine use by three other governments, one of which is Georgia. All three governments strongly deny these allegations.
Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty obligates all States Parties to destroy their stockpile, and all antipersonnel mines under their jurisdiction or control, no later than four years after entry-into-force of the treaty for that country.
On 1 March 2003, an important milestone in the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was reached: the four-year deadline for all countries that were party to the treaty when it first entered into force on 1 March 1999.
Eight States Parties completed stockpile destruction in this reporting period: Croatia, Italy, Macedonia FYR, Moldova, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Turkmenistan.
Another 18 States Parties had already completed their stockpile destruction, while 3 are still in the process of doing so.
Ukraine, a signatory state to the Mine Ban Treaty, has started its stockpile destruction process in a NATO PfP project.
Completed destruction
Are in the process of...
Bold countries that completed destruction in this reporting period * Iceland never had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.Ukraine is a signatory state
Article 7 (Transparency Measures) of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty states that
Each State Party shall report to the Secretary General of the United Nations as soon as practicable, and in any event not later than 180 days after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party
on steps taken to implement aspects of the convention. Thereafter, States Parties are obligated to report annually, by 30 April, on the preceding calendar year.
Tajikistan submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report on 3 February 2003. It had been due on 28 September 2000.
Signatory Poland and Non-State Party Latvia submitted a voluntary Article 7 report.
Article 9 of the Mine Ban Treaty states, Each State Party shall take all appropriate legal, administrative and other measures, including the imposition of penal sanctions, to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited by the treaty.
No State Party passed domestic legislation in this reporting period.
Two States Parties are in the process of completing implementation legislation: Albania, Croatia.
Denmark, Macedonia, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Tajikistan, as States Parties, previously stated that their existing laws were deemed sufficient or that new legislation was not considered necessary.
The only State Party that has no national legislation is Turkmenistan, according to the most recent research for the Landmine Monitor.
Two EAPC member countries are still on the list of producing countries (US and Russia), as detailed below :
