LANDMINES...  AGAIN ??!! ...  NO  … STILL!

 The anti-landmines campaign has achieved much, but there still remains much to do.

What can we here in Australia do? 

We can thank God that we are not one of the 80-odd countries still affected by landmines, and also that Australia is not one of the “baddies”.  Australia signed the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) on the first day if its existence – December, 3 1997, and we ratified the MBT Jan 14 1999. (The treaty became binding international law March 1^st 1999).    

There are still Australians, who apparently do not know this.  By all means let us berate our government when necessary, but let us also recognise the right things it has done and does.

We should also do anything and everything we can to further the work of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).  Universalisation of the MBT continues to be a major goal.  While some countries continue to manufacture mines, trade them, and use them, or reserve the right to do so, the work of detecting and clearing mines - VERY dangerous, the destruction of stockpiles, the care of victims of mines, etc, can be likened to fighting a fire which is being continually fuelled by a saboteur.

So – let us use any and every possible contact with people in countries which remain outside the treaty – direct contact, or via family, friends, business contacts, sporting contacts, etc. Such people should be asked, urged, pleaded with, to seek to influence their governments to join the treaty. The Society is in several countries which are non-signatories, or which have signed but not ratified.  And some countries with rscj are major ‘baddies’- still making and using mines.

Some Pacific countries which are outside the treaty, do not have nor are ever likely to have mines. But we still need their presence in the treaty; they have equal numerical value to the biggest and most powerful countries. And if moral and ethical values do not persuade the ‘baddies’ to change their ways, maybe they can be shamed into joining the treaty, by being one of the very few still outside.

Please look at the ICBL web site, http://www.icbl.org/lm/  and particularly, the LANDMINE MONITOR REPORT 2004.

The AMASC web site http://www.amasc-sacrecoeur.org/icbl.html   should have a brief summary of the 2004 report (which itself is about 1300 pages!) It is well worth reading.

Patricia Coyle rscj

What can we do?