Author(s):
Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Friday 28 September 2007
AFGHANISTAN - Deminers Kidnapped
Thirteen members of a demining team were kidnapped on 6 September in the eastern province of Paktia. Ten of them were subsequently released. This is the third serious attack on mine action operators in three months, following the kidnapping of 18 deminers in June and the killing of three, who had been previously abducted, in August. The ICBL has expressed concern over the deterioration of security conditions for mine action operators in Afghanistan and has called for the immediate release of the abducted deminers.
KOREA (REPUBLIC OF) – Landmine Campaigner Released on Bail
Korean landmine campaigner and former Landmine Monitor contributor Lee Si-Woo, who had been in detention since April 2007, was released on bail on 14 September. He is still facing trial on charges of violating the National Security Law for his photo reporting activity documenting the landmine situation in his country. Amnesty International has adopted Lee Si-Woo as one of its cases as he appears to have been detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression. Please join the Amnesty International worldwide appeal for his release.
MIDDLE EAST - Progress Towards Universalization
Just months ahead of the first Meeting of States Parties to be held in the Middle East, good news comes from the region on the universalization front. In the space of a few weeks, two countries in the region joined the Mine Ban Treaty: Kuwait on 30 July and Iraq on 15 August, bringing the total number of States Parties in the Middle East and North Africa to seven.
TAIWAN - Anti-mine Declaration Signed
On 27 August 2007, Taiwan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Yang Tzu-pao, and the 2008 Presidential Candidate of the opposition party KMT, Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, separately signed an anti-landmine declaration when receiving ICBL ambassador, Mr. Tun Channareth, ICBL Advisory Board member, Sister Denise Coghlan, and representatives of Taiwan CBL.
