On February 1st, 2020, Donald Trump took another step towards a continuing regression in arms control. After the suspension of the JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Deal, May 2018) and the INF treaty (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, August 2019) the Trump administration now legitimizes the use of weapons, which, once used, can cause great human suffering.
By loosening restrictions on landmines for the US military - weapons which were banned in 164 countries by the Ottawa Convention of 1997 (which USA, however, never signed), he turns down Obama’s policy since 2014 which prohibited the United States’ military forces from deploying anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean Peninsula. This is another concerning step to torpedo international efforts to restrict the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of inhumane and cruel weapons. Anti-personnel landmines are malicious weapons which result in needless injuries, mutilations and human casualties, even years after an armed conflict has ended. In Eastern Ukraine between 1700 and 1900 people have been killed by landmines since 2014, many of them children while playing. Even in times of an armed conflict there are taboos concerning the use of force, which have to be respected by governments, especially if they claim to respect basic human rights. We, as the International Institute for Peace call upon all governments and diplomats to address the issue of the use of unacceptable cruel weapons and to take steps to outlaw their use.