§ Mr. HansonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his aims at the United Nations inhumane weapons review conference in September. [28230]
§ Mr. FreemanAt the UN weaponry convention review conference in September and October of this year, the UK's main aim will be to work towards strengthening protocol II of the convention to impose stricter controls on the use of land-mines. Specific measures which we will be pursuing include: an extension of the scope of the protocol to cover non-international armed conflicts; new provisions on self-destruct mechanisms in anti-personnel mines, detectable mines, and the marking and mapping of minefields; provisions on the transfer of anti-personnel mines; and an effective verification mechanism.