This paper highlights the collective efforts to address and prevent explosive ordnance contamination and its effects.
Explosive ordnance (EO) has a multifaceted negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights of people and communities. EO can both directly affect rights, as in the case of violating the right to life by posing a risk of death or serious injuries and can create the conditions that obstruct the full enjoyment of human rights: the fulfilment of the right to food is hindered by the presence of EO and its effects on people’s food security.
Both the sectors of international human rights law (IHRL) and humanitarian disarmament and humanitarian mine action (HMA) have numerous treaties, frameworks, and technical guidelines that can interact in at least three different ways. The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), their related plans of action, and the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) could be seen as outlining how certain human rights obligations related to EO contamination can be fulfilled.
In some cases, the content of human rights rules and obligations can provide more details about how to prioritise HMA tasks. For example, the content and elaborations on the right to food can be very helpful to clarify how certain HMA tasks should be undertaken to contribute to the right to food and food security.
HMA and IHRL norms and provisions can mutually strengthen each other. As in the case of international cooperation and assistance, which is considered critical for both HMA and human rights fulfilment.
Finally, when it comes to actors and institutions, both sectors have their own systems and structures, which should learn to speak and understand each other. Institutions like the UN Human Rights Council, UN treaty bodies, and special procedures can, for example, strengthen the efforts to shed light on forgotten contexts, but it should coordinate with humanitarian disarmament fora, including the APMBC and CCM.
Similarly, at local and regional levels, there can be a synergy between organisations protecting and promoting human rights and HMA operators, but these efforts should be coordinated to maximise their effectiveness.
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