Addressing a UN discussion on conventional weapons, a Vatican diplomat rued the decision of several nations to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty against land mines.
“These weapons inflict indiscriminate and enduring harm on individuals, communities and the environment, leaving a deadly legacy long after conflicts have ended,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. “The fact that they can be inadvertently activated by anyone, especially innocent civilians, makes them incompatible with the principles of humanity and international law.”
Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland have announced their decisions to withdraw from the 1999 treaty; Russia, like the US, China, and India, never signed the treaty.
Archbishop Caccia also criticized rising military expenditures and supported a draft treaty that would prohibit lethal autonomous weapon systems (“killer robots”).