https://crsreports.congress.gov
Updated September 29, 2022
U.S. Antipersonnel Landmine Use Policy
Current United States Policy on Anti-
Personnel Landmines (APLs)
On June 21, 2022, National Security Council (NSC)
Spokesperson Adrienne Watson announced the United
States would “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 of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their
Destruction—commonly known as the Ottawa Convention.
The convention requires States Parties to stop the
production, use, and transfer of APLs, as well as to destroy
all stockpiled APLs, except for the “minimum number
absolutely necessary” for training purposes. According to a
June 21, 2022, White House fact sheet, the Biden
Administration arrived at this decision after conducting a
“comprehensive policy review.”
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.
In 1996, President 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 U.N. 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. 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 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, and 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. APL policy, the Obama
Administration announced several changes to that policy.
An NSC spokesperson stated in June 2014 that the United
States would not in the future “produce or otherwise
acquire any” APLs, including 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 Presidential 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 new policy authorized 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
and landmine alternatives that could further reduce the risk
of unintended harm to noncombatants.”
Additional Information on June 2022
APL Policy Decision
A June 21, 2022 White House Fact Sheet stated the United
States would not develop, produce, or acquire APLs; export
