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 121 governments in
Ottawa, Canada in December 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty now has 143 States
Parties.[1] An additional nine states
have signed but not yet ratified. A total of 42 states remain outside the
treaty. States Parties, observer states, and other participants will meet for
the treaty’s First Review Conference in Nairobi (the “Nairobi Summit
on a Mine-Free World”) from 29 November to 3 December 2004 to review the
progress and problems of the past five years, to assess the remaining challenges
and to plan for the future.
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 has emerged, as many governments not party to the Mine Ban
Treaty are taking steps consistent with the treaty, and an increasing number of
armed non-state actors are also embracing a ban. New use of antipersonnel mines
continues to decline, with compelling evidence of new use by just four
governments in this Landmine Monitor reporting period (since May 2003). There
were no confirmed instances of antipersonnel mine transfers, as the de
facto global ban on trade held tight. Some four million stockpiled
antipersonnel mines were destroyed, bringing the global total to about 62
million in recent years. New survey and clearance operations were initiated in
a significant number of countries, and there were substantial increases in the
amount of land cleared in many countries. The number of reported new mine
casualties dropped significantly in some heavily mine-affected countries. The
Mine Ban Treaty has had an impact in raising awareness of the rights and needs
of mine survivors, and new survivor assistance programs have been implemented in
many mine-affected countries.
However, daunting challenges remain to universalize the Mine Ban Treaty and
strengthen the norm of banning antipersonnel mines, 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 five previous annual reports, Landmine Monitor Report
2004 provides a means of measuring that impact.
In anticipation of the five-year Review Conference, each detailed country
report contained in this edition of Landmine Monitor Report includes a
summary of key developments since 1999. This introductory chapter provides a
global overview of both the current Landmine Monitor reporting period and the
period since 1999. A section on banning antipersonnel mines is followed by
sections on humanitarian mine action (including mine risk education) and on
landmine casualties and survivor assistance.
[1] As of 1 October
2004. [2] The ICBL generally uses the short
title, Mine Ban Treaty, although other short titles are common as well,
including Ottawa Treaty, Ottawa Convention, and Mine Ban
Convention.