U.S. Also Bears Responsibility, Landmines Crisis
U.S. Also Bears Responsibility, Landmines Crisis
Human Rights Watch
Website http://www.hrw.org
(Washington,
March 5, 2001) At the outset of "Ban Landmines Week" in
Washington, D.C., Human Rights Watch said that nearly
eighty percent of
the Pentagon's $25 million budget for
humanitarian demining is used for
travel costs and other
logistical aspects of moving personnel and
equipment
around the world.
The United States spends more money on
humanitarian mine programs than
any other country, and
Pentagon officials often insist that U.S. mines
cause
relatively little damage. But Human Rights Watch released
fresh
research showing that U.S.-manufactured
antipersonnel mines have been
used by government or
rebel forces in at least twenty-eight countries or
regions, causing numerous civilian casualties.
"The
U.S. bears a special responsibility for the landmines
crisis," said
Stephen Goose, program director of the
Arms Division of Human Rights
Watch. "Washington is one
of the largest producers and exporters of
mines in the
past, and one of the largest stockpilers today. President
Bush should make joining the Mine Ban Treaty a high
priority so that the
U.S. can fully wield its influence
and power to achieve a truly global
ban on antipersonnel
mines."
The week of March 5, 2001 has been declared "Ban
Landmines Week" by the
mayor of Washington, D.C. Nearly
200 members of the Nobel Peace
Prize-winning
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), from about
ninety countries, and another 250 campaigners from
forty-five U.S.
states will participate in a series of
meetings and events in Washington
throughout the week.
Human Rights Watch is a co-founder of the ICBL.
Human
Rights Watch issued a Fact Sheet containing new information
about
use of U.S.-made antipersonnel mines around the
world, U.S. mine
exports, and U.S. spending on mine
clearance and mine victim assistance
programs.
The
United States is not among the 139 countries that have
signed the
Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits all use,
production, trade, and
stockpiling of antipersonnel
mines. Current policy calls for the U.S. to
join the
treaty in 2006 if the Pentagon has found alternatives to
antipersonnel mines. The Bush Administration has yet to
make any
statement on antipersonnel mines.
Human
Rights Watch research shows that in the next fiscal year (FY
2002), funding for the Pentagon's search for
alternatives to landmines
will surpass funding for
humanitarian mine programs.
The U.S. exported over 5.6
million antipersonnel mines to at least
thirty-eight
countries between 1969 and 1992. The U.S. still has the
third largest stockpile of antipersonnel mines in the
world, more than
11 million, including stocks in twelve
foreign countries, five of which
have signed the Mine
Ban Treaty.
The U.S. ranks eleventh among major donor
countries when mine action
funding is considered on a
per capita basis and thirteenth when that
funding is
taken as a percentage of GDP.
Human Rights Watch urges
that the role of mines should be part of the
review of
the U.S. military structure and weapons ordered in February
2001 by the Bush Administration. Many military experts
have argued that
antipersonnel mines have little to no
utility in the war fighting
principles currently being
developed and adopted by the U.S. military
for the
twenty-first century.
Human Rights Watch calls on
President Bush to submit the Mine Ban Treaty
to the
Senate for its advice and consent for accession, and through
executive actions begin immediate implementation of the
treaty's
provisions. Short of joining the treaty, there
are other important steps
in the right direction that
President Bush could take:
· Declare a ban on the
production of antipersonnel mines.
· Immediately commit
the United States to a policy of no use of
antipersonnel
mines in joint operations (NATO and otherwise)
with
states that have signed the Mine Ban Treaty.
Similarly, commit the
United States to a policy of no
transiting of antipersonnel mines
across the territory,
air space, or waters of Mine Ban Treaty signatory
states.
· Instruct the Department of Defense to
immediately withdraw all
stockpiles of antipersonnel
mines from countries that have signed the
Mine Ban
Treaty.
· Take steps necessary to insure that any systems
resulting from the
Pentagon's landmine alternative
programs are compliant with the Mine Ban
Treaty.
·
Remove from consideration the battlefield override feature
of the dumb
mine replacement program.
· Eliminate
the RADAM program.
For more information, please
see:
The United States and Antipersonnel Mines-2001 (Human
Rights Watch Fact
Sheet, March 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/03/lmfacts.htm
Clinton's
Landmine Legacy (HRW Report, June 2000) at
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslm/
Landmine
Monitor Report 2000: Toward a Mine-Free World (HRW Report,
June
2000) at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/landmines/
ENDS