Editing Land mine (section)

==International treaties==
{{Main|Ottawa Treaty}}
[[File:Ottawa Treaty members.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Party states to the Ottawa Treaty as of 2018{{legend|#0078AC|Signed and ratified}}
{{legend|#0096D7|Acceded or succeeded}}{{legend|#AC0078|Only signed}}]]

The use of land mines is controversial because they are indiscriminate weapons, harming soldier and civilian alike. They remain dangerous after the conflict in which they were deployed has ended, killing and injuring civilians and rendering land impassable and unusable for decades. To make matters worse, many factions have not kept accurate records (or any at all) of the exact locations of their minefields, making removal efforts painstakingly slow. These facts pose serious difficulties in many developing nations where the presence of mines hampers resettlement, agriculture, and tourism. The [[International Campaign to Ban Landmines]] campaigned successfully to prohibit their use, culminating in the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known informally as the [[Ottawa Treaty]].

The Treaty came into force on March 1, 1999. The treaty was the result of the leadership of the Governments of Canada, [[Norway]], South Africa and [[Mozambique]] working with the ''[[International Campaign to Ban Landmines]]'', launched in 1992. The campaign and its leader, [[Jody Williams]], won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1997 for its efforts.

The treaty does not include [[anti-tank mine]]s, [[cluster bomb]]s or [[claymore mine|Claymore-type mines]] operated in command mode and focuses specifically on anti-personnel mines, because these pose the greatest long term (post-conflict) risk to humans and animals since they are typically designed to be triggered by any movement or pressure of only a few kilograms, whereas anti-tank mines require much more weight (or a combination of factors that would exclude humans). Existing stocks must be destroyed within four years of signing the treaty.

Signatories of the [[Ottawa Treaty]] agree that they will not use, produce, stockpile or trade in anti-personnel land mines. In 1997, there were 122 signatories; as of early 2016, 162 countries have joined the Treaty. Thirty-six countries, including the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation and the United States, which together may hold tens of millions of stockpiled anti-personnel mines, are not party to the Convention.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.apminebanconvention.org/states-parties-to-the-convention/|title=Ensuring universal adherence|website=The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction|access-date=March 19, 2019|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306163532/http://www.apminebanconvention.org/states-parties-to-the-convention/|url-status=live}}</ref> Another 34 have yet to sign on. The United States did not sign because the treaty lacks an exception for the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone]].

Article 3 of the Treaty permits countries to retain land mines for use in training or development of countermeasures. Sixty-four countries have taken this option.

As an alternative to an outright ban, 10 countries follow regulations that are contained in a 1996 amendment of Protocol II of the [[Convention on Conventional Weapons]] (CCW). The countries are China, [[Finland]], India, Israel, [[Morocco]], [[Pakistan]], [[South Korea]] and the United States. [[Sri Lanka]], which had adhered to this regulation, announced in 2016 that it would join the [[Ottawa Treaty]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.apminebanconvention.org/newsroom/press-releases/detail/article/1457097214-sri-lanka-soon-to-be-the-163rd-state-party-to-the-anti-personnel-mine-ban-convention/|title=Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention|website=apminebanconvention.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412115746/http://www.apminebanconvention.org/newsroom/press-releases/detail/article/1457097214-sri-lanka-soon-to-be-the-163rd-state-party-to-the-anti-personnel-mine-ban-convention/|archive-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

Submunitions and [[unexploded ordnance]] from [[cluster munition]]s can also function as land mines, in that they continue to kill and maim indiscriminately long after conflicts have ended. The [[Convention on Cluster Munitions]] (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits the use, distribution, or manufacture of cluster munitions. The CCM entered into force in 2010, and has been ratified by over 100 countries.