CCW AMENDED PROTOCOL II ON MINES AND EXPLOSIVE DEVICES PROHIBITION INCREASES SYNERGIES WITH PROTOCOL V ON EXPLOSIVE REMNANTS OF WAR AND CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES

The States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II concluded their Twelfth Annual Conference on 24 November 2010 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva with major decisions that will undoubtedly strengthen this important tool of international humanitarian law. Under the Presidency of Ambassador Germán Mundaraín Hernández of Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), who was assisted by the representatives of China, Germany and Romania as Vice-presidents, the synergies that exist between the Amended Protocol II (AP II) and Protocol V were highlighted. An example of this was the decision by the States Parties to AP II to synchronize the deadline of submission of their national annual reports under article 13, paragraph 4 of the Protocol, with the submission of national reports under Protocol V of the CCW. The synergies between the two CCW Protocols were also underscored in relation to the work on the assistance to victims of improvised explosive devices as well as explosive remnants of war. Furthermore, the States Parties to AP II agreed to intensify their efforts to universalize the Protocol, including on how to resolve the issue on the possibility to reduce the likelihood of new States acceding to the original Protocol II.

On the issue of improvised explosive devices, the States Parties expressed their strong wish to continue the work on the issue next year, especially, inter alia, on the exchange of information on improvised explosive devices, incidents related to improvised explosive devices and their prevention in order to obtain a better understanding on how such incidents occur and what the effects are.

The open-ended Group of Experts of the States Parties to AP II met on 19 and 20 April 2010. The Group, which was established by the 2008 Tenth Annual Conference, meets annually prior to the AP II annual conferences and is dedicated to strengthening the implementation of the Protocol.

The Conference heard the reports of the two Coordinators who led the discussions on the two themes during the meeting of the Group of Experts: Mr. Abderrazzak Laassel of Morocco who was responsible for reviewing of the operation and status of the Protocol, the consideration of matters arising from the annual national reporting by States Parties, as well as the development of technologies to protect civilians against indiscriminate effects of mines; and Mr. Reto Wollenmann of Switzerland, who is responsible for the consideration on improvised explosive devices.

The Conference, therefore, decided to focus next year’s experts Group meeting 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, and to continue to consider the issue of improvised explosive devices. To that end, the States Parties reappointed the two Coordinators to conduct the work of the experts Group. Both Coordinators have been involved in the work of the respective issues for the past two years.

In his message that was delivered by Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva and Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored the importance of the Protocol’s universal adherence. He acknowledged the 95 States that have expressed their consent to be bound by the Protocol, and encouraged the States parties to continue efforts to expand the membership, especially among the developing countries and States affected by landmines or States in conflict, as well as the States not yet Parties to the Amended Protocol II but Parties to the original Protocol II.

The Conference also strongly reiterated the importance of its universal adherence. An appeal to promote wider adherence to the Protocol was adopted by the Conference. The new countries that have acceded to Amended Protocol II since last year’s Conference are Gabon and the Dominican Republic, which acceded on 22 September 2010 and on 22 June 2010, respectively. Furthermore, the Conference was particularly pleased to witness Djibouti announcing that it is taking the necessary steps to join the Protocol as soon as possible.

The States Parties considered matters arising from the 42 national annual reports received this year containing information on the implementation of the Protocol by States, all of which are posted on the CCW website.

The Conference decided that the Group of Experts would meet on 4 and 5 April 2011. The Conference agreed on the provisional agenda for next year’s annual conference and the presiding officers for that Conference. The Conference designated Ambassador Hellmut Hoffmann of Germany to preside over the 2011 Thirteenth Annual Conference. Three Vice-Presidents representing China, the Dominican Republic and Romania were also designated to assist him.

The CCW Protocol on Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II) was amended on 3 May 1996 at the First Review Conference of the States Parties to the CCW. 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 number of 95. The 1980 Convention on the Prohibitions or Restriction of the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) is an umbrella treaty, which houses five Protocols regulating different types of weapons, that can respond to advancements in weapons technology by adding more protocols if needed and takes into account developments in the nature and conduct of armed conflict.

For more information on the Conference and on the Protocol or the Convention the official website of the CCW is http://www.unog.ch/ccw.


For use of information media; not an official record

DC10/048E