The Legacy of the Fight to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions
- Danae Hendrickson
- Apr 2
- 7 min read
From the desk of Paul Hannon, Former Executive Director of Mines Action Canada (MAC)
Mine action is a term originally about eliminating landmines but has evolved to include cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war. Mine action has five pillars: clearance, risk education, victim assistance, advocacy, and stockpile destruction.
On December 3, 1997, representatives from 122 countries signed a treaty banning landmines in Ottawa, Canada. On December 3, 2008, representatives from 94 countries signed a treaty banning cluster munitions in Oslo, Norway. These two treaties deal with different weapon systems but are often considered sister conventions. They each not only ban an indiscriminate and inhumane weapon but also have positive obligations to clear contaminated land, destroy stockpiles, end production and trade, as well as provide support to victims and survivors of those weapons. In affected countries, the survivors of cluster munitions and landmines comprise a large proportion of the persons with disabilities in that country. Which is why the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3 is also celebrated annually by the mine action community.
Although victim-activated weapons have been around for a few centuries, the precursors to modern landmines were first used in the U.S. Civil War, and objections and concerns about the weapon followed immediately. Despite those objections, the use of landmines grew to the point where they were in the arsenals of most of the world’s militaries. It is hard to watch a movie or TV show about World War I or WWII without seeing a landmine explosion or soldiers carefully trying to cross a minefield. Use was widespread. One infamous leader, Pol Pot of Cambodia, called them the "perfect soldier." They were inexpensive, easy to transport, did not require food, never needed holidays or sick leave, and never needed to be paid.
However, conflict changed greatly in the second half of the last century, as did demographics. The world became less agrarian, and wars were often fought in or near towns and cities. Civilians, not soldiers, increasingly became the victims of landmines. The “perfect soldier” could not tell the difference between a combatant and a civilian; or a child from a soldier; nor could it tell when the conflict had ended, let alone who actually was the target.
The increasing number of civilians injured or killed by landmines spurred numerous efforts to mitigate or limit the humanitarian impact of landmines. Many of those efforts failed or resulted in weak outcomes. Things changed in 1992 when the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was created and called for a complete ban of antipersonnel landmines.
Slowly, the membership of the campaign grew from the original six organizations to hundreds in dozens of countries around the globe. Their campaigning efforts caught the attention and eventual support of many governments, resulting in the eventual negotiations of the treaty banning landmines, sometimes known as the Mine Ban Treaty or the Ottawa Treaty. After the negotiations were completed in 1997, the treaty was opened for signatures on 03 December 1997 in Ottawa, Canada.
I was fortunate to be part of the treaty signing and the events surrounding it in Ottawa. At the time, I was working for Oxfam Canada. Through our development programmes in Central and South America, the Horn of Africa, and Southern Africa, we were well aware of the dreadful impact landmines had on our community development programmes. After a humanitarian mission to Rwanda in February 1995, I decided to do more about the landmine problem. I started to volunteer at Mines Action Canada, which had formed in 1994, becoming the Canadian member of the ICBL. As a volunteer during the treaty events in December 1997, I helped many ICBL campaigners from around the world travel throughout the city, doing presentations at schools, churches, and talking with Parliamentarians and media.
The city was electric with leaders and Ambassadors from 122 countries, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICBL members, and others who came to Ottawa to sign the treaty.
Not surprisingly, many of the most landmine-affected countries in the world came and signed the treaty. One of those was Cambodia, whose one-time leader Pol Pot had described landmines as a perfect weapon. It was no longer considered perfect but indiscriminate, inhumane, and banned.
Cambodia has been a strong leader in the movement to ban landmines. It hosted the 11th annual Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty in December 2011 and the Treaty’s Fifth Review Conference, 25–29 November, 2025. I was able to attend the 2011 meeting, but unfortunately not the Review Conference last week. By all reports, Cambodia did a great job.
A week later in Oslo, Norway, the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the ICBL and its Coordinator, Jody Williams.
A treaty banning one of the world’s most dangerous and commonly used weapons is well worth commemorating, but as mentioned above, the landmines ban is not the only reason December 3rd is important.
Similar to landmines, the first use of a cluster bomb sparked outrage as well. First used by Germany during World War II, they became part of the arsenals of dozens of militaries despite the concerns. A much more high-tech weapon than landmines, they were popular because they were air-delivered and were considered an effective area denial weapon. However, when the cluster canister opened during delivery and released dozens or hundreds of bomblets over a large area, it resulted in many hits on vehicles, buildings, and people, which were not always the desired targets. In addition, although the bomblets (sub-munitions) were designed to explode on impact, they had a high failure rate in actual use. These duds then created what were, in effect, minefields. Cluster submunitions are designed to be armor-piercing, so are much more lethal to humans than landmines, which are designed to injure, not kill.
Six months after the signing of the landmines treaty in Ottawa, I resigned from Oxfam Canada to be the first Executive Director of Mines Action Canada. While my work was focused on landmines, I kept hearing more and more about a weapon that caused similar humanitarian concerns and impacts: cluster munitions.
While some MAC organizational and board members were also worried about cluster munitions, there were two people who had a great impact on my thinking. One was Rae McGrath, co-founder of Mines Advisory Group and a leader in the ICBL. We had invited Rae to come to Canada and do some public presentations on landmines and the ban treaty. At an event in Ottawa, he gave a very compelling talk about cluster munitions, which made me want to learn more.
The other person is Titus Peachey, who is well known to Legacies of War supporters. In my work at Oxfam Canada and earlier work with other humanitarian organizations in Canada, I had a lot of interactions with the Mennonite Central Committee. The 1995 mission in Rwanda enhanced my respect and appreciation for MCC. As I did my research on cluster munitions, I came across Titus’ work many times. The combination of reading, talking, and listening to Rae and Titus helped convince me that Mines Action Canada should also work on cluster munitions. We adjusted our mandate a little and eventually became co-founders of a new international coalition, the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC). The CMC was launched in 2003 and became a driving force in the movement to ban cluster munitions. Five years later, a treaty banning cluster munitions, the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), was opened for signatures in Oslo, Norway on 03 December 2008. Oslo was also electric during the treaty events.
I was pleased to work with Titus and Rae at different times leading up to the treaty signing. I appreciated Titus' thoughtful analysis and calm presence in the early days at meetings in Geneva. Rae's military and demining experience was always valuable and welcome.
I was also fortunate to be in Oslo for the CCM signing events. As was the case with the Ottawa Treaty, many of the countries who signed were those contaminated with cluster munitions. One of them was Lao PDR, which was generally considered the most bombed country in the world. Similar to Cambodia with the Mine Ban Treaty, Lao PDR has been a global leader in the efforts to ban cluster munitions, including hosting the First Annual Meeting of the CCM. It was an amazing week in Vientiane.
Two treaties banning heavily used, dangerous, indiscriminate weapons with horrible, inhumane impacts are reasons enough to observe these two anniversaries. However, the reasons to celebrate them are, in fact, the results achieved by these ban treaties.
For example, since the adoption in 2008 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the states that joined the treaty have collectively destroyed 100% of their stockpiles. This means they have destroyed 1.49 million cluster munitions containing 179 million submunitions. When you think that each submunition could kill or injure one or more civilians, that is a very positive result. You can find more useful information in the Major Findings chapter of the 2024 Cluster Munitions Monitor.
The Mine Ban Treaty has also produced positive impacts on landmines. The just-released Landmine Monitor 2024 Report found that States Parties had cleared a total of 281.50 km² of contaminated land in 2023, resulting in the destruction of 160,566 antipersonnel landmines. Not only will those 160,566 cleared landmines never injure or kill anyone, but more than 280 square kilometres of land has been returned to productive use in affected communities around the world.
Each year, progress is made and reported in the Landmine Monitor and the Cluster Munition Monitor. There have been a lot of successes, but more hard work needs to be done. Those involved with negotiating these treaties knew it required a long-term effort. The successes, though, provide energy to keep going to finish the job.
As mentioned earlier, neighbors Cambodia and Lao PDR have each been a leader on one of the ban treaties—Cambodia on landmines and Lao PDR on cluster munitions. Unfortunately, neither state belongs to both treaties, despite the fact both are contaminated by both weapons and have many victims of both weapons. As I said above, much work still remains.
Both Lao PDR and Cambodia have large numbers of people with disabilities, many caused by landmines or cluster munitions. Survivors of these weapons were inspirations to ban the weapons and were key persons in the ban movements.
The Ottawa Treaty banning landmines was, to my knowledge, the first arms control or disarmament treaty that included the obligation of States Parties to provide assistance to victims. The treaty banning cluster munitions also includes that obligation while also broadening the definition of victim.
Including these obligations within the treaties provides not only precedence for other arms control or disarmament conventions but also highlights and supports efforts of all persons with disabilities to protect their rights, health, and livelihoods. Which is why the mine action community also celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 03 December each year.
The theme for 2024 was "amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.” It is very appropriate considering the invaluable contributions survivors have and continue to make towards a world free of landmines and cluster munitions.
