Ottawa Land Mine Treaty

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, informally known as the Ottawa Convention or the Ottawa Treaty, was signed by 122 nations in December 1997 and focused on the complete abolition of a particular class of weaponry—antipersonnel (AP) land mines. It was not the first international law convention or treaty aimed at limiting these weapons, but as the call for the convention was prominently supported by several international luminaries—most notably, Diana, the Princess of Wales—the Ottawa Treaty is probably the most well-known of these efforts. The treaty was also championed by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a nongovernmental organization advocating for a global ban on AP mines and cluster munitions, which was ...