REVIEW CONFERENCE ON CONVENTION ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TO RESUME IN GENEVA, 22 APRIL TO 3 MAY 1996
Press Release
DC/2546
REVIEW CONFERENCE ON CONVENTION ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS TO RESUME IN GENEVA, 22 APRIL TO 3 MAY 1996
19960419 GENEVA, 16 April 1996 (UN Information Service) -- The Review Conference of States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects will resume in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May.The Convention was concluded in 1980 and entered into force on 2 December 1983. To become party to it, a State must ratify the Convention itself and must notify of its consent to be bound by any two or more of the Protocols, which deal with the use of non-detectable fragments (Protocol I), land-mines, booby traps and other devices (Protocol II), and incendiary weapons (Protocol III). With the adoption by the States parties in October 1995 of the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, a new Protocol (IV) has been added.
One of the principal objectives of the Review Conference is the strengthening of Protocol II, related to land-mines, of the 1980 Convention. At present, 110 million land-mines remain to be located and cleared in 64 countries. Not only do mines kill or maim 20,000 civilians each year, they also adversely affect agricultural development, endanger returning refugees and cause disabling injuries, often long after conflicts have ended.
In response, governments, relief agencies and non-governmental organizations worldwide have been seeking to toughen existing international restrictions on the production, sale and use of land-mines and other weapons which strike indiscriminately. The Review Conference is widely regarded as an important step forward in efforts to stop or restrict the use of land-mines in the context of the disarmament priorities set up by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in his 1995 Supplement to An Agenda for Peace. He has called the question an absolute priority, pointing out that the proliferation of anti-personnel mines "creates dramatic problems in a number of regions and endangers the lives of millions of individuals". He considers the initiative to review the treaty as a step towards the eventual elimination of all land-mines.
The proliferation of land-mines is fuelled by the fact that they are easy to obtain, simple to use and frequently undetectable. They are especially used in non-international conflicts, can be scattered by the
thousands and are typically not removed after hostilities cease. The magnitude of the problem and the understanding that it can be solved by the international community, but only through coordinated action, have moved the issue to the forefront of the United Nations agenda.
The General Assembly in 1993 called on Member States of the United Nations, regardless of whether they were parties to the Convention's land-mines Protocol, to establish a moratorium on the export of mines; to date, some two dozen States have responded to that call by enacting total or partial temporary export bans.
During its first meeting, held from 25 September to 13 October 1995, in Vienna, the Review Conference adopted "Protocol IV" banning the use and transfer of blinding laser weapons. However, despite considerable efforts by the participants at the Conference, it was impossible, in the time available, to reach final agreement on provisions that would further strengthen Protocol II of the Convention by restricting the production, sale and use of land-mines, due to the number of new proposals and positions that were advanced. The States parties, therefore, agreed to continue their work at sessions in Geneva from 15 to 19 January and from 22 April to 3 May 1996.
At the resumed session in January, the Conference concentrated on further consideration of articles 2 to 7 of Protocol II on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices, in particular their military-technical aspects. The key issues considered relate to requirements of detectability of anti-personnel mines and other devices; the provision of self-destruction or self-neutralization mechanisms and self- deactivation features for mines used outside fenced and marked areas; the period during which compliance with the provisions could be deferred; as well as to a number of other military-technical issues, including provisions regarding mines equipped with anti-sensing and anti-handling devices. Discussions also revolved around other issues such as transfers of mines, the use of which is prohibited under the amended Protocol, that is, non-detectable anti-personnel mines, and the exchange of specific relevant technology among States parties in relation to the duration of the transition period.
The chief focus of this forthcoming session will be to continue the negotiations concerning Protocol II. In addition to its further consideration of articles 2 to 7 and the Technical Annex, the Conference will also attempt to formalize its general agreement on the scope of application of the amended Protocol to cover conflicts not of an international character, and issues related to the questions of transfers, technological cooperation and assistance, and consultation and compliance. The text of the revised Protocol II and its Technical Annex, as proposed by the President, is contained in document CCW/CONF.I/WP.4/Rev.1. Furthermore, the Conference is also expected to conclude its review of the operation of the Convention and its Protocols as a whole.
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In addition to the States participating in the Review Conference, representatives of United Nations organs of related agencies, and of other intergovernmental organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations, will take part in accordance with the rules of procedure.
Protocol II
Protocol II -- on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices -- relates to the use of such devices on land, including weapons activated by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. It does not apply to the use of anti-ship mines at sea or in inland waterways. Article 3 prohibits, in all circumstances, the use of the devices concerned against civilians, as well as their placement when not directed against a military target. The provision does not rule out the possibility of the loss of civilian life as a result of an attack on a military objective, if all feasible precautions have been taken to protect civilians.
Other provisions require the use of warning signs, sentries or fences when land-mines are used against military targets located in populated areas. The use of remotely delivered mines -- mines delivered by artillery, rocket, mortar or similar means -- is prohibited under article 5 unless they are used only against a military objective and their location can be accurately recorded, or if they are equipped with a self-neutralizing mechanism.
Article 6 prohibits the use of any booby-traps which are designed to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering. These include explosive devices which resemble harmless portable civilian objects, such as toys or kitchen utensils. Other articles spell out requirements for recording the location of mines and the mandatory disclosure of that information immediately on the cessation of hostilities, and for cooperation in mine-removal efforts.
Officers; States Parties
Ambassador Johan Molander (Sweden) is the President of the Review Conference. Sohrab Kheradi, Deputy Director of the United Nations Centre for Disarmament Affairs, is its Secretary-General. The Conference also has 10 vice-presidents from the following States parties: Austria, China, France, India, Mexico, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Tunisia, Ukraine and the United States.
As of 22 April 1996, there will be 55 States parties to the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. They are as follows: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger,
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Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. Togo and Uganda have accepted and acceded to, respectively, the Convention. In accordance with the provisions of the Convention, they will become parties to it only six months after the date on which they deposited their instrument of accession.
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