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26 November 2004

United States Urges Landmine Treaty's Parties to Do More

U.S. landmine policy more comprehensive than Ottawa Convention, State Dept. says

The United States applauds the work of the governments who are party to the Ottawa Convention banning production and emplacement of anti-personnel landmines, according to the U.S. Department of State.

The United States will not attend the first review conference on the convention, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, November 29 - December 3, but shares "common cause with all those who seek to protect innocent civilians from indiscriminately used landmines," said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in a November 26 statement.

Nevertheless, the United States is committed "to work with the international community to accelerate progress toward an end to the humanitarian harm caused by persistent landmines," he said.

The statement urges governments to: increase funding for humanitarian mine action; examine national policies on the use of all persistent landmines; work through the Conference on Disarmament to ban sales and exports of all persistent landmines; and agree to ban all nonmetallic (and thus undetectable) landmines.

Because the Ottawa Convention bans neither anti-vehicular landmines nor those that remain dangerous indefinitely (i.e., persistent), the United States did not become a party to the treaty.

More information about U.S. landmine policy is available at: http://www.state.gov/t/pm/wra/.

Following is the text of the statement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
November 26, 2004

Statement by Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

First Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention in Nairobi

The First Review Conference for the Ottawa Convention will take place in Nairobi from November 29 to December 3. While the U.S. is not a party to the Convention and is not attending the conference, we share common cause with all those who seek to protect innocent civilians from indiscriminately used landmines.

We are proud of the U.S. role in reducing the threat to innocent civilians of landmines left in the ground after conflicts end. Since 1993 the U.S. has provided close to $1 billion dollars for these efforts. As the conferees in Nairobi mark this progress, there is important work that remains to be done. Eliminating civilian landmine casualties requires a comprehensive approach addressing landmines of every type that remain hazardous after a conflict has ended, including the larger anti-vehicle landmines that are not covered by the Ottawa Convention.

The United States' landmine policy increases funding for humanitarian mine action substantially. It includes an unconditional commitment that U.S. military forces (despite worldwide treaty commitments and major ongoing operations) will cease the use of all persistent landmines, anti-vehicle as well as anti-personnel, by the end of 2010. The United States will also eliminate from its inventory all non-detectable mines, which pose an extraordinary risk to civilians and deminers.

The U.S. applauds the initiative and commitment of those gathering in Nairobi, and we reiterate our commitment to work with the international community to accelerate progress toward an end to the humanitarian harm caused by persistent landmines. We encourage states participating in the Review Conference to:

* Increase funding for humanitarian mine action, and harmonize their efforts with other key mine action programs worldwide.

* Examine their own policies on the continued use of persistent anti-vehicle landmines, which pose substantial dangers to innocent life yet are not covered under the Ottawa Convention.

* Agree to negotiate, at the Conference on Disarmament, a ban on the sale or export of all persistent mines, including anti-vehicle mines.

* Eliminate all non-detectable landmines, which pose a particular hazard to deminers.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)