LANDMINES CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES GOVERNMENTS TO COMPLETE STOCKPILE DESTRUCTION BY SEPTEMBER 2001
(Buenos Aires, 6 November 2000) At the opening of the second hemispheric conference on banning landmines, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) urged governments of the Americas to accelerate their destruction of stockpiled antipersonnel mines ahead of the September 2001 global diplomatic landmine meeting in Nicaragua.
"With near universal acceptance of the Mine Ban Treaty throughout this region, it is fitting that the Third Meeting of States Parties to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty will take place in Nicaragua in September 2001,"said Elizabeth Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator. "The ICBL challenges governments of this region to accelerate stockpile destruction programs with the ultimate goal of establishing the Western Hemisphere as a mine free zone," she said. To date, the Mine Ban Treaty has been signed by 139 governments and ratified by 107 worldwide.
According to a Landmine Monitor Fact Sheet released today on "Antipersonnel Landmine Stockpiles in the Americas," there are at least 12 million antipersonnel landmines stockpiled in thirteen countries of the region. The United States holds the vast majority of these mines, with 11.2 million. Other states holding stockpiled antipersonnel mines include Perú (330,840), Ecuador (170,344), Nicaragua (91,813), Argentina (89,170), Brazil (35,012), Chile (possibly 22,000), Colombia (possibly 18,000), Honduras (9,439) and Uruguay (2,338). Cuba, Guyana and Venezuela are believed to hold stockpiled mines but the numbers are unknown. Landmine Monitor has not been able to confirm whether Costa Rica or Suriname possesses landmine stockpiles.
"While the task of removing mines from the ground remains a vital and urgent priority, the ICBL urges rapid stockpile destruction as a form of 'preventive mine action,' said Mary Wareham, Human Rights Watch, Coordinator of the ICBL's Landmine Monitor verification initiative. "It is far cheaper and simpler to destroy mines on the shelves than once they are in the ground," she added.
Under the terms of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, States Parties are required to destroy all stockpiled antipersonnel (AP) mines within four years of entry into force but many countries have destroyed their stockpiles ahead of time, including Canada, El Salvador, and Guatemala from the region.
The ICBL also remains concerned that several governments of the region intend to retain a large number of stockpiled mines for training purposes, including Brazil (17,000), Ecuador (16,000) and Peru (9,526).
"The ICBL urges Cuba and the United States to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty without delay," said Diana Roa Castro, Coordinator of the Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas. "These countries are out of step with the rest of the region and the rest of the world with respect to the total eradication of the antipersonnel mine," she added.
Only two governments from the region have not yet joined the Mine Ban Treaty -- Cuba and the USA - and of the remaining 33 Western Hemisphere countries, all but six are States Parties. The six that have signed but not ratified the treaty are Chile, Guyana, Haiti, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Uruguay. The ICBL calls on these nations to follow-through on their commitment to the antipersonnel mine ban by ratifying the treaty now.
The ICBL is attending a two-day regional meeting on landmine stockpile destruction, jointly sponsored by the governments of Argentina and Canada as well as the Organization of American States (OAS). This meeting follows the first regional landmine meeting on landmines, held in Mexico in January 1999. Members of the ICBL are participating in the meeting from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
To obtain the Landmine Monitor Fact Sheet, "Antipersonnel Landmine Stockpiles in the Americas," go to: http://www.icbl.org/lm/factsheets/stockdestla.php3
For additional information, contact:
Juan de Wandelar, Serpaj, tel/fax +54 11 4361 5745
Liz Bernstein, ICBL Coordinator, tel +54 15 4043 6688
Charlie Avendaño, Mines Action Canada, +54 11 4043 7766, local call 15 4043 7766
Or write media-at-icbl-org
