Banning Antipersonnel Mines

In these uncertain times, universal adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty’s humanitarian and disarmament provisions matters more than ever. Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) in 10 countries have used landmines in the past year (October 2014–October 2015), usually victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) rather than manufactured mines. The new use of antipersonnel mines by NSAGs in conflicts in Ukraine and Yemen and the continuing large-scale use of victim-activated IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq are particularly disturbing.

Yet new use of antipersonnel mines by states remains a relatively rare phenomenon, with use by the government forces of Myanmar, North Korea, and Syria in the past year.

States Parties are steadily implementing the Mine Ban Treaty and the same can be said of the vast majority of the 35 countries that remain outside it, as they also appear to abide by the Treaty’s key provisions despite not acceding.

Several States Parties continue to face serious compliance concerns, particularly with respect to missed stockpile destruction deadlines and repeated mine clearance deadline extensions. [1] However, governments and international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) continue to work together to support those facing challenges. The Mine Ban Treaty’s newly formed Committee on Cooperative Compliance has been diligently following-up on past allegations of landmine use by States Parties.

This shows the enduring and popular support for the Mine Ban Treaty, which was adopted on 18 September 1997 and entered into force on 1 March 1999. There are now a total of 162 States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty; most recently Oman acceded in August 2014.

Use of antipersonnel landmines

In this reporting period—October 2014 through October 2015—the Monitor has confirmed new use of antipersonnel mines by the government forces of Myanmar, North Korea, and Syria and by NSAGs in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Yemen.

This is a significant increase of use by NSAGs from recent years, especially in States Parties.[2]

Locations of antipersonnel mine and victim-activated IED use, October 2014–October 2015

Note: States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty are in bold.

 

Use in States Parties

Yemen

Houthi forces, also known as Ansar Allah, emplaced antipersonnel landmines in the Yemeni port of Aden before withdrawing from the city in July 2015. Yemen had declared the completion of mine clearance in Aden in 2009.[3]

According to the information from Yemeni mine action officials, the emergency clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) began on 11 July 2015 in several residential districts of Aden previously controlled by Houthi forces, including Khormaksar, Jaulaa, and Green City in the Dar Saad neighborhood, as well as Bir Ahmad and Amran in al-Buraika, also near Aden. By 12 August 2015, the teams had removed 91 antipersonnel mines of two types from Aden as well as 316 IEDs, 666 antivehicle mines, and various ERW.[4]

The two types of antipersonnel mines cleared from Aden were the PPM-2 (manufactured in the former East Germany) and a GYATA-64 (previously manufactured in Hungary).[5] In its transparency reports since 2000, Yemen has never reported either of these mine types as stockpiled or retained. It was first reported that these antipersonnel mines had been seen in Yemen in April 2013.[6] Also present in Aden were TM-62 and TM-57 antivehicle mines manufactured in the former Soviet Union.

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which provides emergency medical care in Aden, reported more than 35 people injured, mostly children, between early August and mid-September.[7]

Ukraine

In June 2015, Ukrainian representatives estimated that 8% of eastern Ukraine is either affected or suspected to be affected by antipersonnel mines and IEDs as well as ERW from the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels that erupted in early 2014—initially in Crimea in the south, then in Ukraine’s eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.[8] There is not believed to have been any significant landmine use since the February 2015 ceasefire.

Multiple broadcast media reports by Russian television outlets clearly show that antipersonnel mines and multipurpose munitions equipped with victim-activated fuzes were used by Russian-backed rebels. In June 2015, the Russian television network Russia 1 aired a report showing members of the rebel “Spartak Battalion” emplacing MON-50 mines with MUV fuzes and tripwires near Marinka in Donetsk province.[9] On 17 November 2014, a Ukrainian media report highlighted that Ukrainian security forces seized equipment purportedly in possession of a rebel sabotage group operating in government-controlled territory in the Kharkov region.[10] Their equipment included MON-50 and OZM-72 mines along with mechanical pull MUV fuzes, tripwire assemblies, and electrical initiation devices.

This equipment includes factory-produced antipersonnel mines never stockpiled or previously destroyed by the Ukrainian government. A video produced by a pro-rebel media source in July 2014, shows combatants associated with the rebel Zarya Battalion emplacing a PMN-4 antipersonnel mine, in conjunction with emplacing TM-62M antivehicle mines at an unknown location in eastern Ukraine.[11] This type of mine has never been declared to be stockpiled by Ukraine and was only first publicly displayed by Russia in 1993.[12]

Victim-activated booby-traps have also been used, however, it is unclear who is responsible. The “Raising Red Flags” report by Armament Research Services presents on page 61 a photograph, provided by Vice News reporter Harriet Salem, of an RGD-5 hand grenade taped to a tree and fitted with an UZRGM-type fuze affixed to a trip wire.[13] Victim-activated booby-traps and victim-activated IEDs are banned by the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Additionally, both sides have used several types of hand-emplaced antivehicle mines and Ukrainian government forces have used remotely-delivered PTM-1G antivehicle mines. Ukraine admitted in June 2015 that its forces emplaced antivehicle mines but noted that the locations are fixed with reference to at least two indestructible landmarks, fenced off, and marked with special signs, and that records of mined areas are distributed in no less than three copies.[14]

In June 2014 and June 2015, the government of Ukraine declared in statements to Mine Ban Treaty States Parties that it had not used antipersonnel landmines in the conflict and accused Russian forces of laying landmines in Ukraine.[15] Information provided in December 2014 by Ukrainian government officials states, “no banned weapons” had been used in the “Anti-Terrorist Operations Zone” by Ukrainian armed forces or forces associated with them, such as volunteer battalions.[16]

Representatives of Ukraine stated in June 2015 that retained or stockpiled antipersonnel mines under their control are not available for issue to troops and remain strictly controlled by the high command.[17] They did admit however, that some mines were stored in the Crimea and are no longer under Ukrainian government control.

The ICBL has expressed concern at reports of use and seizures of landmines in Ukraine.[18] It urges parties to the conflict to ensure that no antipersonnel mines are used by any actor and to destroy any antipersonnel mines they have seized or otherwise acquired.

Landmines reported in Ukraine since 2014

Note: Use of a tripwire to initiate any explosive device is prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has experienced extensive use of victim-activated IEDs by armed groups, mainly the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hezb-e-Islami, which oppose the government. In September 2015, Afghan officials said that the Taliban had recently laid landmines and booby-traps around Kunduz after seizing the city.[19] The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that anti-government forces were using victim-activated IEDs in increasing numbers during early 2015. It documented new use of victim-activated IEDs in Kunduz in April, May, and June 2015, resulting in new civilian casualties. UNAMA has stated that victim-activated IEDs are the most common form of IED currently being used in Afghanistan. Victim-activated (pressure plate) IEDs were responsible for almost half of the casualties from explosive weapons recorded during the first half of 2015.[20]

Colombia

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) continues to use antipersonnel mines and IEDs on a regular basis near their campsites or bases, on main transit routes, and around caches of explosives, weapons, medicine, and clothing.[21]

Iraq

Islamic State and possibly other forces fighting the government of Iraq have used IEDs and explosive booby-traps extensively since 2014.[22] The extent to which the IEDs are command-detonated or victim-activated is not clear.

In June 2015, Iraq blamed “terrorist armed groups and Daesh” (Islamic State) for “a dramatic increase in the number of mines, UXOs [unexploded ordinance] and IEDs” in the country.[23] In May 2015, Reuters reported that Islamic State fighters laid landmines in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s western desert province of Anbar.[24] The NGO Conflict Armament Research stated in April 2015 that Islamic State forces are producing and deploying IEDs on an industrial scale.[25]

Tunisia

New casualties, due to victim-activated explosives among the Tunisian military engaged in operations against militants in Jebel Al-Cha’anby in Qsrein Wilaya/Kasserine governorate near the Algerian border, continued to occur. In December 2014, one government soldier was killed and one injured by a landmine explosion on Mount Samama in Kasserine governorate.[26] In August 2015, two soldiers were killed by landmines during an army operation on Mount Mghila in the Kasserine region.[27] Due to the ongoing nature of the conflict, it is likely many of these devices were recently emplaced.

Use in states not party

North Korea

On 4 August 2015, two South Korean soldiers on patrol on the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at Yeonchon in Gyeonggi province were injured by newly laid antipersonnel mines. One soldier had both legs amputated while the other lost his foot. The South Korean military accused North Korea of laying the mines, which were identified as PMD-6 wooden box mines made in North Korea.[28]

North Korea issued a denial of use, stating it only used mines in self-defense.[29] At a press conference in New York on 21 August, the North Korean ambassador asserted that the South Korean military had identified the mine as an M-14 on 4 August and then changed it to a North Korean box mine on 10 August for political purposes.[30]

An investigation by the United States (US)-led UN Command’s Military Armistice Commission examined the area after the incident and issued a report that concluded that “the North Korean People’s Army violated paragraphs 6, 7 and 8 of the Armistice Agreement by emplacing wooden box land mines along a known Republic of Korea patrol route.” According to the report, the investigation determined that “the devices were recently emplaced” and not “legacy landmines which had drifted from their original placements due to rain or shifting soil.”[31]

Syria

In late 2011, the first reports emerged of Syrian government mine use in the country’s border areas.[32] A Syrian official acknowledged the government had “undertaken many measures to control the borders, including planting mines.”[33]

The Islamic State, rebel groups, and the regime in Syria continue to use IEDs and landmines, which has led to many civilian and non-civilian deaths. These are frequently reported as “roadside bombs,” but also include victim-activated devices. According to the Violations Documentation Center for Syria, there were 24 non-civilian deaths and 67 civilian deaths from landmines between October 2014 and October 2015.[34] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported 67 civilian deaths from this time period from landmines, but noted that there were 53 non-civilian deaths, and nine unspecified individual deaths.[35]

Human Rights Watch reported that at least 70 mine explosions occurred in the Tel Shair corridor along the Syrian-Turkish border near Kobani between 15 September and 15 November 2014, killing at least three civilians, including two children, and injuring nine others. Photographs taken by humanitarian workers show what appear to be US-made M2 bounding antipersonnel mines that were allegedly found in the minefields north of Kobani, which lie in Turkish territory and fall under Turkey’s obligations as a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty to destroy all antipersonnel landmines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible. [36]

Photographs and a video posted online by the Syrian Center for Demining Rehabilitation on 28 September 2015, allegedly filmed west of Daraa in southern Syria, show up to 20 PMN-4 antipersonnel mines being removed from the ground.[37] This was the first evidence of use of the PMN-4 in the Syria conflict, but it is unclear who laid them or when. Markings on the mines indicate they were manufactured in Russia in 1995.

A video posted to YouTube on 12 October 2015 by “the First Brigade,” which specializes in demining, shows bounding antipersonnel mines as well as antivehicle mines reportedly cleared in Daraa.[38] 

A video released by PYD in February 2015 following the cessation of fighting in Kobani shows victim-activated IEDs in buildings, allegedly in Kobani.[39]

Myanmar

Since the publication of its first annual report in 1999, Landmine Monitor has consistently documented the use of antipersonnel mines by government forces and NSAGs in many areas of Myanmar (Burma). During this reporting period, information available to the Monitor indicates a continuation of the trend of a significantly lower level of new mine use. 

In March 2015, the inhabitants of Pyin Soe village in the eastern Paletwa township of Chin State, near the border with Bangladesh, fled after they were warned by soldiers from Light Infantry Brigade 289 not to go beyond a stream near their village because the government soldiers had laid mines on the other bank.[40] In September 2015, Myanmar Army soldiers asked villagers to take them to a frontline location in Momauk township at which point the soldiers laid mines and warned them not to return to the area.[41]

Antipersonnel mine use by NSAGs has apparently decreased significantly since 2012 when many armed groups began to engage in negotiations on a nationwide ceasefire, which some, but not all, signed in October 2015.[42] In March 2015, villagers from Pyin Soe village reported that they saw the Arakan Army (AA) lay mines near the edges of their village during conflict between the AA and the Myanmar Army.[43] In May 2015, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) sent a letter to several villages in Mogaung township notifying them that new mines were being laid there. In December 2014, the government published allegations of landmine use by the KIA, and stated that 10 people had died and 37 were injured due to KIA-laid mines between October 2013 and November 2014.[44]

Libya

Reports emerged in September 2014 alleging new use of antipersonnel mines at Tripoli International Airport, which saw fighting in July–August between the Zintan alliance of militia groups and forces of the Libya Dawn Alliance.[45] Antipersonnel mines were likely laid in 2014 and not earlier, but the party responsible for the use could not be determined.[46] On 29 October, Human Rights Watch spoke by telephone with the commander of the Misrata Revolutionaries engineering unit within the Libya Dawn Alliance that had been responsible for clearing landmines and other unexploded ordnance in Tripoli since August. The commander said that on 24 August 2014, the day of the airport takeover, his unit had discovered a mined area of the airport.[47] He said a pickup truck mounted with anti-aircraft weapons entered the “old airport area” and detonated a mine, killing one fighter from the Misrata Umm al-Maarek brigade and wounding several others.

Pakistan

The government reported in March 2015 that antipersonnel mines have been used throughout the country and attributed responsibility for the use to “terrorists.”[48] Media reports have registered a large number of casualties, apparently from newly laid mines, in Baluchistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North-West Frontier Province), where the Pakistan Army and security forces have been engaged in armed conflict with Pakistani Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Baloch insurgents. 

Other reports

Additionally, reports of “landmine” use by Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa Forest of Nigeria have been published in the media since May 2014. For example, two soldiers were killed and two others were injured when troops of 5th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Brigade encountered “landmines” buried by Boko Haram while advancing towards Dikwa, Borno State, according to a Nigerian Army spokesperson.[49] He also said the militants converted chemistry laboratories at the Dikwa School of Agriculture into bomb-making factories when they seized the town.[50] The Nigerian Army has released a series of photos showing its engineers removing IEDs planted along the Gwoza-Yamteke highway.[51] The limited amount of photographs published of the devices used by Boko Haram indicate that they are IEDs, not factory produced landmines.

Military authorities stated to an Egyptian newspaper that they had begun to lay landmines around military outposts in the Sinai in May 2015.[52] By October 2015, Egypt did not respond to a letter sent by the ICBL in June requesting clarification on the report. 

In the reporting period, there were reports of NSAG use of antivehicle mines in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Yemen. 

Global stockpiles of antipersonnel mines

The Monitor estimates that as many as 31 of the 35 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty stockpile landmines. In the past, the Monitor estimated that, collectively, states not party stockpile about 160 million antipersonnel mines. However, in 2014, China informed the Monitor that its stockpile is “less than” five million[53] and the US confirmed that its stockpile is three million.[54] Previously, China was estimated to have stockpiled 110 million antipersonnel mines, and the US 10.4 million. Therefore, the global total held by states not party may now be less than 50 million. (See Status and Operation of the Mine Ban Treaty, further below, for details on stockpiles remaining to be destroyed by States Parties.)

Largest stockpilers of antipersonnel mines

 

States not party that have stockpiled antipersonnel mines

It is not clear if all 31 states currently stockpile antipersonnel mines. Officials from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have provided contradictory information regarding its possession of stocks, while Bahrain and Morocco have stated that they have only small stockpiles, used solely for training purposes. Three states not party, all Pacific states, have said that they do not stockpile antipersonnel mines: Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Tonga. It is unclear if Palestine possesses stockpiles of antipersonnel mines.

States not party to the Mine Ban Treaty routinely destroy stockpiled antipersonnel mines as an element of ammunition management programs and the phasing out of obsolete munitions. In recent years, stockpile destruction has been reported in China, Israel, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, the US, and Vietnam.

Non-state armed groups

During this reporting period, the Polisario Front in Western Sahara reported the destruction of 3,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines, as required by its signature of Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment for adherence to a Total Ban on Antipersonnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action.[55] 

Fewer NSAGs today have access to factory-made antipersonnel mines compared to a decade ago due to the halt in trade and production and due to the destruction of stockpiles under the Mine Ban Treaty. Some NSAGs have acquired mine stocks from former regimes (such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria) or removed them from minefields, but most appear to make their own improvised mines from locally available materials. In states not party, NSAGs have also been known to capture antipersonnel mines, steal them from arsenals, or purchase them from corrupt officials.

During this reporting period, NSAGs and criminal groups in Afghanistan, Colombia, Libya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen were reported to possess stocks of antipersonnel mines. The Monitor largely relies on reports of seizures by government forces or verified photographic evidence from journalists to identify NSAGs possessing mine stockpiles.

 

Production and transfer of antipersonnel mines 

More than 50 states produced antipersonnel mines at some point in the past.[56] A total of 40 of which have ceased production of antipersonnel mines, including four that are not party to the Mine Ban Treaty: Egypt, Israel, Nepal, and most recently, the US.[57] A majority of major producers from the 1970s to 1990s are among those states that have stopped manufacturing and joined the Mine Ban Treaty.

The Monitor identifies 11 states as producers of antipersonnel mines: China, Cuba, India, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. Most of these countries are not believed to be actively producing mines but reserve the right to do so. Those most likely to be actively producing are India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and South Korea.

NSAGs in Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, and Tunisia produce antipersonnel mines, mostly in the form of victim-activated IEDs. Between June 2014 and June 2015, Pakistan’s armed forces state that they recovered 253 tons of explosives and thousands of weapons during operations against insurgents in the country.[58] In 2015, the Colombian Army continued to locate and destroy landmine assembly facilities belonging to FARC.[59]

Trade in antipersonnel mines

A de facto global ban on the transfer of antipersonnel mines has been in effect since the mid-1990s. This ban is attributable to the mine ban movement and the stigma attached to the weapon. The Monitor has never conclusively documented any state-to-state transfers of antipersonnel mines.

While the Monitor has reported for the past decade that the global trade in antipersonnel mines had consisted of a low level of illicit and unacknowledged transfers, the abrupt appearance of mines in Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen in recent years raises the specter that some form of market for antipersonnel mines exists.[60]

At least nine states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty, including six landmine producers, have enacted formal moratoriums on the export of antipersonnel mines: China, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and the US. Other past exporters have made statements declaring that they now have stopped exporting, including Cuba, Egypt, and Vietnam. Iran also claims to have stopped exporting, despite evidence to the contrary.[61]

Universalizing the ban on antipersonnel mines

Since the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999, states that had not signed it by then may no longer sign and ratify the treaty but must accede, a process that essentially combines signature and ratification. Of the 162 States Parties, 132 signed and ratified the treaty, while 30 acceded.[62]

The last to accede was Oman on 20 August 2014. No country has joined the Mine Ban Treaty since Landmine Monitor 2014 was published.

The 35 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty include the Pacific state of the Marshall Islands, which is the only signatory yet to ratify.

The US government announced policy measures in June and September 2014 to ban future production and acquisition of antipersonnel landmines, accelerate stockpile destruction, and ban their use, except on the Korean Peninsula.[63] The White House said the new landmine policy means the US is “signaling our clear aspiration to eventually accede to the Ottawa Convention.”[64]

Annual UN General Assembly resolution

An annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution provides an important opportunity for states outside the Mine Ban Treaty to indicate their support for the ban on antipersonnel mines and the objective of its universalization. A dozen of the countries that have acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty since 1999 did so after voting in favor of consecutive UNGA resolutions.[65] 

On 2 December 2014, UNGA Resolution 69/34 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was adopted by a vote of 164 states in favor, none opposed, and 17 abstentions.[66] The number of affirmative votes and abstentions was slightly lower than in 2013.[67]

A core of 14 states not party have abstained from consecutive Mine Ban Treaty resolutions since 1997: Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea (since 2007), Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Syria, Uzbekistan (since 1999), the US, and Vietnam (since 1998).[68]

Non-state armed groups

Some NSAGs have expressed a willingness to observe the ban on antipersonnel mines, which reflects the strength of the growing international norm and stigmatization of the weapon. At least 64 NSAGs have committed to halt the use of antipersonnel mines over the past 12 years.[69] The exact number is difficult to determine, as NSAGs have no permanence, and frequently split into factions, go out of existence, or become part of state structures.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Amended Protocol II of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) entered into force on 3 December 1998 and regulates the production, transfer, and use of mines, booby-traps, and other explosive devices. The weaknesses of the original protocol and inadequate measures to improve it through Amended Protocol II gave impetus to the Ottawa Process that resulted in the Mine Ban Treaty. As of October 2015, a total of 102 states were party to Amended Protocol II. One state ratified the protocol since the publication of Landmine Monitor 2014; Grenada on 10 December 2014.

Only 10 states that are party to Amended Protocol II have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty: China, Georgia, India, Israel, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and the US. Therefore, for antipersonnel mines, the protocol is only relevant for those 10 countries as the rest are bound by the much higher standards of the Mine Ban Treaty.

The original Protocol II on mines, booby-traps, and other devices entered into force on 2 December 1983 and, while it was largely superseded by Amended Protocol II, there are still 11 states that are party to the original protocol that have not ratified the amended protocol, including Cuba, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan and Mine Ban Treaty States Parties Burundi, Djibouti, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mexico, Togo, and Uganda.

A total of 17 states that stockpile antipersonnel mines are not party to the Mine Ban Treaty, CCW Amended Protocol II, or CCW Protocol II. Five of these states are also landmine producers.

States that stockpile antipersonnel mines but are not party to the CCW

Note: Italics indicate states that also reserve the right to produce antipersonnel mines.