Skip to main content

More than 27 million antipersonnel mines have been destroyed from the arsenals of over 50 nations, including five million in the past year, according to a global report released today by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The export of anti-personnel landmines has virtually ceased and the number of countries producing the weapon has decreased from 55 to 14, the new report said.

"The antipersonnel mine is fast becoming a relic of the past century," said Stephen Goose of Human Rights Watch, a founding member of the ICBL. "This weapon remains in the ground of some 90 countries and claims new victims every day. But its utility as a weapon has been rejected by nearly three-quarters of the countries in the world."

A total of 141 countries have now joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which outlaws any use, production, transfer or stockpiling of antipersonnel mines. The United States is not among them.

The ICBL's 1,175-page Landmine Monitor Report 2001: Toward a Mine-Free World was edited and produced by Human Rights Watch, a founding member of the ICBL, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. The report provides new details on mine use, production, trade, stockpiling, demining and mine victim assistance in every country of the world in the period from May 2000 to mid-2001.

"We are pleased to be able to report progress that has been made over the past year to implement the mine ban, but we're also deeply disturbed that antipersonnel mines continue to be used by a number of governments and rebel groups," said Goose. "We condemn any use of this inherently indiscriminate weapon by any actor as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

According to the report, since May 2000 it appears likely that antipersonnel mines were used in 23 conflicts by as many as 15 governments and at least 30 rebel groups or non- state actors. This mainly reflects continued use in ongoing conflicts, but new instances of reported use included the laying of mines on borders by the governments of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and, notably, Russia inside Tajikistan, which is a party to the treaty, as well as new use by rebels in Macedonia. According to the report, the most regular mine use is likely occurring in Russia (Chechnya), Sri Lanka, and Burma, by both government and rebel forces.

Landmine Monitor Report 2001 also documents a strong possibility of use of antipersonnel mines by Uganda, which is a party to the treaty, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in June 2000. Uganda has denied this use. One treaty signatory, Angola, acknowledges continued use of antipersonnel mines and Landmine Monitor believes that it is likely that two other signatories, Ethiopia and Sudan, used antipersonnel mines in the reporting period. There are serious, but unconfirmed, allegations about use by Rwanda in the DRC in June 2000 when it was a treaty signatory (it has now ratified the treaty) and Burundi, another treaty signatory. All four of these governments deny use.

On Tuesday, September 18, the ICBL will present Landmine Monitor Report 2001 to diplomats attending the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Managua, Nicaragua, the most mine-affected country of Central America. A 75-page Executive Summary is also available. A total of 122 Landmine Monitor researchers from 95 countries contributed to the report.

Human Rights Watch is a privately-funded international monitoring group based in New York. It is coordinator in a core group of five ICBL organizations responsible for the Landmine Monitor. The others include Handicap International (Belgium), Kenya Coalition Against Landmines, Mines Action Canada, and Norwegian People's Aid.

Your tax deductible gift can help stop human rights violations and save lives around the world.

Region / Country
Topic