Following widespread disappointment with the modest amendments made in 1996 to Protocol II relating to landmines, of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), hopes have risen that 1997 may see the adoption and signing of a new international treaty prohibiting the production, export, transfer and use of anti-personnel landmines. Although such a treaty might not attract universal adherence at the outset, it would nevertheless establish a significant international legal norm and represent a major advance towards the ICRC's goal of b ringing the scourge of landmines to an end.

Recent diplomatic initiatives

On 3 May 1996, during the concluding session of the CCW Review Conference, the Canadian government announced that, given the limited progress that had been achieved over more than two years of negotiations, it would convene a meeting of like-minded States in Canada later in the year to discuss how to make further progress towards a total ban on anti-personnel mines. The Ottawa Conference, which took place over three days in October 1996, brought together 50 pro-ban States, representatives of the United Nations, the ICRC, and representatives of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to work out a strategy for the total prohibition of anti-personnel mines. An “Ottawa Group” of 50 States was formed around a political declaration calling for joint efforts to:

1. – prohibit and eliminate anti-personnel mines;

2. – significantly increase resources for mine clearance and victim assistance;

3. – progressively reduce or end their own use of anti-personnel mines;

4. – support a General Assembly resolution calling for a total ban;

5. – promote regional initiatives in favour of a ban.