#Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention

[beardedmrbean]

March 18 (UPI) -- Poland and three Baltic states Tuesday announced their intention to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty banning the use of anti-personnel mines to give their forces a critical defensive edge amid a "fundamental" deterioration of the security of NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus.

In a joint statement, the defense ministers of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said that with a significant increase in military threats and the unstable security situation marked by Russia's aggression and the ongoing threat it posed to the Euro-Atlantic community, the decision was aimed at sending an unequivocal message they were ready and able to take "every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom."

"We believe that in the current security environment, it is paramount to provide our defense forces flexibility and freedom of choice to potentially use new weapons systems and solutions to bolster the defense of the Alliance's vulnerable Eastern Flank," they said. "In light of these considerations, we unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention."

The ministers vowed the move would not weaken their respective countries' commitment to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians during armed conflict, saying they would continue to uphold IHL principles "while addressing our security needs."

They insisted the move was warranted by the "dire security challenges" confronting them, asking Allies and partners who recognized that reality to "respect our decision in this matter."

The announcement came two weeks after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country, which saw parts of its territory annexed by Russia after World War II and the rest of the country forcibly subsumed into the Soviet-controlled communist-Eastern Bloc, would begin the process of quitting the landmines convention.

The war in Ukraine has seen Russia turn its neighbor into virtually the most mined country on Earth, according to the United Nations.

Ukraine, a signatory to the convention that has been provided with anti-personnel mines by the United States, has previously warned it cannot guarantee full compliance amid a battle for its very survival.

However, with no pressing military imperative to bring the banned mini-weapons, which are specifically designed to maim and kill troops as opposed to mines targeting tanks or ships, the ministers of the four countries said they would consult with allies and neighbors.

"Decisions regarding the Ottawa Convention should be made in solidarity and coordination within the region. At the same time, we currently have no plans to develop, stockpile, or use previously banned anti-personnel landmines," said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.

Latvian defense staff chief Major General Kaspars Pudans told Politico recently that currently anti-tank mines and artillery were a higher priority for Latvia's defense.

Notably, Finland, which has a remote 830-mile-long eastern border with Russia, did not sign onto Tuesday's declaration but Defense Minister Antii Hakkanen said it was also thinking about quitting.

The United States, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and South Korea are among more than 30 countries that have never signed the treaty.

[darkmaga-returns]

US military aid to Ukraine under President Joe Biden has exceeded $62 billion, the Department of Defense said on December 2. This amount was reached after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on the same day a new arms package for Kiev totaling $725 million from its stockpiles.

“The United States has committed more than $62 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration,” the department said in a statement.

Blinken also announced the allocation of another $725 million military aid package to Ukraine, which included a new batch of anti-personnel landmines, even though Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, which bans the use, stockpiling, and production of anti-personnel mines.

“Today, I am announcing the delivery of $725 million in additional weapons and equipment for Ukraine’s defense. The United States and more than 50 nations stand united with Ukraine,” Blinken posted on social media on December 2.

The arms package is the largest since April, when Washington sent a shipment worth $1 billion. In addition to mines, Ukraine will also be supplied with anti-tank, anti-drone and other types of ammunition, according to two US officials cited by Bloomberg. The outlet described Biden’s authorization for Ukraine to use American anti-personnel mines, just weeks before the end of the Biden administration, as representing a sudden change from a long-standing policy.

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Latvia is the first of the Baltic States to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines. This is the result of a decision by the Saeima on Wednesday, 16 April.

The decision will become official six months after the United Nations (UN) has received the withdrawal document.

The Saeima examined the draft law as a matter of urgency. In the end, 66 MPs supported the decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, while 14 were against and two abstained. The debate in the plenary session of the Saeima, compared to the first reading of the draft law, was not held this time.

The main reason why Latvia decided to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention is the security situation in the Baltic region, which has changed significantly compared to 20 years ago, when Latvia joined the Convention(..)

P.S. The former West, at least since 2006-2008, completely ignored the threats posed by the Kremlin and treated the security of Eastern Europe and the Baltic region very carelessly... We can safely throw all the protests of "pacifists" and other "useful fools" serving the Kremlin in the trash can... We need anti-personnel mines for effective defense...

[eretzyisrael]

Embedded explosives in the ground are pretty much the definition of landmines. The Jenin terrorists are burying landmines in their own town, where their own people could be killed.

If the mines can be triggered by a person, they are considered illegal under the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

It sure looks like many of these IEDs can indeed be triggered by someone stepping on them. Here is a relatively small one being detonated by the IDF.

I have yet to see a condemnation by any NGO or state about Palestinians putting their own people at risk of being blown up by these IEDs. 

Israel's clearing of the mines is considered a bigger crime than the mines themselves. 

Which tells you a lot.

UPDATE: The "State of Palestine" acceded to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, which proves yet again that the only reason they signed these conventions was to be accepted as a state, but had no intention to actually do anything to adhere to the various conventions' rules. (h/t Ian)

[cyberbenb]

Finland to exit Ottawa landmine convention, aim for 3% GDP defense spending by 2029

Finland will withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines and increase its defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2029, President Alexander Stubb announced on April 1.

Military spending will rise from 2.41% in 2024 to 3% by 2029 as part of the country’s broader defense strategy. “This is a part of Finland’s contribution to Europe taking greater responsibility for our own defense,” Stubb posted on X.

The Ottawa Convention, also known as the Mine Ban Treaty, prohibits using, stockpiling, producing, and transferring anti-personnel mines. Finland initially refrained from joining due to security concerns over its long land border with Russia but ratified the treaty in 2012.

Stubb said the decision to withdraw followed a comprehensive assessment by Finland’s ministries and Defense Forces. “Finland will always remain a responsible actor in the world, safeguarding its security and defence,” he added.

Finland joined NATO on April 4, 2023, becoming the alliance’s 31st member, significantly altering the security landscape in Northern Europe.

As tensions between NATO and Russia escalate following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western intelligence agencies have warned of a potential large-scale war in Europe within the next five years.

The move marks a significant shift in defense policy among NATO’s front-line states. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland announced on March 18 that they would also withdraw from the Ottawa Convention to enhance their defenses against potential Russian aggression.

Trump’s Ukraine ceasefire proposals don’t address ‘root causes’ of war, Moscow claims

Russia takes U.S. proposals for a ceasefire in Ukraine “seriously” but cannot accept them “as they are now,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Russian outlet International Affairs Journal published on April 1.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

[mokhosz-nafo]

Poland will deploy anti-personnel mines on its border with Russia and Belarus as part of the Eastern Shield defensive complex, Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Bejda announced.

“We have no choice. The situation on the border is serious… We have concerns that border on certainty that Belarus is acting under the complete control of Russia. Whatever Putin says, Lukashenko will agree to it. Remember from which side Ukraine was attacked—from the territory of Belarus,” Bejda said.

He noted that the Polish army currently does not have anti-personnel mines but has the capability to produce them.

Earlier, Poland and the Baltic countries announced their withdrawal from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, and storage of anti-personnel mines, citing the long-term threat from Russia and Belarus.

[kisatonote]

対人地雷禁止条約脱退

18.03.2025

“撤退にもかかわらず、私たちは武力紛争中の民間人の保護を含む国際人道法に引き続きコミットします。私たちの国は、セキュリティのニーズに対処しながら、これらの原則を支持し続けます。

私たちは、私たちが直面している深刻な安全保障上の課題を認識し、この問題に関する私たちの決定を尊重するすべての同盟国とパートナーの理解と支援に感謝します。”

↓ https://bsky.app/profile/akiokazawa.bsky.social/post/3lknqpyug4s2s

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.18 (after 1920)

1922 – The Kingdom of Hungary is admitted to the League of Nations. 1927 – The Columbia Broadcasting System goes on the air. 1928 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first Autogyro crossing of the English Channel. 1931 – Imperial Japan instigates the Mukden Incident as a pretext to invade and occupy Manchuria. 1934 – The Soviet Union is admitted to the League of Nations. 1939 – World War II: The Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania. 1939 – World War II: The radio show Germany Calling begins transmitting Nazi propaganda. 1943 – World War II: Adolf Hitler orders the deportation of Danish Jews. 1944 – World War II: The British submarine HMS Tradewind torpedoes Jun'yō Maru, killing 5,600, mostly slave labourers and POWs. 1944 – World War II: Operation Market Garden results in the liberation of Eindhoven. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Arracourt begins. 1945 – General Douglas MacArthur moves his general headquarters from Manila to Tokyo. 1947 – The National Security Act reorganizes the United States government's military and intelligence services. 1948 – Operation Polo is terminated after the Indian Army accepts the surrender of the army of Hyderabad. 1948 – Margaret Chase Smith of Maine becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate without completing another senator's term. 1954 – Finnish president J. K. Paasikivi becomes the first Western head of state to be awarded the highest honor of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin. 1960 – Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations. 1961 – U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld dies in an air crash while attempting to negotiate peace in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 1962 – Burundi, Jamaica, Rwanda and Trinidad and Tobago are admitted to the United Nations. 1962 – Aeroflot Flight 213 crashes into a mountain near Chersky Airport, killing 32 people. 1964 – The wedding of Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark takes place in Athens. 1973 – The Bahamas, East Germany and West Germany are admitted to the United Nations. 1974 – Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people. 1977 – Voyager I takes the first distant photograph of the Earth and the Moon together. 1980 – Soyuz 38 carries two cosmonauts (including one Cuban) to the Salyut 6 space station. 1981 – The Assemblée Nationale votes to abolish capital punishment in France. 1982 – The Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon comes to an end. 1984 – Joe Kittinger completes the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic. 1988 – The 8888 Uprising in Myanmar comes to an end. 1988 – General Henri Namphy, president of Haiti, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Prosper Avril. 1990 – Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations. 1992 – An explosion rocks Giant Mine at the height of a labor dispute, killing nine replacement workers in Yellowknife, Canada. 1997 – United States media magnate Ted Turner donates US$1 billion to the United Nations. 1997 – The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is adopted. 2001 – First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks. 2007 – Buddhist monks join anti-government protesters in Myanmar, starting what some call the Saffron Revolution. 2011 – The 2011 Sikkim earthquake is felt across northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and southern Tibet. 2012 – Greater Manchester Police officers PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone are murdered in a gun and grenade ambush attack in Greater Manchester, England. 2014 – Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55% to 45%. 2015 – Two security personnel, 17 worshippers in a mosque, and 13 militants are killed during a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan attack on a Pakistan Air Force base on the outskirts of Peshawar. 2016 – The 2016 Uri attack in Jammu and Kashmir, India by terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed results in the deaths of nineteen Indian Army soldiers and all four attackers.

[hamzaaslam]

Prince Foundation Underscores Vital Role of Public-Private Partnership in Mine Action at Geneva Convention

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 1 July 2024 – In a notable demonstration of effective collaboration, the Cambodian public and private sectors have set a gold standard for working together on mine clearance. At the recent Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in Geneva, Switzerland, Prince Holding Group, represented by its philanthropic arm Prince Foundation, highlighted its…

[beardedmrbean]

Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat covers the Russian media reaction to Finland preparing to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of anti-personnel mines.

"Finland is suspected of wanting to create a minefield on the Russian border," the online magazine Lenta.ru wrote. Lenta is one of Russia's most popular news sites and a Kremlin-controlled media outlet.

Lenta and other news outlets, such as Gazeta.ru — part of the same media group — quoted Russian political scientist Konstantin Khudoley, an academic from St Petersburg and member of the Russian International Affairs Council.

Khudoley stated that Finland is "preparing for war".

The article goes on at length and in numbers about Finland, describing what was once a "good neighbour" to Russia, with a strong bunker network and possessing "Europe's most combat-ready army".

"In that case, a line of minefields may appear on the border between Russia and Finland," Khudoley stated, the only justification in the article for the comment on minefields on the border.

Russia, for its part, has never joined the Ottawa Convention and has actively used the types of mines banned by the treaty as part of its invasion of Ukraine.

According to Russian state news agency Tass, the Kremlin's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that in addition to words, Finland should take concrete actions if it wants to improve its relations with Russia.

Zakharova called on Finland to stop anti-Russian narratives and open the "illegally closed" border.

"If hostilities [in Ukraine] end, opening the border between Finland and Russia and loosening restrictions will become possible," Khudoley added.

However, he admitted that he expects Finland to take a "very, very reserved attitude" in this regard.

Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) took a tougher stance on Saturday, arguing that now is not the time to open up dialogue with Russia.

Heightened US passport controls

Tabloid Iltalehti reported that while Finns travelling to the US might face heightened scrutiny at passport controls, the Finnish Foreign Ministry cannot always help.

Jussi Tanner, Head of Consular Affairs at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told IL that the Foreign Ministry has some anecdotal evidence that the checks at the US border has been more thorough than in the past.

"It falls within the normal range as we understand it, at least for now," Tanner said.

"However, we must bear in mind that we do not know what the real difficulties facing Europeans are that have been reported. There may be underlying causes that have not been reported," he added.

This has also been reflected in the ministry's travel advisory to the United States, updated a few weeks ago.

Another change to the travel advisory made in the last month concerns the new US requirement to indicate sex at birth in visa or ESTA applications.

If a Finnish citizen gets into trouble and is apprehended at US border control, the ministry has limited options to assist.

"The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will ensure that a person's fundamental rights are respected, in particular the right to legal assistance, for example, a lawyer and, if necessary, an interpreter if the person does not understand the local language," said Tanner.

If the US authorities consider that the conditions for entry are not met, the ministry does not have the power to help the person to enter the country.

Lynx population doubles in two decades

Rural-focused newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus reports that the number of lynxes in Finland has more than doubled in two decades, with around 2,300 individuals classified as a viable population.

According to Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) researcher Annika Herrero, key factors include legal protection since the 1960s, plentiful prey and the species’ strong reproductive capacity.

Lynxes are wild predator cats found across Finland, except in northern reindeer herding areas in Finnish Lapland and parts of Ostrobothnia.

Finland’s other large carnivores include the brown bear, wolf and wolverine. Bears number just over 2,100 and are mainly in eastern Finland, while wolves (approx. 300) and wolverines (approx. 400) are considered critically endangered.

The government has proposed changes to hunting laws to allow population management hunting of large carnivores, aiming to maintain the distance between humans and wildlife in a response to rising numbers near settlements.

A government proposal on the issue was revealed last week. According to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah (CD), the changes are aimed at a more balanced large game policy.

The proposal has sparked significant public interest, with 260 comments and opinions submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, far above average.

[darkmaga-returns]

Russia isn’t a signatory nor does it plan to invade any of those four countries.

The Baltic States’ and Poland’s Defense Ministers issued a joint statement on Tuesday announcing that their countries are withdrawing from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention) in response to what they portrayed as new threats from Russia. Neither Russia, the US, China, nor India, et al. are signatories to this pact banning the use of these munitions. Ukraine, despite being a signatory, received anti-personnel mines from the Biden Administration in late November.

This week’s development follows Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declaring earlier in the month that his country “must reach for the most modern capabilities also related to nuclear weapons and modern unconventional weapons”, the latter of which includes anti-personnel mines. It also came less than a week after the European Parliament “stresse[d] that the East Shield and Baltic Defence Line should be the flagship EU projects for fostering deterrence and overcoming potential threats from the East”.

The preceding hyperlinked analysis discusses those complementary defense projects that’ll run along their borders with Russia and Belarus, which are expected to play a key role in the EU’s planned militarization program. Only a fraction of the €800 billion that European Commission President Ursula Van der Leyen announced will likely be spent on this border defense megaproject, but it’ll nonetheless embody the bloc’s plans and function as a new Iron Curtain between the EU and Russia.

[tomsquitieri]

Pentagon again sends land mines to Ukraine with a wink and a nod

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is upping its flow of land mine capability to Ukraine, looking the other way to the questionable use of land mines by both Ukraine and Russia in the current conflict.

Cold War style anti-tank ladies are included in the latest military assistance package, $325 million,  announced last week for Ukraine.

The Pentagon would not say how many M21 mines were included in the assistance package.

Earlier in the conflict, the Pentagon sent anti-personnel mines, known as Claymores, to Ukraine. U.S. officials say the landmines are provided with no guidance or, at least publicly, with no strings attached — a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which gives the Pentagon the ability have it both ways if U.S.-supplied weapons are used outside the bounds of international treaties.

The Claymore anti-personnel mine, under some circumstances and tactical use, is prohibited by the Ottawa land mines treaty.

Under the treaty, Claymores can be used if detonated only with a remote control device, meaning an individual has to do it with purpose and not be accident. If they are rigged to detonate with a tripwire or other trick method they are prohibited.

“We provide equipment to the Ukrainians, and they determine how they're going to use it,” Brig Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said at a previous Pentagon briefing when asked about concerns surrounding the Claymore mine.

He also said that “to clarify, too, I think sometimes the -- the term, you know, as I looked into this, admittedly, as an Air Force guy. This is an antipersonnel device above ground, so mines in that sense is a little bit of a misnomer, but yeah.”

The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits all types of victim-activated explosive devices, regardless of the technical features and regardless of the mine’s predicted longevity, delivery method, or type of manufacture (improvised or factory-made).

The M21 is not banned by the Ottawa treaty. It does not have self-destruct features; that means when fighting concludes, they would have to be removed manually. It is metal, and thus can be detected easier thank plastic version.

It is is a high explosive antitank landmine which uses the Misznay-Schardin effect (high explosive wave that propels a concave steel plate at extremely high velocity) against the underside, tracks, or wheels of armored vehicles. It is activated by an M607 fuze which functions upon application of either horizontal or vertical pressure.

About 200,000 M21 mines were produced in the U.S. and licensed copies, the K441 and K442, were produced in South Korea. The Pentagon has an estimated 175,000 M21 mines stockpiled.

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on February 24, 1999 and became a state party on June 1, 2006.

Russia has not joined the treaty, but is bound by the prohibitions and restrictions on mines, booby-traps, and other devices found in Amended Protocol II of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), as well as Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. which was signed by Ukraine.

The United States is not a party to the treaty.

Russian forces have used at least seven types of antipersonnel mines in at least four regions of Ukraine: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Sumy. This marks an unusual situation in which a country that is not party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty uses the weapon on the territory of a party to the treaty.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have extensively used anti-vehicle mines (also called anti-tank mines) in at least six regions: Donetsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. Hand-emplaced TM-62 series anti-vehicle mines appear to be the type most frequently used.

According to the Ottawa treaty, Claymores are mines covered by the treaty protocols, regardless if they are above or below the ground. Ryder then said, “The capabilities that we're providing are in compliance with the Ottawa Treaty.”

Requests to the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Department of Public Relations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comments, clarifications and perspective did not generate responses.

Last June, the Biden administration announced that it would restrict the use of anti-personnel land mines by the U.S. military, aligning the country’s policy more closely with the international treaty.

“The president believes strongly that we need to curtail their use worldwide,” John Kirby, a national security spokesman, said at a White House briefing then.

[xtruss]

US Record of Cluster Bombs Rings Alarm Bells for Ukrainians

A cluster Bomb — Sputnik International. © AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has renewed calls to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, as Kiev struggles to push its much-discussed counteroffensive. What are cluster bombs and what risks is their use fraught with?

US Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) urged President Joe Biden to dispatch dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM), commonly known as "cluster" shells, to Ukraine on June 25.

"Transferring DPICMs to Ukraine presents an opportunity to provide the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a powerful capability to use against the Russian army and mercenary forces," the lawmakers' letter said.

It's not the first time that US politicians have been discussing equipping the Ukrainian military with cluster munitions.

Last Thursday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Laura Cooper told lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee that DPICMs "would be useful, especially against dug-in Russian positions on the battlefield."

US Should Provide Cluster Bombs to Ukraine – Joe Wilson, US Congressman! April 26, 2023. "I hope every effort will be made to look into providing the cluster bombs that we have two million available," Wilson said during a House Committee on Armed Services hearing.

On March 21, four top Republican lawmakers on the House and Senate Foreign Affairs and Armed Cervices committees – James Risch, Roger Wicker, Michael McCaul and Mike Rogers – sent a letter to the US president insisting that while not without risks, this could solve the problem of Kiev's artillery ammunition shortage.

"[DPICMs] are highly effective against personnel — both enemy troops in the open and entrenched infantry — and mechanized vehicles," wrote the GOP congressmen. "The United States relied on similar cluster munitions during the Cold War as a means of offsetting Soviet military advantages in manpower, artillery, and armored vehicles."

In December 2022, Kiev itself made a request for cluster munitions to Washington. As per the US press, Kiev planned to launch the weapons from High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 155 mm Howitzers. However, at that time, Joe Biden refused to provide the weapons banned by over 120 countries to the Ukrainian military.

Tail section of a cluster bomb purportedly found in Misrata, Libya. (File) © AP Photo/Human Rights Watch

What are Cluster Munitions?

The DPICM is an artillery or surface-to-surface missile warhead that releases dozens to hundreds of smaller submunitions that can use shaped charges for the anti-armor role and fragmentation for the antipersonnel role. The air-to-surface variety of the shells is known as a "cluster bomb." One munition can destroy multiple targets at once, meaning that fewer missiles are needed.

Some US experts consider that most relevant for Ukraine would be the M483A1 and M864 artillery which could be fired from Ukraine's Western-made 155mm Artillery Systems.

The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) bans the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions and requires destruction of stockpiles of the weapons, as well as clearance of areas contaminated by remnants and bomblets and victim assistance.

The weapons were prohibited for a good reason: inaccurate cluster munitions pose an immediate threat to civilians by randomly scattering submunitions over a wide area. In addition, myriads of unexploded remnants continue to endanger civilians long after the conflict.

The US, however, stores plenty of cluster munitions.

Cluster Bombs, ‘Butterfly’ Mines, Phosphorus Munitions: Prohibited Weapons Used by Ukraine August 30, 2022! A man walks past an unexploded tail section of a 300mm rocket which appear to contained cluster bombs launched from a BM-30 Smerch multiple rocket launcher embedded in the ground after shelling in Lisichansk, LPR on April 11, 2022 - Sputnik International, © AFP 2023/Anatolii Stepanov

US Record of Using Cluster Munitions

Cluster bombs were first used during the Second World War. For its part, the US started to extensively use them in the 1960s and the 1970s in Southeast Asia. Citing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) a March 2022 congressional report says that "in Laos alone, 9 to 27 Million Unexploded Submunitions remained after the conflict, resulting in over 10,000 civilian casualties to date."

During the Gulf War of 1991, the US and its allies dropped around 61,000 Cluster Bombs containing some 20 Million Submunitions. In addition, the coalition also used surface-to-surface DPICMs delivered by artillery and rocket systems. It is believed that 30 million or more DPICM submunitions were used during the conflict.

In 1999, NATO forces dropped 1,765 cluster bombs containing around 295,000 submunitions on Yugoslavia. Despite common belief that these bombs would be used against military installations, it was reported in June 1999 that a NATO airstrike involving cluster bombs on an airfield in Nis on May 7, 1999, went off target and hit a Hospital and Adjoining Civilian Areas. Another report said about five boys were killed and two injured by a cluster bomb submunition that exploded near the village of Doganovic in southern Kosovo.

Nonetheless, the US and NATO allies continued to use the inaccurate munitions. Between 2001 and 2002, the US Air Force bombed Afghanistan with 1,228 Cluster Munitions containing 248,056 submunitions.

The US and British military fired around 13,000 Cluster Munitions containing up to Two Million Submunitions during the first three weeks of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

US Cluster Bombs. © Sputnik/Mikitenko

As per Human Rights Watch, American and British ground forces widely used cluster munitions in major cities of Iraq which led to hundreds of civilian casualties, including children. Lots of unexploded submunitions were later discovered in residential areas near schools and playgrounds resulting in further injuries and deaths.

"13-year-old Falah Hassan lost his right hand, his left index finger, and soft tissue in his lower limbs when an unexploded submunition, left by a cluster munition attack, detonated in al-Hilla," recalled HRW researcher Bonnie Docherty in her May 2023 report. "His mother, who lay in the next bed when we visited him in hospital in mid-May, suffered injuries to her abdomen, uterus, and large and small intestines from the same explosion."

US Tests ‘Next Generation’ Fragmentation Bomb as ‘Viable Substitute’ for Cluster Munitions! A B1-B bomber drops live bombs at the Nevada Test and Training Range — Sputnik International. © AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta/ March 9, 2020

US Cluster Munition Stockpiles

Despite an indiscriminate use of cluster bombs and shells by the US military that led to extensive casualties and destruction, Washington did not join the international convention prohibiting the deadly weapons. Neither did it destroy its vast stockpiles of cluster munitions. The US original provisions drafted in 2008 and seeking to remove large portions of the weapons from the US stockpiles were later reversed.

Thus, a Department of Defense memo inked on November 30, 2017 indefinitely delayed implementation of a ban on using "unreliable types of cluster munitions" which was expected to take effect on January 1, 2019, in the US. Furthermore, the new policy envisaged the US acquisition of cluster munitions from foreign sources.

The US maintains restrictions on exports of cluster munitions, allowing selling DPICMs that do not result in more than 1% unexploded ordnance. Under US law, the recipient should make a commitment not to use the weapons in civilian areas.

Previously, Kiev failed to meet its commitments not to use Western lethal arms against civilians, civil objects and the Russian territory which makes one wonder whether the Ukrainian military would observe the US obligations if provided by cluster shells.

Moreover, some US scholars suggest that Washington's move could alienate some of its allies given that 23 NATO members are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

— Ekaterina Blinova, Sputnik International, June 28, 2023

[r6shippingdelivery]

I have complied a list of war criminals in RAINBOW mostly because I figured smoke was getting lonely at the war crimes table.

Tachanka (uses an inhumane weapon that causes unnecessary suffering)

Capatao (same as tachanka)

Fuze (cluster weapons are banned.)

Lesion (uses a poison weapon)

Thorn (anti personnel mines are banned)

Kapkan ( same as thorn)

Caveira (comples a hostile opponent to act against thier own faction while they are unable to defend themselves before murdering ((and i mean that literally)) them)

Frost (gadget causes great bodily harm and needless suffering)

Clash (gadget wilfully cases unnecessary bodily harm and suffering)

Goyo (gadget causes unnecessary suffering)

Now smoke has more company :D

Notable mentions that Marsteo, Twitch, Bandit, Kaid, Aruni , ela, Zofia, Flores, echo and Gridlocks gadgets are tip toeing on the line and while thier gadgets might be in a grey area they are all on thin ice. Some more than others.

Hmm, that's a long list.

Taking into account that Siege takes place in a similar timeline as ours, but clearly it's a different universe (no recent events are ever mentioned/referenced, the level of technology is more advanced, alien parasite, etc), it's time to ask ourselves: does the Geneva conention even exist in the Siege universe?

Maybe, just like Extraction is a different timeline from Siege that diverged from the point of the Chimera Outbreak, maybe the Siege timeline diverged from our timeline at some point and now the Geneva convention was taken down/never created in there 😂

[cisrjmu]

The Trump administration is expected to loosen restrictions on the US military's ability to use landmines in the coming days, weapons that have been banned by more than 160 countries due to their history of killing and wounding civilians, multiple Defense Department officials tell CNN.

The move represents a major reversal from the approach of the Obama administration which in 2014 committed the US to largely adhering to the 1997 Ottawa Convention, the international agreement which banned the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. The Obama policy committed to replacing landmines in the US stockpile after they expire and directed the destruction of stockpiles not required for the defense of South Korea.

In an exception to the Ottawa convention, the Obama policy allowed the US military to continue to use landmines on the Korean Peninsula where some 28,000 US troops are stationed across the de-militarized zone from North Korea's military of one million troops. That exception was criticized by some non-government organizations.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Lockdown named word of the year by Collins Dictionary (Guardian) Lockdown, the noun that has come to define so many lives across the world in 2020, has been named word of the year by Collins Dictionary. Lockdown is defined by Collins as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”, and its usage has boomed over the last year. The 4.5bn-word Collins Corpus, which contains written material from websites, books and newspapers, as well as spoken material from radio, television and conversations, registered a 6,000% increase in its usage. In 2019, there were 4,000 recorded instances of lockdown being used. In 2020, this had soared to more than a quarter of a million. “Language is a reflection of the world around us and 2020 has been dominated by the global pandemic,” says Collins language content consultant Helen Newstead. “We have chosen lockdown as our word of the year because it encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus. Lockdown has affected the way we work, study, shop, and socialise. With many countries entering a second lockdown, it is not a word of the year to celebrate but it is, perhaps, one that sums up the year for most of the world.” Other pandemic-related words such as coronavirus, social distancing, self-isolate and furlough were on the dictionary’s list of the top 10 words.

Republicans Back Trump’s Refusal to Concede, Declining to Recognize Biden (NYT) Leading Republicans rallied on Monday around President Trump’s refusal to concede the election, declining to challenge the false narrative that it was stolen from him or to recognize President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Republican in Congress, threw his support behind Mr. Trump in a sharply worded speech on the Senate floor. He declared that Mr. Trump was “100 percent within his rights” to turn to the legal system to challenge the outcome and hammered Democrats for expecting the president to concede. And in Washington, Emily W. Murphy, a Trump political appointee and administrator of the General Services Administration, refused to formally recognize Mr. Biden as the president-elect with a letter of “ascertainment,” leaving the country’s transition of power in flux.

White House, escalating tensions, orders agencies to rebuff Biden transition team (Washington Post) The Trump White House on Monday instructed senior government leaders to block cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, escalating a standoff that threatens to impede the transfer of power and prompting the Biden team to consider legal action. Officials at agencies across the government who had prepared briefing books and carved out office space for the incoming Biden team to use as soon as this week were told instead that the transition would not be recognized until the Democrat’s election was confirmed by the General Services Administration, the low-profile agency that officially starts the transition. While media outlets on Saturday projected Biden as the winner, President Trump has not conceded the election. “We have been told: Ignore the media, wait for it to be official from the government,” said a senior administration official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly. The GSA, the government’s real estate arm, remained for a third day the proxy in the battle. Administrator Emily Murphy, a Trump political appointee, is refusing to sign paperwork that releases Biden’s $6.3 million share of nearly $10 million in transition resources and gives his team access to agency officials and information. The Biden transition team is evaluating its legal options and growing increasingly alarmed that the stalemate could drag on and impede its work.

Candidate concessions have been colorful, funny—or absent (AP) Losing presidential candidates have conceded to their opponents in private chats, telegrams, phone calls and nationally televised speeches. Al Gore conceded twice in the same race. President Donald Trump isn’t expected to concede at all—not even with a tweet. Most concessions are gracious—less about the loser and more about closure for the country. Others have a little dry humor mixed in. After failing to win reelection in 1992, George H. W. Bush quoted Winston Churchill and said he had been given the “Order of the Boot,” according to presidential historian Michael Beschloss. The concession tradition had a hiccup in 2000 when Gore called George W. Bush to concede and then called him back to recant as the results from Florida went sideways. Their tight campaign ended with the Florida vote in limbo. “Let me make sure I understand,” Bush told Gore on the phone. “You’re calling me back to retract your concession?” When Bush was declared the winner after the Supreme Court halted further recount action, Gore delivered his second concession. “Just moments ago I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States. And I promised him that I wouldn’t call him back this time,” Gore said. After Gerald Ford and Bob Dole lost the 1976 presidential election to Carter and Walter Mondale, Dole, quipped: “Contrary to reports that I took the loss badly, I want to say that I went home last night and slept like a baby—every two hours I woke up and cried.”

Trump’s Fury Feeds Moscow and Beijing Accounts of U.S. Chaos (NYT) For years, state propaganda in both Russia and China has painted Western democracy as dangerously chaotic compared to what it described as the safety and stability of the countries’ authoritarian systems. With President Trump’s unfounded allegations that Democrats stole last week’s presidential election, Moscow and Beijing got a fresh chance to claim vindication. Russia seized that chance, while China was more restrained, perhaps reflecting cautious optimism that a President-elect Joseph R. Biden could stabilize relations with the United States. Neither country, however, congratulated Mr. Biden for winning the election. A spokesman for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia couched the delay as a technical matter of diplomatic protocol, and pledged that Mr. Putin would be ready to work with “any elected president of the United States.” On the flagship weekly news program on state TV Sunday night, host Dmitri Kiselyov said the election showed the United States to be “not a country but a huge, chaotic communal apartment, with a criminal flair.” For China, state media’s response to Mr. Biden’s win has been more measured. Mr. Biden would be “more moderate and mature” than Mr. Trump on foreign affairs, Global Times, a fiercely nationalistic tabloid, said. Other Chinese outlets emphasized the potential for political violence in the United States all last week as the vote counts trickled in. The Chinese state media shared photos of boarded-up businesses and police officers on watch at poll sites. A narrative of American decline has been a constant refrain in recent months, as an increasingly wealthy and confident China has tried to market itself to the rest of the world as a viable alternative for global leadership.

Florida cities mop up after deluge from Tropical Storm Eta (AP) Cities in South Florida mopped up after Tropical Storm Eta flooded some urban areas with a deluge that swamped entire neighborhoods and filled some homes with rising water that did not drain for hours. It was the 28th named storm in a busy hurricane season, and the first to make landfall in Florida. Broward County, which includes Fort Lauderdale, was among the harder hit areas. “It’s very bad. In the last 20 years, I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Tito Carvalho, who owns a car stereo business in Fort Lauderdale and estimated the water was 3 feet deep in some places.

Vizcarra impeached in Peru (Foreign Policy) Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra is to leave office after the country’s congress successfully impeached him on charges of corruption. Vizcarra was accused of accepting bribes for public works contracts during his time as a governor. Although he denies the allegations, he said on Monday that he would “leave the presidential palace today.” Manuel Merino, the head of the minority party Popular Action, will assume the presidency until a new one is chosen in April 2021.

Landmines cleared from Falkland Islands 38 years after conflict (Reuters) The final landmines on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic have been cleared, Britain said on Tuesday, nearly 40 years after they were laid by Argentine forces when they seized the British territory. The removal of the mines meant the United Kingdom had met its obligations set by the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Britain’s Foreign Office (FCDO) said, adding that there were now no anti-personnel mines on British soil anywhere in the world. Argentina invaded the archipelago, to which it lays claim, in 1982. Britain sent a task force to retake the islands in a brief war which saw more than 600 Argentine and 255 British servicemen killed. A British-funded programme, which started in 2009, to de-mine the islands completed its mission three years ahead of schedule.

As virus spikes, Europe runs low on ICU beds, hospital staff (AP) In Italy lines of ambulances park outside hospitals awaiting beds, and in France the government coronavirus tracking app prominently displays the intensive care capacity taken up by COVID-19 patients: 92.5% and rising. In the ICU in Barcelona, there is no end in sight for the doctors and nurses who endured this once already. Intensive care is the last line of defense for severely ill coronavirus patients and Europe is running out—of beds and the doctors and nurses to staff them. In country after country, the intensive care burden of COVID-19 patients is nearing and sometimes surpassing levels seen at last spring’s peak. Health officials, many advocating a return to stricter lockdowns, warn that adding beds will do no good because there aren’t enough doctors and nurses trained to staff them. In France, more than 7,000 health care workers have undergone training since last spring in intensive care techniques. Nursing students, interns, paramedics, all have been drafted, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran.

Greece: Floods sweep cars into sea, send people to rooftops (Washington Post) Heavy flooding on the Greek island of Crete damaged roads, flooded hundreds of homes and swept cars into the sea amid ongoing torrential rainfall. Authorities Tuesday said the most serious damage occurred east of the island’s capital, Iraklio, in small towns and villages where schools were closed and residents were advised to stay indoors. In the worst-affected areas, some residents sought refuge on the roofs of their homes as muddy water swept through towns, dragging cars and debris. A state of emergency was declared in flooded areas. It was the third time in less than a month that the area has been hit by flooding. Heavy rainfall is expected to continue through Thursday.

China gears up for world’s largest online shopping festival (AP) Chinese consumers are expected to spend tens of billions on everything from fresh food to luxury goods during this year’s Singles’ Day online shopping festival, as the country recovers from the pandemic. The shopping festival, which is the world’s largest and falls on Nov. 11 every year, is an annual extravaganza where China’s e-commerce companies, including Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo, offer generous discounts on their platforms. Last year, shoppers spent $38.4 billion on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms Tmall and Taobao.

Erekat, longtime spokesman for the Palestinians, dies at 65 (AP) Saeb Erekat, a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for the Palestinians for more than three decades, died on Tuesday, weeks after being infected by the coronavirus. He was 65. The American-educated Erekat was involved in nearly every round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians going back to the landmark Madrid conference in 1991. Over the years, he was a constant media presence. He tirelessly argued for a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, defended the Palestinian leadership and blamed Israel—particularly hard-line leader Benjamin Netanyahu—for the failure to reach an agreement. As a loyal aide to Palestinian leaders—first Yasser Arafat and then Mahmoud Abbas—Erekat clung to this strategy until his death, even as hopes for Palestinian statehood sank to new lows. In the weeks leading up to his death in an Israeli hospital, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had normalized ties with Israel, breaking with the long-held Arab position that a deal on Palestinian statehood must precede normalization. Abbas and members of his inner circle, including Erekat, found themselves internationally sidelined and deeply unpopular among Palestinians. And decades of unfettered Israeli settlement expansion had made a statehood deal based on the partition of territory increasingly unlikely.

Concern of outright war in Ethiopia grows as PM presses military offensive (Reuters) Ethiopia’s prime minister stepped up a military offensive in the northern region of Tigray on Sunday with air strikes as part of what he called a “law enforcement operation,” increasing fears of outright civil war in Africa’s second-most populous country. Abiy last week launched a military campaign in the province, saying forces loyal to leaders there had attacked a military base and attempted to steal equipment. Government fighter jets have since been bombing targets in the region, which borders Sudan and Eritrea. Aid workers on Sunday reported heavy fighting in several parts of the region.