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TOPIC DISCUSSION

TOPIC DISCUSSION. U.S. Military Policy on Deployment of Antipersonnel Landmines. POLICY QUESTION:. What position should the U.S. government (Congress, President, & Dept. of Defense) take on the use of landmines?. Definitions.

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TOPIC DISCUSSION

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  1. TOPIC DISCUSSION U.S. Military Policy on Deployment of Antipersonnel Landmines

  2. POLICY QUESTION: • What position should the U.S. government (Congress, President, & Dept. of Defense) take on the use of landmines?

  3. Definitions • (APL) Antipersonnel landmine—a small explosive device designed to incapacitate or kill people. Activated by applied/released pressure (5-15 lbs.) or a tripwire. Directional “blast” mines or “fragmentary” mines. • (ATL) Anti-vehicle/anti-tank landmine—designed to detonate with contact from heavy objects (at least 100 kg. or 220 lb.) • “Smart” landmine—designed to self-destruct, detonate or deactivate automatically after a specific period of time.

  4. Anti-tank landmines Left: 350 mm diameter Right: U.S. made M-19 300 mm diameter

  5. Anti-personnel landmine Russian made PMN-1

  6. Anti-personnel landmine Top left: PMN-2 Top right: Italian TS-50 Bottom: Chinese Type 72

  7. Anti-personnel landmine PMA-1 box mines Lids have been opened here, showing the TNT blocks inside.

  8. Fragmentation APLs Tripwire type PROM-1 MRUD Yugoslav (POMZ or fragments reach “Claymore” type PMRD6) 200 meters away

  9. Controversy: Landmine Proliferation • An estimated 60-110 million unexploded landmines currently exist in about 56-90 countries. (State Dept, ICBL) • State Dept. estimates an average of 1 victim maimed or killed every half-hour—about 15,000-20,000 per year. • Production cost--$3 to $30 vs. Neutralization cost--$300 to $1000 per mine

  10. Canadian International Demining Center--Map • Countries & Regions most heavily affected by APLs. • Based on sources within the U.N. & U.S. State Dept.

  11. Most Heavily-Mined Countries • 1 to 23 million: Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, South Korea, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam, Zimbabwe • 100,000+ or high concentration per population: Burma, Chad, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Laos, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Yemen, Yugoslavia

  12. Current Use (source: ICBL’s Landmine Monitor, 2001) • In 2000 & 2001, landmines were used in 23 countries by an estimated 15 governments and 30 rebel groups. • Sri Lanka, Burma, Colombia, Namibia, Angola, Russia, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, Uganda, Afghanistan, India, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, Georgia, FR Yugoslavia, and others.

  13. Opposition: Ottawa Convention & the International Campaign to Ban Landmines • Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty (1997)—Treaty to ban the use, production, stockpile, and transfer of AP landmines; as of October 2001, 142 countries have signed & 122 ratified. • Every country in Western Hemisphere has signed except the US and Cuba; every member of NATO has signed except the US and Turkey. • 28 signatories have completed destruction of their stockpiles, 19 others are in the process.

  14. AP Landmine Stockpiles • UN Landmine Monitor estimates 235-240 million APLs stored in arsenals of 103 countries. Largest stockpiles are China (110 m), Russia (60-70 m), United States (11 m), Ukraine (10 m), Pakistan (6 m) India (4-5 m), and Belarus (4.5 m). • Treaty non-signatories account for 210-215 million, while treaty Signatories account for 20-25 million.

  15. IHL: Laws of War • Found in the Codes of the Geneva Conventions and their added Protocols and the Laws of the Hague. • War Crimes are directed at persons not actively involved in hostilities (wounded, sick soldiers, those surrendering, prisoners of war, refugees and displaced persons, and civilians).

  16. Common Violations in Laws of War • Failure to distinguish between hostile enemy soldiers and persons not hostile; willful killing of the latter; attacking civilian populations. • Torture and inhuman treatment; deporting or displacing populations; immoral use of the red cross symbol; looting. • Using prohibited weapons (nuclear, biological, chemical, incendiary) or other weapons that kill indiscriminately, cause great suffering or seriously endanger physical health or security.

  17. Landmines: a Violation of Humanitarian Law (Basis of Ottawa) • 90% of landmine victims are civilians. • In 2000-01, 73 countries had landmine victims; only 28 of these countries with contamination were engaged in active, armed conflict. • APLs bar access to farmland, safe water sources, irrigation channels, power plants, roads, and former homes—preventing safe travel, an adequate standard of living, and access to aid and causing malnutrition and illness. • Smart mines and ATLs kill just as indiscriminately as traditional APLs.

  18. Landmine Victims Most survivors are amputees, requiring lifelong rehabilitative services. A child injured at age 10, who lives to age 50, will need 25 replacement prostheses at about $125 each -- this is in countries where per capita income is as little as $10/month.

  19. Activities at Time of Landmine Injury(Source: International Committee of the Red Cross Peshawar Study, 1993)

  20. Support for a Continued Strategic Use of Landmines by the U.S. • There is a lack of clarity over the categories of mines to be banned by Protocol II of the Geneva Codes and the Ottawa Treaty—neither distinguishes between APLs and dual purpose ATLs or between traditional APLs and Smart mines. • 50 countries in addition to the US have not signed the Ottawa Treaty, including major powers like China, Russia, India, Israel, Iraq & N. Korea.

  21. Support for Landmine Use (cont.) • Some critics of the Ottawa Treaty say that many signers cannot be trusted to abide by the law. • In the case of developing countries with security concerns, long land borders, and a lack of advanced weaponry, landmines are a legitimate line of self-defense for border security.

  22. Support for Landmine Use (cont.) • Past US Presidential administrations, including Pres. Clinton’s, have claimed that landmine use in the demilitarized zone of the Korean peninsula is critical to protecting its interests in South Korea. • Past administrations have also held that the right to use Smart APLs and ATLs must be reserved in the Treaties.

  23. Review • Central Question: What position should the U.S. government (Congress, President, & Dept. of Defense) take on the use of landmines?

  24. For More Information • General Info: www.humanrights.about.com/ www.idsa-india.org/an-nov-1.html www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/demining/info/mines.html • Humanitarian Law: nt.oneworld.org/cfdocs/icrc/pages/ihl/ • www.icrc.org/eng/issues • Opposition to Landmines: www.redcross.org/ca/cruz/landmine/lminfo.htm www.landminesurvivors.org/services/ottawasign.php www.vvaf.org/ www.icbl.org/lm • 1997 DOD Report on US Policy on APLs: www.defenselink.mil/pubs/landmines

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