Unless otherwise specified all photographs are courtesy of John Rodsted
AUSTRALIAN NETWORK TO BAN
LANDMINES AND CLUSTER MUNITIONS
The Mine Ban Treaty
The Mine Ban Treaty
The Mine Ban Treaty, sometimes called the Ottawa Treaty, came into force on March 1 1999
Under the treaty’s guidance States Parties have cleared and returned to productive use large tracts of land;
educated mine-affected communities about the risk of antipersonnel mines and other unexploded
ordnance; provided support to and protected the rights of landmine survivors; and destroyed millions of
stockpiled antipersonnel mines, ensuring they can never be planted in the earth again. Today, use of
antipersonnel mines is the exception rather than the rule, and the trade in these weapons has virtually
stopped.
Thanks to the advance of mine clearance and risk education programs, the number of new landmine
casualties has steadily decreased.
However, many challenges still remain on the road to a mine-free world, especially in the areas of mine
clearance, stockpile destruction, and ensuring real and lasting change in the lives of landmine survivors,
their families and communities.
Antipersonnel landmines are
explosive devices designed to
injure or kill people.
They lie dormant for years and
even decades under, on or near
the ground until a person or
animal triggers their detonating
mechanism.
What are Landmines?
A landmine blast causes horrific injuries such as blindness,
deafness, loss of limbs and extensive burns.
Survivors face severe pain and extensive surgery, social
difficulities and psychological trauma.
To find out more about the global landmine situation go to:
http://www.icbl.org/index.php
Unless otherwise specified all photographs are courtesy of John Rodsted