E-MAIL NEWSLETTER
July 30, 2001
In this edition. . .
• Action Alert: Circulate a Veteran Sign-On Letter
• Spotlight on Mines to Vines Dinner in Chicago
• Landmines Sculpture Looking for a Home
• Norwegian Deminer and Several Mine Dogs Killed
• The Campaign Needs Your Address
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ACTION ALERT: CIRCULATE VETERAN SIGN-ON LETTER!
The Bush Administration is in its final weeks of its formal review of U.S. landmines policy. The USCBL is working to find several hundred U.S. veterans to sign onto a letter to President Bush urging him to support the Mine Ban Treaty. Are you a veteran? Have you seen the effects of landmines on civilians and soldiers first-hand? Do you know veterans or places in your community where veterans spend time? Please sign and/or circulate the attached veteran sign-on letter and return it to the USCBL by August 24 (see attached letter for more details). For more information about the veterans sign-on letter initiative or if you'd like copies sent to you, contact the US Campaign to Ban Landmines at landmines@fcnl.org or 617-695-0041. For other ways to make your voice heard during this review process, perhaps our best window of opportunity to share our views during the Bush administration, please visit our website at www.banminesusa.org.
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SPOTLIGHT ON MINES TO VINES DINNER IN CHICAGO
On Tuesday, July 31, the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group will launch its national Mines to Vines dinner series whose proceeds will help convert dangerous minefields into bountiful vineyards in the war-torn Balkans. The wine dinners will benefit Roots of Peace, a non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of landmines by converting demined land into productive agricultural use. The event, the first of seven, will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant located at 318 North State Street in Chicago, Illinois. The cost of the dinner is $175 per person. Please call 312-670-9900 for reservations or visit www.rootsofpeace.org for more information about Roots of Peace.
To date, Roots of Peace has raised over $500,000 to demine 160 acres in Croatia. Each dollar raised at the events will be matched by the U.S. Department of State. The Chicago event will feature speakers Heidi Kuhn, President of Roots of Peace, and Will Kennedy Smith, MD, President of the Center for International Rehabilitation and Physicians Against Landmines. Roots of Peace and Physicians Against Landmines both serve on the Steering Committee of the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines.
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LANDMINES SCULPTURE LOOKING FOR A HOME
Arlie and Dave Regier have been sculpting for over forty years and have recently created "Deadly Harvest," a 7 feet by 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet stainless steel piece dedicated to landmine survivors and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. They are looking for a place to feature this piece, now being shown at Leopold Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri. Do you know of a location that would be ideal for this striking work of art, and would you be able to help cover the costs of transport? To see a picture of "Deadly Harvest," visit www.leopoldgallery.com and click on Arlie and Dave Regier at the bottom of the homepage. To contact the gallery, write to leopoldg@swbell.net.
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NORWEGIAN DEMINER AND MINE DOGS KILLED
On July 16, a car with eight Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) deminers hit an anti-tankmine on a road in Mozambique. In the car was one driver, seven deminers, and four mine dogs. Deminer Rafael Minijo Ussalo, 51, was killed on the spot.
A helicopter evacuated the deminers to the hospital in Beira, a couple of hours away. Three deminers are seriously wounded, while four are slightly wounded. All seven were transferred to a hospital Maputo for further treatment.
Says Geir Bjørsvik, technical advisor in NPA's Mine Unit "the death of our colleague is a tragic loss for all of us. The accident is a clear illustration of how dangerous work demining is. The anti-tankmine hit the back part of the car. Thus it was pure luck that not all eight men were killed." All four dogs were killed on the spot.
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THE CAMPAIGN NEEDS YOUR ADDRESS
Once or twice per year, we send action alerts, informational updates, new campaign materials, and fundraising appeals by mail to campaign members throughout the country. Additionally, we sometimes contact people in particular House or Senate areas that we think are strategic to the campaign and ask them to get involved in very specific ways in their community. For example, sometimes we need people to lobby their Senators in New York or to submit letters to the editor in California, or to generate letters to a Congressman in Texas, etc. We do not have the mailing address and home state information of many of you who receive this e-mail newsletter. If you think you may be one of these people, please e-mail us your mailing address and phone number to landmines@fcnl.org. We will NOT share this information with other groups.
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The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines
care of Physicians for Human Rights
100 Boylston Street, Suite 702
Boston, MA 02116
phone: 617-695-0041
fax: 617-695-0307
e-mail: landmines@fcnl.org
website: www.banminesusa.org
Any donations to the campaign, which would be greatly appreciated, should be sent in the form of a check made out to Physicians for Human Rights with "USCBL" in the memo.
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