Latest news with #OttawaConvention
Scoop
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk Gravely Alarmed By Steps To Withdraw From Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention
Geneva, 2 July 2025 I am gravely alarmed by the steps taken or being considered by Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. The Ottawa Convention, with over 160 State parties, is a crucial tool in responding to the devastating impact of anti-personnel mines on civilians. These weapons kill and maim civilians and combatants indiscriminately and affect people's freedom of movement, access to agricultural land, and right to development, even decades after the end of hostilities. These weapons risk causing persistent and long-term, serious harm to civilians, including children. Like other international humanitarian law treaties, the Ottawa Convention was principally designed to govern the conduct of parties to armed conflicts. Adhering to them in times of peace only to withdraw from them in times of war or for newly invoked national security considerations seriously undermines the framework of international humanitarian law. With so many civilians suffering from the use of anti-personnel mines, I call on all States to refrain from leaving any international humanitarian law treaty, and to immediately suspend any withdrawal process that may be underway. I also call on all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Ottawa Convention to do so as soon as possible.
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Adhering To Bans On Mines Only In Peace Time Will Not Work: UN Rights Chief
2 July 2025 Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have taken or are considering steps to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction – known also as the Ottawa Convention, after the Canadian city where the process was launched. 'These weapons risk causing persistent and long-term, serious harm to civilians, including children,' Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. 'Like other international humanitarian law treaties, the Ottawa Convention was principally designed to govern the conduct of parties to armed conflicts.' 'Adhering to them in times of peace only to withdraw from them in times of war or for newly invoked national security considerations seriously undermines the framework of international humanitarian law.' A threat to civilians Anti-personnel mines are one of the two main types of mines and target people – as opposed to anti-vehicle mines. However, because both of these mines are triggered automatically, they result in huge numbers of civilian deaths, especially children. Their deadly risks linger long after hostilities end, contaminating farmland, playgrounds, and homes, and posing a constant threat to unsuspecting civilians. Agreed in 1997, the Ottawa Convention prohibits signatories from using, stockpiling, producing or transferring anti-personnel mines due to the threat that these weapons pose to civilians, especially children. In the two-and-a-half decades since it was passed, the Ottawa Convention has 166 States parties, has led to the a marked reduction in the use of anti-personnel mines. Trends reversing However, in recent years, these positive trends have begun to reverse with the number of civilians killed and injured by mines increasing by 22 per cent in 2024 – 85 per cent of the casualties were civilians and half of them were children. Despite progress, some 100 million people across 60 countries still live under the threat of landmines. In Ukraine, for instance, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimates that more than 20 per cent of the country's land is contaminated – amounting to 139,000 square kilometres. Similarly, landmines remain still a significant threat in Cambodia, decades after the end of the conflict and years of de-mining efforts. Uphold international law Mr. Türk urged all parties to the Ottawa Convention to uphold their international legal obligations regarding anti-personnel mines and on non-signatories to join the Convention. 'With so many civilians suffering from the use of anti-personnel mines, I call on all States to refrain from leaving any international humanitarian law treaty, and to immediately suspend any withdrawal process that may be underway.'
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
From disarmament to rearmament: Which countries are quitting the key landmine treaty — and why?
GENEVA, July 1 — Ukraine has joined other countries bordering Russia in signalling that it will withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, in the face of what they say are growing military threats from Russia. Nato members Finland, Poland and the three ex-Soviet Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have either withdrawn from the convention or indicated that they would do so, citing the increased military danger from their neighbour. The moves threaten to reverse decades of campaigning by activists who say there should be a global ban on a weapon that blights huge swathes of territory and maims and kills civilians long after conflicts have abated. Countries that quit the 1997 treaty — one of a series of international agreements concluded after the end of the Cold War to encourage global disarmament — will be able to start producing, using, stockpiling and transferring landmines once again. Countries exiting All European countries bordering Russia have announced plans to quit the global treaty, apart from Norway which has only a 200 km (125 mile) border with Russia in its remote Arctic far north, and said it was important to maintain stigma around landmines. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that he had signed a decree to pull Ukraine out of the Convention because Russia has used anti-personnel mines extensively in parts of Ukraine during the 40-month-old war. Anti-personnel mines, Zelenskiy said, are 'often the instrument for which nothing can be substituted for defence purposes'. Some European countries have said they fear that Russia could use any pause in fighting to re-arm and target them. Officials have suggested a withdrawal could put them on more of an equal footing with Russia which has not signed or ratified the treaty. Other major powers that have not signed include the United States and China. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in mid-June raised grave concerns about recent withdrawal announcements, and urged all states to adhere to existing treaties and immediately halt any steps towards their withdrawal. Funding cuts As countries quit the convention, global demining efforts are also backsliding amid 'crippling' US funding cuts under President Donald Trump, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Washington had provided more than US$300 million a year, or 40 per cent of total international support for removing mines, according to the Landmine Monitor report in 2024. A State Department official said in March it had restarted some global humanitarian demining programmes and activities, without giving details. It has previously run major programmes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Laos. Anti-personnel landmines are generally hidden in the ground and designed to detonate automatically when someone steps on them or passes nearby. More than 80 per cent of mine victims are civilians, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The convention includes provisions to assist victims, many of whom have lost limbs and suffer from other permanent disabilities. In June 2025 the UN reported that Ukraine had become the most mined country in the world. It said there had been around 800 civilian casualties due to unexploded ordnance. — Reuters
Novaya Gazeta Europe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Zelensky ends ban on landmines following record Russian strike — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday that Ukraine would withdraw from the Ottawa Convention which bans the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines. In his nightly video address, Zelensky said the decision was taken in response to Russia's continued and 'extremely cynical' use of landmines and other banned or controversial weapons, including chemical agents and ballistic missiles. 'Russia has never been a party to this convention and is using anti-personnel mines with utmost cynicism — not only now, in its war against Ukraine, but as a longstanding tactic of destruction,' Zelensky said. 'This is a hallmark of Russian killers — to destroy life by all means at their disposal.' Noting that anti-personnel mines 'often have no alternative as a tool of defence', Zelensky said Ukraine had taken this 'political step' to send a signal to its partners, particularly those that share a border with Russia. Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, joining more than 160 countries in committing to eliminate anti-personnel mines. However, the shifting security landscape has already led several of Ukraine's European neighbours to either abandon or reconsider their commitments. Finland, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have all distanced themselves from the convention in recent months, citing escalating threats from Moscow. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had earlier provided detailed reasoning for Ukraine's exit, underscoring the need for unrestricted use of all available defence tools in the face of Russian aggression. The announcement came just hours after Ukraine endured what officials described as the single largest aerial assault since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. According to Ukraine's air force, Russia launched a barrage of 537 aerial weapons overnight on Saturday — including 477 drones and decoys, and 60 missiles — in what was described as 'the most massive airstrike' since the beginning of the war. Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down 475 of the projectiles, but at least five civilians were killed in the bombardment and accompanying shelling. Among the casualties was Ukrainian F-16 pilot Maksym Ustymenko, who died while repelling the attack. Zelensky posthumously awarded Ustymenko the title of Hero of Ukraine — the nation's highest honour.
Mercury
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mercury
Ukraine to withdraw from anti-landmine treaty
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree putting his war-torn country on track to leave an international anti-landmine treaty, according to a document published on his website. The Ottawa Convention bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using antipersonnel mines, which are designed to be buried or hidden on the ground. They often leave victims mutilated if they are not immediately killed, and unexploded mines cause long-term risks for civilians. Australia signed the convention in 1997 and ratified it in 1999. A Brisbane construction worker and father of two who heroically signed up to fight as a volunteer soldier in Ukraine tragically lost a leg after standing on a Russian landmine in December. Casey Gadaleta, 38, who had no prior military experience, had been fighting in Ukraine since March 2024. Russia 'is extremely cynical in its use of antipersonnel mines,' Mr Zelensky said in his daily address. 'This is the trademark of Russian killers – to destroy life by any means at their disposal,' he added. More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, though neither the United States nor Russia have joined. To enter into force, the decision still must be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament and notified to the United Nations. The withdrawal would normally come into effect six months after the notification. But according to the convention itself, if 'on the expiry of that six-month period, the withdrawing state party is engaged in an armed conflict, the withdrawal shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict.' Mr Zelensky said Ukraine – more than three years into Moscow's invasion – was 'aware of the complexities of the withdrawal procedure when it is carried out in wartime.' 'We are taking this political step and thus sending a signal to all our partners on what to focus on,' he added. Confronted with the invasion, 'Ukraine is compelled to give unconditional priority to the security of its citizens and the defence of the state,' Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement. It said the decision to withdraw was 'difficult but necessary' in order to 'protect our land from occupation, and our people from horrific Russian atrocities.'. The move follows similar decisions by Kyiv's allies Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all neighbours of Russia. In March, human rights groups condemned their intention to pull out from the convention. FOLLOW UPDATES: TWO KILLED, CHILDREN WOUNDED BY RUSSIAN DRONES A Russian drone strike on Ukraine's southern port city of Odessa has killed two people and wounded 14, including children, local authorities said. Moscow has stepped up drone and missile attacks on Ukraine and peace talks initiated by the United States to end the three-year conflict have stalled. 'Rescuers pulled the bodies of two people from the rubble who died as a result of a hostile drone strike on a residential building,' Odessa Governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram. The night-time strike wounded 14 people, Kiper said, adding that 'three of them children.' Separately, authorities in Ukraine's southern Kherson region said one person was killed and three others were wounded in Russian strikes over the past day. 'Russian troops targeted critical and social infrastructure and residential areas in the region,' the Kherson's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Russia's offensive, which has forced millions from their homes and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has launched retaliatory strikes on Russia throughout the war. The Russian defence ministry said its air defence had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow also said it had captured another village in the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin has claimed as part of Russia since late 2022. Russia has demanded Ukraine cede more land and give up Western military support as a precondition to peace – terms Kyiv says are unacceptable. PUTIN SAYS HE'S OPEN TO PEACE TALKS Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and Ukraine's demands for peace were 'absolutely contradictory', after two rounds of peace talks have failed to bring the sides closer to an elusive ceasefire. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators swapped memorandums outlining their visions for how to end the three-year conflict at peace talks in Istanbul this month. But other than large-scale prisoner exchanges, the talks have failed to result in any progress toward ending the fighting, triggered by Russia launching its military offensive in February 2022. 'As for the memorandums, as expected, nothing surprising happened … these are two absolutely contradictory memorandums,' Putin said at a press conference in Minsk, Belarus. 'That's why negotiations are being organised and conducted, in order to find a path to bringing them closer together,' he said. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Russia's offensive, which has forced millions from their homes and devastated much of eastern Ukraine. At talks, Russia has demanded Ukraine cede even more land and give up Western military support as a precondition to peace – terms Kyiv says are unacceptable. Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire and has escalated his aerial attacks as his army advances across the battlefield, capturing more territory beyond the five Ukrainian regions Russia claims to have annexed. He said the two sides would 'continue further contact' after prisoner exchanges agreed at the June 2 talks had been completed. The two sides have conducted several swaps since agreeing to each free more than 1,000 captured soldiers – all wounded, ill or under 25. Russia is also ready to hand over the bodies of 3,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, Putin said. He also acknowledged some economic pressure from the military campaign, which has seen Russia massively increase its spending on weapons and soldiers. '6.3 per cent of Russia's GDP goes on defence needs. That is 13.5 trillion roubles ($172 billion),' Putin said. 'It's a lot,' Putin said, acknowledging it had the potential to create headaches for the government budget. 'We paid for it with inflation, but now we are fighting this inflation,' he added. At the press conference following a meeting with allies in Belarus, Putin also denounced the 'aggressive' pledge by NATO members to increase their defence spending to five per cent of GDP. – with AFP Originally published as Ukraine to withdraw from anti-landmine treaty
