States Parties 161 States Not Party 36
Welcome to the March 2006 issue of ICBL News. The ICBL solicits contributions to the ICBL News, and welcomes any comments or requests for clarifications.
Global Successes, Big Challenges: Mine Ban Treaty Turns Seven
On the seventh anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty today, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) condemned the governments of Burma, Nepal and Russia for continuing to use antipersonnel mines, and expressed concern that the United States might resume production of antipersonnel mines for the first time in eight years.
Signed in 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty came into force on 1 March 1999 following ratification by 40 countries. With recent ratifications by Ukraine and Haiti, there are now 149 States Parties to the treaty, more than three-quarters of the world's nations. The treaty comprehensively bans the use, production, and trade of antipersonnel mines, and requires destruction of stockpiled mines within four years and clearance of all mined areas within ten years. It also obligates states to assist landmine survivors.
Forty-five countries have not yet joined the Mine Ban Treaty, including the three recent landmine users, the U.S., and nine other landmine producers: China, Cuba, India, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, and Vietnam. "It is time to turn up the heat on those countries that are flouting international law by continuing to use and produce antipersonnel mines. This must be treated as unacceptable behavior for all nations" said Sylvie Brigot, the ICBL's Executive Director. The United States is due to make a decision in early 2006 on production of a new mine system called Spider that would be prohibited by the treaty. Also among the 45 are five countries that have signed the treaty, but not yet ratified: Brunei, the Cook Islands, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands and Poland. "After years of delay, we are hopeful that all five of these states will ratify the treaty in 2006. This should be a high priority this year for everyone promoting a global mine ban" said Ms. Brigot.
The treaty - which has been hailed as a unique partnership among governments, non-governmental organizations (led by the ICBL), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and UN agencies - has resulted in great successes, making a real difference in the lives of people in mine-affected communities all around the world. Only three governments used antipersonnel mines in 2005, the number of producers has fallen from more than 50 to 13, legal trade in the weapons has virtually ceased worldwide, more than 38 million stockpiled mines have been destroyed, more mines are being removed from the ground as mine action funding has increased greatly, and the number of new landmine casualties each year has fallen significantly.
Still many challenges remain. "Our work is far from over," said Ms. Brigot. "Concerned governments must live up to their promises and rhetoric. It is not enough to say, "We want a mine-free world." More must be done to clear mined areas within deadlines set by the Treaty and to help mine survivors and mine-affected communities" added Brigot.
Among the biggest concerns for the ICBL in 2006:
It appears that many of the Mine Ban Treaty States Parties with the earliest mine clearance deadlines, in 2009 and 2010, are not on track to meet those deadlines. Both the mine-affected countries and donor states need to ratchet up their efforts now. Assistance to mine survivors is still grossly inadequate. As an estimated 400,000 victims across the world struggle to build a life that's more than just survival, states are lagging behind in providing the necessary resources for care, rehabilitation and socio-economic reintegration.
New ICBL Director: Sylvie Brigot
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Executive Director, Sylvie Brigot. Sylvie has a wealth of experience with the landmine issue and a long track record with the ICBL. She has served for the past year as ICBL’s Advocacy Director. Prior to that, she was the ICBL’s Government Relations Officer from 2001-2004, and worked on the landmine campaign for Handicap International from 1994-2001. “What excites me most about taking on this new challenge at this time is that the ICBL is clarifying and applying its added value to what needs to be done now to ensure this Convention is implemented and universalized. I am indeed excited to contribute to the campaign in this new capacity during this critical phase” said Ms Brigot.
On 1 March she took over from the outgoing Executive Director, Anne Capelle, in coordinating the activities of the global coalition to rid the world of landmines.
ICBL Urges Brunei for Early Ratification
ICBL’s Diplomatic Advisor, Ambassador Satnam Singh was recently (March 13-16) in Brunei to meet with the senior government officials there to explore ways and means to expedite the long pending ratification of the Mine Ban Convention. Brunei had signed the Convention, along with 122 other countries, when it opened for signatures in Ottawa in December, 1997. It is currently one of the only four that are yet to complete the ratification process (along with Indonesia, Marshall Islands and Poland).
During his visit, Ambassador Singh held meetings with Permanent Secretaries in Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence. He also briefed Bruneian diplomats and other officials about various aspects of the Convention and dimensions of the global landmine problem. The Brunei authorities acknowledged ICBL’s concern on the delay in ratification and assured that the process was not expected to take much longer. The political clearance at the highest level having been obtained, now it was only the question of completing legal paper work which also had made good progress.
For Brunei, compliance with the Convention provisions is not difficult, as it is not a mine-affected country. Brunei only has a small stockpile of Claymore mines with ‘command mode’ which is not prohibited by the Mine Ban Convention.
More information: LM 2005 Country Report - Brunei Darussalam
Mining Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
Recent news articles have reported that the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is suggesting to fence and plant landmines on its side of the border with Afghanistan to stop cross border infiltration, and that it is encouraging the government of Afghanistan to do the same.
These declarations are of serious concern, especially with the resulting potential impact on civilians, including risk to their lives and limbs. The region concerned by the fencing and mining, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has been long suffering from the menace of landmines and UXOs. Thousands of people have lost their lives or a limb because of the randomly planted mines inherited from the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989). Mines were scattered from helicopters by Soviet and Afghan forces, and mujahideen used mines to protect their bases in the tribal areas. The landmine problematic worsen when several non-state armed groups within Pakistan started and continue to use landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) regularly, most notable in the region of FATA where tensions between the local tribes run high. Landmines and IEDs are known to be used in family feuds, tribal clashes and sectarian violence, as well as against troops and law enforcement agencies.
Although Pakistan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, it is a Party to the Amended Protocol II of the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention (CCW) that regulates the use of landmines, in both and external conflicts, to prevent civilians from falling victim to landmines. The government of Pakistan has acknowledged the negative impact of landmines and expressed support for the goal of eventual elimination of antipersonnel mines.
The planting of landmines at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to stop cross border infiltration would constitute a step backward in the progress of the country towards the goal of eventual elimination of antipersonnel mines, and undermine the long time work of civil society in the country to stop the use of mines under the Ottawa Mine Ban Convention.
More information: Landmine 2005 Country Report – Pakistan
Congress delays New Landmine Production: Requires Pentagon to Review Indiscriminate Effects of New Weapons before Production
In a last minute decision at the end of 2005, the U.S. Congress has told the Pentagon not to begin production of any new landmines before studying the possible indiscriminate consequences for deploying this weapon. The U.S. has not begun production of a new landmine since 1997.
According to budget documents submitted by the administration, the Defense Department had planned to make a decision in December 2005 on production of a particular new landmine called “Spider.” However, Congress delayed the decision by including a provision in the fiscal year 2006 military (“defense”) appropriations bill, passed on December 31, 2005, that requires the Secretary of the Army to conduct a review of new landmine technologies and report on the possible indiscriminate effects of these new systems before any production decision is made.
The idea for developing the Spider system grows out of a desire by the Clinton administration to develop alternatives to landmines. Instead of joining the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty banning use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, President Clinton initiated a program within the Pentagon to identify possible alternatives to antipersonnel landmines in order to “end reliance on [antipersonnel mines] as soon as possible.” In May 1996, the U.S. began a search for alternatives to antipersonnel landmines that would enable the military to agree to a complete ban on the use of landmines. Proposals for alternative weapons were supposed to be completed by 2006.
The Bush administration abandoned President Clinton’s commitment to eventually eliminate use of antipersonnel mines, but continued the research and development program looking for alternatives to conventional landmines. The Pentagon has spent more than $320 million on researching alternatives to conventional antipersonnel mines since 1997. The Spider mine system alone has already cost U.S. taxpayers $130 million. .
This alternative to antipersonnel landmines research program was tasked with developing technologies to replace conventional antipersonnel landmines that cannot distinguish between an innocent civilian and an enemy combatant. Congress overwhelmingly supports developing alternatives to antipersonnel mines, but the devil is in the details. Spider landmines differ from "conventional" mines because they are designed to detonate in a variety of ways. Spider mines can explode both through command-detonation (that is, when a human operator decides when to explode the mine) or through conventional victim-activation (where a victim detonates the weapon by stepping on or picking up the mine). An operator would have the ability to turn the switch one way for command detonation and the other way for victim-detonation. Once a soldier flips a switch, Spider would become a conventional victim-activated antipersonnel mine that cannot tell the difference between the boot of a solider and the foot of a child. New landmines designed to permit victim-activation meet the definition of an indiscriminate weapon, and would be illegal under the Ottawa Mine-Ban Treaty.
While equipping Spider with command-detonated capabilities can be seen as more discriminate than conventional anti-personnel mines, the inclusion of a switch allowing victim-activation is particularly alarming to members of Congress. It was the inclusion of this “battlefield-override” switch allowing indiscriminate detonation that led Congress to request the study.
The 500 U.S.-based organizations that make up the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmine worked to alert policymakers about possible indiscriminate features of new landmine alternatives for more than five years, and continue to meet with policymakers on this issue regularly. The recent action by Congress is a step in the direction of good government and effective congressional oversight. When appropriating funds for alternatives to antipersonnel landmines, Congress did not intend to fund development of another conventional landmine, this time equipped with a switch. Legislators must continue to provide oversight on this issue to insure that the U.S. uses its ample technological ability to ensure that innocent lives are spared.
The issue of new landmine development is only delayed. The issue will come up again once the study is submitted to Congress. The USCBL and its supporters will continue to monitor the issue and oppose any new production of landmines.
Roundtable Discussions in DRC on the Status of the Mine Ban Convention
On 6 and 7 December 2005, a roundtable discussion was held in Kinshasa at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on the implementation of the Ottawa Convention in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The roundtable was organized by the NGO Agence de Diffusion du Droit International Humanitaire en Afrique Centrale (ADDIHAC) in partnership with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Centre de Coordination d’Action contre les Mines au Congo, and supported financially by the Canadian Embassy in DRC. Those present included government representatives, ambassadors, a representative from the UN, and other members of civil society.
Experts on the landmine issue in DRC made speeches pertaining to three main issues: 1) Treaty implementation from diplomatic, military and judicial perspectives within the DRC 2) The international community’s contribution to the implementation of the mine ban convention 3) The involvement of international non-governmental organizations and the civil society of DRC in treaty implementation.
Following these speeches, two workshops were organized around these themes. The outcome was a final declaration containing six recommendations for the country’s national strategy to implement the mine ban convention. The recommendations included: developing a funding proposal to finish their stockpile destruction program before November 2006; speeding up the development of national implementation laws; and making seats available on the national commission to members of civil society.
Humanitarian Mine Clearance in Casamance discussed during LM Report Launch in Senegal
On 14 December 2005, a meeting on mine clearance in Casamance was organised during the launch of the Landmine Monitor Report 2005. This closed door meeting was chaired by Manual Gonzal, from Handicap International, leading the Study on the Impact of Mines in Casamance. It aimed at discussing how best the impact study could be conducted in view of a near start of mine clearance activities. Handicap International, ICBL, and representatives of the two parties in conflicts in Senegal as well as an officer representative of the gendarmerie and 10 members of the MFDC, led by Abbe Diamacoune, took part in the discussion.
The event was co-organized by ICBL and Handicap International (HI) and was broadly covered by local media. In addition to the significant presence of journalists, more than 60 representatives of international organisations and local authorities attended. They included representatives of decentralised administrative authorities (presidents of mine affected rural communities), and representatives of military authorities and gendarmerie of the locality of Casamance, as well as combatants of the MFDC headed by Abbé Diamacoune Senghor leader of the rebellion in Casamance. Survivors were also present with the Senegalese Association of Mine Victims (AVSM). Others guests included representatives of USAID, the European Union, ICRC, UNDP, the Movement Against the Light Weapons in West Africa (MALAO), ANRAC, and RADDHO (African Meeting for the Human Rights).
Following the welcome note by Boubine Toure (ICBL) and Philippe Martinez (HI), a 24 minutes RHADO documentary on the problems and impact of anti-personnel mines in Casamance was screened to the public. A press conference followed and then, participants were invited to talk about their action against landmines.
The problematic of landmines along the Senegal- Guinea Bissau border area was sadly highlighted by the recent fighting in Casamance. The upsurge of violence in the region has pushed thousands to seek refuge in Ziguinchor, the chief town of the region of Casamance while others flew in Guinea Bissau. The displacement of the local population is worrisome as the region is heavily-mined which constitutes a huge threat to the security and lives of the refugees.
Nobel Peace Laureates urge Egypt to join Global Treaty Banning Antipersonnel Mines
Cairo, Egypt, 27 December 2005 - At the opening of a three-day landmine conference hosted by the Egyptian National Council on Human Rights, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) called on the Egyptian government to join the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel mines. “Egypt appears to be getting more serious about addressing the landmine issue, but needs to take some concrete steps to help alleviate the problem,” said Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch, a founding member of the ICBL, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.
In December 2004, Egypt told States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty that it supports a “comprehensive, effective and balanced ban on antipersonnel mines,” and for the first time publicly and formally announced that it has a moratorium on production and export of antipersonnel mines. Officials have said that in practice, Egypt’s production and export activities ended many years ago. The ICBL warmly welcomed the announcement and subsequently removed Egypt from its list of global antipersonnel mine producers, which now number just thirteen, compared to more than 50 in the past. However, Egypt has not provided any details about the moratorium, and the ICBL is not aware of any binding decrees or laws that prohibit manufacture or trade of antipersonnel mines.
In addition to legally banning production and trade, the ICBL has identified many other steps Egypt can take to show that it desires to be part of the community of nations dedicated to alleviating the harm caused by antipersonnel mines, rather than being among those perpetuating the problem. First and foremost, the government should expand its mine action activities, including marking and fencing of minefields, mine risk education, clearance, and assistance to landmine survivors. According to the ICBL, Egypt should consider submitting a voluntary transparency report under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty, as several other States not party to the treaty have done. The government of Egypt to date has provided little information about its mine action activities and no information about its landmine stockpile, which is believed to be substantial. Egypt should also consider voting in favor of the annual UN General Assembly resolution that promotes adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty. Egypt was one of just 17 nations to abstain from the 8 December 2005 vote, while 24 States not party supported the resolution.
The three-day conference on landmines in Egypt’s north-west region is the first major landmine event to be held in Cairo since a regional meeting in April 2000.
Armed Non-State Actors: The Main Users of the “Poor Man’s Weapon”
Armed non-state actors (NSAs) often have more limited resources than the states against which they fight and therefore use landmines, “the poor man’s weapon,” more frequently. As a consequence, the number of NSAs using landmines significantly exceeds the number of states using this weapon.
A report produced by Geneva Call, Armed Non-State Actors and Landmines. Volume I: A Global Report Profiling NSAs and their Use, Acquisition, Production, Transfer and Stockpiling of Landmines, has recorded global occurrences of anti-personnel (AP) and anti-vehicle (AV) mine planting by NSAs, whether activated by victims, vehicles or at a distance by command-detonation. Around 60 NSAs have deployed landmines in 24 countries in five geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa.
The report was launched at the 6th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Zagreb. The report, which builds on an initial analysis published in 2004, provides a comprehensive mapping of the use, acquisition, production, transfer, and stockpiling of landmines by NSAs, through a presentation of individual group profiles and a global analysis. The report is organized in two parts; an analysis of NSA mine use globally and a mapping of group and landmine profiles of the NSAs that are or have been using landmines in 2003-2005.
The report is now available online on Geneva Call's website Paper copies can be obtained by writing to info@genevacall.org.
From the Global to the Local: Mines Action Canada at Work
In January 2006, MAC and the Landmine Resource Centre in Beirut, Lebanon, co-hosted the workshop Engaging Youth in Mine Action, attended by 26 participants from six countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Participants strategized on how to promote the Ottawa Convention regionally and shared best practices regarding youth engagement in this political work. The workshop will be followed up with the training of youth leaders identified by each of the participating organizations in Cairo, Egypt, in April 2006.
These exciting success stories overseas fuelled the enthusiasm of staff, volunteers, and community partners back home, as they prepared for Canadian Landmine Awareness Week (CLAW). Running the week of February 27, CLAW featured an ambitious fundraising goal, a comprehensive media strategy, and a great slogan borrowed from the ICBL’s messaging in Croatia: Act Now! For a mine-free world. This slogan captured the urgency of the need for Canada’s government and civil society to ensure that a mine-free world becomes a reality—not in the distant future, but as soon as possible.
MAC has created a series of taglines around which partners and supportive groups across Canada could organize activities for CLAW: No reservations. No exceptions. No loopholes. No excuses. These messages were used to highlight specific issues that MAC wanted to see addressed, such as universalizing the Ottawa Convention, meeting obligations around mine clearance and victim assistance, and renewing Canadian government leadership through a commitment of $1 per citizen each year to mine action. The centrepiece of advocacy work during CLAW was MAC’s national butterfly ribbon and Act Now! button campaigns. Purchased by donation, the butterfly ribbons and buttons allowed Canadians to demonstrate their commitment to a global landmine ban while raising awareness and funds for mine action work.
A key factor in the success of CLAW 2006 was the energy and dynamism of MAC’s new Community Mine Action Ambassadors, posted in four cities across the country, as well as four Young Professionals returning from our international internships programme. The 40-member MAC coalition and a range of community-based groups also organized activities. The calendar of events included a Paws for Peace dog walk-a-thon in Victoria, a simulated minefield in Toronto, and a Dance Without Fear in Montreal, as well as film screenings, information booths, and benefit concerts in multiple cities. MAC has also organized a cross-country speaking tour featuring individuals familiar to many campaigners—Marselina Arshakyan from the Armenian National Committee of the ICBL, Maria Clara Ucros of the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines, and the ICBL’s own Sylvie Brigot.
For more information about the Beirut workshop, or CLAW 2006, please visit MAC's website
Sarajevo 1984 – Torino 2006: Olympic Cities joined in Solidarity Against Landmines
On 9th February 2006, the world’s spotlight turned on the mountains around Turin, Italy, for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. What is probably less known, but by no means less important, is that this year’s Winter Games were not only about the fastest downhill skier or the couple pirouetting most gracefully on the ice rink. Turin 2006 was also about peace and moving forward on the road towards a mine-free world, starting from the sister Olympic city of Sarajevo.
Twenty-two years on from the Olympics that made the city known to the world, and ten from the end of the war that tore apart the former Yugoslavia, the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina still have to live with the daily terror of landmines plaguing about 4% of the national territory. Sarajevo is no exception, nor is the sports complex that made the city proud.
With this in mind, the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines contacted the local authorities hosting the 2006 Winter Games (Piedmont Regional government, City and Province of Turin) to ask for a concrete gesture of Olympic solidarity – an almost nominal contribution to the clearance of Trebevic Hill, a mountainous area overlooking Sarajevo, home to the Olympic bobsleigh track. Freeing Trebevic Hill from the landmines and unexploded ordnance still littering its woods and paths will mean moving away from the long shadow cast by the war and removing obstacles to economic activities, employment and the reconstruction of physical infrastructure and the social texture.
The response of the Turin authorities was enthusiastic – they decupled the original amount requested and by the spring, when the snow melts on the Sarajevo hills and the Olympics will be a fading memory, Bosnian deminers from the Italian NGO Intersos will be working away to clear the deadly debris of conflict from 30,000 sq. metres of woodland, paths and access routes.
ICBL Mourns loss of Active Campaigner
On Sunday 12th February, active campaigner since 1993, Suon Chreuk succombed to his recurring problems from the landmine injuries. Only 43 years old he has left behind a wife, two children and some nieces and nephews and others he is rearing.
Chreuk was one of the four authors of the famous letter of 1994 that went around the world through the JRS network and succeeded in gaining more than a million signatures calling for a ban on landmines. Together withReth, Hem Phang and Klieng Vann who were former soldiers and landmine survivors, they wrote "Before we were soldiers of different factions who planted the mines that blew off the legs and arms and eyes of one another. Now we live and learn together in the Centre of the Dove. We call the world to stop making mines, to stop laying mines, to clear the mines so that our villages, our countries, our world can rebuild their lives".
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines will regret Suon Chreuk and extends its sincerest condolences to Chreuk’s family, friends and colleagues. Please send any messages of condoleances to jrscam@forum.org.kh.
The Draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) participated in the Seventh Ad Hoc Committee Meeting for the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which took place from January 17 until February 3, 2006 at the United Nations (UN) in New York City. Governments from approximately 130 countries were present to discuss a revised text and conclude negotiations on a number of obligations. The meeting was attended by over 100 NGOs, most represented through the International Disability Caucus, which is a coalition of disabled persons organizations and allied NGOs.
The key outcome of the meeting was a revised text, which has substantial agreement. The text is comprehensive, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. It is also provides for the important principle “Nothing About Us Without Us”, meaning that governments are obliged, inthe development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present Convention, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities, to closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations. The Chair urged that this text not be reopened for discussion at the next meeting in August, but the meeting focus on outstanding issues, including how the Convention will be monitored at the international level, and how the concept of international cooperation, familiar to us in the Mine Ban Treaty context, should be incorporated.
Of particular interest to those working in Survivor Assistance, are two articles. One referred to as “Personal Mobility”, which addresses the types of assistive and other devices required by people with disabilities. The argument for inclusion of this provision in the treaty text was simple, as LSN’s Jordan Director, Adnan Al Aboudi, commented “…what good is a ramp if I don’t have a wheelchair.” The other key concept that has been incorporated into the draft Convention is that of “peer support”. This has been included under Article 26, Habilitation and Rehabilitation, which addresses the whole person on the journey from injury to recovery. The text is as follows:
“States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measure, including through peer support, to enable persons with disabilities to attain and maintain their maximum independence, full physical, mental, social and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life…”
The next, and hopefully final, negotiation meeting will take place from August 14 to 25, 2006 at the UN in New York.
Treaty Progress
National Campaign Activities
AUSTRIA
AZERBAIJAN
BANGLADESH
CANADA
CAMBODIA
DENMARK
DRC
FRANCE
GREECE
INDIA
NEPAL
PAKISTAN
TAIWAN
THAILAND
