In Brief: States gather for landmine meeting

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JOHANNESBURG, 29 November 2010 (IRIN) - The five-day Tenth Meeting of the States Parties (10MSP) of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention began in Geneva, Switzerland, on 29 November 2010. The Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), which seeks to prohibit landmine production, destroy stockpiles and clear all mine-contaminated land, has been signed by 156 states, and since the convention entered into force in 1999 has stigmatized the use of landmines to such an extent that even non-signatories have in some cases complied with many of its provisions. The meeting will include submissions from six signatories - Chad, Colombia, Denmark, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Zimbabwe - for an extension of the 10-year deadline "for destroying or ensuring the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas to clear landmines", the 10MSP said in a statement. Daniel Yuval, an 11-year-old landmine survivor from Israel, will address the meeting to highlight the plight of landmine victims. Yuval lost his right leg below the knee to a landmine in February 2010 during a family outing to the Golan Heights, a mountainous region bordering Syria. His sister sustained shrapnel wounds to the face. Israel is one of 39 states not party to the MBT. go/cb © IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org