| U.S.
Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs
E-News: April 2009
In This Edition...
- Call-in Day Report
- 10th Anniversary of Banning Landmines
- Ending the Vietnam War
- The Last Use of Cluster Bombs?
1)
Call-in Day Report
"Yes, we've been hearing lots about this," Senator Amy
Klobuchar's office told callers on March 30. The calls were among
more than 1,500 made to senate offices, urging senators to 'give
cluster bombs the boot' by becoming co-sponsors of S. 416, the
Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2009.
S. 416 would prohibit further use of nearly all cluster munitions
by the U.S. military and help move U.S. policy in line with that
of its closest allies, who signed a treaty banning these weapons
last December. The bill, which already has 24 co-sponsors, complements
a piece of legislation enacted into law three weeks ago that permanently
bans exports of nearly all U.S. cluster bombs.
New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, collectively,
got more than 300 calls on this issue. Massachusetts Senator John
Kerry received 130 calls. Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN), Carl Levin
(MI), Arlen Specter (PA), and George Voinovich (OH) each received
between 70 and 90 calls. But so far, none of these senators has
come on the bill! Keep the pressure on by e-mailing
your senators and calling their in-state offices to remind them that you are
paying attention and that you want them to help end the use of
weapons that always kill and wound more civilians than soldiers.
2) Celebrating 10
Years of Saving Lives and Limbs
Georgians planted trees in former minefields, landmine-disabled
Turks played basketball in wheelchairs, and West
Virginia students released balloons announcing, 'A Mine Free World Is Possible!'
The cause of this global hubbub? The tenth anniversary of the Mine
Ban Treaty, which became binding international law in March 1999.
The West Virginia students, who call themselves Proud Students
Against Landmines/Cluster Bombs, wrote letters to President Barack
Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, published an article
in their city newspaper, and lobbied at their state Capitol. As
a result of their efforts, Senator Robert Byrd (WV) became a new
co-sponsor of the cluster bomb bill (S. 416)!
The Mine Ban Treaty, which 156 countries have joined, has dramatically
reduced the number of mine users and producers and has saved countless
lives and limbs. The UN has scheduled a Review Conference in Cartagena,
Colombia for December 2009, to examine the treaty's implementation.
Attendance at the conference would be a good first step for the
U.S., which is one of only three dozen countries that have not
yet joined.
Help encourage Secretary Clinton to attend by writing a letter
to your local paper about this important treaty! For inspiration,
read
a recent op-ed by former ICBL chair and Nobel Peace Laureate
Jody Williams, urging President Obama to sign the landmine and
cluster bomb treaties.
3)Ending the Vietnam
War
Thirty-four years ago, on April 30th, Saigon fell to North Vietnamese
forces, finally ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. But
millions of cluster bomblets and other unexploded ordnances (UXO)
left behind continue to kill and maim -- in Laos and Cambodia,
as well as Vietnam.
Laos, which has long been isolated from the international community,
has taken a surprising lead role in the new global treaty banning
cluster bombs. In March it became the fifth country to ratify the
Convention on Cluster Munitions and will host the treaty's first
review conference five years after the treaty enters into force.
As a party to the treaty, it will be required to clear its land
within ten years of the massive ordnance dumped on it by American
planes in the 1960s and 70s.
Several of USCBL's coalition members are working to redress this
continuing deadly legacy in Southeast Asia. Legacies
of War, a
Lao-American organization, educates on the issue and advocates
for the removal of unexploded bombs in Laos; the Mennonite
Central Committee has worked to bring the cluster bombing of Laos to public
attention for more than two decades; Handicap
International promotes
disability rights and aids landmine/UXO victims in Laos, Vietnam,
and Cambodia; and Adopt-A-Minefield funds demining in all three
countries.
4) The Last Use
of Cluster Munitions?
Human Rights Watch has just released A
Dying Practice: Use of
Cluster Munitions by Russia and Georgia in August 2008. This 80-page
report is the first comprehensive study of the last -- meaning
both 'most recent' and, hopefully, 'final' -- use of cluster munitions.
According to HRW, the loss of lives and livelihoods from cluster
munitions use during the August 2008 armed conflict reinforces
the importance of the treaty negotiated and signed last year banning
this weapon.
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. |