Key Provisions in the1997
United Nations Treaty
Banning Landmines
Physicians for Human Rights, April 1998
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production,
and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction
September 18, 1997-Final Text, Oslo, Norway
Open for signature December 3, 1997, Ottawa, Canada.
ARTICLE 1
General Obligations
1. Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances:
a) To use anti-personnel mines; b) To develop, produce, other'
wise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly
or indirectly, anti-personnel mines; c) To assist, encourage or
induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited
to a State Party under this Convention.
2. Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction
of all anti-personnel mines in accordance with the prohibitions
of this Convention.
ARTICLE 4
Destruction of Stockpiled Anti personnel Mines
Except as provided for in Article 3 [for training purposes],
each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction
of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or possesses, or
that are under its jurisdiction or control, as soon as possible
but not later than four years after the entry into force of this
Convention for that State Party.
ARTICLE 5
Destruction of Anti-personnel Mines in Mined Areas
1. Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction
of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction
or control, as soon as possible but not later than ten years after
the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party.
2. Each State Party shall make every effort to identify all
areas under its jurisdiction or control in which anti-personnel
mines are known or suspected to be emplaced and shall ensure as
soon as possible that all anti-personnel mines in mined areas
under its jurisdiction or control are perimeter-marked, monitored,
and protected by fencing or other means, to ensure the effective
exclusion of civilians, until all antipersonnel mines contained
therein have been destroyed. The marking shall at least be to
the standards set out in the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions
on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices, as amended
on 3 May 1996, annexed to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions
on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed
to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects.
3. If a State Party believes that it will be unable to destroy
or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines referred
to in paragraph 1 within that time period, it may submit a request
to a Meeting of the States Parties or a Review Conference for
an extension of the deadline for completing the destruction of
such anti-personnel mines, for a period of up to ten years...
ARTICLE 7
Transparency Measures
1. Each State Party shall report to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations as soon as practicable, and in any event
not later than 180 days after the entry into force of this Convention
for that State Party on:
a) The national implementation measures;
b) The total of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines owned
or possessed by it, or under its jurisdiction or control, to include
a breakdown of the type, quantity, and, if possible, lot numbers
of each type of anti-personnel mine stockpiled;
c) To the extent possible, the location of all mined areas
that contain, or are suspected to contain, anti-personnel mines
under its jurisdiction or control, to include as much detail as
possible regarding the type and quantity of each type of anti-personnel
mine in each mined area and when they were emplaced;
d) The types, quantities and, if possible, lot numbers of
all antipersonnel mines retained or transferred for the development
of and training in mine-detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction
techniques, or transferred for the purpose of destruction, as
well as the institutions authorized by a State Party to retain
or transfer anti-personnel mines, in accordance with Article 3...
ARTICLE 12
Review Conferences
1. A Review Conference shall be convened by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations five years after the entry into force of
this Convention. Further Review Conferences shall be convened
by the Secretary-General of the United Nations if so requested
by one or more State Parties, provided that the interval between
Review Conferences shall in no case be less than five years. All
State Parties shall be invited to each Review Conference...
ARTICLE 17
Entry into Force
1. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day
of the sixth month after the month in which the 40th instrument
of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession has been deposited.
ARTICLE 19
Reservations
The Articles of this Convention shall not be subject to reservations.
ARTICLE 20
1. This Convention shall be of unlimited duration.
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