1 March, 2004
Media Statement
NZ Campaign Against Landmines (CALM)
5th Anniversary of the Mine Ban Treaty:
NZ Campaign Against Landmines condemns new US landmine policy
“New US government policy on landmines, unveiled at the State Department on Friday, is a dramatic and dangerous policy
reversal which flies in the face of international consensus and jeopardises efforts to create a mine-free world,” said
the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines today.
Determined by the Department of Defence, Department of State, the National Security Council and President Bush, the new
policy abandons plans for the US to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty and confirms that US troops may deploy antipersonnel
landmines in Iraq or elsewhere.
“Today marks the 5th anniversary of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty becoming binding international humanitarian law.
Celebrations of the significant and life-saving progress made under the treaty will be dampened by news of the new US
policy.
“Recognising that mines are outmoded, indiscriminate weapons with limited military utility, the vast majority of
governments (141 States Parties) have signed up to the Mine Ban Treaty. This support for the Mine Ban Treaty and the
unprecedented cooperation of governments, non-governmental organisations and inter-governmental organisations such as
the UN, has enabled:
· the destruction of more 52 million mines from global stockpiles,
· a drop in the number of mine producing countries, from 54 to 14,
· the removal of hundreds of thousands of mines from the ground, · a reduction in the number of casualties (from an
average of 26,000 to 15-20,000 each year), and
· the slowing of trade of the stigmatised weapon.
“Previously, US government policy set the country on track to join the rest of the international community and accede to
the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006, when the destruction of America’s stocks of ‘dumb’ mines was also scheduled.
“The new policy rejects the Mine Ban Treaty and delays the destruction of those ‘dumb’ mines until 2010. It also allows
the US to continue using so-called ‘smart’ mines which although they are set to deactivate or self-destruct cannot
discriminate between the foot of a soldier and that of a child. These mines tend to be scattered by air making them
difficult to mark and map, posing tremendous challenges and costs for demining teams, and threaten the lives and limbs
of innocent civilians and troops working in mined areas.
“While the US has announced that it will increase funding for mine action programmes, overall its policy is a giant step
backwards that will do little to reduce the agricultural, economic and psychological impacts for the millions of people
who continue to live with landmines.
“The policy sets a dangerous example to the few remaining mine-users, such as Russia, India, and Pakistan, with
devastating consequences for civilians. The policy is a significant step backwards for the US, isolating it further from
the norms of international law and the international community,” said John Head and Deborah Morris today.