Moscow Conference Final Statement and Wire Service Stories

Update

to: all campaigners
from: liz
re: moscow conference final statement and wire service stories

hi ya'll, below please find the final statement of the ippnw/icbl
moscow conference which ended today. tomorrow a group of participants
will participate in a 'lobbying day' including meetings with
government officials from various ministries and the duma (and others
will sightsee in red square!) Several wire service stories are attached
below the statement.
thanks, liz
BAN EM YELTSIN!!!

###
FINAL STATEMENT

IPPNW/ICBL First International Conference on Landmines in Russia and the
CIS

Moscow, Russian Federation, 28 May 1998

>From 27-28 May 1998, the International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War (IPPNW) and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
(ICBL) hosted an international conference aimed at promoting a
comprehensive ban on antipersonnel mines by the Russian Federation and
Commonwealth of Independent States nations.

The conference was attended by more than 160 participants from
non-governmental organizations in 21 countries. Numerous governmental
representatives attended the conference, including diplomatic
representatives of governments which have signed the Mine Ban Treaty
such as Austria, Canada, Hungary, Norway, Moldova, the Netherlands and
South Africa. Diplomatic representatives posted to the Russian
Federation from over 25 Mine Ban Treaty signatory governments attended
parts of the conference. Support for the conference was also given by
pro-ban diplomatic representatives unable to attend. Of CIS nations,
Moldova and Turkmenistan have signed the Mine Ban Treaty, and
Turkmenistan was the fourth government to ratify.

The opening plenary featured remarks from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, 1997 Nobel Laureate and
ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams, written statements by the Russian
Orthodox Church Patriach, Alexy II, and the Office of the President of
Russia.

At the opening plenary representatives of the Foreign Affairs Ministry
and Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation announced that by the end
of the year, Russia will no longer produce 'blast' antipersonnel
landmines. The IPPNW and ICBL welcome this permanent production ban on
this type of antipersonnel landmine. However, Russian officials
insisted that antipersonnel landmines continue to be essential for
war-fighting, border defense, stopping terrorists, drug traffickers and
arms traffickers, and protection of nuclear facilities. Russian
officials indicated that while it is formal policy to sign the Mine Ban
Treaty at some unspecified time in the future, it could not do so until
alternatives were developed, and other countries such as the U.S. and
China signed. One official indicated that no money for alternatives was
in the current military budget and that no plans existed for putting it
in future budgets.

The conference included presentations, panels, videos and slide shows on
a wide range of mine-related issues, including the Mine Ban Treaty,
humanitarian demining, mine victim assistance programs, and case studies
on the impact of mines in Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Chechnya, Dagestan, Georgia, Moldova, Nagorny Karabakh, and the Russian
Federation.

Members of the ICBL and IPPNW call on:

· Russia and CIS governments to sign the Mine Ban Treaty now. The Mine
Ban Treaty provides the best framework for the total elimination of
antipersonnel mines;

· Russia, if it refuses to sign the treaty now, to take interim steps
such as a permanent ban on production of all antipersonnel landmines, a
permanent ban on the export of all antipersonnel landmines; and the
establishment of a timetable for the destruction of stockpiles of all
antipersonnel landmines.

· Russia and CIS nations to make public detailed information on
production, stockpiles, and exports of antipersonnel landmines, as well
as mine incidents, mine clearance and mine victim assistance initiatives
throughout the region;

· Parties to any possible conflicts in the region, such as Dagestan, not
to use antipersonnel landmines.

As a result of the conference the ICBL is hopeful that more coordinated
NGO action against landmines will take place between NGOs within the
Russia and the CIS. NGOs broke into two groups - one for Russia and the
other for Caucasus nations -- to develop an action plan for the future.
Major elements of the plans include:

Russia Working Group Plan of Action

1) IPPNW intends to take the lead in building a coalition campaign in
Russia and throughout the region;

2) IPPNW will produce a report of the Moscow Conference and will
distribute it to participants and members of IPPNW and the ICBL;

3) IPPNW will research and disseminate information on production,
stockpiling and export of antipersonnel landmines by Russia and CIS
governments;

4) Participants will encourage education at professional, public and
decision-maker levels to increase awareness of the effects and
consequences of the use of antipersonnel land mines and of steps which
might be taken to address the problems caused by antipersonnel land
mines.

5) Participants will advertise the urgent need for effective demining
efforts within the borders of the CIS and beyond, and will seek to raise
funds from within Russia and from the international community to promote
this activity.

Caucasus Working Group Plan of Action

Participants from Abkasia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Dagestan,
Georgia, Nagorny Karabakh, Russia attending the First International
Conference on Landmines in Russia and the CIS undertook these follow up
actions:

1) Participants will inform colleagues in their own and other
organizations about the Moscow conference, particularly women's
organizations, youth organizations, humanitarian and cultural
organizations, medical professionals and educators.

2) Participants, including those from Chechnya, Abkhasia and Armenia,
will inform their media about the conference and give interviews on
tv/radio upon returning home, as well as show the videos received here
and request their tv stations to broadcast them and conduct other public
awareness raising activities.

3) Some participants will hold roundtables with NGO colleagues and
government representatives, notably in Armenia in June and in Georgia
soon. Chechen participants will organize seminars with youth.

4) Some participants will forward resolutions and results of this
conference to their leaders and heads of relevant governments.

5) Some participants will collect data and information on the landmines
situation in their regions and share this information.

6) Participants will call for urgent demining, mine awareness and victim
assistance work and seek funds for these activities.

7) Some participants expressed the necessity to create a network of
medical experts dealing with rehabilitation issues in the Caucasus
and to exchange information and experience with other medical bodies in
the world.

8) Participants expressed the need to coordinate the work of
organizations in the Caucasus region on mines related issues. This
included holding the following events:

- local conferences in each region/republic of the Caucasus
simultaneously for one day in October.
- An international conference in the Caucasus in the Spring of 1999.

At these meetings experiences will be shared and future activities
planned.

9) Participants agreed that a film should be made in Russian and English
languages on the consequences of landmines used in the region to raise
awareness within and outside the region.

10) Educational programmes will be developed and initiated in schools
and colleges to raise awareness on landmines issues.

11) Participants called on the ICBL and other international
organizations which support local efforts on mine action and awareness
to provide assistance in finding funds to carry out this work locally.

12) Participants volunteered to be contact points for each republic. For
the moment the international contact point is Chris Hunter, tel +7 096
901 8346, email: peacecentre-at-glasnet-ru

In addition, in September the Albania Campaign (Anti-Mining Friends
Committee) will undertake a week of action on landmines for between 31
August, one year since when Princess Diana died, and the following week,
when Albanian-born Mother Theresa died. In Albania, a postage stamp
depicting the call for a ban is currently being produced.
Wire service stories:

#Russia Rebuffs Calls to Sign Landmines | #RUSSIA/LANDMINES | #Conference on Anti-Personnel Mines to Work in Moscow
http://customnews.cnn.com/cnews/pna.show_story?p_art_id=2608451&p_sectio
n_name=On+Target&p_art_type=154338&p_subcat=landmines&p_category=
Russia Rebuffs Calls to Sign Landmines Treaty

Reuters
27-MAY-98
By Timothy Heritage

MOSCOW, May 27 (Reuters) - United Nations human rights
commissioner
Mary Robinson and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody
Williams led a chorus of
appeals to Russia on Wednesday to join an international
ban on the use of
anti-personnel landmines.

But Russian officials stood their ground at a conference
being held in Moscow to
increase pressure on the Kremlin. They made clear that
Russia was not about to
sign up because of financial and security concerns.

``I hope this conference in Moscow will encourage deep
thinking in this country
on this issue,'' Robinson told about 100 delegates at the
First International
Conference on Landmines in Russia and the Commonwealth of
Independent
States.

``It would be good to see the Russian Federation address
this issue and to
hopefully sign and ratify this treaty.''

She urged Russia to find the political will to join the
more than 120 countries
who signed the treaty banning anti-personnel landmines
last December in
Ottawa.

Russia and two other major military powers -- the United
States and China --
have refused to sign the treaty, which commits
signatories not to make, use,
stockpile or transfer mines.

President Boris Yeltsin has said Russia, which with China
has been the biggest
producer of landmines since World War Two, intends to
sign the treaty
eventually but has set no date.

The Kremlin said its position remained unchanged in a
brief message read out at
the conference.

``We are ready to join the Ottawa Treaty in a reasonable
timeframe, when the
necessary financial and technical conditions are
created,'' it said. It gave no
details.

Russian officials are concerned by the cost of destroying
the landmines and fear
Russia's long border and nuclear plants could become
vulnerable without the
protection of mines.

``The timeframe is simply unacceptable for financial and
technical reasons,''
Adam Nizhelovsky, deputy commander-in-chief of Russia's
military engineers,
told reporters after hearing one delegate after another
urge Russia to sign up
immediately.

He said Russia had halted production of the most
dangerous and inhumane
mines this year. A Foreign Ministry official said all
landmine production would
halt this year, but Nizhelovsky said only some production
was being stopped.

Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work
coordinating the
International Campaign to Ban Landmines, dismissed the
Russian resistance as a
``lack of political will to fully embrace the mine ban
treaty.''

Contesting Russian officials' belief that they need mines
to protect the border,
Williams said: ``It is a specious argument and it's just
an excuse to not sign the
treaty.''

Williams welcomed a U.S. pledge last week to sign the
treaty eventually if an
alternative defence to landmines is found. But she added:
``It is not enough. We
want them to sign now.''

The two-day conference in Moscow is partly intended to
encourage
non-governmental organisations in Russia to step up
pressure on the Kremlin
over landmines and to increase public awareness over the
issue in Russia.

It is supported by the International Committee of the Red
Cross and by
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War, a group which won
the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

Williams said only two of the 15 former Soviet republics,
12 of which make up
the Commonwealth of Independent States, had signed the
treaty --
Turkmenistan and Moldova.

gopher://gopher.voa.gov:70/00/newswire/wed/RUSSIA-LANDMINES

DATE=5/27/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-232856 TITLE=RUSSIA/LANDMINES (L-ONLY)BYLINE=MICHELE KELEMEN
DATELINE=MOSCOW

INTRO: JODY WILLIAMS, WHO LEADS AN ORGANIZATION "THE
INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST LANDMINES" WHICH WON LAST YEAR'S
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, HAS TAKEN HER ANTI-LANDMINE CAMPAIGN TO
RUSSIA. SHE SPOKE WITH REPORTERS ON WEDNESDAY AND V-O-A'S
MICHELE KELEMEN WAS THERE.

TEXT: ONE-HUNDRED-26 COUNTRIES HAVE SIGNED A TREATY TO BAN THE
STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND USE OF LANDMINES SINCE JODY WILLIAMS
BEGAN HER CAMPAIGN IN 1992. SHE BELIEVES IT IS TIME FOR RUSSIA
AND OTHER FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS TO JOIN AS WELL, AND SHE MADE
IT CLEAR TO REPORTERS THAT SHE DOES NOT LIKE TO HEAR EXCUSES.

// WILLIAMS ACT ///

IT IS GOING TO BE AN ACT OF POLITICAL WILL THAT MAKES
COUNTRIES IN THIS REGION SIGN. THE MILITARY IS NOT
GOING TO GIVE UP THE WEAPON BY ITS OWN VOLITION. IT
TAKES THE POLITICAL SIDE OF THE COUNTRY TO SAY "EXCUSE
ME, THE TIDE OF HISTORY HAS CHANGED, WE ARE TELLING YOU,
YOU CAN GIVE THIS UP."

/// END ACT ///

OPENING A CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW ON LANDMINES, MS. WILLIAMS URGED
RUSSIA TO MAKE ITS EXPORT BAN ON THE WEAPON PERMANENT, STOP
PRODUCTION OF ALL KINDS OF LANDMINES AND SET UP A TIME FRAME FOR
WHEN IT WILL JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY. SHE SAYS RUSSIA HAS
A CHANCE TO, IN HER WORDS, "SHOW LEADERSHIP AND SIGN THE TREATY
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES DOES."

BUT RUSSIA SAYS THAT'S NOT SO EASY. WHILE PRESIDENT BORIS
YELTSIN HAS PLEDGED HIS COUNTRY WILL EVENTUALLY SIGN, A
REPRESENTATIVE OF RUSSIA'S DEFENSE MINISTRY ARGUED WEDNESDAY THAT
LANDMINES ARE STILL NEEDED TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY'S VAST BORDER.
THE OFFICIAL SAYS RUSSIA HAS STOPPED PRODUCING THE MOST DANGEROUS
KINDS OF LANDMINES, BUT NOT ALL, AND HE SAYS RUSSIA LACKS THE
MONEY IT NEEDS TO GET RID OF ITS STOCKPILES.

JODY WILLIAMS SAYS THE FUNDING ISSUE WAS ALSO BROUGHT UP DURING
TALKS LAST WEEK IN UKRAINE, WHICH REPORTEDLY DOES NOT PRODUCE
LANDMINES, BUT DOES HAVE A HUGE STOCKPILE OF MINES LEFT OVER FROM
SOVIET TIMES.

/// SECOND WILLIAMS ACT ///

I THINK THEIR REASONING FOR NOT SIGNING IS ABOUT AS FULL
OF HOLES AS SWISS CHEESE, JUST AS THE RUSSIAN REASONING.
I BELIEVE THEY COULD SIGN TODAY AND I BELIEVE THEY WOULD
HAVE THE SUPPORT FOR DESTROYING SOMETHING CLOSE TO
10-MILLION MINES WHICH ARE IN THEIR STOCKS, I HEAR.

/// END ACT ///

RUSSIA IS BELIEVED TO HAVE FAR MORE THAN THAT.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS SAY IT COSTS ABOUT ONE-DOLLAR TO DESTROY
ONE MINE. MS. WILLIAMS SAYS CANADA AND OTHER COUNTRIES ARE
OFFERING FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENTS READY TO GET RID OF
THEIR STOCKPILES. /// REST OPT /// SHE ALSO DISMISSES THE
RUSSIAN ARGUMENT THAT LANDMINES ARE NEEDED FOR MILITARY PURPOSES.

A RETIRED U-S LIEUTENANT GENERAL, ROBERT GARD, SAYS LANDMINES ARE
NOT EFFECTIVE IN PROTECTING BORDERS OR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS.

/// GARD ACT ///

THE CLAIMS FOR ITS UTILITY ARE EXAGGERATED.
ALTERNATIVES TO PERFORMING THE FUNCTIONS OF
ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES ALREADY EXIST. THEY CAN BE
FORFEITED WITHOUT DEGRADING MILITARY EFFECTIVENESS OR
ENDANGERING TROOPS.

/// END ACT ///

INTERNATIONAL TRACKING ORGANIZATIONS ESTIMATE THAT LANDMINES KILL
OR MAIM ABOUT 26-THOUSAND PEOPLE A YEAR WORLDWIDE.

IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION, THERE ARE MINEFIELDS LEFT OVER FROM
THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AS WELL AS NEW ONES FROM RECENT REGIONAL
CONFLICTS IN GEORGIA'S BREAKAWAY ABKHAZIA REGION, RUSSIA'S
BREAKAWAY CHECHNYA AND IN TAJIKISTAN.

MS. WILLIAMS IS ENCOURAGING NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN
THE FORMER SOVIET UNION TO JOIN HER FIGHT. (SIGNED)

NEB/MLK/PCF

27-May-98 10:20 AM EDT (1420 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America.

-- End --

http://customnews.cnn.com/cnews/pna.show_story?p_art_id=2604844&p_sectio
n_name=On+Target&p_art_type=154338
Conference on Anti-Personnel Mines to Work in Moscow

Itar-Tass
26-MAY-98

MOSCOW, May 26 (Itar-Tass) - An international conference
on New Steps
toward a Future without Mines: Political, Military and
Humanitarian Aspects
opens on Moscow on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry's press service told Itar-Tass on
Tuesday that the
conference is held on the initiative of the international
movement Doctors against
Nuclear War in backing to the campaign against
anti-personnel mines.

The conference is expected to be attended by about 100
delegates from CIS
and Baltic countries. Its goal is to further dialogue of
the public, specialists and
governments on military, socio-economic, political and
humanitarian dimensions
of production and use of anti-personnel mines.

Russia's stance on anti-personnel landmines was
formulated by President Boris
Yeltsin. Russia stands for phasing out the anti-personnel
mines to result in a
complete ban.

Russia's immediate joining the Ottawa convention is
unrealistic from defense,
financial and technical perspectives, as this would
deprive the Russian army of a
cheap defensive arm which cannot be rapidly replaced by
alternative systems.

The effectiveness of border guarding against terrorist
groups, arm and
drug-smuggling and of protecting important military and
industrial installations
would decline.

Defense Ministry experts say the development of an
alternative arm and
accumulation of its minimal store requires at least ten
years.

The landmine problem has to it two alternative
international documents.

One is the protocol of the 1980 Geneva conference which
calls for down a
staged limitation of use of anti-personnel mines to lead
to their complete
outlawing.

The other is the Ottawa convention on complete and
immediate destruction of all
stores of mines.

In 1996, an additional protocol of the Geneva conference
was signed heeding
for interests of most states, including Russia.

The protocol gives a balanced heed for humanitarian
aspects of banning and
limiting the use of mines and for disarmament motives.

"Real time of Russia's joining the Ottawa convention and
concrete steps in the
direction of the complete ban of anti-personnel mines
will be determined with
regard for financial possibilities of the country and the
pace of our progress in
creating an alternative defensive arm," the Defense
Ministry said.

-- End --