Ottawa Treaty

Ottawa Treaty
(Mine Ban Treaty)

Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction
States that are party to the Ottawa Treaty
Drafted	18 September 1997
Signed	3 December 1997
Location	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Effective	1 March 1999
Condition	Ratifications by 40 states
Signatories	133
Parties	162 (Complete List)
Depositary	Secretary-General of the United Nations
Languages	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine Ban Treaty, aims at eliminating anti-personnel landmines (AP-mines) around the world. To date, there are 162 state parties to the treaty. One state (the Marshall Islands) has signed but not ratified the treaty, while 34 UN states, including the United States, Russia and China, are non-signatories, making a total of 35 United Nations states not party.

1939 Landmines are first used widely in World War II.

1977 During the Geneva Convention, one provision is amended to prohibit the targeting of civilian populations by indiscriminate weapons in wartime.

1980 The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons limits the use of landmines against persons.

1991 Six NGOs supporting a ban of landmines begin organizing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), established the following year.

1993 The First International NGO Conference on Landmines is held in London, organised by the ICBL and acknowledging Jody Williams as the organization's coordinator. The US Department of State publishes its report Hidden Killer: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, and the ICBL issues the study Landmines: A deadly Legacy.

1995 The first national law to ban anti-personnel landmines is passed in Belgium.

1996 Canada launches the "Ottawa Process" to ban landmines by hosting a meeting among like-minded, anti-landmine states.