Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines condemns the December 2 announcement by the Biden administration that it intends to transfer internationally banned antipersonnel landmines, the second such announcement in twelve days. We call on the Biden administration to reverse this decision immediately and halt any future transfer of antipersonnel mines to any country.
The Biden administration is violating its own June 2022 U.S. Anti-Personnel Landmine Policy that clearly states the United States would “Not export or transfer” antipersonnel mines and “Not assist, encourage, or induce anyone, outside of the context of the Korean Peninsula, to engage in any activity that would be prohibited by the Ottawa Convention” also known as 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
“The White House has failed to explain whether and how its transfers of internationally prohibited landmines are consistent with its own policy” said Sera Koulabdara, Chair of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munition Coalition, and CEO of Legacies of War. “President Biden claims to support the “international rules-based order,” but these actions undermine essential norms and legal standards for the protection of civilians.”
The types of antipersonnel mines to be transferred were not specified in the State Department or Defense Department announcements on December 2. After the first announcement on November 20, sources familiar with the decision told non-governmental organizations that three types of antipersonnel mines were transferred: ADAM, Volcano, and MOPMS.
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines strongly condemns any use or transfer of antipersonnel mines by anyone under any circumstances. It notes that the Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits all types of victim-activated explosive devices, regardless of their predicted longevity, delivery method, detectability, self-destruct or -deactivate features, or method of manufacture (improvised or factory-made).
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines has repeatedly condemned Russia’s extensive use of antipersonnel landmines in Ukraine since its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. At least 580 people in Ukraine were killed or wounded by landmines in 2023, according to Landmine Monitor.
Antipersonnel mines are indiscriminate weapons that have been banned by 164 countries, including Ukraine, due in part to the harm they pose to civilians, especially children. The Landmine Monitor 2024 found that civilians made up 84 percent of all recorded casualties in 2023, while children were 37 percent of casualties when the age was recorded.
According to the Mine Ban Treaty, antipersonnel mines are “designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person.” Such weapons cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants. Claims by the Biden Administration that “non-persistent” antipersonnel mines are somehow safer for civilians, are misleading. Such mines have self-destruct and/or self-deactivation features that often fail to function as intended and pose a danger to civilians and deminers alike. The Government Accountability Office report “Information on U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf War” found that self-destruct mines deployed in the Gulf War failed at a rate 150x higher than the Department of Defense initially reported. Additionally, even when the self-deactivation mechanism functions as intended, the explosive materials remain dangerous.
Russian forces have used so-called non-persistent antipersonnel mines in Ukraine, causing injury and death among civilians. One survivor described their terror to the New York Times, after their farm was littered with “non-persistent” landmines on self-destruct timers: “the bursts continued throughout the day with intervals around 50 minutes, and the last one was around 3 o’clock the next night after it first landed […] It was lucky that kids didn’t play there that day, normally they would play in the backyard at the time of the first pieces detonating, but it was rainy that day.”
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U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines is the U.S. affiliate of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize laureate together with Jody Williams. The campaign works to end the suffering caused by landmines, which cause unacceptable harm to civilians both at their time of their use and for decades after.
Mary Wareham
Deputy Director of the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division
Human Rights Watch