Campaign News

ICBL New Website Launch: Halt Mine Use in Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Laureate from one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, speaking in May 2003 in Longkhin. Photo: Burma Campaign UK

As the only country where mines have regularly been used by government military forces since the Mine Ban Treaty came into force, Myanmar/Burma is a key challenge to global efforts to ban antipersonnel mines. Several non-state armed groups also use mines within the country. To bring attention to the landmine situation, in 2004 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines launched the Halt Mine Use in Burma campaign. This year the campaign launched its new website, www.burma.icbl.org. The website provides links to current news items on mine use, casualties and victim assistance as well as information on mine action events and activities. The site is also available in Burmese at www.myanmar.icbl.org. The website features video statements in support of the mine ban by Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate, as well as former General Thura Tin Oo, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Myanmar, that were recorded during ICBL's mission to the country earlier this year.

Turkey launches first Landmine and UXO Victims Network in Turkey

On 24 April, the first ever Landmine and UXO Victims Network in Turkey was launched. To mark this historical moment, Initiative for a Mine-Free Turkey (IMFT) organized a victim assistance workshop in Diyarbakir. Participants came from a variety of mine affected regions, and included survivors, families of those killed, volunteers who will be part of the network, ICBL representatives and lawyers and disability activists who will support the network’s activities. Workshop activities addressed the victim assistance challenges identified by the group, and meetings were held with prominent national organizations and politicians, all pledging theirsupport to this new Landmine and UXO Victims Network.

New Campaigning Phase in Germany

After 15 years in operation, the German coalition ActionGroup Landmine.de decided to dissolve at the end of 2010. The group has been the driving force in Germany for both the Ottawa and Oslo processes. It has received widespread recognition for its work, including the 2009 “Wilhelm-Dröscher Prize” from Germany’s Social Democratic Party and the 2010 Henry Mathews Prize, which was awarded to the group and its director Thomas Kuechenmeister. Some Landmine.de members will continue to campaign on landmines and cluster munitions, including Handicap International Germany, Medico International and SODI, as well as the new alliance Facing Finance (www.facing-fi nance.org) that will campaign against unethical investments in human rights violations.

ICBL Member Handicap International Receives Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize

Judy M Miller, Jean-Baptiste Richardier, Princess Aga Khan and landmine survivor Mom Sok. Photo: Eric Roset Handicap International

Congratulations to ICBL’s co-founder, Handicap International, for receiving the 2011 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. “Receiving the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize is a great honor and underscores our collective responsibility to serve the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable people,” said Dr. Jean-Baptiste Richardier, CEO of Handicap International and one of its original founders. “We will, from now on, be in a much stronger position to convince donors to include the most vulnerable from the onset of an emergency and to ensure that long-term inclusive development for all becomes the norm rather than the exception”. Handicap International was selected for this award by a prestigious independent international jury, including Judy M. Miller, Vice President of the Hilton Foundation and Director of the Hilton Prize.

ICBL Ambassador Tun Channareth receives Honorary Doctorate Degree from Seattle University

ICBL Ambassador Tun Channareth encourages mine survivors and other persons with disabilities to make their voices heard in their communities. Photo: Jesuit Service Cambodia

ICBL Ambassador Tun Channareth (called Reth) received an honorary degree from Seattle University on 12 June 2011 for his fourteen years of campaigning against landmines. On this occasion Seattle University President Stephen Sundborg said, "Mr. Channareth has reached out with compassion in service to other landmine victims, while working tirelessly to rid the world of these insidious weapons." Reth, a landmine victim, worked at the Jesuit Refugee Mission in Cambodia and has spent considerable time campaigning and advocating for mine-related issues. Although thrilled with the honorary degree, Reth has said that he wants attention to be focused on the ongoing effort by the ICBL to pressure world leaders to join the Mine Ban Treaty. "When you see the new buildings and big construction in the cities of my country, do not be confused," he told students on campus during his visit to Seattle. "To know what real life is in my country, go to Cambodia outside cities to see the real life of now," he told them. "There you will see poor, poor people, people living day to day. Look at them to fi nd out, he continued, or look at me," he said, pointing to his legs.

About Tun Channareth:
Born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Reth and his family were forced to leave by the Khmer Rouge in 1975. In 1982, as a resistance soldier on a mission near the Thai-Cambodian border, Reth stepped on a landmine. He later had both of his legs amputated. He received vocational training at a Thai refugee camp, where he stayed for 13 years. In 1993 he moved back to Cambodia. Back home Reth started making wheelchairs as a way to help landmine survivors and support himself and his family. He also became active in the mine ban movement. He joined up with three other disabled veterans from other sides in the confl ict to push for a ban on the weapon. They collected over one million signatures from Cambodian supporters. This led to the launch the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL), a prominent member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. In 1997 Reth accepted in Oslo, Norway, the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the ICBL