To mark Poland’s official withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, Julia Głębocka, Human rights researcher for Amnesty International Poland, reflects on what the return of these indiscriminate weapons means for human rights in Europe.
Not so long ago, in 2020, the European Union was funding mine relief efforts in Lebanon and hoping to see an anti-personnel mine-free world within five years. HALO Ukraine, an EU-supported organization, had already been making tangible change, removing explosives from Ukrainian soil since 2016. In Chad, the EU-funded project PRODECO, was reintegrating anti-personnel mine victims into society through long-term medical care and rehabilitation, as well as supporting demining efforts.
Read more…
Source: Reliefweb News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Northern Ireland: Newtownards petrol bomb attack may be linked to drugs feud
April 23, 2023
A petrol bomb attack in County Down could be linked to an ongoing feud between rival drugs gangs, police say. Just before 23:00 BST on Friday, police received a report that a car had been set alight outside a property in Greyabbey Road in Ballywalter. Read more… Source: BBC news
- UK: Glasgow man caught with three explosive devices under seat of car while out driving
April 22, 2023
A man who was caught with three improvised explosive devices under the driver’s seat of his car when police stopped the vehicle in Glasgow’s east end has been jailed for 40 months. James Curran claimed that he had drawn inspiration from a character in an apocalyptic novel when he made the IEDs using fireworks, nails and ...
- Ukraine’s Defence Ministry reports number of landmine fatalities since start of full-scale invasion
April 22, 2023
124 people, including 6 children, have been killed by explosive devices in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ruslan Berehulia, Head of the Department of Environmental Safety and Anti-mine Action of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said: “As of today, according to the available data, 124 Ukrainians have been killed, six of whom were children. ...
- Ukraine: Several dozen anti-tank minefields, barriers set up in the Northern Operational Zone past week
April 22, 2023
Throughout the past week alone, Ukraine’s defense forces have planted several dozen more anti-tank minefields and erected special barriers in the Northern Operational Zone, also digging nearly 3,000 meters of trenches and 4,500 meters of anti-tank ditches. This was announced by Lieutenant-General Serhiy Naiev, Commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces, Ukrinform reports. Read more… Source: Ukrinform
- Pentagon Aid Package to Ukraine Includes Decades-Old Anti-Tank Land Mines
April 21, 2023
The Pentagon’s latest weapons package for Ukraine includes relics from the Cold War to help blunt Russian advances and limit their ability to maneuver during an expected spring offensive. The weapons, M21 antitank land mines, have been in service with the Department of Defense since at least the early 1960s. An unknown number of them will ...
- Two percent of BiH territory is mined: “After suffering from landmines, you don’t live, you survive”
April 21, 2023
The hostilities were over, but there were so many mines that it was impossible to pass. I am not the only one, more of us were injured. Walking through a forest, we came across minefields and that is where got injured, recalls Boro Radiskovic from Stanari near Doboj. He is one of the 1.758 people who, ...
- Lithuania to assist Azerbaijan in addressing Mine Action
April 21, 2023
Lithuania will be assisting Azerbaijan in the area of mine action through the EU Team Europe Initiative in 2023, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Trend. “Azerbaijan is one of Lithuania’s strongest partners in terms of the number of EU Twinning projects awarded to Lithuania in the Eastern Partnership countries. So far, Lithuania has participated ...
- Russia: Two people injured in Belgorod blast
April 21, 2023
According to preliminary information, two people were injured in a blast that rocked the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod late on Thursday, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that an emergency ejection of an air ordnance occurred when a Su-34 plane of the Russian Aerospace ...
- Austria to join mine clearance efforts in Ukraine
April 20, 2023
Austria will support humanitarian mine clearance efforts in Ukraine, as part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Support Programme for Ukraine. According to Alexander Schallenberg, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, in an interview with Ukrinform news agency. Read more… Source: Yahoo! News
- UK: Further searches after bomb squad removes ‘suspect item’ from flat
April 19, 2023
Further searches are under way after a bomb squad removed a “suspect item” from a flat in Glasgow on Monday. Police were called to the scene on Petershill Road in the Springburn area of the city just after 10am on Monday, April 17. Road closures were put in place in the surrounding area and residents were ...
- Russia says foiled attack on Crimea’s energy system
April 19, 2023
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had prevented an attack on energy systems in annexed Crimea, state media reported Wednesday. An unidentified Russian-Ukrainian national was detained in the Crimean city of Kerch on suspicion of preparing to commit an act of sabotage and illegally buying and storing explosives, according to the TASS news agency. Read more… Source: ...
- UK: Homes evacuated and man arrested after bomb squad called to a flat in Glasgow
April 17, 2023
Homes have been evacuated and a man has been arrested after bomb disposal units were called to a block of flats in Glasgow. Police are currently at the scene on Petershill Road in the Springburn area of the city after being called just after 10am on Monday. Officers received reports of a suspect device within a flat ...
- UK: Controlled explosion held at Cavenham Heath Nature Reserve
April 17, 2023
A controlled explosion was carried out after a device, thought to be a corroded mortar shell, was found at a nature reserve. Suffolk police was called to Cavenham Heath Nature Reserve, Tuddenham St Mary, about 15:00 BST on Sunday after a member of public reported the find. Police said the device was between 3in (8cm) and 4in ...
- Northern Ireland: Police vehicle attacked with suspected petrol bomb in Derry
April 15, 2023
A suspected petrol bomb has been thrown at a police vehicle in Derry. The incident happened in the Shearwater Way area of Derry at around 10am on Saturday as officers attended a reported incident. The PSNI said the vehicle then came under attack. Read more… Source: KildareLive
- Cyprus: 22-year-old in prison for possession of explosives
April 15, 2023
The Police arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with an investigation into a case of illegal possession and storage of explosives. Before the arrest and securing a court warrant, the Police carried out an investigation of the young man’s home in Paphos, where the following explosives were found and received as evidence. Read more… Source: In Cyprus