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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation 2003 Landmine Monitor Released, September 9'Global Landmine Use Decreases, But Mine Ban Campaign Cautions Against Complacency', International Campaign to ban Landmines (ICBL) Press Release, September 9; ICBL website, http://www.icbl.org. Global use of antipersonnel mines fell dramatically in the past year, while funding for mine clearance increased 30 percent, according to the latest annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). "We are making tremendous strides in getting rid of antipersonnel landmines and in saving lives and limbs in every region of the world," said ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams, who shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the ICBL. "However, there is no room for complacency. Some countries still refuse to abide by the new international standard rejecting antipersonnel mines. Mines are still being laid and the number of mine victims around the world increases every day." According to the 826-page Landmine Monitor Report 2003, more than 52 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines have been destroyed by 69 countries, including four million in the past year, the number of countries producing the weapon has decreased from more than fifty to 15, and there have been no significant exports of antipersonnel mines since the mid-1990s. Mine clearance and other mine action programs have expanded, and there are fewer new mine casualties annually than in the past. There are now 136 countries that have ratified or acceded to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits use, production, trade and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines, and requires destruction of mines in the ground within ten years. Ten countries ratified or acceded since the last annual report, including Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined nations in the world. Belarus is the most recent to join, on 3 September 2003. Belarus has a stockpile of more than 4 million antipersonnel mines, the sixth biggest in the world. In addition to the 136, another 12 countries have signed but not yet ratified the treaty. "The number of governments and rebel groups using antipersonnel mines has continued to decrease," said Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch, the Global Coordinator for the Landmine Monitor initiative. "There are currently only two governments - Myanmar and Russia - planting antipersonnel mines on a regular basis." In this Landmine Monitor reporting period (since May 2002), at least six governments used antipersonnel mines, all non-signatories to the ban treaty: India, Iraq, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, and Russia. Although Saddam Hussein's forces laid mines in many locations before and during the conflict, United States and coalition forces apparently did not use antipersonnel mines in Iraq. Use by six governments represents a decrease from nine governments identified in Landmine Monitor Report 2002 and 13 governments in Landmine Monitor Report 2001. Likewise, opposition groups used antipersonnel mines in eleven countries in this reporting period, compared to fourteen countries in the previous year. Among Mine Ban Treaty States Parties, the ICBL is most concerned about Turkmenistan, which has indicated its intent to keep 69,200 antipersonnel mines for "training." The ICBL believes this number is unacceptably high and likely illegal, since the treaty allows retention only of the "minimum number absolutely necessary" for training and development purposes. Most states choosing to retain training mines are keeping only hundreds or a few thousand. After stagnating in 2001, funding for mine action (mine clearance, mine risk education, mine survivor assistance) in 2002 totaled some $309 million, a 30 percent increase from the previous year. Mine action funding has totalled over $1.7 billion since 1992, including $1.2 billion since the Mine Ban Treaty was opened for signature in 1997. "More than two-thirds of the 2002 funding increase went to a single country, Afghanistan," said Sara Sekkenes of Norwegian People's Aid, Co-Chair of the ICBL Mine Action Working Group. "Unfortunately, current progress reports clearly show that even greater increases in mine action funding, as well as higher cost-efficiency, will be needed to enable States Parties to meet their mine clearance deadlines and cope fully with the global landmine problem." According to Landmine Monitor, 82 countries are mine-affected, including 45 States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. Under the treaty, mine-affected States Parties have ten years to remove emplaced mines. Costa Rica declared itself mine-free in December 2002, nearly seven years before its deadline. In 2002, no mine clearance was recorded in 16 of the affected countries and no mine risk education activities were recorded in 25 countries. In 2002 and through June 2003, there were new landmine casualties reported in 65 countries; the majority (41) of these countries were at peace, not war. Only 15 percent of reported casualties in 2002 were identified as military personnel. "The reported landmine casualty rate declined in 2002 in the majority of mine-affected countries, but mines continue to claim too many victims," said Sheree Bailey of Handicap International Belgium, Landmine Monitor's Victim Assistance Research Coordinator. "As the number of mine survivors continues to grow in every region of the world, in many mine-affected countries the assistance available for their rehabilitation and reintegration into society is hopelessly inadequate." Landmine Monitor Report 2003: Toward a Mine-Free World is the fifth annual report by the ICBL. On Monday, 15 September, the ICBL will present the report to diplomats attending the Fifth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Bangkok, Thailand, a mine-affected State Party. The Landmine Monitor initiative is coordinated by a "Core Group" of five ICBL organizations. Human Rights Watch is the lead organization and others include Handicap International Belgium, Kenya Coalition Against Landmines, Mines Action Canada, and Norwegian People's Aid. A total of 110 Landmine Monitor researchers in 90 countries systematically collected and analysed information from a wide variety of sources for this comprehensive report. This unique civil society initiative constitutes the first time that non-governmental organizations have come together in a sustained, coordinated and systematic way to monitor and report on the implementation of an international disarmament or humanitarian law treaty. The full Landmine Monitor report and related documents are available online in various languages at http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003. © 2003 The Acronym Institute. |