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U.S.
Campaign to Ban Landmines Email Newsletter In this edition. . .
President Bush to Determine New Landmine Policies; Contact Your Senators! For more than a year the Bush Administration has been conducting a formal review of US landmine policies. Late last year, the Defense Department recommended to the President that the U.S. abandon all efforts towards joining the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and banning landmines. Since then, the State Department, National Security Council, and members of the Bush White House staff have been looking into the issue. We do not know if and when the Administration will determine new US landmine policies, but we have heard word that it may be in the coming weeks. Email, fax, or call your Senators now! Please ask your Senators, particularly those listed below, to write a letter to the White House and urge the President to ban antipersonnel landmines. Senators Harkin (IA), Dodd (CT), Feinstein (CA), Feingold (WI), and Leahy (VT) have already done so. To find out how to contact your Senators, visit www.senate.gov or www.vote-smart.org. Sample Fax, Email, or Call: Dear Senator_________: Please write a letter to President Bush, as many of your colleagues in the House and Senate have done, and ask the President to ban antipersonnel landmines. I am dismayed to hear that the United States may be moving away from its commitment to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Antipersonnel landmines maim and kill 15,000-20,000 people each year, mostly children, farmers, and other innocent civilians. The indiscriminate weapon also renders land useless for cultivation. Please urge the President to make progress in eliminating this outdated weapon of terror from the US arsenal and not to rollback existing policy as it appears he may do. Sincerely, Senators Who are Especially Important to Contact: ALASKA Write A Letter to the Editor -It's So Easy! The Cleveland Plain Dealer published USCBL member Hikari Morikawa's letter to the editor on August 13, 2002. It was titled "U.S. Must Push Ban on Landmines." The Reno Gazette published a similar letter by USCBL member Diana Cole on August 22. Both of these letters discussed Afghanistan's recent accession to the Mine Ban Treaty and the need for the U.S. to ban mines as well. Thank you to Hikari and Diana! The rest of you are encouraged to send your own letters to the editor to your local papers. Letters to the editor are a great way to educate the public and politicians about issues that people care about. They can be just like the following sample letter or one of your own creation. If you do get a letter published, please send us a copy to USCBL/ care of Physicians for Human Rights/ 100 Boylston Street/ Suite 702/ Boston, MA 02116. Sample Letter To the Editor: I was thrilled to hear that Afghanistan recently agreed to accede to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits the use, production, trade, and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that 200,000 of Afghanistan's people have suffered from mine deaths and crippling injuries during the past two decades of war. Thousands, if not millions more Afghans have been affected by the mines planted in their farmland, in their travel routes, and in their children's play areas. Though there will still be a tremendous amount of demining and victim assistance left to do in Afghanistan even after it joins the treaty, at least the citizens of this decimated country will know that their government is moving forwards, not backwards on solving the problem. A permanent ban on this weapon that keeps on killing even after wars are over is the only long-term solution to the global landmine crisis. The United States, which has influence over such mine-using countries as Russia and India, needs to join the majority of the world in banning this weapon of terror. Name Address Huge
Russian Helicopter Crashes in a Minefield, Killing Dozens Moscow A hulking Russian military helicopter, designed for 80 people but carrying at least 132, crash-landed in a minefield near the main military base in Chechnya on Monday, causing explosions that increased a death toll believed to be in the dozens, officials and news agencies reported. A number of soldiers apparently survived the crash only to activate mines on emerging from the wreckage. . . They reported that at least 32 soldiers and crew-members had survived and were being treated at a military hospital on the base, in Khankala, just east of the Chechen capital, Grozny. The rescue effort was delayed until explosives experts could clear a path for emergency workers through the mines, which encircle the Russian base, according to news reports. Mines first went off when the helicopter came down, setting it ablaze. Soldiers clambering out of the helicopter set off more of them; the site was strewn with bodies, according to an on-line report early today by the newspaper Kommersant. For full story, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/20/international/europe/20RUSS.htmlex=1030875 689&ei=1&en=1998bf7626e115ad Thank You to USCBL Summer Interns; We're Looking for Fall Interns Thank you so much to the USCBL summer interns who did great work for the campaign this summer! They did all of the ground work for the USCBL on-line charity auction, which will take place this fall. They also helped us reach out to the organizations in the coalition about funding and to individuals in key states about victim assistance legislation. We wish all the best to Guinevere Higgins (Wellesley College), Micaela Cohen (Lehigh University), Kate Giguere (Davidson College), and Laura Robotham (Belmont, MA High School; we are grateful that Laura is staying on with us). Stay in touch ladies! If you are interested in a fall internship in the Boston area or know someone who is, please email (landmines@fcnl.org) or fax (617-695-0307) your resume and cover letter to USCBL Coordinator Gina Coplon-Newfield. For more information about the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines or to donate on-line, please visit www.banminesusa.org
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