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Time for United States to Join the Mine Ban Treaty

Posted March 01, 2010

  

(New York) March 1, 2010 – Eleven years after the Mine Ban Treaty became binding international law, activists worldwide are stepping up their call on the United States to join.
  
The U.S. announced last November that it had initiated a review of its landmine policy. Members of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) are visiting dozens of U.S. embassies worldwide on the March 1 anniversary to urge the U.S. to decide to join the Mine Ban Treaty without further delay.
 
“We are glad that the U.S. has decided to take a fresh look at its stance on banning antipersonnel mines,” said Sylvie Brigot, Executive Director of the ICBL. “During the policy review process, it is crucial that decision-makers listen to the voices of landmine survivors and mine-affected communities.”

The United States has not used antipersonnel mines since 1991, has had an export ban in place since 1992, and has not produced them since 1997.
 
“The human cost of landmines far outweighs their military utility. An overwhelming majority of states have formally recognized this,” said Zach Hudson, coordinator of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines.
 
“The national security argument does not stand. Surely if we have been able to defend our country for the last 19 years without using landmines, we have already found alternative solutions.”
 
The United States participated in an official Mine Ban Treaty meeting as an observer for the first time at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World, in December 2009. It is the world’s largest individual contributor for mine action and victim assistance programs, and it should match its financial commitment with a political commitment to end the threat of the use of landmines.
 
“The urgent need for increased assistance to landmine survivors was among the highlights of the Cartagena Summit,” explained Firoz Ali Alizada, ICBL Treaty Implementation Officer and a landmine survivor himself.
 
“Given the magnitude of the challenges ahead on victim assistance, we need all states, including the United States, to commit formally to the Mine Ban Treaty. By doing so they will strengthen the ban on this weapon as the only acceptable norm, and help ensure landmine survivors see their rights respected and receive full assistance.”  
 
Adopted in 1997, the Mine Ban Treaty entered into force on 1 March 1999, just 15 months after it was negotiated – the shortest time ever for a modern international treaty. The treaty comprehensively bans all anti-personnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiled mines within four years, requires destruction of mines already in the ground within 10 years, and urges extensive programs to assist the victims of landmines.

Take Action

On March 1st, Human Rights Watch and other members of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines are organizing on Twitter and Facebook to tell both the administration and Congress that the U.S. needs to relinquish anti-personnel mines and get on board the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Our goal is to make the call for the U.S. to ban landmines a trending topic on Twitter, and to raise the profile of the issue on Facebook and other social networking tools on March 1st, which marks eleven years since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty became binding international law.

If you have an account on Facebook or Twitter, you can participate in this initiative on March 1st and during that week by:

1.   Donating your status - Upload one of the "Ban Landmines USA" icons or ‘avatars' (see top of page, click here to download them) and use it in place of your regular photo or icon on your Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Flickr, and other accounts. Switch your status to a "Ban Landmines USA" on Monday, March 1st and use it that day, that week, or for the whole month of March!

2.   Tweeting the hashtag #banminesusa - Our goal is to make the call for the U.S. to ban landmines a trending topic on Twitter through use of the hashtag #banminesusa. So on March 1st and during that week, please tweet #banminesusa every time you see an article, press release, or campaign action in support of the objective to "Ban Landmines USA." Tell your friends on Twitter to do the same. Every time you see a tweet with #banminesusa, please re-tweet it.

Background & Figures

Eighty percent of the world’s countries (156 countries) have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. Another two states have signed, but still not ratified. China, Russia, and the United States are among the 37 states that have not yet joined. But nearly all of those states are in de facto compliance with most of the treaty’s provisions. Every NATO member has foresworn the use of antipersonnel mines except for the U.S., as have other key allies, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Australia, and Japan. In the Western Hemisphere, only the U.S. and Cuba have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty.

Some 44 million antipersonnel mines have been destroyed from stockpiles since the Mine Ban Treaty was adopted; only 13 of the more than 50 countries that manufactured antipersonnel mines in the early ‘90s still have a production capacity; trade in antipersonnel mines has virtually stopped; and large tracts of land have been cleared and returned to productive use. Landmines still contaminate 70 states.

The U.S Campaign to Ban Landmines is a nationwide coalition of non-governmental organizations and member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate.

U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines members participating in this #banminesusa campaign action include Human Rights Watch, Jesuit Refugee Service USA and the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Jesuit Refugee Service
U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor
 
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