International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Antipersonnel landmines kill or maim thousands of people each year. Most are civilians. Many are children. Human Rights Watch is a co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and serves on its Coordinating Committee. In October 1997, the ICBL was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for changing a ban on antipersonnel landmines "from a vision to a feasible reality." Governments of the world heeded the ICBL's call for a landmine ban by negotiating the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and On their Destruction. The Mine Ban Treaty prohibits in all circumstances any production, transfer or use of antipersonnel landmines. It also requires that stockpiles be destroyed within four years of the treaty's entry into force, and that mines already in the ground be destroyed within ten years. Since December 1997, 150 governments have signed this treaty of which 141 have ratified. Human Rights Watch was a central participant in the treaty negotiations, known as the Ottawa Process, and is now working to universalize, ratify and monitor the implementation of this historic agreement.

Landmine Monitor

Human Rights Watch coordinates the ICBL's Landmine Monitor research initiative. Landmine Monitor builds upon the expertise and capacities of NGOs to systematically monitor and document the various dimensions of the global landmine problem, including use, production, transfer and stockpiling, as well as victim assistance and demining. Landmine Monitor's annual reports are timed to coincide with meetings of states parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Five reports have been produced to date (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003). The next report, Landmine Monitor Report 2004 is scheduled for release just before the first review conference on the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 29th November - 3rd December 2004.

The United States and Landmines

The United States remains outside the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty together with nations including Russia, China, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Burma, Syria, and Cuba. Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines and provides research into the U.S. search for alternatives to mines, funding of mine clearing programs, production and transfer of mines and other issues.

• HRW Reports on Landmines

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