NCCW Meets in Jacksonville, Elects New Officers

Join the Catholic Campaign to Ban Landmines
by Susan Porrovecchio, International Concerns Chair

These armaments strike cruelly and indiscriminately at civilian populations, with lasting effects beyond the period of conflict. I should once again like to make a vigorous appeal for the definitive cessation of the manufacture and use of those arms called antipersonnel mines.

—Pope John Paul II

With continuing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, it would be good if the citizenry of this great United States of America kept a close eye on policy that could affect the use by our military of landmines.

• Over 100 million landmines are thought to be buried in 80 countries.
• The countries that are most heavily mined are those that have experienced recent civil wars—Bosnia, Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia.
• According to the International Red Cross, 800 people per month die from exploded mines, and 1,200 more are maimed.
• The majority of those wounded or killed are civilians, and half of the civilian deaths are children. Opponents note that civil wars and other conflicts may end, but the mines remain in the ground until they are disarmed or exploded.
• Removing the mines is estimated to cost $50 billion, and at the removal rate of 100,000 mines per year, it will take 1,100 years to locate and defuse all the mines in the world—assuming no more are deployed.

President Bush plans to alter the previous U.S. goal of banning all landmines designed to kill troops. That plan set a target of 2006 for giving up antipersonnel mines, depending on the success of Pentagon efforts to develop alternatives. Bush has decided to impose no limits on the use of "smart" land mines, which have timing devices to defuse automatically the explosives within hours or days.

His ban will apply only to "dumb" mines without self-destruct features. He will also propose a 50 percent jump in spending, up to $70 million in fiscal 2005 to provide mine-removal assistance in more than 40 countries.

This decision drew outrage from humanitarian organizations that have pressed for a more comprehensive U.S. ban: "We hadn’t expected a complete rejection of what has been U.S. policy for the past 10 years. . . . And it is stunningly at odds with what’s happening in the rest of the world, where governments and armies are giving up these weapons," said Steve Goose, who heads the arms division of Human Rights Watch.

• Adopt-a-Mine-Field: Clear a path to a safer world. In response to the global landmine crisis, this campaign was created by the United Nations Association of the USA, in partnership with Ted Turner’s "Better World Fund," the U.N., and the U.S. State Department. The Campaign raises funds for mine clearance, survivor assistance, education about the landmine problem. Since 1999, the Campaign has become one of the world’s leading mine clearance programs. Additional information on ways you can support this effort were included in the Commission Resource Packet given to presidents at the Austin General Assembly.
• U.S. Leadership. In September 1997, 121 nations signed the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty banning the use of landmines. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a U.S. organization founded by JodyWilliams, also won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its work. Despite growing awareness of the horror of mines, several nations including the United States and China (a major manufacturer of mines) opposed the treaty.
• Stay informed, speak out, take action! Write to your elected officials—state and national representatives and yes, the President. The U. S. must be an active and constructive participant in international negotiations for an effective ban on landmines without delay or exceptions. The United States should also lead by example, renounce the use of antipersonnel landmines, and destroy our stockpile of 14 million antipersonnel landmines.
• Organizations focusing on landmines include the World Health Organization (WHO); UNICEF, which has campaigned for years that mines violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and Physicians Against Landmines who distribute information as well as treat those injured and provide them with prosthetic limbs.
• Contribute to Catholic Relief Services: At the Austin General Assembly, Mr. Judson Flanagan (current Senior Director of U.S. Operations for CRS) mentioned that the Help-A-Child-Global fund is teaching 15,000 children in Vietnam the safety procedures to recognize and avoid unexploded ordnance and landmines.

• Adopt-A-Minefield, United Nations Association of the USA, 801 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017; www.landmines.org
• The Catholic Campaign to Ban Landmines, (Publication No. 5-223), U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 3211 Fourth St., NW, Washington, DC 20017; 1-800-235-8722; www.nccbuscc.org