{"id":1735,"date":"2022-09-11T15:08:34","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T19:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/?p=1735"},"modified":"2022-09-11T15:08:34","modified_gmt":"2022-09-11T19:08:34","slug":"us-announces-alignment-with-mine-ban-treaty-objectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/?p=1735","title":{"rendered":"US Announces Alignment with Mine Ban Treaty Objectives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>PSALM\/WVCBL were grateful to hear that the United States announced alignment with the Mine Ban Treaty Objectives. We strongly urge the U.S. to continue to move forward and join the Mine Ban Treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"US Announces Landmine Policy Reversal at 2022 Mine Ban Treaty Meeting\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zxT_-G_dhLY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Human Rights Watch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> <strong>Landmines: US Moves Closer Toward Global Ban<\/strong><br><strong><em>Geographic Exception to Mine Ban Is Unnecessary<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a>\u00a0The Biden administration\u2019s pledge not to use antipersonnel landmines anywhere in the world except on the Korean peninsula is a major step forward but does not go far enough to prohibit this indiscriminate weapon<\/a>, Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A June 21, 2022 White House&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/06\/21\/fact-sheet-changes-to-u-s-anti-personnel-landmine-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fact sheet<\/a>&nbsp;states that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/united-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">United States<\/a>&nbsp;will not produce antipersonnel mines and will not use them outside the Korean peninsula. It will destroy stocks except those needed for Korea. The policy sets the goal of ultimately joining the 1997&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.icbl.org\/media\/604037\/treatyenglish.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mine Ban Treaty<\/a>, also known as the Ottawa Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresident Joe Biden is putting the US back on the path toward eliminating antipersonnel landmines, but greater ambition is needed to get there sooner,\u201d said&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/about\/people\/stephen-goose\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steve Goose<\/a>, arms director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe US should join with its allies who rejected these indiscriminate weapons decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Antipersonnel mines are designed to explode in response to a person\u2019s presence, proximity, or contact. They cannot distinguish between soldiers and civilians, making them unlawfully indiscriminate under international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to their indiscriminate nature and the human suffering caused by the use of antipersonnel landmines, 164 countries have joined the&nbsp;Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively bans the weapons and requires destruction of stocks, clearance of mined areas, and assistance to victims.&nbsp;The Mine Ban Treaty&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/1999\/02\/28\/historic-landmine-ban-treaty-takes-effect\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entered into force<\/a>&nbsp;on March 1, 1999, and includes all NATO member states except the US, all European Union member states, and US allies such as Australia, Japan, and Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US tried to get an exception for Korea during the Mine Ban Treaty negotiations in 1997 and was strongly rebuffed by its allies. Numerous retired US military officers, including those who commanded forces in South Korea,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/general977.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have said<\/a>&nbsp;that using antipersonnel mines there is of little or no military value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The US landmine policy reinstates the prohibitions on landmine production and use that were rolled back by a Trump administration policy directive issued on January 31, 2020. The Trump policy undid years of incremental steps by the US government to align its policy and practice with the Mine Ban Treaty, which the US participated in negotiating in 1996-1997. The US last used antipersonnel mines in 1991, has not exported them since 1992, or produced them since 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past 30 years the US has fought a range of conflicts \u2013 both high and low intensity \u2013 in a variety of environments and has demonstrated that it can employ alternative strategies, tactics, and weaponry without resorting to antipersonnel mines. It has spent more than $1 billion on the development and production of systems that could be considered alternatives to antipersonnel mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe US needs to accept that the international ban on landmines applies in all circumstances, without geographic exception,\u201d Goose said. \u201cAcceding to the international ban on landmines would help the US to strengthen the norm against these weapons and prevent them from being used in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human Rights Watch is chair of the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.icbl.org\/en-gb\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Campaign to Ban Landmines<\/a>&nbsp;(ICBL) and co-founder of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines. The ICBL received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, together with its coordinator, Jody Williams, for its efforts to bring about the Mine Ban Treaty and for its contributions to a new international diplomacy based on humanitarian imperatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more Human Rights Watch reporting on landmines, please visit:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/topic\/arms\/landmines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/topic\/arms\/landmines<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the United States, please visit:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/united-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/united-states<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more information on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, please visit:<\/strong><br><a href=\"http:\/\/icbl.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/icbl.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more information, please contact:<\/strong><br>In Geneva, Steve Goose (English): +1-540-630-3011 (mobile); or&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:gooses@hrw.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gooses@hrw.org<\/a><br>In Washington, DC, Mark Hiznay (English): +1-202-352-8983 (mobile); or&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:hiznaym@hrw.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hiznaym@hrw.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PSALM\/WVCBL were grateful to hear that the United States announced alignment with the Mine Ban Treaty Objectives. We strongly urge the U.S. to continue to move forward and join the Mine Ban Treaty. Human Rights Watch Landmines: US Moves Closer Toward Global BanGeographic Exception to Mine Ban Is Unnecessary \u00a0The Biden administration\u2019s pledge not to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1735"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wvcbl.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}