Cambodia's Tun Channareth Renews Fight For Mine-Free World In Geneva

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Cambodian landmine survivor and activist Tun Channareth returned to Geneva to defend the Ottawa Convention, as the global treaty he helped champion faces withdrawal threats from several Eastern European nations. This content was published on July 18, 2025 - 09:00 6 minutes

Based in Geneva, I cover the work of the United Nations and other international organisations there. My focus is on humanitarian aid, human rights, and peace diplomacy. I studied business and economics at the University of Lausanne before training as a journalist and joining SWI swissinfo in 2021.

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• Deutsch de Mit dem unermüdlichen Minengegner Tun Channareth bei der UNO in Genf Read more: Mit dem unermüdlichen Minengegner Tun Channareth bei der UNO in Gen
• Français fr Tun Channareth, infatigable survivant et opposant aux mines antipersonnel Original Read more: Tun Channareth, infatigable survivant et opposant aux mines antipersonne
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• Português pt Tun Channareth, sobrevivente e incansável opositor das minas antipessoais Read more: Tun Channareth, sobrevivente e incansável opositor das minas antipessoai

“Do you like peace, yes or no?” In the austere Geneva International Conference Centre, Tun Channareth's call rang out like a gunshot.“Yes!” replied the dozens of diplomats present. Long applause followed.

“It wasn't part of my speech,” he confides, smiling a few hours later.“I improvised! But it's easy to say you want peace. What we need is action,” he adds, clearly accustomed to empty diplomatic promises.

At 65, this tireless Cambodian activist has spent over three decades fighting against anti-personnel mines – horrific weapons that make no distinction between a soldier, whether friend or foe, and a child.

Channareth has first-hand knowledge of their horror. On December 18, 1982, at the age of 22, he lost both his legs when he stepped on a Russian-made mine on the border between Cambodia and Thailand. At the time, he was a young soldier in the Vietnamese army, fighting the Khmer Rouge in his native country – a choice he says was motivated by the need to be“fed and clothed” when he had nothing.

'Don't make me cry again in 2025'

More than four decades after losing his legs to a landmine, Channareth is still fighting. Fresh off a flight from Phnom Penh, he has come to Geneva to attend the intersessional meeting of the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. This is a treaty he championed and watched become reality in 1997, but one that is now at risk as several countries threaten to walk away.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland – all neighbours of Russia or its military ally Belarus – have announced their intention to withdraw from the treaty in recent months. Russian aggression in Ukraine has prompted them to rearm, and they are refusing to rule out using an entire category of weapons.

>> Read our article explaining what is at stake if these states withdraw from the convention:

More More Why five European countries want to allow anti-personnel mines again

This content was published on Jul 18, 2025 The three Baltic countries, Poland and Finland have decided to withdraw from the international treaty banning anti-personnel mines. Why now?

Read more: Why five European countries want to allow anti-personnel mines again

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