April, 04 2011, 02:11pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Amelie Chayer, ICBL Communications Officer (In Siem Reap, GMT+7)
Campaign Pushes for Progress on Landmine Treaty
SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA
States can only eradicate landmines and the suffering they cause by joining and completely respecting the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, said the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) today, at an event in Cambodia to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
"We have returned to the cradle of the mine ban movement to push for progress on the full universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty," explained Kasia Derlicka, ICBL Director. "Our common goal of a mine-free world is within reach, but we must all do more to get there."
Civil society, government and United Nations representatives are gathering in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 4 April to launch the road to the 11th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, which will take place in Phnom Penh in November 2011. Cambodia is an auspicious location for the meeting as it is heavily affected by landmines and has been central to the movement to establish the Mine Ban Treaty.
There are four key areas where the ICBL expects to see progress from states at the November 2011 meeting: 1. clearing mined areas, 2. assisting victims, 3. providing the necessary funding and resources, and 4. ensuring universal adherence to the Mine Ban Treaty.
"When governments meet in Phnom Penh this November, we do not want to hear rhetoric or platitudes, but rather what concrete actions they are taking to create a mine-free world," said Tun Channareth, ICBL Ambassador and a landmine survivor from Cambodia.
The ICBL and its sister campaign the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), together took the opportunity to call for global adherence to, and implementation of, the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The need for adherence to both treaties is especially great in South-East Asia, which has been so profoundly marked by the deadly legacy of landmines and cluster munitions.
"Cambodia should join the Convention on Cluster Munitions this year and be the first country in the region to be party to both treaties," said ICBL Youth Ambassador Song Kosal, who is a Cambodian landmine survivor. Cambodia is highly contaminated with cluster munitions, as are Laos and Vietnam.
Landmines and cluster munitions still affect the lives of people in around 70 countries across the globe. Clearing all affected areas, a requirement under both treaties, is a critical part of meeting their humanitarian goals. States Parties to both conventions need to improve efficiency in clearance, including by more precisely identifying affected areas. For example, Cambodia is currently conducting a new baseline survey to better understand the extent of its contamination.
Both conventions also require victim assistance to support landmine and cluster munition survivors' efforts to achieve social acceptance, gain meaningful employment and ensure their rights are respected. In addition to enduring physical pain, survivors report that they are faced with a lack of services and job opportunities, limited capacity-building programs and, most importantly, insufficient financial and technical resources for victim assistance.
With some 44,000 survivors, Cambodia is one of the states with the largest number of people who have suffered the traumas of landmines and cluster munitions. By fully implementing its National Plan of Action for Persons with Disabilities, which has faltered so far, Cambodia could ensure that survivors receive the support they need to lead dignified lives.
Meeting the challenges of landmines and cluster munitions also requires adequate and sustained support from both national and international sources. Donor states need to commit multi-year funding and to coordinate to ensure all affected states receive required assistance.
This year is key for both the landmine and cluster munition treaties. The 11th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 28 November - 2 December 2011. The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions will take place in Beirut, Lebanon, from 12-16 September 2011. During these meetings, government representatives will join non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross to assess progress made in banning landmines and cluster munitions and in addressing consequences of past use.
The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty currently has 156 States Parties. The 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions has 108 signatories, of which 55 have already ratified. In addition to comprehensively banning landmines and cluster munitions, both treaties require states to clear all their contaminated areas, destroy their stockpiles of the weapons, and provide assistance to survivors, their families and communities.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is committed to an international ban on the use, production, stockpiling, and sale, transfer, or export of antipersonnel landmines.
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I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand.
Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza.
I’m in awe of their bravery and courage. pic.twitter.com/yC6hcBMwCP
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 25, 2024
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"I am so proud of each and every one of you. Because you have raised your voices, Austin is the largest city in this country where your entire Democratic delegation voted 'no' on sending more weapons to Netanyahu," he noted, eliciting cheers. "There are millions more lives at stake and your continued organizing is the only way we can stop being complicit in this killing and instead get to saving our shared humanity. Solidarity forever."
After defeating a primary challenger backed by a billionaire Republican megadonor and Netanyahu ally earlier this week, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) on Thursday addressed the University of Pittsburgh's encampment.
"While Netanyahu compares students on campuses like Pitt—including Jewish students—protesting peacefully against genocide to Nazis and attempts to define the limits of our free speech and assembly, it's worth noting that there are no universities left in Gaza from Israeli and U.S. bombs," Lee said in a social media post about her speech.
"We must always confront and root out antisemitism anywhere it appears, and not let the white nationalist GOP be the arbiters or weaponizers of it," she continued. "Students engaging in the time-honored tradition of activism and civil disobedience is a crucial right we must all protect."
Rep Summer Lee @RepSummerLee drops by the University of Pittsburgh’s Palestine encampment to support and give propers to the students leading the fight for Pitt to divest from the occupation as part of the broader student movement that erupted across the US. 🇵🇸✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/KFeTNX138G
— Abdelrahman ElGendy (@El_Gendy_95) April 25, 2024
As
Common Dreamsreported Thursday, Jewish Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who lost family members to the Holocaust—also pushed back against Netanyahu's mischaracterization of U.S. campus protests, asserting, "It is not antisemitic to hold you accountable for your actions."
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Drawing on her own experiences with the Black Lives Matter movement, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said that "as a Ferguson activist, I know what it's like to have agitators infiltrate our movement, manipulate the press, and fuel the suppression of dissent by public officials and law enforcement. We must reject these tactics to silence anti-war activists demanding divestment from genocide."
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) declared that "the rights to peaceful assembly and to express dissent are constitutional freedoms. Criminalizing young people who are using their voices to call for peace is not only harmful; it endangers the well-being of the students and the health of our multiracial, multicultural democracy. Resisting war and standing up for peace are not a crime."
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