New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM)
NEWSLETTEROctober 1998 [No 3 1998]There
is a plan: The Next Stage of the Anti-landmine
Campaign
Greetings to all CALM supporters. This Newsletter is longer than usual, to bring you up to date with the new phase of ICBL activity. Landmine Monitor was set up at the Dublin Conference which I attended as CALM's representative (see report) - and CALM has special responsibilities in the work plan, as outlined below. Our commitment to the campaign continues on several fronts - the legislation in New Zealand (see below), lobbying for support for research in New Zealand (see below), lobbying to ensure that more countries sign and ratify the Treaty, and our Landmine Monitor tasks. The scourge of landmines is not yet defeated. Please do all you can, within your own families, groups and networks, to spread the message about the campaign. CALM can provide more information for displays or talks. Let us know how we can help you to help the campaign. We look to your continuing interest and support. Neil Mander (CALM Convenor)
Landmine Monitor - the Dublin Conference One of the main tasks of the ICBL, now that the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty will come into force next March, is to monitor the effectiveness of the Treaty and to verify that it is being observed. This should show up in reduced numbers of anti-personnel mines being held in stockpiles around the world; in cessation of manufacture of mines; in the clearance of mines in the ground; in the reduction in the number of mine casualties; and in better treatment and rehabilitation of victims. To undertake this work, a civil-society based organisation called Landmine Monitor has been established by ICBL, with a core group consisting of Handicap International, Human Rights Watch, Kenyan Coalition Against Landmines and Norwegian People's Aid. The first major conference of Landmine Monitor was held in Dublin from 14 to 18 September with an attendance of over 120 people from around the world. I was privileged to attend on behalf of CALM. After the opening speeches by Tony D'Costa of Pax Christi Ireland, Jody Williams of ICBL, and David Andrews, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ireland, and the message from Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, we considered different aspects of the Landmine Monitor structure and the nature of the work to be done. There were papers drawing on the experiences of monitoring other humanitarian and disarmament treaties, and on peace building and conflict resolution. Geographic workshop groups allocated research data-gathering tasks on a country-by-country basis. Data to be gathered covers all aspects of the Ottawa Treaty; signature and ratification, manufacture of mines and related research, stock holdings and transfer, quantities and extent of minefields, mine clearance work, mine awareness campaigns, victim support and rehabilitation, and IN support of humanitarian work in other countries. I was co-chair of the workshop session that reviewed data gathering methods. Particular emphasis was placed on the need for data to be accurate and verifiable. Unsubstantiated rumours are not helpful. It was noted that totalitarian governments and "non-state actors" (ie rebel and guerrilla groups) will pose special problems and dangers to those attempting to gather data in those areas. The core group organisations each have particular tasks to complete, with Mine Action Canada having the task of establishing the database into which all the gathered data will be loaded. The funding needs of this data research were considered and some arrangements were set in place, taking advantage of the very generous contributions made by the governments of Canada, Ireland and Norway for this purpose. CALM was given the task of gathering Treaty implementation data for New Zealand and for the South Pacific States who are otherwise not represented. Although most of this work will inevitably fall onto two or three of our people, there is still a role for others, particularly in NGOs and national or international organisations with contacts in the arms manufacture and distribution areas, or in mine awareness programmes, mine clearance and victim support work. We would ask those people who have reliable statistical information to communicate with us in our role of data clearing house. Such data can be valuable and able to verify, or maybe refute, data from other sources. My thanks to the Council for International Development for assistance with travel costs. Neil Mander (CALM Convenor) Locating landmines
- ongoing research at Auckland University Other experimental work investigates ground-penetrating radar and chemical sniffers which are sensitive to minute traces of the explosives used in mines. Lawrence and his team were encouraged by the recent grant by the Government of $100,000 towards the continuing research and development of landmine locators. They do note, though, that they need a further $400,000 to be able to appoint a small team to work full-time on the project. Campaigning
on the web Landmine Monitor has a page on the site: www.icbl.org/lm for all information regarding the Monitor. The Mines Action Canada site (www.minesactioncanada.com) also provides great information and a page for each country campaign. CALM's web site address is: www.protel.co.nz/calm/ This is part of the detailed, ambitious Work Plan for Landmine Monitor prepared at the Dublin meetig. It culminates with Landmine Monitor's first Annual Report. As well as the plan outlined below for the Asia-Pacific Region which includes CALM's responsibilities there are similar plans for the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Russia/Caucasus/CIS (details available from CALM). Work
Plan for the Asia Pacific region in the framework of the Landmine Monitor
(September 1998 - June 1999) Vietnam : Cambodia and Laos will meet to plan something about
Vietnam (maybe a visit) Regional Conference for South Asia : 3 days, 20-22 March 1999, hosted by Bangladesh. The Regional Co-ordinator for Asia-Pacific is Anne Capelle of Handicap International. She is also co-ordinator for Victim/Survivor Assistance. "Landmine Monitor's aim is to get its first Annual Report to the first meeting of States Parties to the Treaty. While the exact date of this meeting is still tentative, it looks likely to be in early May 1999. While this date is earlier than the Landmine Monitor Core group had anticipated it is still not an impossible deadline. For many sceptics, the December 1997 Ban Treaty signing deadline was too soon but we made it! We need to make a concerted effort to create an Annual Report that we can both be proud of in terms of its quality and content, and which will enable us to continue our advocacy for a world free from antipersonnel landmines." [Message from ICBL] Recruitment
of personnel for the Level One Mine Survey initiative This program will provide information to allow strategic planning, prioritization, and resource mobilization for mine action initiatives in the international effort to eliminate or control the threat of mines by the year 2010. International survey teams will be fielded to collect standardized data, in accordance with recognized international standards. To implement this project, the Survey Action Center is recruiting personnel to be based in Washington DC, and Country Teams to conduct national surveys. The Survey Action Center is a collaborative effort of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and international non-governmental organizations. The UNMAS serves as the focal point for mine action. The Survey Action Center is managed by Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. The Survey Working Group consists of Handicap International (Belgium and France), Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining, Landmine Survivors Network, Medico International, Mines Advisory Group, Norwegian People's Aid, United Nations Mine Action Service, and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Positions available: Survey Action Center: Deputy Manager, Field Operations Officer, Advance Mission Team Leader(s), Mapping Specialist, Field Cartographer(s), GIS Expert, Database Expert(s), Geographer(s), Mine/UXO Specialist(s). Country Teams: Survey Team Leader(s), Survey Area Supervisor(s), Administration Officer(s), Database Specialist(s), Survey Area Officer(s), Survey Team Geographer(s). VVAF is also seeking a Program Manager to be based in Washington DC to provide day-to-day administration of VVAF's overseas victim assistance programs. Experience with rehabilitation of war victims is preferable. Terms of Reference are available from our website or
by mail. Send cover letter or e-mail detailing suitability for position(s)
along with a copy of CV to: Survey Action Center, 2001 "S" Street, NW,
Suite 740, Washington, DC 20009, USA. Neil Mander, CALM Convenor, can be a first point of contact for any enquiries. NZ nurse survives
landmine explosion
She had emergency surgery in Switzerland for a broken vertebra. An Albanian doctor in the vehicle with her was killed and another injured. "Landmines always get the innocent people - they're so indiscriminate," she was quoted in the Sunday Star-Times. New book: To
Walk Without Fear: The Global Movement to Ban Landmines To Walk Without Fear is a comprehensive and authoritative account of the global movement to ban landmines. It examines and draws lessons from the "Ottawa Process" that culminated in December 1997 when over 120 states signed a convention to ban the use, sale, and production of landmines. [More in the next CALM Newsletter] Landmine Challenge
Fund launched
At the press conference to announce Landmine Monitor and launch the fund, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy committed C$450,000 and C$300,000 to the ICBL. The Government of Norway which has a five year $120 million budget for mine action programs, pledged US$200,000 to the ICBL for the last quarter of 1998. The Irish Government, which recently hosted the first Landmine Monitor conference in Dublin, donated US$150,000 to the ICBL Landmine Monitor program. Private philanthropist George Soros announced a US$300,000 donation to the ICBL as he somberly noted that, "While we are celebrating, landmines are currently being used in Kosovo. There is need for long range commitment to this civil society movement. I very much hope the private sector will be insprired to contribute (funds to the ICBL)." When questioned about the contributions of the United States to landmine removal, Mr Soros replied, "The greatest single contribution the US could make would be to sign the Treaty." Five NAM members
block landmine ban resolution "It is ironic that these six countries are all mine-affected but do not see fit to join the two-thirds of the world's nations, and two-thirds of NAM members, that have signed the international treaty banning antipersonnel mines. These governments know that they are meeting in the world's most affected continent, Africa, and that thousands of civilians are maimed by mines each year," said ICBL spokesperson Noel Stott. "They are out of touch with global sentiment and their position is unacceptable. The international community has overwhelmingly concluded that the horrendous humanitarian costs of antipersonnel mines far outweigh their limited military utility. At a minimum the final NAM resolution should have welcomed the Treaty and urged all members to sign it," said Mr Stott. Seventy-four of the 113 NAM members have signed the Mine Ban Treaty and 14 NAM members have ratified it. Nearly all of the nations most plagued by mines are NAM members. Some members of NAM, including South Africa and Peru, have been among the global leaders in support of a ban. Botswana, Mozambique and Mauritius highlighted in their Plenary speeches the humanitarian crisis caused by landmines. But a relatively small number of NAM states are thwarting the will of the great majority. More South Korea considers landmine exports ban South Korea, which has refused to sign a global treaty banning the use of anti-personnel landmines, says it will do its part by not exporting the weapons, according to a report from Reuters at the beginning of October. It will not ban the production and deployment of landmines. South Korea claims that its use of landmines is a powerful deterrent against North Korea's armed provocation. More than a million landmines are believed to be buried in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that stretches across the Korea peninsula, the Cold War's last frontier. The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce and not a peace agreement. The United States has also declined to sign the treaty on landmines until 2006, saying an exception should be made for Korea (where some 37,500 US troops are stationed). Countries such as India, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Cuba have been openly hostile to the Ottawa Treaty. "After refusing to bow to pressures from major powers such as the US, China and Russia, we are now seeing NAM members held hostage to a few of their own membership," said Stott. The movement to ban mines has been praised as a new type of international diplomacy in which small and medium-sized countries, many from the developing world, together with non-governmental organizations, took the lead on an urgent humanitarian matter and achieved great success without the support of big powers. NAM members who have so far not signed the treaty include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, India, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahirya, Maldives, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. At least seven NAM states - Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, and Singapore - continue to produce antipersonnel mines. NAM members Iraq and Vietnam are the only countries in the world known to have exported antipersonnel mines in the past that have not publicly declared a halt to shipment of mines. The ICBL calls on all NAM members to sign and ratify the 1997 Convention banning anti-personnel mines immediately. Fourth annual
French shoe pyramids
Heaps of discarded shoes rapidly built up several metres high in Paris and Lyon, Reuter reported. The protest was organised by Handicap International, a leading group in the campaign that led to the Ottawa Convention to ban anti-personnel landmines. ``The true test of the treaty's success will be when the number of victims is down to zero and mined land can be returned to communities,'' said Handicap International International Co-ordinator Susan Walker, holding a wooden leg prosthesis once used by a Cambodian child. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has an international project to remove landmines from Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula. The UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka was awaiting government approval for communication equipment needed for the programme, according to a Reuter report at the end of September, before recruiting up to 50 people, among them 8 international experts, to push the project into full gear. The programme started in June and aims to clear mines in most of the 875 sq km peninsula, the former stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Jaffna came under army control in 1996. The LTTE have been fighting for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983. In the meantime the programme is finding out where the mines are, and also disposing of unexploded shells in Jaffna city. Ten people are wounded every month on average from landmines and unexploded mortar or artillery shells in the Jaffna peninsula, which for many years has been the focus of Sri Lanka's ethnic war. Progress towards New Zealand ratification In the July Newsletter we reported that Parliament had passed the Second Reading of the Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Bill and had referred it to the Select Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Public submissions were invited and these closed on 14 September. CALM's submission strongly supports the Bill, and asks for its speedy passage through the remaining stages, followed closely by ratification of the Ottawa Treaty. CALM applauded the recent Government grant of $100,000 towards the ongoing landmine location research being carried out in the University of Auckland and urged that this should be extended by the establishment of a mine research centre. Our submission urged that New Zealand should increase its assistance in mine clearance work, mine awareness work, and in victim support and rehabilitation, noting that Australia and Canada have recently announced increased expenditure in this area. We also suggested that it be a policy that when trade and other diplomatic matters are discussed with other governments, that as appropriate, their progress towards ratification and implementation of all aspects of the Ottawa Convention be considered, with a view to providing suitable encouragement. At present, we are awaiting to hear from the Select Committee on when to appear before them in support of our submission. Neil Mander (Convenor) A mine victims cross-country caravan from Jalalabad to Herat and tournaments of sports and cycle racing for the disabled were part of a month-long campaign by the Afghan Campaign to Ban Landmines (ACBL) in September-October. During the 20-day trip on war-damaged country roads, from the east of Afghanistan to its western city Herat, the 20 mine-victims caravan held special sports events and spoke about mine awareness. In Jalalabad 12 teams competed in an ACBL-organised volleyball tournament, said Dr Najimi, ACBL co-ordinator. Latest calendar of landmine-related events For more detailed information (including, in most cases, the organiser's name and e-mail address) contact CALM. November 1: Seminar in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. More Ratification
- Progress Around the World Countries that have ratified the Treaty: Andorra, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Djibouti, Fiji, France, Germany, Grenada, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Niue, Norway, Peru, Samoa, San Merino, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Yemen, Zimbabwe. Some of the countries that have NOT signed the Treaty are: China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Vietnam and the United States of America. 26 Nov - 6 Dec: Luanda, Angola. Week of activities related to
the first anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty and the 2nd anniversary of
the Angolan Campaign to Ban Landmines, including bicycle race, videos
on landmines broadcast on national TV, etc. Organized by UNICEF, ICRC,
NGOs and the Angolan Campaign. 1999 January: end. Mexico. Regional Meeting hosted by the Government of Mexico. February: Nairobi, Kenya: All Africa Peace Conference, in preparation
for Hague Peace Appeal. March 1: Treaty Enters into Force Mid March: Oslo, Norway. Third
Landmine Monitor Meeting. May 3-7: Maputo, Mozambique. First Meeting of States Parties
to the Mine Ban Treaty. Late: Egypt. Fifth International Conference
on Landmines hosted by the ICBL (tentative). Germany. Bad Honnef 2 to
improve and refine guidelines and principles for humanitarian mine action. Late 1999: states parties to the Treaty report to UN Secretary General (6 months after entry into force) This newsletter was prepared by Neil Mander and David Zwartz
…CALM (New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines)… Convenor:
Neil Mander Spokesperson:
John Head Treasurer and resource officer: P O Box 17-195, Karori, Wellington CALM's web site address: http://www.protel.co.nz/calm/ |
CALM is the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines.
CALM is a member of ICBL, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
which was co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1997.
