Algeria pushes through anti-landmine vote at UN

States urged to 'strengthen efforts' even as Russian neighbours quit mine ban treaty

Landmines have been deployed during the war in Ukraine. Neighbours of Russia say they need every tool available to counter potential threats. EPA

A UN council on Friday backed an anti-landmine push championed by Algeria, urging countries to stick to a global ban, even as neighbours of Russia say they can no longer afford that luxury.

Algeria said anti-personnel mines "violate the most sacred of rights" by harming civilians and children, and turning roads and villages into "deadly traps". The UN's human rights council backed a resolution calling on states to "implement fully" the terms of a 1997 mine ban treaty.

That treaty is creaking though, as Finland this week became the fifth European state to announce its withdrawal, following Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. None of the five Nato countries are members of the UN council.

Finland said its security landscape had "deteriorated fundamentally" as Russia, which is not part of the mine ban treaty, poses a "long-term threat to Europe". It promised that the Finnish armed forces would not use landmines in "normal conditions".

Friday's resolution was drawn up by Algeria and several other states including Britain, France and South Africa, revealing a divide over the issue. The UK said this week it "remains committed" to a treaty that was championed in the 1990s by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Rachid Bladehane, Algeria's representative on the UN council in Geneva, described the push to ban landmines as a "fight for human rights". The North African country has linked its stance to its own experience of French colonial mines left behind from the 1950s war of independence.

"These weapons mostly affect civilians, including children, and they violate the most sacred of rights: the right to life," Mr Bladehane said.

"They undermine the right to safety by instilling a climate of fear in the affected regions. They undermine the right to freedom of movement by transforming lands, roads and villages into deadly traps."

Kuwait, which was left contaminated by landmines after the Gulf War, called Friday's vote a "very relevant" initiative. "Mines do not make any distinctions between those responsible and innocent victims, between combatants and civilians, between children and adults," said Kuwaiti delegate Nasser Abdullah Alhayen.

The agreed text says countries should "strengthen their efforts" to put an end to landmine casualties. It says countries who are not part of the treaty should "seriously consider" joining.

More than 160 countries have signed up to the mine ban treaty, including nuclear-armed states Britain and France. They agreed they would “never under any circumstances” develop or use anti-personnel mines and committed to destroying existing stockpiles.

Landmines have recently been used in Ukraine, North Korea and Myanmar with a “direct, brutal impact” that could persist for decades, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said last month. It said withdrawing from the treaty would “send the wrong signal at the worst possible time".

The Baltic states say though that they need to have "every necessary measure" available to counter Russia. "“It is not right that we are prohibiting ourselves from using weapons that Russia is prepared to use against us,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.