Page 48 - karabag raporu eng

On-Site Investigation Report on Human Rights in Karabakh

ed that mines are frightening due to their indiscriminate destruction since
there is no difference between a soldier and a child for a mine and that the
survivors of the explosion have to undergo serious surgeries, long hospital
days, and a life to be lived with a lacking body. Also, a child who steps on a
mine has very little chance of survival because of their small bodies. In ad-
dition, the article states that mines continue to be a threat even if there is a
ceasefire, even after years, and that forest areas, grasslands, and agricultural
areas that are not used because they are mined are a great loss for the econ-
omy. It is emphasised that it takes more than a hundred hours to detect and
remove a mine and that one of the biggest problems encountered in mine
clearance is to find the mined area.
During the First World War, the first anti-tank (AT) mines were developed as a
result of the use of tanks, but these mines could be located and removed to
be reused against the party that placed them first; therefore, anti-personnel
(AP) mines were developed. The article includes information that anti-per-
sonnel mines are designed to injure or kill people. 13
International humanitarian law, which is based on the 1949 Geneva Conven-
tions and their Additional Protocols of 1977, aims to protect civilians who
are not a party to any conflict or war in an environment of all kinds of armed
st
conflicts and similar hot tensions. In this context, the 1 Protocol on the
Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, additional to the 1949
Geneva Conventions, prohibited indiscriminate attacks and the use of weap-
ons, bullets, materials, and methods of warfare that will cause undue serious
injury or unnecessary suffering. As mentioned above, mines are classified as
prohibited weapons under international humanitarian law since they do not
discriminate and cause serious injuries even if they do not kill.

The United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use
of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively
Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects was adopted in 1980 with the
aim of prohibiting or restricting forms of weapons that are indiscriminate
and cause unnecessary suffering, including mines, and it entered into force
on 2 December 1983 for ratifying States. The Convention, also known as the
“Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons” (CCW), has been signed by
nd
125 countries so far. The 2 Protocol on the Prohibitions or Restrictions on
the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps, and Other Devices, Additional to the Con-
nd
vention, was revised in 1996. With the Revised Additional 2 Protocol, “It is
prohibited in all circumstances to use any mine, booby-trap or other device

13 https://e-dergi.tubitak.gov.tr/edergi/yazi.pdf;jsessionid=SGiymZfWEVZxxBj-4fFSHP4P?dergiKodu=4&cilt=33&sa-
yi=389&sayfa=60&yaziid=12060

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