ON THE EVE OF THE HELSINKI SUMMIT, THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BAN LANDMINES CALLS ON EU MEMBER STATES TO REAFFIRM THEIR COMMITTMENT TO ERADICATE LANDMINES AND URGES FINLAND TO ACCEEDE TO THE TREATY.
Paris, December 9th, 1999
On the eve of the Helsinki Summit, The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), Nobel Peace Prize 1997, calls on EU member States to reaffirm their commitment for a total eradication of landmines and urges Finland to accede to the Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on their destruction and Greece to ratify.
"The past two years have demonstrated that a new standard of behaviour is being established, completely rejecting antipersonnel mines. Those who won't sign the ban treaty should be stigmatised ; those who continue to use this indiscriminate weapon should be ostracised," said Elizabeth Bernstein, Coordinator of the ICBL.
The ICBL calls on all governments to accede to or ratify the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and to implement it fully by assisting victims of landmines, removing mines already laid, destroying stockpiled mines, and never again using, producing or exporting this insidious weapon.
Almost all European countries are now State Parties to the Convention ; Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United Kingdom passed national legislation banning landmines ; Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg have completed the destruction of their stockpile and France will have, by mid December. Nevertheless the European Union is expected to help for the Treaty to become a reality, particularly in Central Europe and CIS region, particularly where mines are still deployed either by governments or non state actors, in Kosovo or in Chechnya.
"We need EU member states to convince reluctant countries, such as Russia and the United States, but also a number of countries in the CIS region and the Middle East to accede to the Convention, and make sure that a total ban on landmines, which is progressively imposes itself as a new international norm will be fully respected" states Liz Bernstein.
As the question of the European Security will be one of the main issue during the Summit, the ICBL calls on EU members to strongly defend an antipersonnel mines no-use policy in case of joined operation during any crisis management intervention.
"But for the European Union to speak with one voice in favour of a total ban on landmines, it has to look inside its own borders and first convince Finland to accelerate the process which will allow my country to accede to the Convention and be at last coherent with its positive policy regarding Mine action and victim assistance" regrets Laura Lodenius, coordinator of the Finnish Campaign to Ban Landmines.
During the coming months, European Campaigns of the ICBL will continue their actions towards their own governments and European institutions, through the mobilisation of European public opinion and direct follow up of the EU policy.
For more information please contact :
Laura Lodenius (Finland) : 358 40 730 0552 Sylvie Brigot (France) : 33 6 87 83 43 46, e-mail: sylviebrigotHI-at-compuserve-com
APM Convention and Finland, November 1999
In December itīs two years since 122 countries signed the mine ban treaty in Ottawa. Finland is now the only EU country which has not forbidden anti-personnel mines, whereas 136 countries have committed themselves to ban the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of these weapons. The Finnish government's early worry that only "a very small group of western countries" would sign the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention has not proved true.
Mines strike indiscriminately against the population of the area where they are spread. Plastic mines explode in the hands of children. Women collecting firewood and farmers working their fields lose their sight, their arms, their legs when mines blow up, and with no forewarning. Mines create utter hell for millions of people.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which was awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, estimates that there are some 70 million mines deployed in 70 countries.
It is estimated that every year 25 000 people are injured or killed by landmines. By far the greatest number are civilians and of these a large proportion children.
The Finnish government refuses to ban anti-personnel mines, referring to the country's legitimate right to defend its territory.
Even if the right to self-defence is legitimate, it does not follow that there is a right to select any means whatever to build this defence. Does the Finnish government consider the anti-personnel mine a legitimate weapon?
We consider that when such a large majority of the countries of the world, no less than 136, have prohibited anti-personnel mines and the ban embodied in international law on March 1, 1999 the illegality of such weapons is beyond question.
The fact that Finland is the only EU country which still allows mines is a worry. The EU is one of the world's leading actors in the struggle for a mine-free world. So long as Finland does not sign the convention it impedes the Union from speaking out forcefully and unanimiously in important international negotiations.
This autumn, when Finland chairs the EU, this is particularly worrisome, and for Finland somewhat distasteful. Nonetheless, the Union is making statements which Finland must convey. For instance, the Finnish foreign minister, Tarja Halonen, stated on November 1st at the 27th Conference of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the ICRC, that " The European Union remains seriously concerned about the misery that anti-personnel landmines spread. The entry into force of the Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction, was a big step in efforts to resolve the landmine problem. The European Union emphasises the importance of full and speedy implementation of the Convention." This must ring false and leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the foreign minister when the rest of the international community knows that Finland has been a vociferous opponent of a ban.
Historically Finland has contributed to a cooperative climate for international security, above all for hosting the Helsinki Conference which built one of the most important bridges between the superpower blocks in the mid-seventies. In the nineties this developed into the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe which is clear evidence of the will in Europe to seek security through cooperation.
Today is an era where we see that small and medium-sized states can together change the world, without taking into account the interests of the greater powers. The international ban on mines is a perfect example of this. The ban has been achieved against the wills of the great powers and yet been signed by 136 states. The Ottawa Convention is international law and will force increasing numbers of states to accede to the ban.
We, campaigners in the EU, want to see Finland join the great majority of states who have understood that a ban is the only solution to the humanitarian catastrophies caused by mines. We do not want to hear more of these two-tongued messages of the type the Finnish EU spokesman delivered at the UN General Assembly in October when he, on behalf the Union, called upon " all States to combine their efforts in order to achieve the total elimination of anti-personnel mines worldwide." This should include Finland and the hundreds of thousands of mines in Finnish stockpiles.
The Finnish government has drawn out a timeline with the goal that Finland will accede to the Ottawa convention by year 2006. Itīs too late and it will paralyse th work of the EU. We now challenge the Finnish goverment to speed up the process so that Finland will be a fully member of the Ottawa convention before the first review conference 2003.
