FROM THE SIPRI YEARBOOK 1998

The 'Ottawa Process' leads to a convention banning anti-personnel mines

The conclusion of the APM (anti-personnel mines) Convention in 1997 illustrates a significant change in the basis of security in the post-cold war world. Security is no longer a matter of limiting the levels of military forces and equipment. It reaches beyond traditional arms control into the realm of the laws of war and, more broadly, the humanitarian and development dimensions. The APM Convention differs signifi cantly from other disarmament and arms control agreements in its concern not so much with the military utility of weapons as with their longer-term impact-it calls for the elimination of a whole category of weapons that pose a residual threat long after a conflict has ended. It seeks broad humanitarian benefits rather than the reduction of unnecessary suffering on the battlefield. In the face of the vigorous landmine ban campaign many countries felt compelled to set aside military considerations, seeing political expedience in signing the convention. For the first time, a grassroots campaign cum interstate negotiation led to a disarmament agreement outside the framework of the United Nations and without the decisive involvement of the major powers. . . .

It remains to be seen whether the convention will result in a truly workable ban and the eventual elimination of APMs throughout the world. Its critics are keen to point out that nearly three-quarters of the Ottawa Group participants are virtually unaffected by land-mines. The timetable and costs of implementation of the destruction provisions of the convention are challenging and will require a great deal of effort by individual states parties and considerable international cooperation and assistance. Apart from the lack of strong compliance guarantees and enforcement provision, another shortcoming is the lack of measures to ensure that landmines are not used by non-state actors (terrorists, guerrillas and insurgents). In addition, the issue of storage of US APMs on the territories of US allies which have signed the convention [editors' note: the USA declined to sign the convention] is bound to emerge as they embark upon ratification.

The achievement of the Ottawa Process could well be strengthened by complementary efforts by the CD [Committee on Disarmament]. The CD is an exclusive body of participants working laboriously by consensus and on a step-by-step basis, overcoming disparate political and security interests, aims and world outlooks. It is handicapped by a group of developing countries that link the issue of nuclear disarmament to the other issues before it, including the landmine ban. Nevertheless the CD is believed to have a role to play in negotiating and elaborating verification arrangements and in engaging reluctant participants, notably China and Russia, in the ban. The main advantage of the CD is that it is a body representing different groups of countries and includes all the major producers and exporters of landmines. It remains to be seen how quickly it will manage to overcome its stalemate, embark upon businesslike talks and contribute to the effective elimination of landmines.

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