The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines strongly condemns Latvia’s recent announcement of intent to withdraw from the Mine Ban Treaty. Such a dangerous move, if realized, will reverse Latvia’s decades-old progress in successfully banning the use, transfer, and production of landmines, protecting its people from such an indiscriminate weapon that violates humanitarian law. This decision was made soon after their Minister of Defense, as well as those of Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, recommended leaving the treaty. The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines urges the Latvian government to reconsider such a dangerous decision that puts the lives of thousands of Latvians at risk. 

It is deeply regrettable that Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine is prompting other countries in the region to reevaluate longstanding norms that have effectively curbed the spread of some of the most indiscriminate weapons. However, withdrawing from the Treaty would only endanger even more lives.

Antipersonnel mines are indiscriminate weapons that have been banned by 164 countries, due in part to the harm they pose to civilians, especially children. The Landmine Monitor 2024 found that civilians made up 84 percent of all recorded casualties in 2023, while children were 37 percent of casualties when the age was recorded.

Antipersonnel mines are designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity, or contact of a person. Such weapons cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants. Returning to the use of anti-personnel mines does not guarantee greater security for Latvia, but rather brings greater danger in both the present and future. Landmines can continue to injure or kill civilians long after the end of conflict, putting a heavy toll on the development of a country and its people. Any attempt to place landmines works against its own people, instead of protecting them. 

Withdrawing from the Mine Ban Treaty runs contradictory to Latvia’s claim to advocate for international law and human rights, as such a move rejects humanitarian international law and humanitarian disarmament, disrupting the decades old internationally held humanitarian norms around the globe. 

The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines strongly urges State Parties to work closely in preventing such a disastrous outcome from taking place. We urge the Latvian government, as well as those of Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, to reconsider taking such a dangerous decision that puts the lives of their own people at high risk.