In response to the January 31st announcement by the White House of the Department of Defense’s new landmine policy, we, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the Trump Administration’s decision to lift existing United States prohibitions against the use of landmines. We urge the White House and Department of Defense (DOD) to reconsider and take steps to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. We urge Congress to take immediate measures to block the deployment of landmines and prohibit the development, production, or other acquisition of new antipersonnel landmines.
Landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill long after conflicts end. Over the past twenty years, the world has rejected antipersonnel landmines through the Mine Ban Treaty – to which 164 countries are states parties, including every other member of NATO. While still not a signatory, the U.S. has functionally adhered to several provisions of the Mine Ban Treaty – except those that would prohibit the U.S. from ordering the use of landmines on the Korean peninsula. This new landmine policy starkly sets the U.S. apart from its allies and has drawn international condemnation, including from the European Union.
The United States has not used antipersonnel landmines since 1991, excluding the use of a single munition in 2002; it has not exported them since 1992 and has not produced them since 1997. In the last five years, only the government forces of Syria, Myanmar, and North Korea, as well as non-state actors in conflict areas, have used landmines. Of the more than 50 countries that once produced landmines, 41 have ceased production. Under this new landmine policy, the U.S. will rejoin a small handful of mine-producing countries. This is not company the U.S. should keep.
Decades after combatants have retreated or laid down arms, landmines continue to threaten civilian lives and undermine the development of post-conflict communities. Farmers cannot farm, children cannot attend school, businesses cannot thrive, and whole communities are displaced. After mild flooding or frequent rain, previously mapped mines can be uprooted and moved to new locations, reintroducing danger to unknowing civilians and destroying the progress of previous mapping efforts.
Landmines are capable of inflicting unspeakable destruction and harm on their victims – projecting metal fragments into deep wounds, destroying one or more limbs, causing burns, traumatic brain injuries, blindness and deafness, and of course fatally wounding through decapitation, blood loss or other horrific means.
Efforts to enhance the “safety” of landmines, including the development of so-called non-persistent or “self-destruct” mines, ignores the fact that they remain indiscriminate. Regardless of the length of their lifespan, they cannot distinguish between a combatant or a civilian while active. If the self-destruct or self-deactivation mechanisms were to fail, they would remain lethal and the potential exists for the components to be repurposed into improvised explosive devices.
The way in which landmines are delivered has changed over time. Rather than being planted and mapped by hand, U.S. mines would be dropped from aircraft or deployed through artillery – indiscriminately scattering them over wide unmarked terrain. This could cause civilian harm, including to humanitarian aid workers and peacekeepers who have no way of knowing if they are in a mined area or where mines might be placed.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its American coordinator Jody Williams received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring about the Mine Ban Treaty. We are proud to be part of the mine ban movement, which continues to make a massive contribution towards global peace and security. Under the provisions of the Treaty, large swaths of territories have been cleared and put back to productive uses. While there are still too many casualties annually, we have seen a dramatic decline since the Treaty came into being. To roll back the progress the global community has made would not only be a tragedy but an affront to the dignity of landmine survivors around the world.
Signed,
United States Campaign to Ban Landmines member organizations:
American Friends Service Committee
Amnesty International USA
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Human Rights Watch
Humanity & Inclusion
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Physicians for Human Rights
PSALM: Proud Students Against Landmines and Cluster Bombs
West Virginia Campaign to Ban Landmines
Other U.S. organizations:
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Childhood Education International
Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy
CORE Group
Doctors of the World USA
Global Communities
Global Health Partners
Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ
HealthRight International
Hesperian Health Guides
Human Rights First
InterAction
Latin America Working Group
Mercy Corps
National Council of Churches
Nonviolence International
Norwegian Refugee Council USA
Peace Direct
Plan International USA
Saferworld, Washington Office
The Episcopal Church
Union for Reform Judaism
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Starts Campaign for Burma
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Win Without War
Women in International Security (WIIS)
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Women’s Refugee Commission
World Renew
Non-U.S. organizations:
AWO International e.V.
Centre for Adolescents and Women’s Health Initiative (CAWHI), Ghana
Medecins du Monde Germany (Aerzte der Welt)
The Conflict and Environment Observatory
War Child
Arms Control Association
Central United Church of Christ
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Rukmini Foundation
Human Security Network in Latin America and the Caribbean REgion (SEHLAC)
APP Argentina