(Phnom Penh): Ly Thuch, First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), said that if Thailand presented newly manufactured anti-personnel mines, identified by experts as having intact safety pins, to delegations from 33 countries and several partners, it would represent a serious violation of the Ottawa Convention, as Thailand is obliged to destroy such mines after becoming a State Party, not stockpile them.

Ly Thuch spoke on Monday (Aug. 18) during a press conference on Thailand's baseless accusations against Cambodia concerning the alleged use of new landmines at CMAA’s headquarters.

“Thailand often takes mines and puts them on display, turning them into stage props at will. But if the 30 to 40 mines they displayed are truly new, then Thailand has blatantly violated the Ottawa Convention as a State Party. The Ottawa Convention clearly requires States Parties to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines within their territory once they have acceded to the treaty,” he underscored.

Ly Thuch added that Cambodia, upon becoming a State Party, immediately began destroying its stockpiled mines. Therefore, if Thailand has displayed mines confirmed by Cambodian experts as new before 33 countries and partners, this proves that Thailand, as a State Party, has gravely violated the Ottawa Convention by keeping anti-personnel mines without destroying them.

Meanwhile, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) Director General Heng Ratana also explained that the mines Thailand showcased still had their safety pins intact. This indicates they are new mines because if mines were removed from minefields, the pins would already have been bent or broken to arm them for detonation, a technical fact that experts can easily verify.

For reference, the Ottawa Convention formally the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction is a United Nations treaty representing the international community’s comprehensive response to the humanitarian catastrophe caused by landmines, a weapon that continues to inflict heavy civilian casualties decades after armed conflicts have ended. The Convention was adopted in Oslo, Norway, on 18 September 1997 and opened for signature in Ottawa, Canada, on 3–4 December 1997.
=FRESH NEWS