Author(s):
Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Monday 19 November 2007
Palau's accession to the Mine Ban Treaty on 18 November 2007 brought the number of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty to 156. The announcement of the accession was made today, during the first day of the 8th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Convention in Jordan.
Since February 2004, government officials had been stating that Palau was “taking every step to make sure that it will soon join” the treaty.
Palau's decision is a significant one, as it sends a positive signal of political will. Palau's close military ties with the United States, a state not Party to the Mine Ban Treaty, were invoked by the government of Palau as the main obstacle for accession. The ICBL hopes that this decision will encourage the Marshall Islands, which has signed the treaty in 1997, and the Federated States of Micronesia to join the treaty soon.
Read about Palau in the Landmine Monitor Report .
