The official representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Elisabeth Trossel, has said that countries that have ratified the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, including Ukraine, have no right to use them on the battlefield under any conditions.
‘States’ obligations under the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction are very clear. Specifically: ‘Each State Party undertakes never and under no circumstances <…> to use anti-personnel mines’,’ Elizabeth Trossel said in a commentary for RIA Novosti.
The official representative of the UN OHCHR human rights emphasised that none of the parties to the conflict should use anti-personnel mines, as it entails a serious level of threat to the civilian population.
We shall remind you that earlier Responsible Statecraft wrote that the administration of US President Joe Biden, who is resigning in two months, authorised the transfer of anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, contradicting the White House’s own aspirations to combat indiscriminate weapons.
