Final declaration, 31 January 2003: ICBL and Landmine Monitor Regional Meeting

(Friday 31 January 2003 )

Colombo, Sri Lanka 27 - 30 January 2003

Humanitarian Demining Unit supervisor briefing researchers at training camp in Killinochchi.

• Discuss the status of the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Mine Ban Treaty) in this region;
• Develop our campaigning strategy in the region for 2003;
• Prepare our research for the ICBL’s fifth annual Landmine Monitor report;
• Visit the mine-affected Vanni region in the north of the country to see the landmine problem, mine clearance and mine risk education activities, as well as medical and rehabilitation services available to landmine survivors;
• Meet with representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka, the diplomatic community, United Nations agencies and local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss Sri Lanka’s mine problem and efforts to resolve it;
• Reaffirm our commitment to achieve a Mine-Free World.

We Express:

• Our deep appreciation to the government and people of Sri Lanka for their generous hospitality during our stay in their beautiful country and our sincerest hope that the current peace process negotiations will reach a successful conclusion;
• Our gratitude to the Landmine Monitor donors for their financial support of our regional meeting;
• Our heartfelt thanks to our host, the Inter-Religious Peace Foundation and the Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines, for their professional organisation of our regional meeting;
• Our sincerest thanks to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its able hosting of our field visit to the Vanni;
• Our gratitude to the UNDP, UNICEF, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, Norwegian People’s Aid, Mines Advisory Group and White Pigeon for sharing their mine action experience and expertise with us.

Humanitarian Demining Unit Training Camp in Killinochchi.

• Sri Lanka’s commitment to join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible, as reflected in the statement to the opening plenary of our regional meeting by the Prime Minister, Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe;
• The February 2002 ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), which is believed to have resulted in no new laying of antipersonnel mines since this date;
• The fact that half of the forty governments of the Asia-Pacific region have joined the Mine Ban Treaty since it was opened for signature on 3 December 1997;
• The accession to the Mine Ban Treaty by Afghanistan, a heavily mine-affected country, on 11 September 2002;
• The destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines by Australia, Cambodia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines;
• The scheduled completion of Japan’s stockpiled antipersonnel mines (due 8 February 2003) and Thailand’s (by May 2003);
• The initial Article 7 transparency reports submitted by thirteen States Parties from the region detailing their implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty;
• The fifth annual global gathering of States Parties, that will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from 15-19 September 2003.

We express our deepest concern that:

• Nineteen countries of the region remain outside the Mine Ban Treaty including eight of the fourteen mine producers left in the world (China, India, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, and Vietnam), some highly mine-affected countries (Laos, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam), and others including Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, and the island states of East Timor, FS Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu.
• Five countries of the region signed the Mine Ban Treaty in December 1997, but have still not yet ratified (Brunei, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, and Vanuatu);
• China has the world’s largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines (110 million), Pakistan the fourth largest (6 million), India the fifth largest (4-5 million), and South Korea has 2 million in stock;
• Since December 2001, India and Pakistan have laid more mines than anywhere else in the world in recent years;
• In Burma (Myanmar), both government and rebel groups continue to use mines extensively;
• Mine use by rebels has been on the rise in Nepal, and there is now acknowledgment of mine use by government forces;
• Armed non-state actors in the Philippines, India, and Pakistan used mines in 2002;
• Warring factions (Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Northern Alliance) in Afghanistan used antipersonnel mines in 2001 and 2002 (the U.S. did not);
• Bangladesh has not yet initiated destruction of its stockpiled mines;
• At least thirteen countries in Asia have reported new landmine casualties in 2002 and 2003;
• Existing mine action and survivor assistance are inadequate to meet the demand posed by mine and UXO-affected communities in half the countries of Asia.

• Any government or non-state actor that is using, manufacturing, transferring or stockpiling antipersonnel mines to immediately cease these activities;
• Those governments that have not yet signed or ratified the Mine Ban Treaty to do so no later than the time of the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in September 2003;
• Non-state actors to renounce the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, including by submitting a Deed of Commitment affirming this stance;
• All governments of the region to support efforts to achieve a total antipersonnel mine ban by non-state actors by, among other measures, allowing NGOs to safely engage non-state actors on this issue and by humanitarian mine action by non-state actors;
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and other regional and sub-regional bodies to develop a concrete and comprehensive programme of mine action in the region, including advocacy in support of the Mine Ban Treaty;
• All States Parties of the region to destroy their stockpiled antipersonnel mines without delay, and no later than their treaty-mandated deadlines;
• All States Parties of the region to establish domestic national legislation criminalising the use, manufacture, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel landmines;
• All States Parties of the region to issue a full Article 7 transparency report detailing their implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, including the annual report required by the end of April 2003;
• All governments of the region to enhance their cooperation, coordination and transparency in all aspects of mine action between themselves and with Asian members of the ICBL, including its Landmine Monitor researchers;
• Donor governments to provide adequate resources to support comprehensive mine clearance, mine risk education and survivor assistance programs in all mine-affected countries in Asia-Pacific;
• All relevant stakeholders to continue to vigorously work towards the creation of a Mine-Free Asia-Pacific.