----------
From: Nunu <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 07:37:56 -0800
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Adna-list] UPDATE: Bush Landmine Policy - Update & Action
ADNA UPDATE: 040325
Message from: Washington Office on Africa
For contact information see also:
http://adna.africafocus.org
contact: Leon Spencer - [log in to unmask]
Dear friends on the Washington Office on Africa's Rapid Response Network,
What follows is an update re landmines and the Bush administration's
announcement, in recent weeks, of its new landmine policy, which rejects
the mine ban treaty, asserts the right of the US to use mines in combat,
and is unwilling to give up "dumb" mines until 2010.
There are a few positive aspects to the new policy, but they are vastly
overshadowed by the negative aspects.
At the end of this update is a possible action, involving raising this
issue in your local paper. What follows first are details of the policy
and our response, consistent with the analysis of the US Campaign to Ban
Landmines.
The crucially important Mine Ban Treaty in 1997 triggered an examination of
the issue by the Clinton administration. The essence of President
Clinton's policy was for the US to join the treaty by 2006. He also
instructed the US military to search for alternatives to the weapon and
phase out most of its use outside of Korea by 2003.
When President Bush came to office, he initiated a review of the
policy. The long-awaited new policy, determined by the Department of
Defense, Department of State, the National Security Council, and President
Bush, abandons altogether plans for US signing and ratifying the Mine Ban
Treaty.
The new policy permits the use of long-lived (or "dumb") antipersonnel
mines until 2010. It also permits the use of self-destructing (or "smart")
mines indefinitely anywhere in the world. (The Clinton administration had
focused upon Korea.)
Note that, though "smart" mines are set to self-deactivate or
self-destruct, while active they still injure and kill civilians, and since
these newer types of mines tend to be scattered by air by the thousands,
they are difficult to mark and map. Demining teams must approach "smart"
minefields with the same tremendous amount of time, resources, and caution
as they would "dumb" minefields.
On the plus side, the new White House policy announces a 50% increase in
spending for mine action programs for FY 2005 (over FY 2003 levels). This
increase in spending on demining and victim assistance is important, but
still insufficient.
Since the early 1990s when the mine ban movement began in earnest, the
number of mine producing countries has dropped from 54 to 14. Trade of the
weapon has come almost to a halt, and more than 52 million antipersonnel
landmines have been destroyed from the arsenals of the world. Nations have
removed millions of landmines from communities devastated by the weapon and
have provided medical and rehabilitative support to victims of
landmines. Most importantly, casualty rates from the weapon have dropped
from approximately 26,000 people per year to 15,000-20,000 per year, though
millions more continue to suffer the agricultural, economic, and
psychological consequences wrought by the presence of the weapon in more
than 80 countries worldwide.
We suggest that you consider submitting a letter to the editor. Below is a
sample. However, we urge that you put as much as possible into your own
words.
***
Sample Letter to the Editor:
To the Editor:
The recent coverage of President Bush's new US landmine policy is a major
policy retreat in the effort to prevent the tragedy of a weapon that keeps
on killing. The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty has made a tremendous, life-saving
impact throughout the world. More than 52 million mines have been
destroyed from global stockpiles, trade of the stigmatized weapon has
slowed to a trickle, hundreds of thousands of mines have been removed from
the ground, most countries have given up use of the weapon, and casualty
rates have declined dramatically. US refusal to join this treaty gives
political cover to countries such as Russia, India, and Pakistan, which
have laid hundreds of thousands of mines in recent years with devastating
consequences for innocent victims.
Though President Clinton failed to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, he did
create a policy that would put the US on track to join the treaty by
2006. The new Bush policy rejects any notion that the US will join the
treaty, puts off the destruction of "persistent" landmines until 2010, and
asserts that our military may use self-deactivating "smart" mines
indefinitely. These so-called "smart" mines cannot discriminate between
the foot of a soldier and that of a child, tend to be scattered by air and
are thus difficult to mark and map, pose tremendous challenges and costs
for demining teams, and threaten the lives and limbs of innocent civilians
and US troops who step on the weapons soon after they've been planted.
Meanwhile, reportedly, the US military hasn't used antipersonnel landmines
since 1991. Let's join the majority of the world in giving up this cruel,
outmoded, and indiscriminate weapon!
Sincerely,
Name
Address
***
The Washington Office on Africa acknowledges with thanks the work of the US
Campaign to Ban Landmines and Physicians for Human Rights, from whom this
update and alert has been adapted.
The US Campaign to Ban Landmines is a nation-wide coalition of nearly 500
non-governmental organizations and thousands of individual members,
including the Washington Office on Africa, advocating for the US government
to join the Mine Ban Treaty and sustain high levels of support for demining
and victim assistance. It is a member of the 1997 Nobel Peace
Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines and is coordinated by
Physicians for Human Rights in Boston. WOA has some information on
landmines on our website, www.woaafrica.org, but for more information, also
visit www.banminesusa.org
Yours,
Leon Spencer
Executive Director
Washington Office on Africa
----------------------------------------------
This message is distributed through the Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA)
Nunu Kidane
Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA)
Communications Facilitator for ADNA
http://adna.africafocus.org
To unsubscribe your e-mail address from this group, send an email to:
[log in to unmask] To ensure that the ADNA database is updated
correctly, please also send a copy of your request, or any other request
for changes in your membership
information, to [log in to unmask] For additional assistance with
the adnalist,
write to [log in to unmask]
_______________________________________________
Adna-list mailing list
[log in to unmask]
http://lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/adna-list
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/DKgolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
We periodically meet the fourth Wednesday of the month. For a calendar of local Africa events see http://www.ibike.org/africamatters/calendar.htm . To post a message: [log in to unmask] Others who want to subscribe need to send a message to [log in to unmask] from the email account they want to subscribe.
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wa-afr-network/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[log in to unmask]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
