Ottawa Convention: Poland’s withdrawal
Poland’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, as announced by the Prime Minister recently, is a strategic maneuver that allows the country to deploy anti-personnel mines swiftly along its eastern borders if necessary
- The Ottawa Convention, also referred to as the “Mine Ban Treaty,” prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines (APLs).
- It requires states-parties to destroy their stockpiled APLs within four years and eliminate all APL holdings, including mines currently planted in the soil, within 10 years.
- Countries may request a renewable extension, which can be up to 10 years long, to fulfill their destruction obligations.
States-parties are also required annually to report their total APL stockpiles, the technical characteristics of their APLs, the location of all mined areas, and the status of APL destruction programs. - The convention, which is of unlimited duration and open to all nations, entered into force in 1999.
- The Treaty has 164 States Parties, including 34 out of the 50 States that produced mines before 1997, and 33 Signatories.
- However, six major countries remain outside the Convention: China, India, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and United States.
- States Party to the Ottawa Treaty commit to:
- Never use APLs, nor “develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain, or transfer” them;
- Clear mined areas in their territory within 10 years;
- In mine-affected countries, conduct mine risk education and ensure that mine survivors, their families, and communities receive comprehensive assistance;
- Offer assistance to other States Parties, for example, in providing for survivors or contributing to clearance programs;
- Adopt national implementation measures (such as national legislation) in order to ensure that the terms of the treaty are upheld in their territory.
