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1 1 (June 28, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveijn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service nforming the legislitive diebate since 1914 0 Updated June 28, 2022 U.S. Antipersonnel Landmine Use Policy Current Un ited States Policy on Anti- Personnei Landrines (APLs) On June 21, 2022, National Security Council (NSC) Spokesperson Adrienne Watson announced that the United States will align its policy concerning use of antipersonnel landmines (APLs) outside of the Korean Peninsula with key provisions of The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer ofAnti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Commonly known as the Ottawa Convention, the treaty requires states parties to stop the production, use, and transfer of APLs, as well as destroy all stockpiled APLs, except for the minimum number absolutely necessary for training purposes. The Biden Administration arrived at this decision after conducting a comprehensive policy review, according to a June 21 White House fact sheet. Background Following the 1991 end of the Cold War, a number of governments began to question the utility of APLs in light of increasing civilian and U.N. peacekeeper casualties resulting from abandoned, unmarked, or unregistered minefields. The United States last used APLs during the 1991 Gulf War, except for one single incident of one munition being used in the 2002 timeframe in Afghanistan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Brown explained in a June 21, 2022, briefing. In 1996, President William Clinton announced a policy that immediately discontinued U.S. use of persistent APLs except in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. Persistent APLs lack self-destructing and self-deactivating features. President Clinton also supported negotiation in the United Nations of a worldwide ban on APLs. In November 1996, the United States introduced a resolution to the U.N. General Assembly urging governments to pursue vigorously an effective, legally- binding international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APLs with a view to completing the negotiation as soon as possible. While many governments supported such a ban, others were concerned that verifying such a ban would be difficult and that APLs still played a useful role in military operations. At the conclusion of an October 1996 conference in Ottawa, a number of governments agreed to work toward the earliest possible conclusion of a legally-binding international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines. Using language identical to the U.S.-sponsored version described above, the General Assembly adopted a resolution in December of 1996 exhorting governments to adopt an international ban on APLs. Following several multilateral meetings, a September 1997 conference in Oslo adopted the Ottawa Convention text; the treaty entered into force in 1999. The Clinton Administration declined to sign the Ottawa Convention, arguing then that the agreement would preclude U.S. use of APLs in the DMZ. In February 2004, the George W. Bush Administration announced the United States would use persistent APLs only in the DMZ until 2010, after which the United States would not use such mines anywhere. The Bush Administration also indicated that the United States would develop alternatives to persistent landmines. Following a review of U.S. policy regarding APLs, the Barack Obama Administration announced several changes to that policy. A National Security Council spokesperson stated in June 2014 that the United States would not in the future produce or otherwise acquire any APLs, including for the purpose of replacing expiring stockpiles. The Department of State noted in December 2014 that the United States was pursuing solutions that would be compliant with the Ottawa Convention and that would ultimately allow us to accede to the convention while ensuring that we are still able to meet our alliance commitments to South Korea. In 2014 the Obama Administration announced the APL policy which the administration later issued in January 2016 as Policy Directive-37 (PPD-37). PPD-37 forbade the use of APLs outside the Korean Peninsula, as well as assisting, encouraging, or inducing anyone outside the Korean Peninsula to engage in activity prohibited by the Ottawa Convention. Pursuant to this policy, the United States would undertake to destroy APL stockpiles not required for the defense of South Korea. In January 2020 the Department of Defense (DOD) announced a new APL policy. According to a January 31, 2020, DOD memorandum, President Trump, subsequent to an internal DOD review, decided to cancel PPD-37. The DOD memorandum permitted Combatant Commanders to authorize the use of nonpersistent APLs regardless of geographic location when necessary for mission success in major contingencies or other exceptional circumstances. The memorandum permitted DOD to acquire, retain, and transfer a limited number of persistent landmines for training purposes. During a January 31, 2020, press briefing, a DOD official noted the potential need for the United States to develop new self-destructing APLs for use in accordance with the new policy. The above-cited memorandum stipulated that Military Departments should explore acquiring landmines

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