Author(s):
Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Thursday 22 February 2007
On 20 February 2007, the Republic of Indonesia deposited its instrument of ratification to the United Nations, thus becoming the 153rd State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Parliament approved the bill on 7 December 2006, and President signed it into law on 29 December. But this final step at the UN was necessary before Indonesia could officially become a State Party. The treaty will enter into force for Indonesia on 1 August 2007. Indonesia was one of the original signatories of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997. There are now only two remaining signatories that have not yet ratified: Poland and the Marshall Islands.
Discussions about ratification of the convention between the Indonesian Campaign to Ban Landmines and the government of Indonesia began in 2002. Indonesia has declared that it is not a mine-affected country, but there have been some reports of injuries from mine-like improvised exposive devices and booby-traps in Ambon and Aceh, two regions affected by conflict in the recent past. It may also have a stockpile of antipersonnel landmines, which if verified, would need to be destroyed no later than 1 August 2011.
The announcement that the ratification process is complete comes at a welcome time, as the ICBL prepares to celebrate the anniversary of the Treaty’s entry into force on 1 March. Since that date in 1999, three-quarters of the world’s states have acceded to the Treaty, a monumental achievement in universalizing a ban on a weapon had been commonly employed and accepted. The Treaty first opened for signatures in December 1997, making this the 10th Anniversary Year of the Mine Ban Treaty.
For more information on Indonesia and its ratification , visit www.icbl.org/lm or http://www.icbl.org/news/indonesia_ratification_jrs
Visit the ICBL calendar to keep track of March 1st and other Anniversary events being planned by campaigners around the globe.
