Statement of the Second General Meeting of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines

Maputo, Mozambique
8-9 May 1999

The General Meeting of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) met in Maputo, Mozambique from 8-9 May 1999. 120 participants from 70 of the 80 country campaigns of the ICBL and representatives of international organizations attended the General Meeting. The General Meeting met just after the First Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty (also known as Ottawa Treaty) in Maputo, Mozambique from 3-7 May 1999. To date 80 countries have ratified the ban treaty and 135 have signed. The General Meeting received reports from the chairs of its various working and administrative groups, its coordination team and coordination committee on the progress of the ICBL since its last General Meeting in February 1998 in Frankfurt, Germany. Participants met in thematic working groups and in regional groups, in addition to plenary sessions, in order to take major decisions on the ICBL’s strategic direction and activities over the coming year, and over the next five years by the first Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in 2004.

On universalization of the ban treaty, the ICBL General Meeting decided to target its efforts on the states of the former Soviet Union and the Middle East/North Africa and the United States, in addition to its continued, unrelenting pressure on all non-signatories to accede to the treaty. Now that the ban treaty has entered into force, nations can no longer sign the treaty, but instead must accede to it. In addition, 55 states have signed but not yet ratified. Concrete steps to get the targeted nations to accede to the ban treaty identified by the ICBL include:

• July 1999: Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Algiers with REMED as contact point
• July 99: G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany
• October 1999: Tbilsi, Georgia Conference hosted by IPPNW Russia
• September 1999: UNGA opens in New York
• November 1999: Regional Conference in Egypt hosted by ICBL and Egyptian CBL
• Follow-up letters from ICBL to non-signatories that attended the FMSP.
• Letters from signatory states and Nobel Laureates to President Clinton
• Letters from ICBL to NATO leaders regarding joint operations with non-signatories
• Release of the relevant country reports of the Landmine Monitor to decision-makers, NGOs and media.

On implementation of the ban treaty, the ICBL’s General Meeting identified key issues of concern including:

• How to respond to violations of the ban treaty
• Antivehicle (antitank) mines with antihandling devices and other weapons that function as AP mines, as well as possible transfer of components used in the production of AP mines.
• The need for a clear policy of no use of AP mines in joint operations, including in NATO.
• Continued stockpiling and transit of U.S. mines in signatory nations.
• The need for implementing legislation of the ban treaty as only some 14 governments have done so.

Also on implementation of the ban treaty, the ICBL General Meeting welcomed the Landmine Monitor initiative and its first report, the Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World. The ICBL General Meeting identified the need for:

• More training in research capacities;
• A longer consultation period with researchers during the editing process;
• Country campaigns and researchers to publish and disseminate the reports in their own language in full.

On mine action, the ICBL General Meeting examined the major initiatives by NGOs in developing policy guidelines on mine action including the Bad Honnef Guidelines, the MAG/HI/NPA Statement of Principles on Mine Action, the Global Landmine Survey and also, the UNICEF Guidelines on Mine Awareness. The ICBL will:

• Make the main purpose of the Mine Action Working Group (MAWG) the goal of furthering the ICBL’s call to increase and strengthen efforts to track mine action funding at a national level in order to increase transparency and better advocate for more mine action programmes;
• Better link this WG with the mine action research of the Landmine Monitor initiative.
• Collect and systematise the various existing guidelines and documentation on mine action initiatives for distribution to the MAWG in order to better educate country campaigners and to avoid duplication of information.
• Prepare ICBL country campaigns to contact and lobby their government delegations to the ISCE Meetings on mine action and demining technology
• Include mine awareness in the work of the MAWG and evaluate in particular the cultural impact of the DC "Superman" Comic on mine awareness. The general agreement of the ICBL General Meeting was that the MAWG will develop an open dialogue among NGOs and national campaigns directly involved, as well as international organizations and funders.

On mine victim assistance, the ICBL welcomed the continued efforts of its Victim Assistance Working Group (VAWG), in particular the preparation and dissemination of the ICBL Guidelines for the Care and Rehabilitation of Survivors. The VAWG will continue to press for its four goals and decided on a fifth:

1. Donor commitment of up to $3 billion over the next ten years to support victim assistance, including social and economic reintegration;
2. Donor support for a wide range of landmine victim assistance activities;
3. Greater sharing of information on mine victims and assistance strategies, including the dissemination of a portfolio of NGO projects in mine-affected communities;
4. Greater involvement of mine victims and mine-affected communities in the planning and implementation of mine assistance programmes;
5. To establish a framework to define "mine victims" and promote the rights, including an assessment of the advisability of establishing mechanisms to offer reparations or compensation to mine victims.

On non–state actors, the ICBL General Meeting reaffirmed the importance of this work in the efforts to ban antipersonnel mines and decided to make the ad hoc Non-State Actors Working Group (NSA WG) which was formed in February 1998 an official working group of the ICBL, co-chaired by the Philippines Campaign and Mines Action Canada and linked to the Coordination Committee of the ICBL through regular communication, with the same principle and purposes of work as with the other working groups of the ICBL.

On legal and moral issues, the ICBL General Meeting decided to discontinue the legal and moral working group established in February 1998 and to establish a new Ad Hoc Ethics and Justice Working Group dedicated to identifying and advocating on moral, ethical, legal, philosophical, theoretical cultural and environmental issues relating to landmines and the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The Ethics and Justice Working Group, co-chaired by the Nicoletta Dentico of the Italian CBL and Alejandro Bendana of the Nicaraguan CBL, will be assessed in one year’s time. It will examine a broad range of themes and issues through its following sub-committees:

• Cultural appropriateness of mine action and mine awareness programmes. Contact point: Alejandro, Nicaragua CBL;
• Moral and ethical reflection on cooperative compliance of states parties with the ban treaty in order to develop ethical arguments for all states on mine action. Establishment of rehabilitative justice including the rights of people affected by landmines, and investigation of legal steps to obtain more resources for landmine survivors Contact point: Nicoletta, Italian CBL;
• Analysis of environmental norms as expressed in Article 7 and aspects of the landmine crisis and its various solutions from an environmental perspective. Contact point: Claudio, Mexico CBL – dassur-at-edg-net-mx.

Regional actions from the ICBL General Meeting include:

Middle East/North Africa: Haboubba Aoun of the Landmines Resource Center in Lebanon will be the regional focal point. The MENA regional group of the ICBL will attempt to strengthen existing campaigns and encourage the creation of new campaigns. It will assist in the preparation of a regional conference in Egypt in November 1999. Seminars are planned this year for Algeria and Morocco. In Jordan and Palestine exhibitions on the landmine problem will take also take place later this year.

Europe: From 26-28 June the Croatian government will host in Zagreb a regional conference on landmines and STRATA will coordinate NGO involvement in the conference and a broader strategy in the region. The Europe group will lobby the European Union on mine action funding and will lobby Finland during its pending presidency of the EU, including taking part in an event planned in December 1999. A fact sheet on policies on landmines in the EU will be prepared by Sylvie Brigot of Handicap International. The group identified a need for an ICBL strategy on the CCW review – European campaigns will attempt to participate in their national delegations to the CCW. The UK Working Group will circulate information they have been collecting on demining technology. The European Group proposed the Italian CBL as a new member to the ICBL Coordination Committee.

Americas: Members of the Americas Group will translate and distribute the Landmine Monitor report. Panamanian NGOs will lobby for complete clearance of mines and UXO from the former US bases. Some members will work to curb distribution of the DC Comics mine awareness comic book. An ICBL delegation to Cuba will be examined. The Group will create a Central America NGO network on landmines. Brazil is planning a national seminar on landmines in early 2000. Members of the Americas Group will make links to NGOs interested on lobbying on landmines in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador. In Colombia, a regional meeting on landmines is suggested for early 2000.

Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific Group will communicate with the ICBL Treaty Working Group over of the concerns by A-P with ICBL positions on the Conference on Disarmament, on national implementation legislation, weapons that function as AP mines, the position of governments on sanctions or withdrawal of mine action support of non-signatory countries. Sister Patricia Pak Poy of the Australian Network was approached to take on the role as Regional Campaign Coordinator. The Group will use the recently established A-P email network.

Africa: The African Regional Group noted that the Mozambican Campaign (CMCM) will continue the mediation process. The Group urged greater respect for human rights, passage of national implementation legislation, Level One surveys, transparency in destruction of stockpiles, greater recognition of the urgent need for survivor assistance. Will work to establish national campaigns in Nigeria and Central Africa. In 1999, meetings on landmines are planned in West Africa, especially in Nigeria. In late June there will be a meeting for the Horn of Africa, possibly in Rwanda. KCAL is focal point for the Horn of Africa, SACBL for SADC countries, and for the time being Kwasi of Africa Topics for West Africa.

Former Soviet Union: This regional group decided to initiate a five year campaign plan in the states of the former Soviet Union with three focal points for action: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. A second international conference on landmines is planned for Russia later in 1999. A national landmine meeting is planned in Kiev, Ukraine. In Belarus, the campaign calls for assistance in stockpile destruction. In Georgia in late 1999 a workshop on landmines will be held. An integrated approach to mine action will be taken with special attention to Chechnya as one of the most mine-affected areas of the region. Continue and further involvement in the Landmine Monitor research initiative. The Group called for financial assistance in campaigning activities throughout the region.

To ensure effective, ongoing ICBL engagement in the intersessional work of the Mine Ban Treaty, the ICBL General Meeting decided to establish the following system of coordination. (Chairs of the relevant groups are in parenthesis.)

1. Align ICBL Working Groups with the five Intersessional Standing Committees of Experts (ISCE):

• ISCE on Mine Clearance
• ISCE on Technology

Link with ICBL Mine Action WG (NPA/HI)

• ISCE on Victim Assistance

Link with ICBL WG on Victim Assistance (LSN)

• ISCE on Stockpiling
• ISCE on General Status

Link with ICBL Treaty WG (HRW)

The working groups will prepare input into intersessional work and all country campaigns and members of the ICBL should feed information to the chairs of the relevant ICBL working groups, in addition to cc’ing ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein. The ISCE will be meeting on an annual basis.

2. Monitor the government intersessional process and Geneva-based inter-organizational work through an Intersessional Advisory Group consisting of

• The Geneva ICBL Contact Group (QUNO/LWF)
• A dedicated ICBL staff person.
• ICBL Mine Action WG (NPA/HI)
• ICBL WG on Victim Assistance (LSN)
• ICBL Treaty WG (HRW)
• ICBL Coordinator, Liz Bernstein

The Intersessional Advisory Group will also assist the ICBL to prepare for the second Meeting of States Parties (11-15 September 2000 in Geneva).

Structural changes to the ICBL during the General Meeting included:

• The ICBL General Meeting noted that three CC members have stepped down: Mines Advisory Group, Medico International and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. The ICBL expresses its deep appreciation as founding members of the ICBL and welcomes their continuing commitment to the ban on landmines.
• Due to the situation in Burkina Faso, the Interafrican Union for Human Rights (UIDH) has not been able to fulfil its obligations in the Coordination Committee. Therefore UIDH did not express their wish to renew their CC membership. The General Meeting expresses its gratitude for the work done by UIDH and expect that it will remain active in the ICBL, especially in the sub-region of West Africa.
• The ICBL General Meeting accepted the continuation of the twelve remaining members on the CC: Afghan Campaign to Ban landmines, Association to Aid Refugees-Japan, Cambodian Campaign to Ban Landmines, Colombian Campaign Against Landmines, Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, Kenya Coalition Against Landmines, Landmine Survivors Network, Lutheran World Federation, Norwegian People’s Aid, Physicians for Human Rights and the South African Campaign to Ban Landmines.
• The ICBL General Meeting invited two new members to the CC: Mines Action Canada and the Italian Campaign to Ban Landmines. Both accepted, with MAC pending approval from its membership, thus making a total of a fourteen member Coordination Committee.
• The Mine Action Working Group of the ICBL will be chaired by either Norwegian People’s Aid or Handicap International;
• The Non-State Actors Ad Hoc Group of the ICBL is now a full Working Group of the ICBL chaired by the Philippine Campaign and Mines Action Canada;

The next ICBL General Meeting is scheduled for 2001 and the Coordination Committee will undertake the necessary arrangements.