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in Nafusa Mountains</a> </h6> </div> <h6 class="node-subtitle">Placement of More Than 150 Antipersonnel Mines Confirmed</h6> <div class="info"> <div class="meta date"> <span class="created">June 21, 2011</span> </div> </div> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> <div class="node-sidebar"><dl><dd><div class="clear-block field field-type-assetref field-field-related-images"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><div class="view view-asset-image-scale-300x-captioned-thickbox"><div class="view-content view-content-asset-image-scale-300x-captioned-thickbox"><div class="clear-block assets"><div class="asset first"><div class="view-field field-imagefile"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/photographs/2011_Libya_Landmines01.jpg" title="" class="thickbox" rel="gallery-image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528im_/http://www.hrw.org/en/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale-300x/media/images/photographs/2011_Libya_Landmines01.jpg" alt="2011_Libya_Landmines01.jpg"/></a></div><div class="view-field field-image-caption"><p>Libyan rebels found and removed more than 150 of these antipersonnel landmines, the Brazilian-made T-AB-1, which government forces had placed north of Zintan in the Nafusa Mountains.</p> </div><div class="view-field field-copyright">© 2011 Human Rights Watch</div></div> <div class="asset last"><div class="view-field field-imagefile"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media/images/photographs/2011_Libya_Landmines02.jpg" title="" class="thickbox" rel="gallery-image"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528im_/http://www.hrw.org/en/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale-300x/media/images/photographs/2011_Libya_Landmines02.jpg" alt="2011_Libya_Landmines02.jpg"/></a></div><div class="view-field field-image-caption"><p>Libyan government forces have also placed the T-AB-1 landmine in Misrata. The T-AB-1 plastic antipersonnel mine has a low metal content and is therefore difficult to detect.</p> </div><div class="view-field field-copyright">© 2011 Human Rights Watch</div></div> </div></div></div> </div></div></div></dd><dd><div class="clear-block field field-type-nodereference field-field-related-content"><div class="field-label">Related Materials: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/03/landmines-libya-technical-briefing-note">Landmines in Libya: Technical Briefing Note</a></div><div class="field-item"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/29/libya-rebels-pledge-not-use-landmines">Libya: Rebels Pledge Not to Use Landmines</a></div></div></div></dd><dd><div class="clear-block field field-type-link field-field-news-link"><div class="field-label">More Coverage: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/arms">More Human Rights Watch reporting on Libya</a></div><div class="field-item"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8590114/Libya-Gaddafi-regime-accused-of-laying-landmines.html">Libya: Gaddafi regime accused of laying landmines</a></div><div class="field-item"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/noticias/2011/06/110623_libia_minas_rp.shtml">Líbia usa minas terrestres produzidas no Brasil, dizem entidades</a></div></div></div></dd><dd><div class="pullquote"><div class="clear-block field field-type-text field-field-news-pullquote"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"><p>These antipersonnel landmines pose a huge threat to civilians. More than 150 countries have banned landmines, but Libya continues to defy this global trend.</p> </div></div></div><div class="clear-block field field-type-text field-field-news-pullquote-author"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item">Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch</div></div></div></div></dd></dl></div> <div class="node-body"><p>(Cairo) - Libyan government forces placed more than 150 antipersonnel landmines in at least one location in the Nafusa Mountains, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch visited the site, inspected mines that had been removed, and interviewed the rebel fighters who removed them.</p> <p>"These antipersonnel landmines pose a huge threat to civilians," said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. "More than 150 countries have banned landmines, but Libya continues to defy this global trend."</p> <p>Human Rights Watch has <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/03/landmines-libya-technical-briefing-note">confirmed</a> government use of five types of landmines in six separate locations in Libya, including the use of antipersonnel and antivehicle landmines near Ajdabiya.</p> <p>This is the first confirmed use of landmines in the Nafusa Mountains, in the far western part of Libya.</p> <p>The mines found in the mountains are a Brazilian-made antipersonnel mine, the T-AB-1. The mines were placed about 10 miles north of the town of Zintan in a place called Khusha (coordinates N 32º 02.448', E 012º 12.710'), apparently to defend government positions further north.</p> <p>The T-AB-1 plastic antipersonnel mine has a low metal content and is therefore difficult to detect once placed, Human Rights Watch said. In addition to its antipersonnel properties, the T-AB-1 can be used as a fuze for an antivehicle mine with the same name.</p> <p>When Libyan government forces placed the antipersonnel landmines remains unclear. Armed opposition forces in the Nafusa Mountains said that rebel fighters discovered the mines on or around June 1, 2011, and removed 169 of them. Human Rights Watch inspected the disassembled mines in Zintan.</p> <p>The de facto opposition authority in Libya, the National Transitional Council, formally <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/29/libya-rebels-pledge-not-use-landmines">pledged</a> on April 28 not to use antipersonnel and antivehicle landmines, and to destroy all landmines in its possession.</p> <p>"We hope the rebels will respect their promise not to use landmines and will destroy all mines in their possession," Goose said. </p> <p>Government forces have placed T-AB-1 antipersonnel landmines in other areas during the conflict. In May, researchers from Amnesty International <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/libya-civilians-risk-amid-new-mine-threat-2011-05-25">documented</a> the use of the mine at two places in the Tammina neighborhood of Misrata, a residential area southeast of the city's center.</p> <p>Libya is one of 37 nations that have not joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. A total of 156 nations are parties to the treaty, and another two have signed but not yet ratified.</p> <p>Brazil signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and became a State Party on 1 October 1999. Brazil ceased production and export of antipersonnel landmines in 1989. It has never used antipersonnel mines.</p> <p>The Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively bans the use, production, and transfer of all antipersonnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiles within four years and clearance of mined areas within 10 years, and calls for assistance to landmine victims. In recent years, the only government forces that have continued to lay antipersonnel mines are Burma's.</p> <p>"The use of antipersonnel mines in the Libya conflict is endangering civilians and will continue to do so after the fighting has stopped," Goose said.</p> </div><div class="node-translations"><span class="label">Also available in:</span><ul class="links"><li class="first 0"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/21-1" class="0">العربية</a></li> <li class="1"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/21/libye-le-gouvernement-d-ploy-des-mines-antipersonnel-dans-les-montagnes-de-nafousa" class="1">Français</a></li> <li class="last 2"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/21/l-bia-governo-usa-minas-terrestres-nas-montanhas-de-nafusa" class="2">Portuguese, Brazil</a></li> </ul></div><div id="send-to"><form action="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/21/libya-government-using-landmines-nafusa-mountains" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post" id="messaging-sendto-form"> <div><div class="form-item" id="edit-sendto-wrapper"> <label for="edit-sendto">Send this News to: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="128" name="sendto" id="edit-sendto" size="60" value="" class="form-text required"/> <div class="description">Please enter email addresses separated by commas.</div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-custom-wrapper"> <label for="edit-custom">Personal message: </label> <textarea cols="60" rows="2" name="custom" id="edit-custom" class="form-textarea resizable">HRW.org visitor sent you this article from Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org</textarea> </div> <input type="submit" name="op" id="edit-submit" value="Send" class="form-submit"/> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-messaging-sendto-form" value="messaging_sendto_form"/> </div></form> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div id="footer"><div class="limiter clear-block"> <div class="clear-block"><a href="#header" class="back-to-top">Back to top</a></div> <div class="nav"> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/rss" class="rss-link">RSS</a> <div class="pipe-links"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/home" title="Home">Home</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/our-work" title="Our Work">Our Work</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/news" title="News">News</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/publications" title="Publications">Publications</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/multimedia">Multimedia</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/about" title="About Us">About Us</a> <span class="pipe">|</span> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110706011528/http://www.kintera.org/site/c.nlIWIgN2JwE/b.4542089/">Donate</a></div> </div> <div class="footer-blocks clear-block"> <div id="block-tic-tic_copy_24478" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="node clear-block ltr ntype-copy"> <div class="content clear-block filter-text"> Human Rights Watch<br/> 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor<br/> New York, NY 10118-3299<br/> USA<br/> Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700<br/> <br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/contact-us">Contact Us - Global Offices</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/iff">Film Festival</a></strong><br/> <strong><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/about/jobs">Employment</a></strong> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-tic-5" class="clear-block block block-tic"> <div class="bcontent"><div class="col-left clear-block"><strong class="vocab-header"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/regions">Browse by Region</a></strong><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/africa">Africa</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/americas">Americas</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/asia">Asia</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/europe/central-asia">Europe/Central Asia</a></li><li class=""><a href="/web/20110706011528/http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-east/n-africa">Middle East/N. 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