It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, June 30, 2023
Ukraine accused of using indiscriminate landmines by Human Rights Watch
Eleven civilian casualties, including one death and multiple leg amputations, were recorded from mines by the rights group.
Ukraine has been urged to stop using banned landmines by a rights group.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had uncovered new evidence that Ukrainian forces had deployed the indiscriminate weapon as they battle the Russian invasion.
The international NGO documented 11 civilian causalities, including one death and multiple leg amputations, from "petal" or "butterfly" mines, which it claimed Ukraine had fired by rocket into Russian-occupied territory near the eastern city of Izium last year.
In a statement released on Friday, it said Russian forces have also used at least 13 types of antipersonnel mines across Ukraine since the start of its invasion in February 2022, killing and maiming civilians.
Landmines can inflict a devastating toll on civilian populations long after a conflict ends. The PFM-1 antipersonnel mines, which HRW reported Ukraine launched into Russian-controlled areas, are small plastic blast mines, which detonate when pressure is applied - for instance, if someone steps on it.
HRW called on Kyiv not to employ the banned weapons, investigate their suspected use and hold accountable those responsible.
“A prompt, transparent, and thorough inquiry could have far-reaching benefits for Ukrainians both now and for future generations,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch.
“Ukrainian authorities concerned for their civilians’ protection have an interest in getting to the bottom of how, when, and where these mines were used,” he added. “And doing all they can to stop them from being used again.”
Ukrainian officials said they would look into this issue when HRW first reported on it in January.
The US-based group says it has shared its most recent findings with the Ukrainian government, but received no response.
HRW has published four reports documenting the use of landmines by Russian forces, which it said "violates international humanitarian law".
Moscow has not joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty that outlaws landmines due to their inherently discriminatory nature. Nor has the United States.
Ukraine ratified the treaty in 2005, which also requires countries to destroy their stocks of mines, clear mined areas and provide assistance to victims.
Ukrainian forces appear to have used rockets to scatter stacks of internationally banned, hand-size antipersonnel land mines over Russian-occupied areas in eastern Ukraine, according to evidence collected by Human Rights Watch.
A report released overnight adds to previous evidence collected by the New York-based rights group suggesting that Ukrainian forces scattered thousands of antipersonnel mines last year, injuring civilians, in violation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, to which Ukraine is a signatory. Russia, which has not signed the treaty, has used antipersonnel mines far more extensively, rights groups say.
The bodyweight-triggered mines in question are considered particularly pernicious and violate international laws of war because they harm soldiers and civilians indiscriminately. Their small size and innocuous appearance can lead to children or other civilians handling them unknowingly.
The rights group examined photographs of the remains of rockets
found in eastern Ukraine that are used exclusively to scatter PFM-1S
antipersonnel mines. Handwritten messages on the remains could
be traced back to Ukrainian organizations that offered to have
“death wishes” inscribed on various munitions to raise funds for
the war effort.
Russian forces have made use of at least 13 different types of banned antipersonnel mines, as well as victim-activated booby traps, in the invasion of Ukraine, Human Rights Watch found in previous reports. But Ukraine has expressly committed not to use them, despite evidence suggesting the contrary.
“These antipersonnel mines have had immediate and devastating consequences for civilians in and around Izium, including by tearing off limbs of residents as they go about their daily lives,” said Ida Sawyer, the director of Human Rights Watch’s crisis and conflict division.
The Ukrainian government has not responded to requests for comment on the apparent remains of Ukrainian rockets used to scatter mines, but acknowledged previous findings by the rights group, saying they would be “duly studied.”
“Ukraine, exercising its right to self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, fully implements its international obligations while Russian occupiers commit the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide of the Ukrainian people,” the Foreign Ministry said in its response earlier this year.
Known as butterfly or petal mines for their shape, small size and light weight, PFM mines are typically green or brown, and one wing is filled with explosives meant to detonate when enough pressure, between 11-55lbs, is applied.
Though some types of PFMs can be emplaced by hand, PFM-1S variant must be deployed using a mine-laying system from a mortar, aircraft or rocket such as the Uragan 9M27K3 mine-laying rocket identified in the report.
Such rockets can carry 312 mines in stacks of “cassettes” that disperse after the rocket is fired.
PFM-1S mines, which can float down to the ground without detonating, are equipped with a mechanism that is designed to self-destruct between 1-40 hours after deployment.
When that mechanism fails, which it often does, the mines threaten civilians by remaining undetonated on the ground indefinitely.
The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, to which the United States, like Russia, is not a party, requires countries to abstain from using antipersonnel mines and get rid of any stores they may have, a process that can be costly.
Russia’s rejection of the treaty does not exempt it from accountability, Sawyer said, as any use of “inherently indiscriminate weapons” violates international law.
Though Ukraine ratified the treaty in 2005 and officials reported the destruction of millions of antipersonnel mines, in 2021 the country reportedly still possessed more than 3 million.
Any use of mines contributes to an arduous process for returning Ukraine’s land to civilian use. Demining is a slow, costly enterprise that experts say could take as many as hundreds of years.
Since Ukraine regained control of the territory around Izyum, Sawyer said, a new round of mine injuries have been reported. “Because of the nature of these mines,” Sawyer said, “civilians will likely suffer for many years to come.”
David Stern contributed to this report.
PFM-1S
This anti-personnel mine of Soviet and Russian manufacture is intended to self-destruct over a period of 1 to 40 hours.
Plastic “butterfly” wing
A thin plastic wing makes it easier
to manipulate.
The mine is normally colored green,
khaki brown or sand-brown
to avoid detection.
Length: 4.7in
Fuse
The fuze is pressure operated and incorporates an arming delay.
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