The President of the United States, Donald Trump, lifted, on Friday, January 31, the restrictions imposed since 2014 on the American army on the use of anti-personnel mines, authorizing the use of a new generation of these devices supposedly capable of 'spare the civilian population.
"This new policy will allow military commanders to use, in exceptional circumstances, advanced and non-permanent antipersonnel mines specifically designed to reduce injuries to civilians and partner forces", the White House said in a statement.
Trump is thus reversing the decision of his predecessor Barack Obama to partially comply with the 1997 Ottawa Antipersonnel Mine Ban Treaty, ratified by 164 states worldwide, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production or transfer of anti-personnel mines, those buried mines that explode when walked on.
"Advanced" mines supposed to self-destruct
The United States is not a signatory to this convention and it has not used this type of mine since 1991 with one exception: in Afghanistan in 2002. But Mr. Obama had decided to approach it significantly by banning the use of anti-personnel mines except on the Korean peninsula, where the American army reserved the right to place them.
"The Department of Defense has determined that the restrictions imposed on American forces by the Obama administration can seriously disadvantage them during a conflict", said the White House press release. The President refuses this risk for our troops. "
New mines 'Advanced' that the US military can now use are assumed to self-destruct if not activated after a certain period of time, or can be destroyed from a distance. As belligerents generally leave their antipersonnel mines behind when they leave a theater of war, they continue to kill and maim long after the end of a conflict.
Pentagon chief Mark Esper welcomed the new policy on Friday, which leaves it up to the military to decide whether they want to use the mines more widely. "Anti-personnel mines are an important tool that our forces must have at their disposal to ensure the success of their mission", he told reporters.
"A death sentence for civilians"
The new American policy, the announcement of which was expected, immediately aroused indignation. "Trump's announcement on anti-personnel mines is a death sentence for civilians", said Anne Hery, director of advocacy for Handicap International, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her fight against anti-personnel mines.
"The idea that so-called" smart "landmines will be safer than the old ones is preposterous", she added. "Who will explain to the mother of a victim girl that twenty days was not enough before playing football on an empty farm? The only safe mine is the one we don't produce! "
For the main American anti-gun lobby Arms Control Association, the new American policy is a "Dangerous error". "The world has rejected anti-personnel mines because they do not discriminate and they disproportionately injure civilians, who represent the vast majority of their victims", said Jeff Abramson, one of the lobbyists.
According to Handicap International, the Ottawa Convention has cut the annual number of victims of anti-personnel mines by 10 in fifteen years: from 30,000 per year in the early 1990s, the number of victims fell to 3,330 in 2013.
But since 2014, the use of mines has increased with the increase in attacks by jihadist groups. At least 7,200 people were killed or injured by these weapons in 2017. "The world has turned the page on anti-personnel mines"added Mr. Abramson. "The United States should do the same. "
