Anniversary of Landmine Ban

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The International Ban on Landmines: A Decade On

December 10th marks the ten year anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty, a landmark agreement which ensured an international ban on the production and use of anti-personnel mines. Masterminded by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) – an organisation co-founded by Handicap International – the treaty was greeted with international acclaim and representatives from the ICBL were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

The ICBL was launched in 1992 in Lyon, London, Frankfurt and New York, with the express aim of ridding the world of an unethical and indiscriminate weapon. Throughout history, the victims of landmines have commonly been civilians, injured or maimed long after a military conflict has ended. Five years after it was established, the ICBL successfully initiated the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada, which was subsequently signed by 122 countries and two years later became binding under international law.

On the eve of his departure to Oslo to receive the Nobel Prize, Philippe Chabasse, then co-director of Handicap International wrote: "There will certainly be a few of us at Handicap International who remember the near-empty rooms when we organised our first conferences and tried to explain to journalists and politicians the extent of the devastation caused by mines."

"A few days later, in Oslo," recalls Jean-Baptiste Richardier, Executive Director of Handicap International , "Tun Chanareth, representing 30,000 Cambodian mine accident survivors, received the Nobel Peace Prize in everybody's name, proudly holding up the certificate and medal in front of the international media! Overwhelmed by the emotion, the public rose and gave the co-Nobel Laureats an enthusiastic and endless round of applause."

There are currently 38 countries that have not signed the treaty, including the United States, Russia and China.