“Today’s decision to leave the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is a retrograde move that will only further weaken the global consensus aimed at minimising civilian harm during armed conflict,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s deputy director for research in Europe.
“We call on the Lithuanian government to reverse this decision that could put civilian lives at risk,” she said, adding that anti-personnel mines have devastating effects on civilians.
There’s never been a consensus to ban landmines, just idealism.
Long story short the ban they formulated went too far: It also outlaws anti-personnel mines which deactivate themselves after some time. So you either sign up and lose access to a very useful tool that does spare civilians, or you don’t sign up and then there’s basically no limitations.
The reason the Geneva convention has such wide acceptance is because it isn’t idealistic – it doesn’t try to outlaw cruelty. It outlaws pointless and unnecessary cruelty, cruelty for cruelty’s sake instead of military objectives. The landmine treaty was not written with that kind of attitude so of course, if states decide that they really need landmines to e.g. secure their borders, then they will leave it, or never sign it.