Sample letter to India and Pakistan High Commissions
Author/Origin: Sue Wixley wixleySPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERicbl.org |
(Wednesday 13 February 2002 London) Sample letter to be sent to India and Pakistan High Commissions on the occasion of March 1st. Addresses can be found at: www.nriworld.com/embassies/embassies.asp (India) and www.forisb.org/pakmissions.html (Pakistan).
1 March 2002
(Name)
(Address)
Dear (Name),
I am writing on the occasion of the third anniversary of the entry-into-force of the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. On this important day I celebrate the successes made in creating an international norm stigmatizing the use of antipersonnel mines and I urge both India and Pakistan to halt continued use of antipersonnel mines along your shared border.
To date 142 countries have signed the Mine Ban Treaty and 122 have ratified it. It is most regrettable that India and Pakistan are not among these nations. I am concerned that while most of the world’s nations have realized that antipersonnel mines are indiscriminate, cause disproportionate suffering to civilian populations and therefore should be banned, India and Pakistan continue to use these outdated weapons.
In a 1996 study carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), military experts concluded that in the three previous Indo-Pakistani wars, the “contribution of these minefields to the ultimate outcome of the conflict was considered to be marginal.” Clearly, the use of mines in such conflicts serves to inflict more harm upon civilian populations than to increase national security. Indeed, since the recent laying of mines along the border, consistent media reports confirm that civilians as well as military personnel are being injured and killed by the newly planted mines.
I ask you to refrain from laying new antipersonnel mines and to declare this publicly. I also ask you to jointly join the Mine Ban Treaty immediately.
As much of the world today celebrates the accomplishments made in the movement to create a landmine-free world they also look to India and Pakistan to halt your use of antipersonnel mines immediately.
Sincerely,
(Name)
(Address)
