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| Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
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LBA Forum emphasise Govt. and LTTE to sign anti-personnel mine ban treaty by Chamitha Kuruppu The Landmine Ban Advocacy Forum last week emphasised the Government and the LTTE to sign treaties banning anti-personnel landmines. The forum is calling on the government to sign the 'Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty' or 'Ottawa Convention' and the LTTE to sign the 'Geneva Call Deed of Commitment'. The Landmine Ban Advocacy Forum, which consists of international donors, humanitarian aid agencies, non governmental organisations, NGOs and UNICEF say that signing the two international instruments and sticking to their provisions, ensures that the threat from anti-personnel mines will not increase in Sri Lanka. Although the government is engaged in an ambitious program aiming at a mine-free Sri Lanka by 2006, neither the Government nor the LTTE have committed themselves to a complete ban on the use, production or stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines, the Forum emphasised. According to the Landmine Monitor Report 2003, in October 2002 the government announced its willingness to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty contingent upon reaching an agreement with the LTTE on the non-use of landmines. The government made statements that the country is reviewing its position on the Ottawa convention with a view of becoming part of it. The LTTE too has shown interest in the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment. However, despite these statements, there has been no formal statement on the position of the government with regard to the use of the landmines. In Sri Lanka at least 1042 people have been affected by mines and unexploded ordnance and 153 of these incidents resulted in deaths. Statistics show that the majority of the casualties from anti-personnel mines are men aged between 18 and 35 years, while children too make up a large proportion of those injured by unexploded ordnance. In addition, the Sri Lanka Army has reported over 2500 military casualties due to land mines. Although the number of incidents has dropped from an initial 15 - 20 just after the ceasefire to between 4 and 7 now, people continue to be affected by the estimated 1 - 1.5 million anti-personnel mines that contaminate the districts of the North and East. The most affected districts have been Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara. It has proved that a buried landmine is ten times more likely to injure a civilian than it is to injure a person who is actively in an armed conflict. In recognition of the importance of banning the use of landmines, many donor countries have adopted a strong policy of not funding landmine clearance in countries where the Government or Non State Actor has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty or made a clear commitment to the total ban on landmines. This stand is supported by the argument that funding landmine clearance without such a commitment allows for landmines to be used again on the land that is cleared. Ambassador of the Netherlands Susan Blankhart at the recently held Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies Conference in Colombo pointed out that according to the ICRC on a global basis at least 2,000 mine-related accidents involving fatalities or injuries occur every month. Since most of the countries concerned are developing countries, the ever-expanding group of disable mine victims forms an obstacle to their economic development. In addition to the permanent loss of labour, the authorities in question are confronted with the personal and social distress that results from such accidents and increased pressure on health services. Former Deputy Director of the Peace Secretariat John Gooneratne addressing the conference said that although the ban of landmines may be a good move to be undertaken by governments it's not always possible when there was conflict within the country. Goonaratne said that it was important that conflicts should be settled first after which no landmines will be used. |
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