Anti-personnel mine
A mine designed to explode when a person steps on it or touches it. Its use and production are completely banned by the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Treaty).
Glossary
Technical terms explained in plain language, in alphabetical order.
Anti-tank mine
A mine designed to explode when a heavy vehicle such as a tank or truck drives over it. It is larger than an anti-personnel mine, and when left on roads or farmland it gets in the way of farming and transport.
Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority
A government authority established in 2000 that plans, manages, and coordinates all mine action in Cambodia. It divides roles with operators such as CMAC, which carries out the clearance itself.
See also: Cambodian Mine Action and Victims Assistance Authority (CMAA) , Establishment of the CMAA
Cambodian Mine Action Centre
Cambodia's operational agency for landmine and UXO clearance, established in 1992. Besides clearance, it also works on explosive ordnance risk education and technology development.
See also: Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) , Establishment of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) , What is CMAC?
Cluster munition
A weapon that packs many small "submunitions" inside one bomb and opens in the air to scatter them over a wide area. Some of the submunitions fail to explode and remain as unexploded ordnance, posing danger for a long time. In eastern Cambodia, cluster submunitions from the bombing of the Vietnam War era still remain.
See also: Stung Treng , BLU-series cluster submunitions
Demining
The work of finding buried landmines through surveys and removing them safely. Metal detectors, mine detection dogs, machines, and other tools are used in combination, and mines that are found are normally destroyed on the spot by controlled detonation.
See also: Metal Detector (Manual Demining) , How are landmines removed?
Explosive Remnants of War
A general term for explosives left behind after a war, including unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned ammunition. Together with landmines, the issue is sometimes called the "mine/ERW problem."
See also: ERW from ground fighting (grenades, mortars, shells) , Unexploded Ordnance
Information Management System for Mine Action
A system for managing information such as minefield locations, survey results, and clearance progress, developed by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). It is used in more than 40 countries around the world, including Cambodia.
See also: Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining , GIS / IMSMA (Information Management System for Mine Action)
K5 Plan
A plan carried out from around 1985 to build a defensive line along the border with Thailand. Under this plan, huge numbers of mines were laid along the border, and it became one of the main causes of the mine contamination that remains today.
See also: Battambang , Oddar Meanchey , Massive Landmine Contamination (Including the K5 Belt) , Why does Cambodia have so many landmines?
Khmer Rouge
The political force that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During the era of "Democratic Kampuchea" led by Pol Pot and others, very many people lost their lives through forced relocation, executions, and other causes. Even after the regime collapsed, the civil war continued and landmines kept being used.
See also: Fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge , Forced Labor and Mass Deaths (1975-1979) , Establishment of Democratic Kampuchea
Landmine
A weapon buried in or placed on the ground that explodes when a person or vehicle comes close or steps on it. Landmines remain long after a war ends and keep harming local people. There are anti-personnel mines, which target people, and anti-tank mines, which target tanks and other vehicles.
See also: PMN , Why does Cambodia have so many landmines?
Mine action
A term for the whole range of work that addresses the problem of landmines and unexploded ordnance. It includes not only clearance but also education about the dangers, assistance for victims, and campaigns calling for the abolition of landmines.
See also: Cambodian Mine Action and Victims Assistance Authority (CMAA) , United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
Mine risk education
Education that teaches people living in areas with landmines and unexploded ordnance, especially children, how to protect themselves: do not go near, do not touch, and report what you find. It is a vital way to prevent accidents until clearance is finished.
See also: Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) , The HALO Trust
Ottawa Treaty
An international treaty that bans the use, development, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines, and requires the destruction of stockpiled mines and the clearance of buried mines. Signing began in 1997, and both Cambodia and Japan are parties.
See also: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) , Cambodia Signs the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention , Domestic Law Prohibiting Anti-Personnel Mines , Ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty
Peace Boat
An international NGO established in 1983 that works on international exchange, peace education, and landmine abolition campaigns through round-the-world voyages. The operator of this site also visited Cambodia on a Peace Boat voyage.
See also: What is Peace Boat?
Unexploded Ordnance
Munitions that were fired or dropped but remained without exploding. They include bombs, shells, and cluster submunitions, and the danger of explosion remains even after many years.
See also: Unexploded aerial bombs , What is UXO (unexploded ordnance)? , Explosive Remnants of War
United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
A United Nations peacekeeping operation (1992-1993) set up after the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements to monitor the ceasefire and support the holding of elections in Cambodia. Japan also sent personnel.
See also: United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) , Establishment of UNTAC , UN-Supervised General Elections
Sources & references
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