The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (“Mine Ban Treaty”) entered into force on 1 March 1999. Signed by 122 governments in Ottawa, Canada in December 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty had 151 States Parties.[1 ] An additional three states have signed but not yet ratified. A total of 40 states remain outside the treaty.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) considers the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty the only viable comprehensive framework for achieving a mine-free world.[2 ]The treaty and the global effort to eradicate antipersonnel mines have yielded impressive results. A new international norm is emerging, as many governments not party to the Mine Ban Treaty are taking steps consistent with the treaty, and an increasing number of non-state armed groups are also embracing a ban. New use of antipersonnel mines continues to decline. There was compelling evidence of new use by just three governments in this Landmine Monitor reporting period (since May 2005), as well as use by non-state armed groups in 10 countries. There were no confirmed instances of antipersonnel mine transfers. However, in May 2006, the UN arms embargo monitoring group on Somalia reported that the government of Eritrea had delivered 1,000 antipersonnel mines to militant fundamentalists in Somalia; Eritrea strongly denied the charge. Four more States Parties completed destruction of their stockpiled antipersonnel mines, bringing the total to 74; only 13 States Parties still have stocks to destroy.
Over 740 square kilometers of land was demined by mine action programs in 2005―more than in any other year since the start of modern demining in the late 1980s. This was due largely to efforts in some major mine-affected countries to better identify which mine-suspected land is not in fact mined, and to improve targeting of resources and increase efficiency of clearance operations. Over 470,000 landmines (450,000 were antipersonnel mines) and 3.75 million explosive devices were removed and destroyed. Two more mine-affected countries, Guatemala and Suriname, declared fulfillment of their Article 5 obligations by completing clearance of all antipersonnel mines in mined areas. Some 15 other States Parties reported good progress towards achieving clearance before their Article 5 deadlines; however, there were indications that some dozen others are not on track to do so. Several major mine action programs were threatened by lack of funding in 2005. Mine risk education took place in 60 countries, reaching some 6.4 million people directly, in addition to mass media. MRE became increasingly integrated with other mine action activities, and there were more community-based programs. Landmine Monitor identified at least 7,328 new casualties in 2005, an increase of 11 percent from 2004.
Mine casualties occurred in every region of the world―there were new casualties in 58 countries and seven non-state territories in 2005. Efforts to improve the assistance given to mine survivors made progress in six of the 24 States Parties identified as having the most survivors and the greatest need to improve survivor assistance. However, in 2005 existing programs were far from meeting the needs of mine survivors and faced the same problems as in previous years.
The trend for year-on-year increases in mine action funding halted in 2005; this was the first significant decrease since 1992, due mainly to cuts by the two biggest donors.
Progress has been made, therefore, yet daunting challenges remain to universalize the Mine Ban Treaty and strengthen the norm of banning antipersonnel mines, to fully implement the treaty, to clear mines from the ground, to destroy stockpiled antipersonnel mines, and to assist mine survivors. The ICBL believes that the only real measure of the Mine Ban Treaty’s success will be the concrete impact that it has on the global antipersonnel mine problem. As with the seven previous annual reports, Landmine Monitor Report 2006 provides a means of measuring that impact.
This introductory chapter provides a global overview of the current Landmine Monitor reporting period since May 2005. It contains sections on banning antipersonnel mines (universalization, treaty implementation, use, production, trade and stockpiling), on mine action (including mine risk education), and on landmine casualties and survivor assistance.
[1] As of 1 July 2006.
[2] The ICBL generally uses the short title, Mine Ban Treaty; other short titles in use include: Ottawa Treaty, Ottawa Convention, Antipersonnel Mine Ban Convention, and Mine Ban Convention.