In response to news reports that President Biden has authorised the provision of anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, Ben Linden, Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia for Amnesty International USA, made the following statement: 

“This is a reckless decision and a deeply disappointing setback for a President who once agreed that landmines put more civilians at increased risk of harm. It is devastating, and frankly shocking, that President Biden made such a consequential and dangerous decision just before his public service legacy is sealed for the history books.

“Anti-personnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill civilians long after conflicts end and shouldn’t have a place in the arsenal of any country. Even the ‘non-persistent’ mines are a threat to civilians.

“In the face of continued Russian aggression, including the killing and injuring of Ukrainian children, landmines are not the answer to keep civilians safe. 

“Amnesty International urges the Biden administration to reconsider this decision to protect civilians from the indiscriminate harm that will certainly result from the use of these landmines.” 

Landmines: Lethal and indiscriminate

Amnesty, as a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, urges all governments to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines and to join and implement the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

The global community came together to reject landmines through the 1997 Mine Ban treaty, to which 164 countries are state parties, including every other member of Nato.  

While the USA has still not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, it has functionally adhered to several of its provisions – except those that would prohibit the USA from ordering the use of landmines on the Korean peninsula. The United States has not used anti-personnel landmines since 1991, excluding the use of a single munition in 2002; it has not exported them since 1992 and has not produced them since 1997. 

Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons. Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.