STATES PARTIES APPEAL FOR WIDER ADHERENCE TO AMENDED PROTOCOL II ON PROHIBITION OF MINES

STATES PARTIES APPEAL FOR WIDER ADHERENCE TO AMENDED

PROTOCOL II ON PROHIBITION OF MINES

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 28 November (UN Information Service) -- The fifth annual Conference of the States Parties to the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Amended Protocol II), annexed to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons deemed to be excessively injurious or to have Indiscriminate effects (CCW), concluded on Wednesday, 26 November, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva with an appeal from States Parties to promote wider adherence to Amended Protocol II in their respective regions and for all States that have not yet done so to accede to the Protocol. 

At its one-day meeting, the Conference confirmed the nomination of Ambassador Dimiter Tzantchev of Bulgaria as President of the Conference.  In accordance with Article 13 of Amended Protocol II, the Conference reviewed the operation and status of the Protocol, while emphasizing the necessity for universalization of the Protocol. 

The Conference received national annual reports from 48 States Parties containing material on the dissemination of information on Amended Protocol II to armed forces and civilian populations. During the session, the Conference considered a proposal introduced by Switzerland on the improvement of the reporting format to simplify and facilitate the submission of the national annual reports.

In line with the decision taken at the fourth annual Conference to designate the future President and Vice-Presidents by the end of the current meeting, to assure continuity in preparatory work carried out by the President, the Conference decided to nominate Ambassador Carlos Antonio da Rocha Paranhos of Brazil, as President-designate for the sixth annual Conference in 2004.

Protocol II was amended on 3 May 1996 at the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW.  The number of States which have notified the depository of their consent to be bound by Amended Protocol II, rose, from 45 at the time of the first annual Conference in 1999 to the current number of 73.

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