Following a comprehensive policy review, the Biden administration has decided to reduce significantly its use of landmines, in part due to the frequency with which these weapons kill civilians.
The administration revealed on Tuesday that the use of these weapons will be prohibited outside of the Korean Peninsula. Excluding the region, the U.S. will look to meet key provisions of the Ottawa Convention, the 1999 international treaty prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, according to a statement from National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.
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Stan Brown, the State Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary in the bureau of political and military affairs, told reporters that there are an estimated 3 million landmines in U.S. stockpiles, though he noted the weapon has not been used by Washington extensively since the 1991 Gulf War.
Roughly 700 people are killed annually from landmines, the majority of which are civilians, according to the Washington Post.
“These changes reflect the President’s belief that these weapons have disproportionate impact on civilians, including children, long after fighting has stopped, and that we need to curtail the use of [anti-personnel landmines] worldwide,” said the readout of the policy. “They also complement longstanding U.S. leadership in the clearance of landmines and other explosive remnants of war.”
The U.S. remains ineligible to join the treaty itself due to its refusal to disband its use of landmines fully, though it will be in compliance with most of the requirements, while more than 160 countries are a part of it.
“We cannot meet the treaty obligations their use of those official requirements,” Brown added, speaking about the Ottawa treaty. “So in that regard, we are basically going back to the Obama administration policies to make sure that we can meet our requirements with Korea in that regard.”
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The administration also pointed to the destruction landmines have caused in Ukraine since Russia invaded toward the end of February.
“The world has once again witnessed the devastating impact that anti-personnel landmines can have in the context of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine, where Russian forces’ use of these and other munitions have caused extensive harm to civilians and civilian objects,” Watson added.
Brown stated, “The administration’s actions today are in stark contrast to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, where there’s compelling evidence that Russian forces are using explosive munitions, including landmines in an irresponsible manner, which is causing extensive harm to civilians and damage to vital civilian infrastructure.”
