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LANDMINES CAMPAIGN UPDATE - JUNE, 1997
CAFOD welcomes the UK Government's change of policy on
landmines announced by the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, on 21 May 1997. The
main points are:
 | a ban on the import, export, transfer and manufacture of all anti-personnel mines
(APMs);
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| destruction of all UK stocks and a national ban on the use of APMs by 2005 at the
latest;
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| a moratorium on the operational use of APMs by British forces until either the year
2005 or until an effective international agreement enters into force, whichever
comes first;
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| constructive negotiation for an international ban in the "Ottawa Process"
while working in the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva for a wider global ban;
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| an undertaking to explore how existing stocks of APMs might be destroyed more
quickly and how the UK can make more progress in helping to remove mines already laid;
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| BUT, "if, for a specific operation, the security of our Armed Forces
would be jeopardised without the possibility of the use of landmines, then in
those exceptional circumstances any use would be reported by the Government to
Parliament". -
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| the re-classification of the HB876 air-scattered mine and the L27 anti-tank mine,
which have been included in the ban and moratorium, as they can
be activated by people and, therefore, behave like anti-personnel
mines.
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THE OTTAWA PROCESS which began in October 1996, is a
"fast-track" approach initiated by the Canadian government. Forty eight of
the participating countries, including the UK, agreed the "Ottawa
Declaration" that calls for "the earliest possible
conclusion of a legally-binding international agreement to ban anti-personnel mines.
"By avoiding the usual channels, this fast-track approach does away with the
need for worldwide consensus and sets a timetable for a ban."
The International Conference for the Total Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines
being held in Brussels 24-27 June 1997 will look at a draft treaty for signing on 2
December 1997, which is to be implemented by the year 2000. To date, 73 countries have
declared their intention to sign the Ban Treaty, and 111 states attended the Drafting
Conference in February.
The "Ottawa Group" of countries which agree to a ban
will be expanded to include more countries whenever necessary. This approach
means that 'problem' countries like China, which opposes a ban, will not be able to hinder
the movement towards an international ban.
THE UN CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT is another, much slower and less viable,
vehicle for reaching international legislation on a ban on anti-personnel
mines. The UN Conference on Disarmament (UNCD) has 50 member states and agrees
proposals by consensus. This is the same negotiating body that has worked on the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, and is seen as a delaying
tactic by those countries still opposed to a ban either due to financial or military
vested interests.
It is likely that under the UN Conference on Disarmament a ban on APMs would
take at least ten years, and seems to contradict the UN Resolution no.51 passed in
November 1996 which calls for states to "pursue vigorously an effective
legally-binding international agreement to ban use, stockpiling, production and transfer
of anti-personnel landmines with a view to completing the negotiation as soon as possible".
CAFOD believes that taking the landmine issue to this forum would be worse
than revisiting the UN Inhumane Weapons Convention Review Process which failed in
1995 and 1996, largely because the conference always had to find agreement with the lowest
common denominator. CAFOD also believes that anti-personnel mines should be treated as a
humanitarian rather than military issue.
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