By agency reporter
1 Mar 2009

On the tenth anniversary of the treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, the US Campaign to Ban Landmines has called on President Barack Obama to work for Senate ratification of the treaty this year.

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“US accession to the mine ban treaty would be a low-cost gesture of diplomatic goodwill with both humanitarian and practical benefits,” said Lora Lumpe, coordinator of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines. “This treaty has saved thousands of lives and limbs.”

On March 1, 1999 the Mine Ban Treaty came into force. The treaty comprehensively bans all antipersonnel mines, requires destruction of stockpiled mines and clearance of mines already in the ground, and urges for assistance the victims of landmines. Today 156 countries are party to the treaty.

As a result, the world has seen a near total end to the use of these indiscriminate weapons by national militaries, as well as a reduction in their use by non-state combatants. It has also brought international assistance to thousands of mine victims and billions of dollars for clearing mines and other explosive ordnance left over from wars long ended.

Campaigners say that as President Obama seeks to repair America’s reputation abroad, as well as restore its alliances, US participation would almost certainly aid efforts to universalize the treaty. It would increase pressure on other hold-out nations like Russia—one of only two states, along with Myanmar, that has laid new anti-personnel mines in recent years.

On February 10, 2009, leaders from 67 non-governmental organizations issued a letter calling on President Obama to join the Mine Ban Treaty. Though Mr. Obama was supportive of efforts to restrict landmines when he was a Senator, the new administration has not yet taken a position on the agreement.

“The US has not needed antipersonnel mines in any of its military operations in the past 17 years,” said General Robert Gard, who commanded troops in Korea and Vietnam. “It is an outmoded weapon with no real military utility. Yet using landmines today would put the US squarely at odds with NATO allies and other friends.”

The US Campaign to Ban Landmines is one of 70 campaigns comprising the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). It includes dozens of national organizations and thousands of individual members and is currently coordinated by the Friends Committee on National Legislation.