Destroying stockpiled antipersonnel mines

Table 2 Antipersonnel mines reported transferred in accordance with Article 3

Many women and children suffered from this state of affairs, especially those injured by antipersonnel mines.

Annex VIII Antipersonnel mine reported retained by the States Parties for reasons permitted under Article 3 of the Convention

States Parties are obliged to ensure that all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under (their) jurisdiction or control are perimeter marked, monitored and protected by fencing or other means until these mines have been cleared. This is part of the larger effort undertaken by States Parties to reduce risk to civilians and thus prevent further suffering caused by antipersonnel mines.

Annex III Deadlines for States Parties to destroy or ensure the destruction of antipersonnel mines in mined areas under their jurisdiction or control in accordance with Article 5

REVIEW OF THE OPERATION AND STATUS OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTIPERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION 1999 2004

Nine (9) States Parties reported that they had destroyed their stockpiled antipersonnel mines prior to entry into force Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Mali, Namibia, Norway and South Africa.

NATO has also completed various antipersonnel landmine destruction projects in Albania, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and the Ukraine and the destruction of small arms and light weapons in Serbia and Montenegro.

One (1) of the States Parties that has not yet provided an initial report in accordance with Article 7 holds or may hold stockpiled antipersonnel mines based on statements made elsewhere Guyana.

45. In the course of the 1997 session of the Conference, proposals were presented, supported by a number of other delegations, for a draft mandate for an Ad Hoc Committee on a Ban on Antipersonnel Landmines .

In the context of reporting in accordance with Article 7.1(c) and through other means, relevant States Parties have provided information related to identifying areas under their jurisdiction or control in which antipersonnel mines are known or suspected to be emplaced.

The Convention is clear that fulfilling obligations to destroy stockpiled antipersonnel mines and to clear mined areas is the responsibility of each individual State Party, just as ensuring the well being of a country's citizens including mine victims is a national responsibility.

Six (6) of the States Parties that have not yet provided an initial report in accordance with Article 7 are presumed not to hold stockpiled antipersonnel mines based on statements made elsewhere Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia and Sao Tome and Principe.

The number of parties for which the obligation to destroy stockpiled antipersonnel mines remains relevant has been narrowed considerably to include 16 States Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Mauritania, Serbia and Montenegro, Sudan, Turkey and Uruguay.

The following 22 States Parties have reported on the conversion or decommissioning of antipersonnel mine production facilities Albania, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Since the Convention was established, UN Inter Agency Assessment Missions have been conducted in the following 13 States Parties which have reported areas containing antipersonnel mines or which have not yet provided an initial transparency report but which evidence suggests are mine affected Ecuador, Jordan, Malawi, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Peru, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

As noted, the States Parties are required in accordance with Article 7.1(f) to report on the status of programmes for the destruction of antipersonnel mines in accordance with (Article 5). In the context of reports submitted and through other means, relevant States Parties have provided information related to their plans and programmes to implement Article 5.

It will also be important for States Parties to ensure the vibrancy not only of Meetings of the States Parties but also of informal means to share information (e.g., the Intersessional Work Programme and regional conferences and seminars) and non legally binding ways to be transparent (e.g., openness in the destruction of antipersonnel mines and in clearing mined areas).

In view of the obligations of all NPT parties to strive for general and complete disarmament, Austria is also a State party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention on Conventional Weapons and the Outer Space Treaty and spares no efforts to fully implement them.

We are not indifferent to the grave scourge of antipersonnel mines. In 1995, Argentina established a moratorium on the export of mines and more recently, in December 1997 at Ottawa, I had the honour to sign, on my country apos s behalf, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. In our hemisphere we work earnestly and in a spirit of compromise to overcome all differences by means of negotiation.