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Landmine Monitor Factsheet

States Parties, Signatories and Non Signatories

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

Albania

Poland *

Armenia*

Austria

Ukraine

Azerbaijan*

Belarus*

 

Estonia

Belgium

 

Finland

Bulgaria

 

Georgia*

Canada

 

Kazakhstan*

Croatia

 

Kyrgyzstan*

Czech Republic

 

Latvia

Denmark

 

Russia*

France

 

USA

Germany

 

Uzbekistan*

Greece

   

Hungary

   

Iceland

   

Ireland

   

Italy

   

Lithuania

   

Luxembourg

   

Macedonia FYR

   

Moldova

   

Netherlands

   

Norway

   

Portugal

   

Romania

   

Slovakia

   

Slovenia

   

Spain

   

Sweden

   

Switzerland

   

Tajikistan

   

Turkey*

   

Turkmenistan*

   

United Kingdom

   

* These countries are non-States Parties to the CCW Amended Protocol II, which regulates the use of mines

Mine-affected countries

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

Mine/UXO casualties in 2002

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:

  • Albania 7 casualties reported
  • Azerbaijan 17 casualties reported
  • Belarus 4 casualties reported
  • Croatia 29 casualties recorded
  • Georgia 70 casualties reported
  • Greece 10 casualties reported
  • Kyrgyzstan 4 casualties reported
  • Macedonia FYR 4 casualties reported
  • Russia (Chechnya) 5,695 casualties reported
  • Tajikistan 9 casualties reported
  • Turkey 40 casualties reported
  • Ukraine 20 casualties reported
  • Uzbekistan 5 casualties reported, no publicly available statistics

In addition, UXO casualties were reported in

  • Czech Republic 12 casualties reported
  • Estonia 8 casualties reported
  • Slovakia 2 casualties reported
  • Slovenia 1 killed and others injured
  • Latvia 1 casualty reported
  • Lithuania 1 casualty reported
  • Poland 14 casualties reported

Bold States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty

Italic Signatories to the Mine Ban Treaty

Use of antipersonnel mines

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.

Stockpile destruction

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...

Albania

Belarus

Austria

Romania

Belgium

Tajikistan

Bulgaria

Ukraine

Canada

 

Croatia

 

Czech Republic

 

Denmark

 

France

 

Germany

 

Hungary

 

Iceland*

 

Ireland

 

Italy

 

Luxembourg

 

Macedonia FYR

 

Moldova

 

Netherlands

 

Norway

 

Portugal

 

Slovakia

 

Slovenia

 

Spain

 

Sweden

 

Switzerland

 

Turkmenistan

 

United Kingdom

 

Bold countries that completed destruction in this reporting period
* Iceland never had a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.
Ukraine is a signatory state

Transparency reports

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.

National implementation legislation

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.

Production

Two EAPC member countries are still on the list of producing countries (US and Russia), as detailed below :

  • The US has not produced antipersonnel mines since 1997, but reserves the right to do so.
  • In November 2002, a senior military official for the first time revealed that for the past eight years Russia has not produced or supplied to its troops antipersonnel mines of the PFM-1, PMN, PMN-2, and PMN-4 types. Previously, in May 1998, Russia declared that it had stopped producing blast antipersonnel mines, and, in December 2000, Russia said that it was decommissioning production facilities for blast mines.

Prepared by Handicap International Belgium
For a briefing to the Political Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
Brussels, Belgium
11 November 2003