Jul 27. () –
The NGO Amnesty International has requested this Friday that the presence of anti-personnel mines left by Russian troops in Ukraine after the invasion of this country in February 2022 be investigated as “possible war crimes”, arguing that “they are intrinsically indiscriminate weapons and, as such, are prohibited by International Humanitarian Law”.
“The use of anti-personnel landmines contaminating the territories of Ukraine previously and currently occupied by Russian forces continues to pose a deadly threat to the civilian population and must be subject to an immediate, thorough, independent and impartial investigation,” the organisation said in a public statement.
In the same note, they have underlined “the laborious and dangerous work” carried out “every day” by members of demining teams who “work to clean Ukraine of this threat” and have demanded “an effective investigation” of all “incidents” arising from their presence “as possible war crimes.”
“Mines are scattered across the territory of Ukraine that has been and is currently occupied by Russian troops, posing a daily and deadly threat to civilians. Some have been deliberately placed in civilian homes where they maim and kill,” said Patrick Thompson, Amnesty International’s Ukraine researcher.
Thompson also urged the international community to “commit to providing sustained economic and technical assistance to help Ukraine escape a threat that continues to devastate lives and livelihoods.”
Amnesty has pointed to “Russia’s continued aggression” as “the biggest obstacle to clearing Ukraine of landmines” and reiterated that “countries must comply with the ban on the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel mines worldwide.” “The use of these types of indiscriminate weapons must end,” Thompson said.
According to the Landmine Monitor 2023, Ukraine recorded 608 landmine casualties in 2022, the highest number behind only Syria.
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