Landmines: Activists, Survivors and Experts

Mary Wareham, coordinator of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines, sends her answers to student questions.

(Because of the volume of questions, not all questions could be answered. Also, a number of similar questions were grouped together and answered in one reply.)

1.
Many classrooms and students asked about the United States and its position onthe Ottawa treaty. Specifically, many asked: Why isn’t the United States going to sign the ban treaty in Ottawa?

Mary Wareham: The President of the United States of America, William Jefferson Clinton, is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces which means he is the civilian leader in control of the military in this country. The military is often referred to as the Pentagon (which is the Army, Navy and Airforce). President Clinton has called for a ban on antipersonnel (ap) landmines over the past few years but in 1997 when it came down to the crunch, he was unwilling to ban ap mines because it involved going up against the Pentagon which did not want to get rid of the weapon. Instead of telling the Pentagon to ban the weapon he asked them if he should ban it and their answer was no because the Pentagon is more used to getting weapons than giving them up. They do not recognize that the military utility of landmines is far outweighed by the impact on innocent men, women and children. For the United States to sign the ban treaty, it must first be willing to give up the weapon at home. The majority of countries which will sign the ban treaty in Canada on 3 and 4 December, have taken steps at home, domestically, to give up antipersonnel landmines. For example, Belgium was the first country to pass legislation outlawing landmines. South Africa recently destroyed its stockpile of 260,000 landmines. Over 50 countries have prohibited the export of antipersonnel landmines on their territory. I give these examples to show how countries which wish to sign up to the international treaty must first be prepared to give up the weapon at home.

In the case of the US, President Clinton thought he could lead the world to a ban while continuing to produce, use and stockpile antipersonnel landmines (since 1992, the export of ap mines from the US has been illegal through the congressional leadership of Senator Patrick Leahy and others in the Congress). But other nations like Canada, Belgium, Mexico, Colombia, Norway, Austria, which had taken domestic steps to ban the weapon, also wanted to achieve an international ban. Their collaboration along with dozens of other nations in a diplomatic effort known as the ‘Ottawa Process’ resulted in the negotiation in Oslo, Norway this September of the treaty banning the use, production, stockpiling and trade of antipersonnel landmines. That treaty will be signed in Ottawa, Canada this December. While the US participated in the Ottawa Process, it also wanted to achieve an international ban through a different, slower forum called the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD). The CD met throughout 1997 but did not even decide on discussing such a ban let alone negotiating one.

The President decided to let the US participate in the September treaty negotiations in Oslo but allowed the Pentagon to try and insert its proposals to retain antipersonnel landmines. These included: a geographic exception for continued use on the Korean peninsula, an exception for so-called ‘smart’ antipersonnel mines (the ones which self-destruct after a certain period of time) and a delay in when the treaty would take effect as international law by nearly a decade. But the countries participating in the negotiations rejected these proposals because they wanted a total, not partial, ban agreement. They said they wanted a strong, unambiguous ban treaty with no exceptions, loopholes or reservations. So on 18 September when President Clinton realized that the treaty would not have the exceptions the US had sought, he made the statement that the United States could not sign such a treaty. The US now stands with a group of countries which will not sign this December including China, Cuba, Iran, and Pakistan.

2.
To Ms. Wareham,
I am interested to know if and where the United States uses land mines.
Ryan Mansfield

Why take away landmines, we can lose a major defense?
Jonathan Young

MW: The US, along with South Korea, maintains a big minefield along the border between North and South Korea which are technically still at war with each other. The US Campaign to Ban Landmines (the Campaign) does not believe ap mines are essential to the defense of South Korea in the event of an attack from the north and we have military leaders agreeing with this argument including the former US Commander of the Korea operation Lt General Hollingsworth. The US used ap mines in the recent Persian Gulf war with Iraq—it took $1 billion dollars to clean up this mess and 90 people lost their lives in that demining effort. In Vietnam, landmines were responsible for a third of US casualties which shows that ap mines hurt, rather than help our troops.

3.
Dear Mary Wareham,
How am I, living in the U.S.A, affected by land mines?
Frederick Wilson

MW: US citizens who go overseas have been hurt or killed by landmines in many countries—some were soldiers in Vietnam, others peacekeepers in Bosnia. I have a friend who was blown up while a tourist in Israel and one who lost both legs to a mine in Somalia. Folks living in the US are not directly affected by landmines but indirectly by reading about the issue in the newspaper, perhaps working for a company which makes mines or by supporting an organization which seeks to provide assistance to landmine survivors overseas.

4.
Ms. Mary Wareham,
Hello, my name is Andy Greenhill. I am 13 years old. I go to Lanier Middle School in Houston, Texas. My question is: Can the current landmines be changed to make them more safe and would your group allow this to happen? Would the UN agree with this as well?

MW: The Campaign supports a ban on all antipersonnel landmines. There were some efforts a couple of years ago to make landmines ‘safer’ or ‘smarter’ by making them self-destruct or blow up after a certain period of time so that after the battle moved on the mines would not remain. The problem with these ‘smart’ mines is that while active they cannot tell if a soldier or a child is stepping on them and they are really therefore dumb. Plus, most smart ap mines, including the ones the US wants to keep, are dropped out of airplanes from thousands of meters up making it impossible to mark, map or record where they land and therefore impossible to keep civilians away from them. The treaty will ban all antipersonnel mines.

5.
How successful is this campaign and are you getting the media coverage you need to make it the success it deserves? Has the tragic death of Princess Diana and her campaign helped this project?
Robyn Meyer, Camps Bay High School, South Africa

Hi.My name is CC Marquez.I was wondering: if it will take so long to clear mines completely from the world, why are so many people so dedicated to the cause? Why don’t they just give it up as a lost cause since they won’t ever be around to see it if the world is ever really completely free from landmines?
Sincerely, CC Marquez

MW: The Campaign has had a very exciting and successful year with the conclusion of the strong ban treaty which will be signed in Canada by over 100 nations. This is a remarkable achievement which took a year to reach. Other treaties banning nuclear testing or chemical weapons took decades to negotiate. We had many supporters in 1997, including Princess Diana who drew a lot of attention to this issue and who spoke in support of the ban. Mines are no longer going in the ground in the millions, as they were over the past few decades, because we have succeeded in stigmatizing this weapon—like cigarettes, for example. People will continue to smoke but we can continue to warn of the bigger impact their smoking is having on their health and the health of those around them.

It will take many decades to clear the 100 million mines from the ground of 70 countries around the world. There is a major effort going on to locate, map and mark mined areas, then teach the local population about the dangers posed by uncleared mines, then carry out the actual clearance. A big problem is that because war is messy and fast-moving, mines are laid quickly and their positions are not marked or mapped and the soldiers don’t come back and pick them up. Mines are also laid around schools, places of worship, on agricultural land, roads, railways, airports and other places civilians use. We campaign to ban mines because people cannot use the weapon in a way which won’t affect civilians and because the weapon itself cannot distinguish between a soldier and a civilian. It is indiscriminate. This is why we have this problem today. The most effective method of clearance uses old technology—a deminer using a metal detector then a prodder to locate and destroy each mine. Many people are looking at new ways to locate and destroy mines in the ground but thus far no solutions have been as effective.

We cannot give up as landmines affect people every day around the world and bit by bit we are making a difference by removing them. It is like a huge environmental problem where you must start early in order to see any results from your hard work.

6.
Dear Ms\Mrs\Miss Wareham,
I am Jeffrey Eriksen, a Std. 6 pupil at Camps Bay High School, and have some questions for you: Is the ICBL run chiefly on the people’s support? How do you gain your funds? Has the Nobel Peace Prize made the work any easier?
Your answers will be greatly received.

MW: The ICBL is the name for an international coalition of different organizations who all support a ban on antipersonnel landmines and the call for more money for demining and mine victim assistance. Different organizations are involved like veterans, women’s, student’s, children’s, peace, disarmament, environmental and religious groups. These organizations and individuals work in any way they can to achieve a ban on the weapon. One person, Jody Williams, works full-time coordinating the ICBL and in most countries the organizations endorsing a ban are grouped together in country campaigns like the one I coordinate, the US Campaign to Ban Landmines. The cost of paying me and Jody and our administrative costs (phone calls, travel, etc) are covered by the organization which employs us—the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF). The VVAF gets funding for coordinating the Campaign from many non-governmental sources including private donations, small and large. The Nobel Peace Prize is a wonderful gift which has drawn much attention to this issue but personally it has made my life much busier—more phone calls, faxes and e-mails to send and reply to!

7.
Hello, I am a Camps Bay High School Student from South Africa, Cape Town. I would like to ask a few questions on the banning land mine campaign, and hope that you can answer them. when did the campaign start?
Fred Sibley

What are the results of the campaign?
San Luis Gonzaga School, Argentina

Dear Miss Wareham,
How are you? I hope good.My name is Belen Gavela.I am 12 years old.I live in Quito, Ecuador.I study in Centro Educativo Integral in Salcoto,a town outside of Quito. I am in 8th grade. I want to congratulate you because your idea is good for the world. I want to ask: Who had the idea to ban landmines? How do you feel about winning the Nobel Prize? I want to know more about you and tell me everything about the project.
Love, Belen

MW: The ICBL is six years old now—it was started by my boss Bobby Muller who is the president of VVAF and a German group called medico international. One day in 1991 they talked about how landmines were the main cause of casualties to our rehabilitation clinics for war victims in Cambodia, El Salvador and other places. They talked about the need to attack the root cause of the problem, the ap mine, rather than just putting legs on people. Bobby hired Jody Williams that same year to coordinate groups interested in supporting a ban on the weapon and under Jody’s guidance the ICBL has grown from these 2 organizations to over 1000 in over 60 countries. It has been successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

8.
How many people in the US are involved in the campaign to ban landmines?
From Jess and Thien
Kew High School, Melbourne, Australia

MW: Over 250 groups in the US are members of the US campaign which must mean a lot of people. I don’t really know how many. As for being a member of the campaign, you just have to be for a ban on antipersonnel landmines. It’s that simple.

9.
What was the role of mass media during your campaign on the territory of the USA and other countries?(For example, in Belarus we couldn’t find anything in the newspapers though our country is a UN member. That is why we had to write a letter to the President of Belarus in order to find out his position.)
Students of school #33 from Grodno, Belarus

MW: I’m very excited to hear that the students in Belarus sent a letter to your President because you couldn’t find anything in the papers—that’s really important. We make a big effort to get this issue into the newspapers and that is my job at each international meeting of the campaign. One of the most effective ways is to get on the wire services like Reuters and Associated Press which send out stories all around the world. They miss places though and we can’t get everywhere. Therefore it’s up to everyone to write a letter to their local paper if you support a ban on landmines explaining why you do and what you think your country should do. Newspapers will print most letters they receive. One person who could was Princess Diana and she used her ability to draw media attention to highlight causes like landmines.

10.
Dear Mary Wareham,
My name is Karen. I am doing a project on landmines. I wanted to know if there was a way that we could prevent the making of landmines.
Sincerely,
Karen Man

I am in a cybercivics class and I have a question for you.Where are the land mines manufactured? If you could answer and reply I would greatly appreciate it.
Jenn Maurais (Yarmouth, Maine)

MW: We believe there are more than 350 different types of ap mines in the world today, and over 200 million mines have been manufactured by over 50 countries in the past 25 years.Many nations have banned production (like Austria, Belgium, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Nicaragua, South Africa) and will sign the treaty but some continue (like Belarus, Bulgaria, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Korea, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA). Often the answer in the US is that we’ll stop making the mines when the military stops ordering them so we have to go after each government to get a total ban on the weapon. To get a company to stop making mines you could try writing letters and in some places in the US like Minnesota and Wisconsin, there are local campaigns to stop production. I have lists of companies here at my office for anyone who is interested.

11.
What is your reason for becoming involved in the demining campaign? What do you think will happen in the future on this topic?
Nichole Van

Hello Mary. My name is Gabriel Acosta, from Ecuador, 13 years old. I am studying english and I like it.I write to say you are the best person in the world and to congratulate for the Nobel Prize. I want to know: Are you a very busy person? What are the plans you have for the future?
Goodbye, my best wishes, Gabriel.

Have you been anytime implicated in a mine accident?
San Luis Gonzaga School, from Argentina

MW: I am 27 years old. I became involved in the landmine issue in 1993 as a student at university in my home country. I was studying politics. I read an article and was shocked to find out that landmines had killed more people than chemical or nuclear weapons combined. I looked for more information on the issue but found none. So I decided to do a study on landmines, the effort to ban them and clear them. This was my Masters of Arts, which passed with distinction. Through my studies I became involved first with the New Zealand and then the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as I found it hard to remain a neutral observer when so much work could be done to get rid of this weapon. I came to Washington, D.C. in February last year to help Jody Williams in her work coordinating the International Campaign and to help coordinate US groups wanting to ban the weapon. I have been to mine-contaminated countries like Cambodia and Mozambique where I have visited with landmine survivors in hospital, in rehabilitation centers learning skills like carpentry, sewing and computers and in minefields watching deminers clear land. I have never been hurt by a mine but have many friends who have been. Their stories are the scariest I have ever heard. I want to travel more to mine-contaminated countries as I want to work more on demining and victim assistance and at the end of the year will travel to Vietnam and Cambodia. I have been to international meetings in Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and Norway where I have helped the campaign lobby governments and inform the media and public. I have traveled across the United States giving talks and joining in protests at landmine manufacturers. It is a wonderful job.

I tell my story to show you how you should study hard on what interests you and you may wind up doing something you really enjoy—life is not all about making money but making a difference in whatever way you can, small or large. I didn’t start out as an expert on landmines but once I started looking at it I was surprised at how many ways they did affect me. My great uncle was badly hurt in World War II when he was blown up by a mine; I had never realized his bad hearing and limp were because of this. I found out that New Zealand soldiers don’t just prepare for war but go overseas to help people repair their lives and countries from war and one important part of their work is mine clearance. I could have remained completely ignorant on landmines but was curious about the world beyond my country which is 2 islands in the south pacific ocean. It is important to know what is going on in the world around you and to not get depressed if problems look too big to solve because any attempt to change something will make a dent. Especially if you start locally by writing a letter to your elected representative or to your local paper to show you care about an issue. I was really surprised when my letters were published and when politicians agreed to meet with me to discuss their thoughts on landmines. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how much you know—it’s how much you care that counts!