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U.S. Campaign to Ban
Landmines Email Newsletter In this edition. . .
100+ Prominent Health Professionals Call on Presidential Candidates to Support Mine Ban More than 100 leading health professionals from across the country, Êincluding Deans of Medical Schools, Nobel Laureates in medicine, and a former Surgeon General, today sent a letter to the 2004 Presidential candidates, urging them to support the worldwide ban of Êantipersonel landmines. ÊThese prominent physicians, nurses, and public health leaders called upon the Presidential candidates to support the Mine Ban Treaty and include landmines among the essential issues addressed in their campaign platforms. Read More... USCBL, but Not US Government, Represented in Bangkok at UN-Sponsored Global Conference on Landmines USCBL Coordinator Gina Coplon-Newfield traveled to Bangkok, Thailand in mid September 2003 for the 5th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. ÊThis meeting brought together more than 500 government representatives and more than 200 NGO representatives from more than 120 countries to discuss the global landmines problem, success to date, and work yet to be done. ÊThough other non-signatory countries such as China and Egypt sent observer delegates to the meeting, the United States government did not send any representatives. Coplon-Newfield met with government officials from countries that have a strong relationship with the United States, and she urged these governments to put more pressure on the US government to improve its landmine policies. ÊShe also met with NGO representatives and discussed ways in which other country campaigns can work together with the USCBL in urging the US government to improve its landmine policies. ÊTo see the USCBL memo distributed at the conference on US landmine policies and what foreign governments and NGOs can do to help, download www.banminesusa.org/news/memo_03.pdf Ê For more information about the Meeting of States Parties, visit www.icbl.org Turkey Joins Mine Ban Treaty, Making US Only NATO Country Not Part of Accord On September 25, 2003, Turkey acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, and Greece ratified the accord. Greece had signed the agreement years before, but had been preparing to ratify in conjuction with Turkey's accession. With Turkey an official state party to the treaty, the US is now the only NATO government not party to the accord. The US and Cuba are the only non-signatories to the treaty in the Western Hemisphere. For more information, click here. Paul McCartney and Wife Host Annual Gala to Clear Minefields On September 23, 2003, Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills McCartney hosted a gala dinner in Los Angeles to raise funds for the United Nations Association's Adopt a Minefield Campaign. More than $1 million was raised for the charity, which sits on the Steering Committee of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines. At the event, actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and her husband Michael Douglas were honored for their efforts raising money for mine clearance. Bobby Mueller, Executive Director of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, was also honored for his organization's work providing assistance to mine victims. Paul McCartney and James Taylor performed at the event, playing together for the first time since 1968. Jay Leno was the master of ceremonies. For more information about Adopt a Minefield, visit www.landmines.org. For more information about the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines or to donate on-line, please visit www.banminesusa.org To stop receiving these updates and action alerts, please write to landmines@fcnl.org from the email address that receives the newsletter and ask us to take you off the list. |
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| For more information on the Mine
Ban Treaty and countries that have ratified it, contact the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines www.icbl.org
US Campaign to Ban Landmines |