ICBL TREATY NEWS
1997 Convention on
the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines
and on their Destruction
ENTERED INTO FORCE ON:
1 March 1999
As of 3rd September 2003
136 countries have ratified
or acceded
Global use of antipersonnel mines fell
dramatically
in the past year, while funding for mine clearance increased 30
percent,
according to the latest annual report by the International Campaign
to
Ban Landmines (ICBL).
"We are making tremendous
strides in getting rid of antipersonnel
landmines and in saving lives and limbs in every region of the world,"
said ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams, who shared the 1997 Nobel Peace
Prize with the ICBL. "However, there is no room for complacency.
Some
countries still refuse to abide by the new international standard
rejecting antipersonnel mines. Mines are still being laid and the
number of mine victims around the world increases every day."
According to the 826-page
Landmine Monitor Report 2003, more than 52
million stockpiled antipersonnel mines have been destroyed by 69
countries, including four million in the past year, the number of
countries producing the weapon has decreased from more than fifty
to 15,
and there have been no significant exports of antipersonnel mines
since
the mid-1990s. Mine clearance and other mine action programs have
expanded, and there are fewer new mine casualties annually than
in the
past.
There are now 136 countries
that have ratified or acceded to the 1997
Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits use, production, trade and stockpiling
of antipersonnel mines, and requires destruction of mines in the
ground
within ten years. Ten countries ratified or acceded since the last
annual report, including Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined
nations in the world. Belarus is the most recent to join, on 3
September 2003. Belarus has a stockpile of more than 4 million
antipersonnel mines, the sixth biggest in the world. In addition
to the
136, another 12 countries have signed but not yet ratified the treaty.
by the Treaty
*
Mines *
Survivors
"It is fitting that this treaty will
enter into force faster than
any other major treaty in history. This
accomplishment
underscores the urgency of dealing with
the global
landmine crisis and the strength of
the new international
standard against this insidious weapon."
Jody Williams, ICBL Ambassador.