Geneva, Saturday, April 27, 1996

Delegates were greeted by amputees in wheelchairs handing them long-stemmed red roses when they entered the chamber for the opening session of the resumption of the conference to review the Protocol on Landmines of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) at the UN's Palais des Nations in Geneva Monday, April 22nd. The Swiss Campaign of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) had pasted a photo of a young girl victim on the container of each of the 500 roses donated by local florists as part of the events planned to dramatize the toll on civilians taken by mines.

The conference opened on a cautious note with Conference President Johan Molander (Sweden) urging delegates to complete their work by the end of next week. "Let's make a deal" has been the name of the game being played here as delegates scurry to reach consensus. The failure to reach consensus at the three-week review conference in Vienna last September/October has created a sense of urgency among delegates to assure that this conference does not also end deadlocked.

Negotiations at this review are focusing on scope (whether restrictions on use can be extended to internal conflicts), review (when to hold another review conference), definition of anti-personnel landmines, and verification (how to monitor and deal with nations not complying with the new protocol). The restrictions on the discussions and the requirement for consensus make it impossible to negotiate an immediate ban, now called for by thirty-three nations. Such a rule leads to lowest common denominator results for the conference. Therefore, the pro-ban countries met separately, and the Canadian government has expressed its willingness to hold a conference toward this end for like-minded governments and NGOs in the fall of this year in Ottawa.

The U.S. position once again has been to advocate the move to "smart" landmines which would self-destruct or self-deactivate in an agreed upon period. Our representatives admitted that they are expecting the Pentagon to release the results of its review of landmine use and possibly a new U.S. policy before the conference ends next Friday.

In her address to the opening plenary, Jody Williams, of Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, reiterated the ICBL position: a call for an immediate, complete ban on anti-personnel landmines. She asked "How many more people will fall victim before the international community bans antipersonnel landmines?" She told of the "Wall of Remembrance" we would dedicate on Tuesday displaying photographs of the 791 victims from the Battambang Province in Cambodia since October 3. She asked again and again, "How many more will it take?" This speech set the tone for the events in which we participated all week--the urgency of "How many more will it take?" contrasted with the slow process of reaching a diplomatic consensus.

Because of the ICBL efforts, it has been impossible for delegates to ignore the horrible suffering landmines inflict on innocent people. The walls outside the negotiating chambers are adorned with graphic photos of victims, and televisions on two floors continuously show landmine films. A strategically placed computer also allows interaction with CD-roms designed by the International Red Cross. An electronic counter at the "Wall of Remembrance" is clicking off another number every 20 minutes to emphasize how many people have been injured since the Vienna conference (13,835 at the end of the dedication). There was a large demonstration outside the Palais at noon on Monday for the public unveiling of a mountain of four tons of shoes (symbolizing the shoes victims no longer need). They laid a mock minefield inside the UN building, and both governmental and non-governmental representatives have tiptoed across the field all week trying not to activate the booms that result from stepping on a "mine." That exhibit was moved to a park in the center of Geneva on Saturday, and hourly demonstrations on demining were conducted for the public.

The ICBL is issuing report cards to each delegation rating them on six different issues. The U.S. received a C- rating overall on the interim report. Another report will be issued at the end of the conference, and the U.S. grade will be announced in a press conference in Washington on Friday May 3rd.

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Analysis of the Advance Unedited Edition of the Habitat II Agenda from a Peace Perspective
Urgent Need for America to Meet Its Financial Obligations to the United Nation