Facts

• There are an estimated 60-85 million unexploded landmines in the ground in some 60 countries.
   
• At least 255 UN and NATO troops have been wounded and 29 killed by mines in Bosnia.
   
• 20+ types have been used in Bosnia. The Pentagon says mines are among the most serious dangers to U.S. troops in Bosnia.
   
• Landmines maim and kill indiscriminately. The Red Cross estimates that 500 people are wounded or killed by mines each week. The majority are civilians.
   
• A mine can cost as little as $3 to make, and hundreds of dollars to locate and remove.

 

Anti-Landmine Chronology
1989-2000

1989

Senator Leahy establishes a War Victims Fund (formally designated in 1995 as the "Patrick Leahy War Victims Fund"), a program to provide medical and related assistance to war victims. The Fund has been used primarily to produce artificial limbs for mine victims, and by 1999 had disbursed over $60 million in 16 countries.

1992

On 10/23/92, Senator Leahy's amendment for a one-year moratorium on exports of anti-personnel mines is signed into law by President Bush.

1993

On 9/14/93, Senator Leahy's amendment to extend the export moratorium for three years passes the Senate 100-0, and is signed in to law by President Clinton. (In 1997, this law is adopted by the Administration as U.S. policy, and is reenacted periodically, most recently through 2002.)

1994

On 9/26/94, President Clinton, in a speech to the UN General Assembly, declares the goal of the "eventual elimination" of anti-personnel mines, and "encourages further international efforts" toward this goal: "Ridding the world of those often hidden weapons will help save the lives of tens of thousands of men and women and innocent children in the years to come."

The UN General Assembly adopts a resolution, introduced by Senator Leahy on behalf of the United States, endorsing the President's goal.

The Clinton administration announces a policy to promote the use of anti- personnel mines that automatically self-destruct, to use non-self-destruct mines in limited locations, and to develop "viable and humane alternatives" to anti- personnel landmines.

1995

Formal negotiations begin in Vienna to amend the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention (CCW), which governs the use of landmines.

Senator Leahy sponsors an amendment to impose a one-year moratorium on US use of anti-personnel mines, except along international borders and demilitarized zones, to begin in 1999. The amendment passes the Senate 67-27 on 8/4/95, and is signed into law by President Clinton on 2/12/96.

Senator Leahy's initiative establishes programs at the Defense Department to train humanitarian deminers, and support research and development on improved demining technology. (By 2000, the humanitarian demining fund has disbursed over $250 million, and the R&D program has invested over $50 million.) Senator Leahy's initiative establishes another program at the State Department, to fund humanitarian demining organizations. (By 2000, this program has disbursed over $100 million.)

1996

The Pentagon announces a review of its policy on landmines. General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is reported to be "inclined to eliminate anti-personnel mines."

UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright, after a trip to Angola, writes to President Clinton urging a new policy on landmines because the current policy would not achieve their elimination "in our lifetimes."

On 4/3/96, 15 retired senior military officers, including General Norman Schwartzkopf, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General David Jones, former Supreme NATO Commander General John Galvin, and former commanders of US forces in Korea General James Hollingsworth and General Henry Emerson, urge President Clinton to ban anti-personnel mines. They say a ban would be "humane and militarily responsible" and "would not undermine the military effectiveness or safety of our forces, nor those of other nations."

On 5/3/96, the Vienna CCW negotiations on landmines conclude. The most significant requirement, that anti-personnel mines must be detectable, does not take effect for over 9 years. By the end of the conference, over 40 nations have declared support for an immediate ban on the production, use, export and stockpiling of the weapons.

On 5/16/96, President Clinton announces that the US will negotiate an international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines with a view to completing the negotiation "as soon as possible," but will continue to use non-self-destruct mines to counter aggression in Korea, and self-destruct mines anywhere, until such an agreement is reached.

At the UN General Assembly on 9/24/96, President Clinton calls for a worldwide ban on the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

On 10/3/96 in Ottawa, Senator Leahy urges representatives of over 50 governments to commit to "the earliest possible conclusion of a legally-binding international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines." Canadian Foreign Minister Axworthy announces that Canada will host a conference to complete a ban treaty in December 1997.

On 11/4/96, Senator Leahy joins UN Ambassador Albright in introducing a US resolution calling for "vigorous" negotiation of an "international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, with a view to completing the negotiation as soon as possible." The resolution passes the UN General Assembly 156-0, with 10 abstentions, on 12/10/96.

1997

On 1/17/97, the Administration announces that it will seek to negotiate a convention banning anti-personnel mines in the UN Conference on Disarmament.

On 2/12/97 in Vienna, 111 nations meet for the first time to discuss elements of a ban convention to be completed at Ottawa in December 1997.

On 6/12/97, Senators Leahy and Hagel introduce legislation to ban new deployments of anti-personnel mines by the US, except in Korea, beginning 1/ 1/ 2000. Congressmen Lane Evans and Jack Quinn introduce identical legislation in the House.

On 9/17/97, 89 nations agree to convene in Ottawa in December to sign a convention banning the production, transfer, use and stockpiling of anti- personnel mines, and to remove existing minefields within 10 years. The President says the US will not sign the Ottawa Convention but will stop using anti-personnel mines (except those used in mixed anti-tank mine systems) outside Korea by 2003, and in Korea by 2006.

On 11/12/97, a Canadian resolution urging all nations to sign the Ottawa Convention passes the UN General Assembly by a vote of 127-0. 19 nations abstained including the US.

On 12/3-4/97, Senator Leahy joins UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Canada's Premier and Foreign Minister, and others in Ottawa where the Ottawa Convention is formally opened for signature.

1998

On 5/15/98, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, in a letter to Senator Leahy on behalf of President Clinton, says the United States will sign the Ottawa Convention by 2006 if suitable alternatives to anti-personnel landmines, including those used in mixed mine systems, are identified and fielded.

On 9/16/98, the 40th country ratifies the Ottawa Convention, triggering the 6 month period before the Convention comes into force.

1999

On 3/1/99, the Ottawa Convention comes into force.

2000

By 1/1/2001, 139 countries have signed and over 85 have ratified the Ottawa