3) Iraq Accedes to the Mine Ban Treaty, Becoming the 155th State Party

International Campaign to Ban Landmines
August 20, 2007

On 15 August 2007, Iraq acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, bringing the total number of States Parties to 155, seven of which are in the Middle East and North Africa. By joining the treaty, Iraq has committed to never again use, produce, acquire, or export antipersonnel mines. It has also committed to destroy stockpiled mines in four years and to clear minefields in ten years.

See <http://www.icbl.org/news/iraq_accession>

4) Colombian Guerrillas’ Landmine Use Taking Heavy Toll on Civilians
Human Rights Watch

July 25, 2007
Washington, DC

Guerrillas’ use of antipersonnel landmines is having a devastating impact on civilians in Colombia, Human Rights Watch said in a report <http://hrw.org/reports/2007/colombia0707/> released today. New reported casualties have escalated dramatically in recent years, due largely to increased use of landmines by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.

Antipersonnel landmines are easy to manufacture from cheap, readily available materials. The FARC has invoked the low cost of building them as a justification for their use, calling the landmines the “weapon of the poor.” While the majority of landmine casualties are military, the mines are also injuring hundreds of Colombia’s poorest, most vulnerable citizens every year.

Full report at < http://hrw.org/reports/2007/colombia0707/>

5) Peacekeeper killed clearing cluster bombs in Lebanon

The Associated Press
July 25, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon: A French peacekeeper deployed with the U.N. force in Lebanon was killed Wednesday in an explosion of ordinance left over from last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah in the country's south, a U.N. official here said.

More than 30 people have been killed in cluster bombs or land mine explosions in Lebanon since last summer's 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas ended on Aug. 14.

The United Nations and human rights groups say Israel dropped about 4 million cluster bomblets during the war, and U.N. ordnance clearing experts say that up to 1 million failed to explode.

Full article at
<http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/25/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-UNIFIL.php>

6) US Completes First Phase of Landmine Impact Survey of Iraq

Office of the Spokesman, U.S. Department of State
August 20, 2007

Washington, DC—The first phase of a three-year, four million dollar “Landmine Impact Survey” of thirteen of Iraq’s eighteen provinces, has been completed. This Survey, funded by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, provides an interim blueprint for the Iraqi Government and international donors to clear the landmines, unexploded ordnance, and abandoned munitions left from past conflicts, including any residue left from coalition military operations. These hazards threaten one of every five Iraqis.

This phase has already enabled Iraqi authorities to prioritize removal of the most dangerous explosives, clear over 13.8 million square meters of productive land, and destroy nearly 140,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance and 13,000 landmines.

Full article at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/91076.htm

7) Deminers under Attack in Afghanistan

International Campaign to Ban Landmines
September 11, 2007

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) welcomed today the release of 10 members of an Afghan demining team, and called for the immediate release of the three deminers still in captivity.

The 13 men were abducted on 6 September by unknown gunmen, believed to be Taliban insurgents, as they were driving in the eastern province of Paktia. […]

This new kidnapping seems to highlight an emerging pattern of aggression and violence against deminers. In August, three deminers were found dead after being abducted in Kandahar province, and in June this year 18 more were kidnapped and subsequently released. Their equipment was never returned.

Full article at <http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EDIS-76XMDZ?OpenDocument>

8) Amputee Bicyclist Successfully Crosses United States During Global Trek to Support Landmine Survivors

Office of the Spokesman, U.S. Department of State
August 21, 2007

Two and half months after leaving Washington, D.C., Daniel Sheret, an endurance bicyclist and amputee, successfully bicycled 4,120 miles (6629 kilometers) across 13 states, reaching San Francisco, California, on August 16. Thus ended the first stage of his epic around-the-world “Ability Trek 2007” tour to raise funds for amputees who have been maimed by landmines and other mishaps, and to raise awareness of the global landmine problem.
Sheret’s efforts are benefiting Clear Path International (www.cpi.org/index.php <http://www.cpi.org/index.php> ), a non-governmental organization assisting survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war in Southeast Asia. Funds raised will also go to the Iraq Prosthetic Center in Basra to treat amputees in southern Iraq.

Full article at <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/91318.htm

For more information on the US Campaign to Ban Landmines, go to www.banminesusa.org

U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
c/o Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 2nd Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
phone: (202) 547-6000
fax: (202) 547-6019
Email: landmines@fcnl.org

To make a donation to the US Campaign to Ban Landmines go to: www.banminesusa.org/support/body.html and click on Donate.