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Following is an introduction to a Social Justice Issue: "Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs." Links to web sites are included for *in-depth information, *analysis, *action ideas, *contacts, and *organizing initiatives. You are encouraged to use the links to take you to facets of this issue that speak to your heart, mind, and desire to unite your faith with action. |
Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs
Treaties Social and Economic Costs Recent U.S. Presidential Actions
Efforts to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs Action Alerts!
March 1, 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Antipersonnel Land Mines. The treaty commits its parties to:
- Cease military deployment of landmines
- Destroy mine stockpiles
- Clear mine-infested land
- Assist the victims injured by landmines.
In 2004, Human Rights Watch's Campaign to Ban Landmines "praised the remarkable progress in eliminating antipersonnel landmines around the world.... The landmines treaty became binding international law more quickly than any other major treaty in history." One sign of success is that 156 countries (as of April 30, 2009) have ratified, acceded, or approved The Ban Mine Treaty. (Countries that have not signed include China, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States.)
The treaty has dramatically reduced the number of mine users and producers, as well as saved countless numbers of lives and limbs. However, remaining challenges include:
- Universalizing the treaty
- Increased funding for landmine clearance
- Major funding for rehabilitation of those harmed by landmines
A convention to ban cluster bombs, which cause horrific civilian casualties and long-term impacts similar to landmines, has been adopted by 107 countries. Movement towards the comprehensive ban came despite efforts to water down the treaty by countries with stockpiles of the weapon. In 2008, Human Rights Watch released A Dying Practice: Use of Cluster Munitions by Russia and Georgia. The 80-page report is the first comprehensive study of the use of cluster munitions.
Millions and millions of landmines litter the land in 71 nations; another estimated 100,000 are in stockpiles. Each year thousands of people are killed or maimed by landmines; the majority of whom are civilians; an estimated 30 percent of them are children.
Innocent people pay the cost during and long after wars are fought. Landmines make land unusable for farming, housing, and transportation -- especially painful burdens for countries already enduring the effects of conflicts and economic hardships.
The low cost of landmines makes them a popular weapon. They are hard to detect, yet difficult and very expensive to defuse and remove (approximately $1,000 each). The human cost of cleanup is also high.
Cluster munitions differ from antipersonnel mines in a variety of ways, but their effects on civilian populations are often similar. Cluster munitions are weapons that can disperse up to several hundred smaller submunitions -- sometimes referred to as “bomblets” -- over wide areas.
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"Cluster bomblets, like anti-personnel mines, are unacceptable when they kill and injure civilians including children. I call upon individuals, organisations, and politicians to do all they can to remove and reduce the impact of these weapons for future generations." -- Paul McCartney, April 19, 2008. |
On February 27, 2004, the Bush Administration announced a new policy that reversed of a ten-year policy to eliminate all antipersonnel landmines. (See Human Rights Watch's questions and answers in relation to this policy.) Bush's decision was denounced by mine ban advocates, organizations, and policy-makers. Two such groups are the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, who see the policy as a "huge step backward in foreign policy"... "because we know that this does not reflect the values and aspirations of the people of our country."
In 2004, as a response to the failure of the Bush administration to send a delegation to the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, the USCBL (United States Campaign to Ban Landmines) sent letters expressing frustration to the Senate and Secretary of State Powell. The letters urged the U.S. government to rethink its landmine policy and begin to exercise leadership toward a mine-free world. However, in 2005, the Bush Administration took an important step forward when it became the first military power to ban non-detectable landmines. The omnibus spending bill that President Barack Obama signed on March 11, 2009, prohibits the United States from exporting nearly all cluster bombs.
Worldwide, there are many campaigns to ban landmines. The Catholic Campaign to Ban Landmines is sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) brings together more than 1,400 non-governmental organizations in 90 countries. ICBL publishes the comprehensive Landmine Monitor Report, prepared by a committee of experts on mine clearance.
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines has expanded its mission to include advocacy toward a prohibition on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. For more then two decades, the Menonite Central Committee has brought the cluster bombing of Laos to public attention. In September 2007, the United Nations adopted a "new and ambitious position on cluster munitions."
Now is the time to push the United States to sign the landmine treaty:Listen to a 5-part series by World Radio Switzerland on the impact of cluster bombs on Laos.
- Urge your senators to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, S. 416. If s/he already is a cosponsor, express your support and gratitude.
- Watch the video of a U.S. mother telling of her son's death due to U.S. cluster bombs.
- Ask President Obama to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Mine Band Treaty.
- Act to help make a landmine-free world.
- See what a cluster bomb would to to your neighborhood.
- Adopt a minefield to help clear landmines in Afghanistan.
Gratitude to the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
for use of its graphic.
Modified July 1, 2009.