STATES PARTIES TO CCW PROTOCOL ON MINES AND OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICES PROHIBITION SPOTLIGHTS ON IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

The Eleventh Annual Conference of the High Contracting Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II will commence its work on 11 November 2009 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The one-day Conference will be chaired by Ambassador Jânis Maþeiks of Latvia as President, who will be assisted by three vice-presidents from Germany, China and Venezuela.

Last year, in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Protocol, the Conference decided to establish an open-ended Group of Experts to meet annually prior to the annual Conferences in a bid to reinvigorate the Protocol’s implementation. Subsequently, the Group met this year (Geneva, 20 – 21 April 2009) and was tasked to address two major issues. First, to review the operation and status of the Protocol, consider matters arising from the annual national reporting by States parties as well as development of technologies to protect civilians against indiscriminate effects of mines; Secondly, the issue on improvised explosive devices. The discussion on the two issues was chaired by two separate Friends of the Chair from Morocco and Switzerland, respectively.

The Conference is expected to consider the reports of both Friends of the Chair on the issues under their respective responsibility. The Conference is also expected to take a decision on future work taking into account the important findings of the Group of Experts. An appeal by the States Parties to promote wider adherence to the Protocol is likely to be adopted as it has been the practice for many years.

Background

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 (CCW) was adopted was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations in 1979 and 1980, and subsequently was adopted in 1980 containing three protocols prohibiting the use of weapons that employ fragments not detectable in the human body by X-ray (Protocol I); regulating the use of landmines, booby-traps and similar devices (Protocol II); and limiting the use of incendiary weapons (Protocol III). The original Protocol II was amended on 3 May 1996 at the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention, thus it became the Amended Protocol II. The number of States that have notified the Depository of their consent to be bound by Amended Protocol II rose from 45 at the time of the First Annual Conference in 1999 to the current total of 93 States. Georgia is the latest addition to the Protocol, which acceded on 8 June 2009. The Protocol will enter into force for Georgia on 8 December 2009.


For more information, please refer to the official website of the Protocol at; http://www.unog.ch/CCW/AmendedProtocolII


For use of the information media; not an official record

DC09056E