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Working on the mine ban
Five
years after an unprecedented alliance of governments and human rights groups
signed a major international treaty to ban landmines, 20,000 people a year are
still killed or injured by the weapons. Belgium has been at the forefront of
efforts to reduce that horrific toll, but as Katleen Maes reports there is
still a great deal of work to be done.
March 2004
The United Nations backed Mine Ban Treaty
(MBT), which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year, is one of the most
popular international agreements ever. It has been signed by some 150 countries
and ratified by 141. And from the outset, Belgium has been one of the
agreement's strongest supporters.
Back in 1990, Belgium became the first country
to stop producing antipersonnel mines and it completed the destruction of its
stockpiles in 1997. "Belgium was, and continues to be, at the forefront of
the campaign to ban landmines," Annelies Vanoppen, communications manager
for Nobel prize-winning Handicap International Belgium, tells Expatica.
In December 1997, an unprecedented alliance of
governments, civil society groups and international organisations, such as the
UN and the Red Cross, oversaw the birth of the MBT in Ottawa, Canada.
The so-called 'Convention on the prohibition of
the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on
their destruction' was immediately signed by 122 countries. Two years later, on
1 March 1999, it entered into force.
To crown this success the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which includes Handicap International's 'Mine
Unit' in Belgium, received a Nobel
Peace Prize for its efforts in the same month. Today, there are only 47
countries that still do not back the MBT.
Back in 1990, Belgium became the first country
to stop producing antipersonnel mines and it completed the destruction of its
stockpiles in 1997. But unfortunately for the treaty's suporters, these
refuseniks include some of the world's most powerful states, among them are
Russia, China and the USA. And most of the countries in the volatile and
heavily mined Middle East have also not yet signed up.
After Ottawa, Belgium continued to lead the way
in the crusade against landmines. "Belgium was the fist country to
introduce the treaty into its legislation and helped to lobby other countries
in the EU and internationally to do the same," Vanoppen explains. In
recent years, it has been lobbying very hard to convince two countries
currently lining up to join the European Union to respect the MBT.
Estonia has not yet signed the treaty, while
Poland still needs to ratify it. Belgium funded anti-landmine campaigns to the
tune of EUR4.5 million in 2002. Additionally, it attended, headed and organised
a score of conferences and events.
Mining corporate pockets
Handicap International Belgium organises the
annual European Gala For Landmine Victims.
This year’s event takes place later this month and it is set to be a
pretty swanky affair. Belgian Development Minister Marc Verwilghen will welcome
guests to a plush dinner at Le Plaza, one of Brussels’ poshest hotels, where he
will oversee an auction of creations made by some of Belgium's finest artists.
"We expect to raise EUR 100,000 from this
year's gala evening. Last year, we managed to raise EUR 65,000," Vanoppen
says. "The increase is mainly due to a growing interest from
corporations," she adds. Although well-off individuals can buy tickets,
the gala is essentially aimed at the business world.
The proceeds of the event will go to Handicap International
projects for landmine victims in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo
and Iraq. "The American Embassy has shown a strong interest in the gala.
It is remarkable in light of the announcement they recently made that they
would continue to use antipersonnel mines," Vanoppen admits.
US refuses to play ball
Washington dropped a bombshell just a few days
before the MBT celebrated its fifth anniversary. On February 27, US Assistant
Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Lincoln Bloomfield, said
that the so-called 'smart mines', which deactivate themselves after a set time,
would still be used by the US military after 2010.
He did however say that the army would phase
out older types of mines as soon as possible. "We'll be the first to end
the use of persistent [or dumb] landmines, both… antipersonnel and
anti-vehicle," he said. Bloomfield
also announced that the US budget for demining assistance would increase by 50
percent.
According to the US State Department, these
commitments demonstrate that the country's humanitarian and military goals are
"fully compatible". One does not have to be achieved at the expense
of the other, Washington argues.
However, the ICBL and many others reacted with
shock to Washington's recent announcement. They warn that smart mines are no
miracle solution. "They can still pose unacceptable risks for civilians,
still cause new mine victims, and the clearance task will still be
time-consuming, costly and dangerous for deminers," says Stan Brabants of Handicap
International Belgium.
Jody Williams, ICBL ambassador and co-laureate
of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, said in a recent press statement that, "the
US announcement casts a sinister shadow over our commemoration of the progress
made globally since March 1999 to eradicate antipersonnel mines."
Stephen Goose, executive director of the Arms
Division of Human Rights Watch also condemned Washington's decision. "This
new landmine policy is not just a gigantic step backward for the United States,
it is a complete about-face," he fumed.
Indeed, in 1994, the United States was the
first country to call for the ‘eventual elimination’ of all antipersonnel
landmines, which set in motion the chain of events leading to the Mine Ban
Treaty.
The 27 February announcement reversed a
decision the Clinton administration made in 1998 to give up the use of all
antipersonnel mines and join the treaty by 2006, if the Pentagon could find a
suitable alternative.
The MBT will survive
While some people have expressed their worries
about the impact of the US decision on the treaty, campaigners are confident
that the MBT will not be derailed. "Some countries are asking, if the US
doesn't sign, then what is the value of the treaty," observes Vanoppen.
"The treaty has gained too much momentum
and this has put the US, and other non-signatories, under increasing
international pressure," she adds.
Despite all the ruffling of feathers, 2004 is
still an important year for landmines, because the Mine Ban Treaty is up for
its first review under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in
Nairobi at the end of the year. The move will give some much-needed extra
momentum to the agreement.
This is necessary because the greatest fear of landmine
campaigners is that, as Vanoppen puts it, "after five years of the Mine
Ban Treaty, interest in the issue will diminish and politicians will say it's
time to move on".
With 82 countries still affected by some 200
million mines produced in the last 25 years – Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Angola and Egypt are amongst the most heavily mined – and
approximately 20,000 dead or injured annually, the pool of damaged lives,
societies and economies is not diminishing.
That is why Handicap International and others
are trying "to keep the issue in the public eye by organising awareness
raising campaigns," notes Vanoppen.
With additional reporting by Khaled Diab
An edited version of this article appeared on Expatica in March 2004. ã2004 Katleen Maes.
ã2004 K. Diab. Unless otherwise stated, all the content on this website is the
copyright of Khaled Diab.