Landmines Treaty

From dKosopedia

The Landmine Treaty was signed in December, 1997 in Ottawa, Canada. It is also known as the Ottawa Treaty.

It prohibits manufacturing, transfering or using anti-personnel landines. It does not apply to anti-tank mines.

The negotiation of the treaty was noteworthy because it circumvented the UN Conference on Disarmament which works on consensus.

Rather than get jerked around at the Conference on Disarmament, NGOs and key governments created a negotiation process outside the United Nations. The governments of Canada and Norway provided the most leadership.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its coordinator, Jody Williams, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. Both the Intnernational Campaign to Ban Landmines and the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines were small organizations that coordinated other NGOs working in coalition. Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation was the fiduary agent for both the ICBL and the USCBL.