22 November 2024
On the eve of the Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining reaffirms the importance of upholding the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC). Signed onto by 164 States, the Treaty has been crucial to address the threat posed by anti-personnel mines to civilians around the world, saving lives, protecting communities, and enabling their social and economic development.
The APMBC prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APMs and provides for their destruction. It applies to mines “designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons”, making no exception for “smart” or “non-persistent” mines.
Ukraine is a State Party to the APMBC and is under the obligation “to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control”.
For over a decade, the GICHD has worked closely with Ukrainian authorities to enhance national mine action capacity. We stand ready to continue to support Ukraine to meet its national strategic objectives in line with the Convention.
As we are about to gather for the Fifth Review Conference of the APMBC in Siem Reap (Cambodia), we urge all State Parties to uphold the strong norms banning these indiscriminate weapons, as an important foundation of International Humanitarian Law.