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10 - First Session of the Review Conference of the States Parties to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, Vienna, Austria, 26 September–13 October 1995

from PART 2 - THE REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE 1980 CONVENTION ON CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS: AN INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE LANDMINE CRISIS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2009

Louis Maresca
Affiliation:
International Committee of the Red Cross
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Summary

The Review Conference of the 1980 Convention took place in Vienna over a three-week period in September and October 1995. In a powerful opening statement to the Conference, ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga reminded States that the international community was not impotent in the face of the worldwide scourge of landmines, nor was it helpless against the advance of abhorrent technologies. He asked States to prohibit antipersonnel landmines, prevent the horror of blinding laser weapons and reinforce a Convention which seeks to maintain a modicum of humanity, even in warfare, declaring that ‘in so doing the public will surely support you’.

Sadly, however, the package of already limited measures laid before the Conference was not acceptable to all States Parties and negotiations ended without agreement on a strengthened Protocol II, although a new Protocol IV on blinding laser weapons was adopted by consensus. The ICRC welcomed the adoption of Protocol IV but deeply regretted the failure to achieve substantial restrictions on landmines. At this point, sixteen States were already supporting the call for a total prohibition of anti-personnel mines.

The Issues – the ICRC's Position

Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or

Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, Vienna,

25 September – 13 October 1995

1 July 1995

The Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects will be held in Vienna from 25 September to 13 October 1995.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Banning of Anti-Personnel Landmines
The Legal Contribution of the International Committee of the Red Cross 1955–1999
, pp. 352 - 393
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2000

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