[ Use | Universalizing | Production | Transfer | Stockpiles | Transparency Reporting ]

Banning Antipersonnel Mines

Over the past two decades, the Mine Ban Treaty has developed into an international norm with impressive universality. A total of 164 States Parties are implementing the treaty’s provisions, which prohibit antipersonnel landmines use, production, trade, or stockpiling and require victim assistance, clearance of mined areas within 10 years, and destruction of stockpiled mines within four years. Most of the 33 countries that remain outside of the treaty abide nonetheless by its key provisions. The stigma against landmines remains strong.

During this reporting period, Landmine Monitor documented new use of antipersonnel mines by government forces in Myanmar, a state not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) used antipersonnel mines, particularly improvised mines, with a frequency and scale in recent years that is resulting in a palpable increase in new mine casualties and threatening progress toward the long-held goal of a landmine-free world.[1] NSAGs used antipersonnel mines in at least eight countries during this reporting period, including in States Parties Afghanistan, Colombia, Nigeria, Thailand, Yemen, and non-states parties India, Myanmar, and Pakistan.

In general, States Parties’ implementation of and compliance with the Mine Ban Treaty has been excellent. The core obligations have largely been respected, and when ambiguities have arisen they have been dealt with in a satisfactory manner. However, some States Parties are not doing nearly enough to implement key provisions of the treaty, particularly mine clearance and victim assistance, as detailed in the relevant chapters of this report.

Like-minded governments, United Nations agencies, and international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) continue to work together with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) to address Mine Ban Treaty compliance challenges in a cooperative manner. The unity demonstrated by this community over the past two decades remains strong and focused on the treaty’s ultimate objective of putting an end to the suffering and casualties caused by antipersonnel mines.

Use of Antipersonnel Landmines

There have been no allegations of the use of antipersonnel mines by States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in the reporting period, from October 2017 through October 2018. However, Landmine Monitor documented or confirmed new use of antipersonnel mines by government forces in Myanmar. Previously, Landmine Monitor 2017 found that government forces in states not party Myanmar and Syria used antipersonnel mines.

Landmine Monitor identified new use of antipersonnel landmines by NSAGs in eight countries in the reporting period, as listed in the table.

Locations of antipersonnel mine use October 2017–October 2018[2]

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

Landmine Monitor has not documented or confirmed during this reporting period any use of antipersonnel mines by Syrian government forces or by Russian forces participating in joint military operations in Syria. NSAGs likely continued to use improvised landmines to defend its positions against attack as in previous years, but access by independent sources to territory under NSAG control made it difficult to confirm new use.

Landmine Monitor was also unable to confirm new antipersonnel mine use by NSAGs in Cameroon, Iraq, Mali, Libya, Philippines, Tunisia, and Ukraine in the reporting period. However, in many cases, a lack of available information meant that it was not possible to determine if mine incidents and casualties were the result of new use of antipersonnel mines or due to legacy contamination of mines laid in previous years.[3]

Landmine use by government forces

Myanmar

Since the publication of its first annual report in 1999, Landmine Monitor has consistently documented the use of antipersonnel mines by government forces, known as Tatmadaw, and by various NSAGs in Myanmar. In June 2018, a Ministry of Defense official told Landmine Monitor that the Myanmar military uses landmines strictly in self-defense, in well mapped areas.[4] Previously, in September 2016, Deputy Minister of Defense Major General Myint Nwe informed parliament that the army continues to use landmines in internal armed conflict.[5] 

In September 2018, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar reported, following their investigations into mine use allegations in September 2017, that it had “reasonable grounds to conclude that landmines were planted by the Tatmadaw, both in the border regions as well as in northern Rakhine state, as part of the ‘clearance operations’ with the intended or foreseeable effect of injuring or killing Rohingya civilians fleeing to Bangladesh. Further, it seems likely that new antipersonnel mines were placed in border areas as part of a deliberate and planned strategy of dissuading Rohingya refugees from attempting to return to Myanmar.”[6]

In June 2018, the 20^th Battalion of NSAG Kachin Independence Army (KIA) shared photographs with Landmine Monitor that it said showed mines its forces cleared from the villages of Gauri Bum, Man Htu Bum, and Uloi Bai in Danai township. The photographs show around 80 antipersonnel mines, all M14 and MM2 types, with marking indicating Myanmar manufacture. The KIA alleged that Tatmadaw forces laid these mines in April and May, when the government forces left villages after occupying them. The KIA stated that two of their soldiers were injured while clearing the mines.[7]

Landmine Monitor subsequently showed the photographs to an official at the Myanmar Ministry of Defense in June 2018 and requested comment. The official noted that one mine shown in a photograph was an antivehicle mine and said that government forces do not use antivehicle mines against the insurgents as the NSAG do not use vehicles. He said that the antipersonnel mines could be copies of Myanmar-made mines that a NSAG planted as he said the Myanmar army does not leave landmines behind after an operation.[8]

Landmine use by NSAGs

In the reporting period, Landmine Monitor identified new use of antipersonnel landmines by NSAGs in Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, and Yemen.

Afghanistan 

NSAG use of improvised mines in Afghanistan in 2017 and 2018 resulted in numerous casualties.[9] The use of improvised mines in Afghanistan is mainly attributed to the Taliban, Haqqani Network, and Islamic State forces. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), “anti-government” forces used victim-activated improvised mines in decreasing numbers throughout 2017 and the first half of 2018.[10]

Colombia 

Government forces reported several seizures or recoveries of antipersonnel landmines from NSAGs in Colombia during the reporting period.[11] A Colombian Presidential Program for Comprehensive Mine Action (Acción Integral Contra Minas Antipersonal-Descontamina Colombia, PAICMA) country-wide review of records of landmines cleared by the Colombian army during military operations reported landmine casualties and Colombian army seizures of improvised landmines. In doing so, it attempted to attribute responsibility for new mine use in 2017 and the first half of 2018.[12] It found that residual or dissident forces from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-Ejército del Pueblo (FARC) were responsible for 306 mine incidents in 2017 and 341 incidents in the first half of 2018, while Unión Camilista-Ejército de Liberación Naciona (ELN) forces were responsible for 219 mine incidents recorded in 2017 and 48 in the first half of 2018. It also attributed new mine use to criminal groups or paramilitaries, often working with drug traffickers.

India 

The police in India attributed new use of improvised antipersonnel mines to the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army.[13] In January 2018, a wild elephant was injured by landmines in the Latehar district, Jharkhand state, allegedly laid by the CPI-M.[14] Previously, in September 2017, an elephant was killed after it stepped on a landmine also attributed to the CPI-M in the same area of Jharkhand state.[15] In July 2017, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in Chhatisgarh state told the state news agency, “Pressure IEDs planted randomly inside the forests in unpredictable places, where frequent de-mining operations are not feasible, remain a challenge.”[16]

Myanmar

NSAGs in Myanmar used antipersonnel mines in the reporting period. In June 2018, villagers in Kyaukme township of Shan state attributed landmine use, which caused civilian casualties, to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and claimed that the TNLA had warned locals not to travel in the area.[17] In January 2018, KIA Information Chief Colonel Naw Bu admitted use by the KIA, stating, “We use mines on paths approaching our frontline camps and around our headquarters. We only plant mines in the conflict area and do not plant mines in places where civilians move.”[18] In March–April 2018 the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) laid new mines in areas Kay Pu and Ler Mu Plaw in response to increased Tatmadaw activity in the area. Villagers lost several livestock as a result.[19] In April 2018, the KIA stated that they would launch an operation to lay mines in the Hukawng Valley in Tanai township of Kachin state.[20]

Nigeria

In Nigeria, NSAG Boko Haram has used improvised landmines since mid-2014.[21] In September 2018, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) issued a report detailing significant new use of improvised antipersonnel landmines by Boko Haram and its splinter groups on roads, in fields, and in villages, mostly in Borno state, but also in Yobe and Adamawa states.[22] 

On 6 March 2018, four loggers were killed when they stepped on landmines reportedly laid by Boko Haram near Dikwa, 90 kilometers east of Maiduguri in Borno state, after they went to retrieve a vehicle abandoned the previous day during a Boko Haram attack.[23] Previously, in early 2017, UNMAS reported extensive use of improvised mines by Boko Haram in northern areas of Nigeria.[24]

Pakistan 

In December 2017, Pakistan told Mine Ban Treaty States Parties that NSAGs are using antipersonnel mines throughout the country.[25] NSAGs in Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa used antipersonnel landmines during the reporting period. Public rallies in Pakistan called for the clearance of landmines in the country.[26]

In 2017, landmines were reportedly used by NSAG Tehrik Taliban Pakistan and Balochistan groups as well as by various clans.[27] Sometimes improvised antipersonnel mines were used as detonators for larger explosive devices, or one initiator would set off multiple explosive devices.[28]

Thailand 

The use of improvised landmines by the insurgency in southern Thailand has been reported previously and there was evidence of new mine use during this reporting period. On 2 July 2018, a rubber plantation worker in Yala province’s Krong Penang district, was maimed after he stepped on a landmine reportedly laid by an NSAG. A rubber plantation worker was seriously wounded by a landmine in Yala’s Yaha district on 28 June 2018, while another worker was wounded in a mine incident in Muang district on 2 July.[29]

Yemen

Houthi forces in Yemen used antipersonnel and antivehicle mines during 2017 and 2018, primarily on the west coast of the country near the port of Hodeida. The Yemen Mine Action Center (YEMAC) reported that Houthi forces laid more than 300,000 landmines between 2016 and 2018.[30] International media reported that mine clearance teams funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cleared and destroyed hundreds of Houthi-laid mines in 2018.[31]

Houthis forces are reported to have used landmines in the past along the coast, along the border with Saudi Arabia, around key towns, along roads, and to cover retreats.

There is no evidence to suggest that members of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have used landmines in Yemen.

Universalizing the Landmine Ban

Since the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999, states wishing to join can no longer sign and ratify the treaty, but must accede, a process that essentially combines signature and ratification. Of the 164 States Parties, 132 signed and ratified the treaty, while 32 acceded.[32]

Two countries joined the Mine Ban Treaty in the reporting period, both in December 2017: Sri Lanka acceded on the 13 December, while the State of Palestine acceded on 29 December.

The 33 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty include the Marshall Islands, which is the last signatory yet to ratify.

Annual UN General Assembly resolution 

Since 1997, an annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution has provided states outside the Mine Ban Treaty with an important opportunity to demonstrate their support for the humanitarian rationale of the treaty and the objective of its universalization. More than a dozen countries have acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty after voting in favor of consecutive UNGA resolutions.[33]

On 4 December 2017, UNGA Resolution 72/53 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty was adopted by a vote of 168 in favor, none against, and 16 abstentions.[34] This is an increase in votes in favor from the 2016 resolution (164) and the lowest number of abstentions ever recorded.

A core of 14 states not party have abstained from consecutive Mine Ban Treaty resolutions, most of them since 1997: Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Syria, Uzbekistan, the United States (US), and Vietnam.[35]

Non-state armed groups

Some NSAGs have committed to observe the ban on antipersonnel mines, which reflects the strength of the growing international norm and stigmatization of the weapon. None have done so during the reporting period. At least 65 NSAGs committed to halt using antipersonnel mines since 1997.[36] The exact number is difficult to determine, as NSAGs have no permanence, frequently split into factions, go out of existence, or become part of state structures.

Most recently, in November 2016, in Colombia, the FARC and the Colombian government signed an agreement to end the armed conflict. This has largely halted the FARC’s widespread landmine use and resulted in the surrender and destruction of its stockpiled mines. On 1 October 2017, a ceasefire agreement between the government of Colombia and the ELN took effect. Under “abstention” the ELN had committed not to use antipersonnel landmines that could endanger the civilian population.[37] However, the ceasefire ended in January 2018, and as of September 2018 had not been renewed.[38]

Production of Antipersonnel Mines

More than 50 states produced antipersonnel mines at some point in the past.[39] Forty-one states have ceased production of antipersonnel mines, including four that are not party to the Mine Ban Treaty: Egypt, Israel, Nepal, and the US.[40]

The Monitor identifies 11 states as producers of antipersonnel mines, unchanged from the previous report: 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 have yet to disavow ever doing so.[41]

Those most likely to be actively producing are India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and South Korea. Production of antipersonnel mines by India appeared to be ongoing in 2017 and orders indicate that production may have continued into 2018. Purchase order records retrieved from a publicly accessible online government transaction database list private companies providing component parts for APER 1B antipersonnel mines to the Indian Ordnance Factories, a state-owned enterprise, in February 2018.[42] In September 2018, Indian military officials told the Monitor that the final assembly of complete mine remains under the exclusive control of Indian Ordnance Factories.[43] In the previous two years, components were produced under these contracts and supplied to the Ammunition Factory Khadki in Maharashtra state.[44]

NSAGs have produced improvised landmines in Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Yemen.[45] In September 2018, the arms consultancy Conflict Armament Research (CAR) reported that Houthi forces were “mass producing” landmines, including victim-activated IEDs (improvised landmines). CAR found that this includes the standardization and production of explosive charges, pressure plates, and passive infrared sensors.[46]

Previously, in January 2017, MAG reported that Islamic State in Syria and Iraq produced near-factory quality improvised landmines on a large scale.[47]

Transfers of 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 created by the Mine Ban Treaty. Landmine Monitor has never conclusively documented any state-to-state transfers of antipersonnel mines since it began publishing annually in 1999.

At least nine states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty have enacted formal moratoriums on the export of antipersonnel mines: landmine producers China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, plus Israel, Kazakhstan, and the US. Other past exporters have made statements declaring that they have stopped exporting, including Cuba and Vietnam. Iran also claims to have stopped exporting in 1997, despite evidence to the contrary.[48]

At least five types of antipersonnel mines produced in the 1980s have been used in Yemen since 2013. None of these mines were among the four types of antipersonnel mines that Yemen has reported stockpiling in the past, including for training mine clearance personnel.

Types of antipersonnel mines previously stockpiled by Yemen and types used after 2013

The evidence of further use of antipersonnel mines in 2016 suggests either that the 2002 declaration to the UN Secretary-General on the completion of landmine stockpile destruction was incorrect, or that these mines were acquired from another source after 2002. In a September 2016 letter, Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis and the General People’s Congress, alleged that individuals had smuggled weapons, including landmines, into Yemen in recent years, noting that their government had not been able to control its land or sea borders due to instability and fighting.[49] In April 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that the Sanaa-based Ministry of Defense stockpiles antipersonnel mines.[50]

In June 2018, a private Indian arms manufacturer advertised a “bounding mine with fuze” in its sales catalogue at the Eurosatory military trade event in Paris. On the second day of the event, Eurosatory organizers ordered the display booth of the Indian company closed, and removed their entry at the event from the online catalogue.[51] Previously in February 2017, the same Indian arms manufacturer had components for bounding fragmentation antipersonnel landmines listed in their sales catalogue on display at the IDEX military trade event in Abu Dhabi.[52]

Stockpiled Antipersonnel Mines 

States not party

The Monitor estimates that as many as 30 of the 33 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty stockpile antipersonnel landmines.[53] In 1999, the Monitor estimated that, collectively, states not party stockpiled about 160 million antipersonnel mines, but today the global collective total may be less than 50 million.[54]

Largest stockpiles of antipersonnel mines

 It is unclear if all 30 states are currently stockpiling antipersonnel mines. Officials from the 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 in clearance and detection techniques.

States not party that have stockpiled 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, such stockpile destruction has been reported in China, Israel, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, the US, and Vietnam.

Non-state armed group stockpiles

Fewer NSAGs appear to be able to obtain factory-made antipersonnel mines now that production and transfers have largely halted under the Mine Ban Treaty. Some NSAGs in states not party have acquired landmines by stealing them from government stocks, purchasing them from corrupt officials, or removing them from minefields. Most that use mines appear to make their own improvised landmines from locally available materials.

The Monitor largely relies on reports of seizures by government forces, reports of significant use, or verified photographic evidence from journalists to identify NSAGs possessing mine stockpiles.

Stockpile Destruction by Mine Ban Treaty States Parties

At least 158 of the 164 States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty do not stockpile antipersonnel mines. This includes 92 states that have officially declared completion of stockpile destruction and 66 states that have declared they never possessed antipersonnel mines (except in some cases for training in detection and clearance techniques).

Collectively, States Parties have destroyed more than 54 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines, including more than 500,000 destroyed in 2017.

Two States Parties possess more than 5.0 million antipersonnel mines remaining to be destroyed: Ukraine (4.4 million) and Greece (643,267). Oman has a small stockpile (7,630).

Sri Lanka is expected to declare its stockpiled landmines when it submits an initial transparency report for the Mine Ban Treaty, due by 28 November 2018. It is uncertain if States Parties Somalia and Tuvalu possess stocks of antipersonnel landmines.[55]

Oman’s 2018 Article 7 transparency report stated that 4,578 antipersonnel mines were destroyed during 2017 and indicated that it would finish its stockpile destruction by February 2019.[56] To date, Oman has declared the destruction of 9,156 antipersonnel mines, just over 50% of its stockpile.

Greece and Ukraine remain in violation of Article 4 after failing to complete the destruction of their stockpiles by their four-year deadline.[57] Neither state has indicated when the obligation to destroy its remaining stockpiles will be completed. The Cartagena Action Plan 2010–2014 called on States Parties that missed their deadline to comply without delay, and also to communicate their plans to do so, to request any assistance needed, and to provide an expected completion date. The Maputo Action Plan added a call for these states to provide a plan for the destruction of their remaining stockpiles by 31 December 2014.

Destruction of stockpiles by NSAGs

Disarmament of the FARC in Colombia, including destruction of its antipersonnel landmine stockpile and components, occurred under UN supervision and was completed on 22 September 2017. The UN mission destroyed 3,528 antipersonnel mines formerly belonging to the FARC, as well as components, including more than 38,000 kilograms of explosives and more than 46,000 detonators.[58]

On 22 May 2018 the Polisario Front in Western Sahara destroyed 2,500 antipersonnel mines.[59] Previously, on 4 November 2017, the Polisario Front destroyed 2,500 antipersonnel mines.[60] It also announced that it would destroy a 4,985 antipersonnel mines in 2018, which would finish the destruction of its declared stockpile.[61] From 2006 to 2015, it undertook five public destructions of stockpiled antipersonnel mines, pursuant to the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment.

Mines Retained for Training and Research (Article 3)

Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty allows a State Party to retain or transfer “a number of anti-personnel mines for the development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction techniques…The amount of such mines shall not exceed the minimum number absolutely necessary for the above-mentioned purposes.”

A total of 70 States Parties have reported that they retain antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes, of which 36 retain more than 1,000 mines and two (Finland and Bangladesh) each retain more than 12,000 mines. Ninety-one States Parties have declared that they do not retain any antipersonnel mines, including 36 states that stockpiled antipersonnel mines in the past. On 18 September 2017, Algeria destroyed the 5,970 antipersonnel mines it retained for training purposes after completing its landmine clearance program.[62]

States retaining more than 1,000 antipersonnel mines

Note: N/R = not reported.

In addition to those listed above, another 34 States Parties each retain fewer than 1,000 mines and together possess a total of 14,175 retained mines.[63]

While laudable for transparency, several States Parties are still reporting as retained antipersonnel mines devices that are fuzeless, inert, rendered free from explosives, or otherwise irrevocably rendered incapable of functioning as an antipersonnel mine, including by the destruction of the fuzes. Technically, these are no longer considered antipersonnel mines as defined by the Mine Ban Treaty; a total of at least 12 States Parties retain antipersonnel mines in this condition.[64]

The ICBL has expressed concern at the large number of States Parties that are retaining mines but apparently not using those mines for permitted purposes. For these States Parties, the number of mines retained remains the same each year, indicating none are being consumed (destroyed) during training or research activities. No other details have been provided about how the mines are being used. A total of eight States Parties have never reported consuming any mines retained for permitted purposes since the treaty entered into force for them: Burundi, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Djibouti, Nigeria, Oman, Senegal, and Togo.

Transparency Reporting

Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty requires that each State Party “report to the Secretary General of the United Nations as soon as practicable, and in any event not later than 180 days after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party” regarding steps taken to implement the treaty. Thereafter, States Parties are obligated to report annually, by 30 April, on the preceding calendar year.

Sri Lanka and Palestine are required to submit an initial report by 28 November 2018. Only one State Party has an outstanding deadline for submitting its initial report: Tuvalu (due 28 August 2012).

As of 17 October 2017, 47% of States Parties had submitted annual reports for calendar year 2017. A total of 85 States Parties have not submitted a report for calendar year 2017. Of this latter group, most have failed to submit an annual transparency report for two or more years.[65]

Iraq, Tunisia, Nigeria, Yemen, and other states with recent allegations or confirmed reports of use of improvised landmines by NSAGs have failed to provide information on new contamination in their annually updated Article 7 reports.

Morocco, which is currently not party to the treaty, submitted a voluntary report in 2017 (as well as in 2006, 2008–2011, and 2013). In previous years, Azerbaijan (2008 and 2009), Lao PDR (2010), Mongolia (2007), Palestine (2012 and 2013), and Sri Lanka (2005) submitted voluntary reports.