ICBL comments on the Communication and Regulation on antipersonnel landmines proposed by the Commission to the Parliament and to the Council
This paper has been prepared by European Members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and is to be used as their general comments on the Communication and Regulation on antipersonnel landmines proposed by the Commission to the Parliament and to the Council in March 2000. Last update : October, 27th 2000.
ICBL welcomes the proposal by the Commission of a new regulation as a sign of renewed commitment of the European Union against the on going impact of landmines on civilian populations and towards the total elimination of these weapons.
ICBL also congratulates Members of the European Parliament for their work on the report on European Union mine action by Mrs Emma Bonino from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and for the adoption last 25th of October of a new regulation regarding universalisation and implementation of the Convention.
But ICBL would like to recall that the way toward a mine free world is far from achieved : if substantial progress has been made, since production, trade and use have dramatically decreased over recent years, since three quarters of the world's nations have joined the Convention, since 21 countries have completely destroyed their stockpiles, since the number of new victims has decreased in a number of countries, since more land has been demined and increased funding has been made available for humanitarian mine action, it remains that important states, such as the US, Russia and China have not yet acceded to the Convention, that more than 250 million anti-personnel landmines are still in the arsenal of 105 countries and that too many states and non-state actors still continue using anti-personnel landmines, in countries such as Chechnya, Angola, Burma and in the conflict in the DRC and surrounding countries.
This new sign of commitment by the EU was long overdue, since the EU lost a lot of its credibility in comparison to its originally leading role for a mine free world : despite a good start, only 14 EU Member States (all except Finland) have signed the Treaty and 13 EU Member States (all except Finland and Greece) have ratified the Treaty ; the claim that the EU is the major contributor to mine-action can not easily be verified because of the lack of transparency in EU funding ; and at present EU mine action is poorly coordinated and there is need for more clear criteria and transparency for EU funding.
ICBL would also like to remind the EU that these weapons are not only a threat for the physical integrity of the persons who are living in mine affected areas but also a long term and comprehensive impediment for the development of countries or regions very often torn out by years of war.
This paper aims at giving members of the European Parliament, of the Commission and of the Council, an overview of the general expectations from the European Union in the on going debate and vote on this new regulation on mine action.
Accession to and implementation of the Convention by Member States
- ICBL calls on the EU to ensure Greece's ratification of and Finland's accession to the Convention and the rapid implementation of the Convention by all EU Member States.
- ICBL calls on the integration of the provisions of the Convention in national legislation, which will make the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of Anti-Personnel Landmines part of the penal laws of the EU Member States. In particular, ICBL calls on the Council and the Member States to explicitly mention in their national legislation Anti-Vehicle Mines with Anti-Handling Devices that act like Anti-Personnel Landmines.
- In order to reach a mine free Europe, ICBL calls on all EU Member States to insist that the US remove its stockpiles of antipersonnel mines from territories of Germany, United Kingdom and Greece, and also to clearly prohibit the transfer and transit of antipersonnel mines through EU territory.
- ICBL calls on the Council and the EU Member States to explicitly state that neither in the framework of future European Security and Defence Policy nor in NATO framework use or assistance to use of Anti-Personnel Landmines will be acceptable in joint operations.
Universalisation
- ICBL calls on the EU to ensure a high-level and meaningful participation in the various intersessional meetings of the Convention as well as sending a delegation, with high level Commission and Council representatives to the annual Meetings of State Parties.
- ICBL calls on the EU institutions and Member States to individually and collectively increase their diplomatic efforts in favor of universalisation of the Convention and raise the issue of the Convention in all appropriate multilateral and bilateral fora, and insists on the importance for the European Parliament delegations and committees to use all available opportunities to promote the universalisation of the Convention.
- ICBL calls on the EU to make accession to the Convention form part of the " acquis communautaire ", and therefore be an explicit criterion of EU membership. Two out of the twelve applicant countries have not acceded to the Convention yet (Estonia and Latvia), and five out of the ten applicant countries that signed have not ratified yet (Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania). Turkey has not acceded either.
- ICBL calls on the EU to strongly condemn actions of countries not respecting their commitments in the framework of the Convention in order to guarantee the credibility of the Convention. However, this should not be achieved by denying the benefit of vital mine and ordnance clearance work for the populations of affected countries.
Assistance
- ICBL believes that special attention should be given to awareness programs and victim assistance programs, including care, rehabilitation and socio-economic reintegration of mine victims
- ICBL calls on the Commission and the EU Member States to promote EU support for stockpile destruction programs in third countries with priority for the State Parties of the Convention, since it is an effective means of preventive mine action; Additional funds, besides the existing 180 Million EURO should be found for that purpose.
- ICBL calls on the Commission and EU Member States to assist third countries in establishing the appropriate national structures to support mine action projects.
- ICBL attaches great importance to a considerable increase in funding for mine action also from both the EU and its Member States. The increase in EU funding should primarily benefit the horizontal mine action budget line to allow for greater coherence and effectiveness of EU mine action.
- ICBL believes that this increase should be based on clear criteria for the decision making process, which also allow for long-term funding in order to meet development objectives of mine action programmes, and that this funding should be distributed to all mine-affected regions of the world. We particularly emphasize the need to consider mine action not only as a post conflict, but also as a community based development process.
Organisation and management
- During the Second Meeting of State Parties to the Convention, donors have been asked to support programs that follow the various set of guidelines for victim assistance and mine action, that have a track record of good work in mine affected countries and which work closely with governments that have a good track on disability issues. Therefore ICBL calls on the EU to include these criteria into its policy, but also to increase the coordination of its policy and action in mine action and victim assistance by strengthening the role of the establishment of horizontal guidelines and priorities for mine-action.
- ICBL believes that coordination with EU member states, third countries, international organizations and NGOs should be a high priority for the EU in order to increase effectiveness and coherence. Therefore ICBL welcomes the proposals to enhance coordination with those actors also on the ground in mine affected countries.
- ICBL insists that NGOs should be granted better access to Community funding for mine action programs in mine affected countries
- ICBL insists on maximum transparency in the funding, programming and implementation of the mine action projects of the Commission and the EU Member States, and therefore welcomes the proposal of the Commission to submit an annual report summarizing Community mine action and evaluate the implementation of the Regulation. But ICBL calls on the Commission to make this annual report public and as detailed as possible
Research and Development
- As the currently available demining " tool box " is well developed with proven effectiveness and offers appropriate tools in most cases to accelerate and to make the actual mine clearance operations safer, ICBL asks that research efforts be concentrated on the improvement of existing technology, or the development of accessible and affordable technology appropriate to the least developed and most mine affected countries, co-ordinating with end users at the earliest stages of research, while ensuring that the majority of funds is spent on humanitarian demining projects.
- ICBL would like to remind that the Convention is giving 10 years to clear mine affected countries. Therefore ICBL would like to urge that any technology should be made available in the field in a timely manner to respect those deadlines.
For any further information please contact:
Sylvie Brigot, Handicap International, 00 33 1 43 14 87 00, sylviebrigothiSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERcompuserve.com
Leon Peijnenburg, Human Rights Watch, 00 322 732 20 09, peijnelSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERhrw.org
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