Our Country

What can we do 

to urge the administration to limit the use and production of landmines?

The Ottawa Treaty requires signators to destroy all stockpiled antipersonnel landmines within four years, to eliminate all antipersonnel landmines including buried mines within 10 years, and to report to the U.S. secretary general on their antipersonnel landmines and mines annually.  (Source: Arms Control Association) The International Campaign to Ban Landmines estimates that there are 170 antipersonnel landmines stockpiled worldwide.  (Arms Control Association) The Bush Administration announced on February 27, 2004, that the U.S. would not sign the treaty.  (Arms Control Association) The administration issued a fact sheet on the U.S. Landmine policies which states: "The terms of Ottawa and critical U.S. national interests were not reconciled, and so the U.S. did not and will not become party to Ottawa." (American)

In February 2007 a conference was held in Oslo on banning cluster bombs.  According to a representative of Human Rights Watch, "No conventional weapon poses greater danger to civilians today than cluster munitions."  These bombs can wreak havoc in an area as a great as one square kilometer and bombs that do not explode on impact may become landmines.  At least 75 countries have stockpiles of cluster bombs.  46 states have agreed to develop a treaty in 2008 prohibiting the use of cluster bombs. President George W. Bush is opposed to a ban on cluster bombs and his administration did not send a representative to the Oslo conference. (Embassy)

What can we do to urge the administration to limit landmine use and production? The Friends Committee on National Legislation observed on June 28, 2007: "The U.S. has fallen precipitously from its moral high ground on the landmines issues since the 1990s.  The FCNL website publishes legislation action alerts.  Visitors are urged to take action by contacting their senators to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2007 and to contact the president to support the bill.  The legislation would ban the use of cluster munitions near civilian populated areas, and bans the use, sale or transfer of cluster munitions with a failure rate greater than 1%. Most recently, as of 01/23/08, the legislation known in the house as HR 1755 and in the senate as S.594 had drawn 24 cosponsors but continues to be opposed by the Pentagon. Write to your legislators in support of the bills,  raise awareness,  and hold an event to allow your community members to make their voices heard in Washington.

Visit The Friends Committee on National Legislation video and campaign info.