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Five humanitarian disarmament coalitions and 77 civil society organizations on Saturday condemned Ukraine’s suspension of the 1997 Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention.
The civil society coalitions and organizations stated that the Ottawa Convention does not allow for states parties’ obligations to be suspended, including during wartime. According to Article 20(3) of the Ottawa Convention, withdrawal is activated six months after the receipt of withdrawal instrument. However, where “in the expiry of that six-month period, the withdrawing State Party is engaged in an armed conflict, the withdrawal shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict.” The civil societies further argued that “allowing this unilateral suspension sets a dangerous precedent that could weaken respect for any instrument of international humanitarian law during armed conflict in any part of the world.”
Article 1 of the Ottawa Convention prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines as well as the direct or indirect development, production, otherwise acquirement, stockpile, retainment or transfer of such mines. The preamble of the Ottawa Convention states that states parties are “determined to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly innocent and defenceless civilians and especially children.”
Furthermore, the civil societies highlighted that there is a threat to the progress made in providing protection for civilians during times of conflict. The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) declared that since the launch of the Convention, there has been “a virtual halt in global production of anti-personnel mines, and a drastic reduction in their deployment,” reducing the number of casualties. The civil societies claim that Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention “jeopardizes nearly three decades of hard-won multilateral progress to protect civilians in conflict, achieved through the collective work of states, civil society, the United Nations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
Mary Wareham, deputy crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in July that Ukraine’s withdrawal would be a “symbolic move to gain political cover while disregarding the core prohibitions on developing, producing, and using anti-personnel mines.” The civil societies “condemn in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s widescale and egregious disregard for the rules of international humanitarian law in its war against Ukraine”. However, they underscore that withdrawing states undermine the system that aims to protect civilians.
In June, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland withdrew from the Ottawa Convention. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern regarding these withdrawals and emphasized that “at a time when civilians face heightened risks from widening conflicts, it is imperative that we strengthen the frameworks that protect human life and dignity.”
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The civil society coalitions and organizations stated that the Ottawa Convention does not allow for states parties’ obligations to be suspended, including during wartime. According to Article 20(3) of the Ottawa Convention, withdrawal is activated six months after the receipt of withdrawal instrument. However, where “in the expiry of that six-month period, the withdrawing State Party is engaged in an armed conflict, the withdrawal shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict.” The civil societies further argued that “allowing this unilateral suspension sets a dangerous precedent that could weaken respect for any instrument of international humanitarian law during armed conflict in any part of the world.”
Article 1 of the Ottawa Convention prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines as well as the direct or indirect development, production, otherwise acquirement, stockpile, retainment or transfer of such mines. The preamble of the Ottawa Convention states that states parties are “determined to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly innocent and defenceless civilians and especially children.”
Furthermore, the civil societies highlighted that there is a threat to the progress made in providing protection for civilians during times of conflict. The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) declared that since the launch of the Convention, there has been “a virtual halt in global production of anti-personnel mines, and a drastic reduction in their deployment,” reducing the number of casualties. The civil societies claim that Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention “jeopardizes nearly three decades of hard-won multilateral progress to protect civilians in conflict, achieved through the collective work of states, civil society, the United Nations, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
Mary Wareham, deputy crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in July that Ukraine’s withdrawal would be a “symbolic move to gain political cover while disregarding the core prohibitions on developing, producing, and using anti-personnel mines.” The civil societies “condemn in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s widescale and egregious disregard for the rules of international humanitarian law in its war against Ukraine”. However, they underscore that withdrawing states undermine the system that aims to protect civilians.
In June, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland withdrew from the Ottawa Convention. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern regarding these withdrawals and emphasized that “at a time when civilians face heightened risks from widening conflicts, it is imperative that we strengthen the frameworks that protect human life and dignity.”
The post Ukraine condemned for withdrawing from mine ban treaty appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.