Landmines: A Deadly Legacy

“Landmines: A Deadly Legacy” is a landmark report by of the Arms Project of Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights. It contains the first in-depth research into global production and transfer of antipersonnel landmines, drawing on previously classified U.S. Government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Seven case studies of mine-affected states provide an insight into the global landmines crisis, drawing on extensive field research as well as the 1993 “Hidden Killers” report by the Department of State. Dedicated to the mine clearers, “A Deadly Legacy” includes a chapter on the development of humanitarian mine clearance, a concept then in its infancy. Describing antipersonnel landmines as “weapons of mass destruction in slow motion,” the report shows why existing international humanitarian law has failed to govern their use. It makes a powerful case for a total ban on the weapon as called for by the newly-created International Campaign to Ban Landmines. With 356-pp of text and 154-pp appendices, the report became a compelling reference work for the subsequent movement that succeeded in establishing the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

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