Statement on the U.S. Second landmine Transfer

The Biden Administration announced a second transfer of antipersonnel mines to Ukraine. HI, a founding member and leading organization in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, strongly condemns this decision, which betrays the 2022 U.S. policy against landmines. The antipersonnel mines being sent by the United States are at least 25 years old, as the country has not produced any since 1997.

Antipersonnel mines, including non-persistent mines, are universally banned weapons, with 164 states having joined the Ottawa Treaty that does not foresee any exceptions. Last week at the Siem Reap Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World in Cambodia, states expressed concern about the U.S. decision, some urging Ukraine not to accept or use these antipersonnel mines. States reaffirmed the strong humanitarian norms upheld by the Ottawa Treaty.

On December 2, 2024, at the UN General Assembly, a record 173 states voted to support the implementation and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.

Antipersonnel mines are banned because they are indiscriminate weapons, causing disproportionate harm to civilians. The Landmine Monitor 2024 reports that civilians made up 84% of all recorded casualties in 2023. Any use of landmines by any actor in any circumstances must be condemned. There is no exception for so-called 'smart mines.'