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Friday 21 March 2008
Margaret Arach Orech standing next to one of the Miss Landmine photographs. Photo: Marta Kulikowska, PRC.
"These courageous women from Angola have survived and endured the scourge of landmines and moved on with their lives. They portray resilience, hope and naturally beauty” – these were the words used by Ugandan landmine survivor and ICBL Ambassador Margaret Arach Orech, to comment the “Miss Landmine” photo exhibition which opened in Warsaw, Poland, on 11 March 2008.
Ms Arach Orech also stressed that “The ultimate impact of landmines and other weapons used during conflict is felt by people, human lives are affected”, and in the name of landmines survivors around the world urged the government of Poland to ratify the Mine Ban Treaty without delay.
The controversial but highly touching “Miss Landmine” photo exhibition, portraying contestants in the world’s first beauty pageant for landmine survivors, was shown in Warsaw as part of a series of advocacy activities aiming to raise awareness on the landmine issue and secure ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty by Poland. Poland was one of the 122 countries that originally signed the treaty in 1997 but to this day it has not ratified it.
Some 150 people – including representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defence, the office of the President of Warsaw, the Army, the diplomatic corps, UN agencies, the media, artists, academics, NGOs, and general public – crowded the K. Napiórkowska Art Gallery in the heart of Warsaw’s old town, to look at the photographs and listen to a line-up of speakers which included the exhibition’s creator Mr Morten Traavik; the Vice-President of the Polish Red Cross (the main organization campaigning on landmines in Poland, sponsoring the event); the Deputy Chief of the Polish Army’s Engineering Corps; ICBL Ambassador Margaret Arach Orech; the ICBL Advocacy Director; and ambassadors from Canada and Angola.
Following the exhibition opening, an ICBL delegation, accompanied by representatives from the Polish Red Cross, conducted meetings with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defence as well as the Chairmen of the two relevant Parliamentary Committees.
The official position of the government of Poland is that ratification is conditional upon the emplacement of “alternative means of defence”, for which a deadline is set in 2015. However, information gathered during the official meetings seems to defeat this argument. Poland already has a moratorium on the use, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines, which do not feature in the country’s military doctrine. ICBL delegates also learned during the visit that Poland is planning to destroy over three-quarters of its antipersonnel mines stockpiles in the next three-four years, on the grounds that these are not needed for national defence.
“We were told consistently that Poland is not relying on antipersonnel mines for the defence of its territory or of its bases abroad. Therefore, ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty would have no concrete adverse effect on Poland’s national security,” said Simona Beltrami, ICBL Advocacy Director, adding that there is no obvious link between the process of identifying the most effective defence means and that of ratifying a treaty outlawing a weapon which has already been discarded in practice.
ICBL delegates insisted that there is no outstanding obstacle for Poland to ratify the treaty, and that this could happen in time for the treaty’s Second Review Conference, scheduled to take place at the end of 2009.
“Completing ratification by this very important and symbolic date for the Treaty, would prove the sincerity of Poland’s commitment to ratification announced at the First Review Conference, five years earlier, in 2004. Finally, Poland could enjoy official international recognition for the good practices it is already following,” said Katarzyna Derlicka, ICBL Campaigning and Advocacy officer.
Following an intense week of activities, the Polish Red Cross is planning to continue advocating for ratification through a dedicated website, a public petition and parliamentary action.
