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General Assembly I:
TOPIC I
Landmines
Impact: Every 22 minutes a land mine explodes, maiming or killing 26,000
people a year. Most victims are not soldiers but women and children who
happen to live in areas that were once war zones-more than 80% of estimated
landmine casualties are civilians. These areas include Afghanistan, Angola,
Iraq, Kuwait, Cambodia, Western Sahara, Mozambique, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Croatia, among others. These ten have the most active, buried landmines
in the world. Estimates range from 9-10 million in Afghanistan to 1 million
in Croatia. The other eight, respectively, are estimated at 9 million,
5-10 million, 5 million, 4-7 million, 1-2 million, 1-2 million, 1 million,
and 1 million. In the last nine years, interest in the disarming of landmines
has been brought to the forefront of international disarmament discussions,
helped along by "celebrity" endorsers such as Princess Diana
Spencer of Wales and Mother Theresa.
History:
In 1992, The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a nongovernmental
initiative, was formed to increase awareness of the problem at hand and
to rectify what they saw as a dangerous situation. Forty-five countries,
including the United States and South Africa, have already declared moratoria
or permanent bans on landmine exports. In 1995 and 1996 international
conferences in Vienna and Geneva reviewed the 1983 treaty (an internationally
negotiated landmines treaty imposing restrictions on the legal use of
landmines in an effort to reduce harm to civilians which has been totally
ineffective), but failed to make progress toward a total ban on landmines.
Instead, agreement was reached on limited new restrictions, such as requiring
parties to keep maps of planted landmines and to use only smart mines
built to self-destruct. Yet, the argument was proposed that enforcing
such restrictions would be far more difficult in practice than enforcing
an unambiguous comprehensive ban.
In October 1996, the Canadian government convened a conference in Ottawa
bringing together 50 full participant countries and 24 observers to plan
for adoption of a total ban by the end of 1997. The International Campaign,
now consisting of more than 650 nongovernmental organizations in more
than three-dozen countries, is working to gain the support of as many
governments as possible for a comprehensive ban. Unfortunately, the countries
needing this ban the most are the ones who can't afford to disarm the
mines already in place-each mine costs between $300 and $1000 to remove,
and many countries are still burying mines-which only cost $3-$30 to arm-thirty-eight
countries make anti-personnel mines. Leading the list are China, Russia
and the United States. To a lesser extent: France, Britain, Germany, Sweden,
Switzerland, South Africa, India, Chile and Pakistan (statistics courtesy
of the International Red Cross). At the current disarming pace, as quoted
to Human Rights Watch, it would take $33 billion and 11 centuries to clear
the active mines scattered in 64 countries around the world.
According to the US State Department's 1993 study, Africa is the most
mined region in the world, with 18 million to 30 million mines laid in
18 countries. Of the 17 countries around the world most severely affected
by landmines, seven are in Africa.
By far the most seriously affected country is Angola, with estimates ranging
from 9 million to as high as 20 million mines. Next is Mozambique, with
more than a million, followed by four countries in the Horn of Africa
(Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan) with half a million to a million
each. Every country in Southern Africa, with the exception of Lesotho
and Mauritius, has had people killed or injured by landmines. The Great
Lakes region, previously not significantly affected, now has more than
250,000 mines in Rwanda, and there are fears that the ongoing conflict
in the region may lead to much wider use of landmines. Other areas with
significant numbers of mines include the Western Sahara and Liberia. An
estimated 70,000 Angolans have become amputees as a result of landmines,
including both civilian and military victims. In Mozambique the National
Mine Clearance Commission estimates that at least 40 people are killed
by landmines each month.
South Africa, with an existing landmine production capacity, announced
in October 1996 that it supported a global landmine ban and would ban
export of mines. Although veterans groups across the political spectrum
in South Africa have called for a ban on production and stockpiling as
well, the South African Defense Force initially proved reluctant to take
this additional step. South Africa has an estimated stockpile of about
300,000 anti-personnel landmines. In February 1997, South Africa announced
a total ban, including plans to eliminate its existing stockpile.
Not all nations stand in agreement on the proposed bans, however: nations
such as South Korea, whose welfare (they claim) is dependant upon the
continuing existence of a "buffer zone" to keep the North Koreans
out of their territory. Other countries claim landmines to be a vital
part of their respective militaries.
Previous UN Actions:
Since the start of the first systematic UN mine clearance operation in
Afghanistan in 1989, the UN system has helped devise mine action plans
and establish national programs in 13 countries (Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Chad, Croatia, Iraq, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mozambique,
Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Yemen). Landmine assessments and surveys, clearance
of mines and unexploded ordnance, rehabilitation of survivors, development
of mine awareness and victim-assistance programs, establishment of national
institutions for mine action, advocacy and economic and social reconstruction
are among the tasks performed by UN system partners.
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