Landmines Campaign Calls for Condemnation, Penalties for Mine Users
Geneva, 11 September 2000) On the opening day of a major diplomatic conference on landmines, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) condemned continued use of antipersonnel landmines by eleven governments. The ICBL also called on the 139 governments that have already banned antipersonnel mines to be more critical of those that use the weapon, and to take steps to stigmatize and penalize mine users.
“Governments that continue to use antipersonnel mines should be ostracized by the rest of the international community,” said Jody Williams, who shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the ICBL. “The world is moving rapidly and successfully toward eradication of antipersonnel mines, but there has been insufficient outrage at continued instances of use. Those who still use mines must pay a price for the future pain they will cause civilian populations,” said Ms. Williams.
According to the ICBL’s newly released 1,100-page Landmine Monitor Report 2000, there is evidence that eleven governments and more than 30 rebel groups have used antipersonnel mines since the Mine Ban Treaty became international law in March 1999. The heaviest use was by Russia in Chechnya and Yugoslavia in Kosovo. Others included Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Sudan in Africa; Burma, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in Asia; and Israel in the Middle East. The ICBL said that Angola, Burundi and Sudan deserved special criticism because they have signed (though not ratified) the ban treaty.
About 500 diplomats, ban campaigners, and others are gathering in Geneva from 11-15 September for the Second Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Some governments that have not joined the treaty yet are also participating. A total of 139 governments have signed the Mine Ban Treaty, and 105 have ratified it. Just last week the treaty was ratified by Colombia, which is engaged in armed conflict with rebels who still use antipersonnel mines, and by Bangladesh, the first nation in South Asia to do so.
In a ceremony prior to the official opening of the diplomatic conference, medals were presented to eighteen landmine survivors from fourteen countries, spanning three generations. “With increased and sustained political will, today’s children could be the last generation forced to face the scourge of landmines,” said Jerry White, chair of the ICBL Victim Assistance Working Group. The ICBL said that while some progress was being made, resources for mine victim assistance programs remained inadequate. The ICBL also called on mine-affected states to establish a disability coordination body, and to include landmine survivors in that body.
The ICBL expressed concern that while overall funding for mine action was increasing, some long-established programs such as those in Afghanistan and Cambodia now face funding problems, and too much money is devoted to the search for high tech solutions to the mine crisis. “Landmines continue to cause major human, social and economic losses around the world on a daily basis,” said Sayed Aqa, chair of the ICBL Mine Action Working Group. “The suffering is not over yet. Governments and non-governmental organizations must remain committed and must put their words into practice by expanding assistance to mine affected communities,” said Mr. Aqa.
More than 150 members of the ICBL from 56 countries are in Geneva and available for media interviews, including landmine survivors, deminers, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Head of ICBL Delegation Stephen Goose, and ICBL Coordinator Liz Bernstein. The week’s activities include daily ICBL briefings at 13:00, an ICBL film screening on Wednesday at 15:00, an art exhibition and a giant hourglass turning every 22 minutes (with each new mine victim) at the Palais des Nations, a “Red Line of Chairs” along the Quai Wilson, street theatre, school visits and a skateboard competition with mine survivors, and a photography exhibition at Le Theatre de la Comedie.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact:
- Liz Bernstein, mobile: +41 (0) 79 470 1776 / 1773
- Mary Wareham, mobile: +1 202 352 2968
