The Biden administration updated the United States’ policy on the use of anti-personnel landmines, committing to not producing, developing, acquiring or transferring them, with the exception of the Korean peninsula.
The State Department made the announcement about these landmines – small, explosive weapons that detonate after a person steps on them – during a June 21 news briefing.
"After conducting a comprehensive policy review, the administration has announced a new U.S. policy to limit the use of anti-personnel landmines and align the United States’ policy and practice with key provisions of the Ottawa convention for all activities outside the context of the Korean peninsula," Stanley Brown, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said, according to the briefing. "As a result of the decision, the United States will not develop, produce or acquire anti-personnel landmines, not export or transfer antipersonnel landmines except when necessary for activities related to mine destruction or removal and for the purpose of destruction.”
During the special briefing by Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Brown and department spokesperson Ned Price, Brown explained the new policy will not affect efforts in Ukraine. He clarified Ukraine is part of the Ottawa convention, thereby banning the use of these weapons regardless, according to the briefing.
The U.S. will continue to take part in activities related to mine destruction or removal, Brown said in the briefing. The exceptions in Korea relate to the defense responsibilities of the U.S. in Korea and the existing partnership between the two nations, he said. Those minefields in Korea are owned by the Republic of Korea, but the U.S has a responsibility for the defense of South Korea.
So those minefields restrict the U.S from joining the Ottawa Convention because it states a nation cannot "assist, encourage or induce anyone to use landmines,” Brown said, according to the briefing.
The new policy reversed the Trump-era policy, reverting back to a policy that more closely resembles the Obama administration's stance on the issue in 2014, the New York Times reported. The newspaper also reported human rights activists have been against the use of anti-personnel landmines as they are a leading cause of preventable civilian casualties.
A large portion of civilian deaths from these landmines occur long after regional conflicts have ended, according to the New York Times article. It reported land mines kill thousands of people per year – the majority of them children.
