Transcribed Statement of the Ambassador of Belgium
Mr. Jean Lint 11/9/01

Mr. President,

As co-Chairman of the Standing Committee on the Status and General Functioning of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Landmines I would like to thank my colleagues from Chile and Peru for their statements. It is with great satisfaction that I have noted the announcement of ratification of the Convention by Chile, which in six months will become the 120th state party to the Convention. Chile is thus the 31st member state of the Conference on Disarmament to ratify or accede to the Convention. Six other members have signed it but have not yet ratified it. 25 CD member states remain outside the Convention. This ratification, as my Chilean colleague said, is of particular importance in the regional context of South America and also at the global level.

Since the second assembly of states parties in Geneva in September 2000, five CD states have ratified the Convention, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Kenya and Romania and here I would like to commend them. To other CD members, Algeria and Cameroon, have indicated they will soon deposit their instruments of ratification. I hope that Ethiopia will soon ratify as well in view of the accession of Eritrea to the Convention on 27th August. Turkey has announced here that it will soon accede to the Convention on the same date that Greece ratifies it. The Democratic Republic of Congo has indicated that all the necessary steps have been taken for accession in the near future. Since the last meeting of states parties in Geneva CD member states have taken important steps to implement the Convention in full, Bulgaria, Spain, Malaysia, Slovakia and Zimbabwe have destroyed their stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines in compliance with Article IV of the Convention. They are among the 28 states which have completely destroyed their stockpiles. 19 other states are in the process of destroying their stockpiles and I would like to thank Peru for the information that it has just given. Bulgaria, Malaysia and Zimbabwe have passed national legislation including criminal sanctions in fulfillment with their obligations under Article IX of the Convention. Argentina, Brazil and Tunisia have submitted their first transparency reports as required by Article VII of the Convention. To date 120 states have ratified or acceded to the Convention and 141 states have either signed, ratified or acceded to it. Clearly an international standard has been created. That is the total prohibition of the production, stockpiling, use and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. And that standard is something that cannot be circumvented even by the non-signatory states. Indeed since the entry into force of the treaty, the trade in anti-personnel landmines has virtually ceased and production of those mines has substantially been reduced. There are no more than 14 producers left in the world. Similarly the number of victims affected has been constantly falling and at the world level increased financial assessments is being given each year both by the signatory and non-signatory states for purposes of mine clearance, assistance to victims and education to the dangers of mines. However, much remains to be done and the entire international community must be involved. Next week the third meeting of states parties will be held in Managua, Nicaragua. The presence of the largest number of states parties, signatories and non-signatories will constitute and important guarantee for the success of the Convention. I invite all of you to attend that event, which will be midway between the review conference scheduled for 2004. Tomorrow the 3rd annual report of the Landmine Monitor will be officially presented at the global level by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). The Landmine Monitor has become a reference document on the status of the Convention and the global situation as regards anti-personnel landmines.

Mr. President,

Universality is certainly one of the objectives of the Convention on the Prohibition on Anti-Personnel Landmines and in this context I encourage the 52 states, which have not signed the Convention to accede to it as soon as possible. However, it is also important to implement the Convention in full to rid the world of that inhuman weapon. I call upon all states whether they be states parties, signatories or non-signatories to stop using anti-personnel landmines in view of their impact on the lives of innocent civilians.Thank you sir.