Conduct of hostilities

Between 1999 and 2009, Albania removed the landmines placed along its border during the Kosovo [1] conflict. Although Albania was not directly involved in the conflict, it took the steps required by the Ottawa Convention [2] to remove all anti-personnel mines within ten years. With assistance from the international community, Albania was able to restore safety to the affected regions.

Between 20 May 2015 and 19 November 2016, as part of their peace process, Colombia and then Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) agreed to demine El Orejón and Santa Helena, two of Colombia’s most heavily mined areas. In a coordinated effort supported by international actors, FARC-EP members identified the location of the mines while the Colombian government provided equipment and expertise to clear them.

Croatia ratified the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in 1998. Since then, it has undertaken various demining activities and succeeded in removing many of the anti-personnel landmines on its territory. A number of different reasons may have led to such compliance with IHL. They include: the awareness that these actions are likely to have beneficial and long-term consequences – for the socio-economic development of the country, for instance; support and political pressure from a broad range of external actors, such as other states.

In March 2011, during Canada's Operation Mobile in Libya, two Canadian fighter jets aborted an airstrike that they had been authorized to carry out: they did so because of their assessment that the collateral damage would be too high. Their actions, which demonstrated respect for the principles of proportionality and precautions in attack, may have been influenced by military ethics and also by military interests, particularly the wish to preserve political support for Operation Mobile.

In 2011, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which acts in support of the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabaab, developed an indirect fire policy which resulted in reduction of harm to the civilian population. Number of measures have been taken by AMISOM in implementing its new policy, including the creation of no fire zones and setting restriction on the modalities of use of certain types of weapons.