USA and Vietnam urged to join global ban on antipersonnel landmines

On USCBL letterhead
For Immediate Release: November 14, 2000

On the eve of President Clinton's historic trip to Vietnam, the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) urges both the United States and Vietnam to fulfill their commitments to eradicate antipersonnel landmines by immediately joining the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. On Saturday, November 18th, the President is scheduled to meet with government officials and non-governmental organizations active in mine clearance in Vietnam.

"The U.S. is donating $1.7 million in mine clearance equipment to Vietnam through the State Department's Humanitarian Demining Program and we applaud this assistance," said Andrew Wells- Dang of the Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, a member of the USCBL and researcher for the Vietnam section of the recently released Landmine Monitor 2000. "Both the United States and Vietnam should go one step further and immediately sign the Mine Ban Treaty," he said.

"It makes little sense to invest in mine action without addressing the root cause of the problem," said Gina Coplon-Newfield, Physicians for Human Rights, Coordinator of the USCBL. "Both the United States and Vietnam have used, produced and exported antipersonnel mines," she added. "They both bear responsibility for the mine problem not only in Vietnam, but in other countries of the world as well. They both can become part of the global solution by not only engaging in mine clearance and mine victim assistance, but by banning this indiscriminate weapon entirely."

The U.S. and Vietnam are among only sixteen remaining mine producing nations. Vietnamese officials have confirmed continuing production of antipersonnel mines, but have also said Vietnam "will never export" mines. The U.S. has not manufactured antipersonnel mines in at least two years and has an export ban in place, but it reserves the right to begin production again at any time. The U.S. has 11.3 million antipersonnel mines stockpiled, the third largest mine arsenal in the world after China and Russia. The size and content of Vietnam's stockpile of antipersonnel mines is unknown.

The United States and Vietnam are among 54 countries that currently refuse to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. To date, 139 countries have joined the treaty, of which 107 have ratified. The Clinton Administration has said the U.S. will join the treaty in 2006 only if a search for alternatives to antipersonnel mines has been successful. In Vietnam, government officials view acceptance of the Mine Ban Treaty as a matter of time, not of principle.

The USCBL is a coalition of over 500 medical, religious, human rights, veteran, peace, and other organizations. As a part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel peace prize, the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines is a participant in international efforts to rid the world of landmines.

CONTACT: Nathaniel A. Raymond, Physicians for Human Rights phone) [617] 695-0041, ext.220 email: nraymond-at-phrusa-org
Andrew Wells-Dang, Asia Pacific Center for Justice and Peace phone) [202] 543-1094
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