ASSEMBLY CALLS ON STATES TO ASSIST IN MINE CLEARANCE, PROMOTE RESEARCH ON CLEARANCE TECHNIQUES
Press Release
GA/9037
ASSEMBLY CALLS ON STATES TO ASSIST IN MINE CLEARANCE, PROMOTE RESEARCH ON CLEARANCE TECHNIQUES
19951214 The General Assembly this afternoon called upon States to provide information and assistance for mine clearance, and to locate, remove, destroy or otherwise render ineffective minefields, mines, booby-traps and other devices in accordance with international law. That call was made by means of a resolution adopted without a vote.Under other provisions of the resolution, members of the international community were urged to provide assistance to mine-afflicted countries and to promote scientific research and development on humanitarian mine-clearance techniques and technology so that mine-clearance activities might be more effectively carried out at lower cost and through safer means.
Speaking in the debate on the issue, the representative of Cambodia described the damage which continued to be caused by the mines laid during the more than 20 years of war in his country. One Cambodian out of every 236 had lost the use of at least one limb because of land-mines. The Khmer Rouge outlaws continued to carry out sabotage activities along the Thai border, he said, appealing to all countries to continue to grant assistance to Cambodian mine-clearance activities.
Speaking on behalf of the five Central American countries, the representative of Nicaragua said those States, which had been beset by years of conflict, stood to benefit from mine-clearance programmes. International assistance to Central America was critical to lessening the devastating effects of mines there. The ultimate solution to the problem of mines, he said, was to attain a complete ban on their production, stockpiling, export and proliferation. The representative of Mexico agreed, stating that "if the objective of all States is truly to remove the possibility that civilians will be injured, maimed or killed by mines, then we must ban once and for all -- forever -- the manufacture of these artifacts of pain and death".
Along with others calling for a preventive approach to the problem of mine proliferation, the representative of the Republic of Korea said his country was joining the increasing number of States imposing a national moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land-mines.
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The representative of New Zealand expressed regret that it had proved impossible, at the first review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in September, to adopt such interim steps as restrictions on imports and exports of anti-personnel mines. However, he said some hope was offered by the Assembly's adoption by consensus of a resolution on moratoria on the export of land-mines.
The representative of Australia said there was a political dimension to discussions of de-mining that had perpetuated the notion that the developed countries were hoarding new and effective mine clearance-technologies that should be handed over to the United Nations. In actual fact, no technological 'silver bullet' would cause the problem to go away. Mine clearance would require a great deal of money, expertise and training. For its part, Australia had contributed to mine-clearance activities around the world.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 15 December, to take up the issue of normalization of the situation in South Africa. It will also take action on draft resolutions concerning the question of Palestine and international assistance for Nicaragua.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its consideration of assistance in mine clearance and the operation of the Voluntary Trust for Assistance in Mine Clearance. Before it was a draft resolution and a report of the Secretary-General (document A/50/408 previously summarized in GA/9036 issued today).
Under the terms of the draft resolution on assistance in mine clearance (document A/50/L.57), the Assembly would call upon Member States to provide information and assistance for mine clearance, and to locate, remove, destroy or otherwise render ineffective minefields, mines, booby-traps and other devices in accordance with international law.
States and other members of the international community would be urged to provide technological assistance to mine-afflicted countries, as well as to promote scientific research and development on humanitarian mine-clearance techniques and technology, so that mine-clearance activities may be more effectively carried out at lower costs and through safer means. The Secretary-General would be called upon to designate the Department of Humanitarian Affairs as the repository of information and for facilitating research to improve mine-clearance methods. An appeal would be made for contributions to the Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance.
That text is sponsored by Afghanistan, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay.
Statements
YANG LEE (Republic of Korea) noted that, unlike other conventional weapons, land-mines represented a particular menace in a post-conflict environment. Long after the realization of peace, land-mines continued to maim and kill. Further, they impeded development in war-torn societies. The International Meeting on Mine Clearance, held last July in Geneva, had been a demonstration of international will to tackle the problem.
Concern persisted, however, over the fact that the number of mines being laid each year far surpassed that of mines cleared, he said. Last year, over two million had been laid, while only 100,000 had been removed. "These disturbing figures clearly indicate that de-mining alone is not the answer to this serious problem." A more comprehensive, preventive approach was
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required. Limits must be placed on the proliferation of mines. One significant initiative was to implement a moratorium on the export of anti- personnel mines. The Republic of Korea was joining the increasing number of countries imposing a national moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land- mines. It had further decided to contribute $100,000 to the Trust Fund for the Assistance in Mine Clearance.
PETER RIDER (New Zealand) said his country wanted to eliminate land- mines entirely from the world's armouries. Regrettably, it had proved impossible, at the first review of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in September, to adopt such interim steps as an effective and streamlined verification and compliance regime, including fact-finding; restrictions on imports and exports of anti-personnel mines; extension of the Convention to cover internal conflicts as well as international ones; prohibition of non-detectable mines and those designed to be triggered by mine detection equipment; a ban on long-lived land-mines; and New Zealand's proposal for more frequent review conferences. More work was required to convince some States that international norms had changed.
He said some hope was offered by the First Committee's adoption by consensus of a resolution on moratoria on the export of land-mines. It welcomed unilateral moratoria of some 25 countries and encouraged others to follow suit. The land-mine problem continued to grow, however. More could be done on the ground and at United Nations Headquarters. New Zealand had participated in mine clearance operations in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mozambique and Angola. In Central Bosnia, its peace-keeping contingent had introduced an innovative mine education and awareness programme. He was pleased at the Secretary-General's designation of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs as the focal point in the United Nations system for mine clearance activities. The de-mining activities of the Department of Peace-Keeping Operations and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs could be collocated for more efficiency. More emphasis was needed on national capacity building.
OUCH BORITH (Cambodia) endorsed the Secretary-General's recommendations, including the one relating to a moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land-mines. Cambodia continued to suffer the effects of the mines that had been laid during the more than two decades of war. One Cambodian out of every 236 had lost the use of at least one limb because of land-mines, which continued to claim more victims, mostly young people, each month. Cambodia had meagre resources to combat the problem, but it continued to work towards that end. Mine clearance training and education activities were an ongoing priority, and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre would continue its work through next April.
The Government continued to suffer major economic difficulties, and the Khmer Rouge outlaws continued to carry out sabotage activities along the Thai border, he went on. As long as those activities continued, the number of displaced persons would increase. He appealed to all countries to continue to
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grant assistance to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre beyond its deadline of April 1996, and expressed appreciation to those Governments and non- governmental organizations which had contributed to Cambodia's mine clearance programme. Cambodia fully supported the proposal by the United States to eliminate anti-personnel land-mines. It also supported the draft which was before the Assembly.
RICHARD ROWE (Australia) said there was a political dimension to discussions of de-mining that had perpetuated the notion that the developed countries were hoarding new and effective mine clearance technologies that should be handed over to the United Nations. In reply, he quoted one writer, who wrote that "Mine clearance experts generally agree that although new technologies may provide significant cost and time savings in some clearance situations, no technological 'silver bullet' will cause the problem to go away". Mine clearance would require a great deal of money, expertise and training. Australia had helped to train over 14,000 Afghans in mine clearance. It had contributed to de-mining in Angola, Mozambique and Afghanistan.
He said that, most disturbing, was the doubt as to whether the rate and scale of mine clearance had achieved the level required to reduce the number of land-mines at all. For that, new mine laying would have to be curtailed. He feared that regular armed forces, insurgent groups or civilians were laying mines right now. States must exercise their responsibilities to end indiscriminate mine use. All governments should ratify the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and adopt the strictest possible rules on the use and export of land-mines. States Parties must set an example. The reasoning behind some positions at the conference in September had not even been justified by military rationale, but was related to the financial costs of bringing stockpiles into new obligations, such as banning undetectable plastic mines. Pending readiness to agree on a ban on land-mines, he hoped States would at least abandon long-lived mines. Otherwise, the problem would never go away.
CARLOS VICENTE IBARRA (Nicaragua), speaking also on behalf of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, said the Secretary- General's report made no reference to Nicaragua, in spite of the fact that in July, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs had been given a complete report on the mine situation in that country. Similar omissions had been made with respect to other Central American countries, which had been beset by years of conflict and stood to benefit from mine-clearance programmes. International assistance to Central America was critical to lessening the devastating effects of mines there. The meeting held in Geneva had been welcome, resulting in a heightened international awareness of the problem. The Central American countries had participated actively in the meeting, highlighting the importance of cooperation in support of their efforts to continue mine- clearance programmes.
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He went on to recall that the countries of Central America had sponsored a resolution adopted by the Assembly on the Alliance for Sustainable Development which, among other things, appealed to the international community to contribute to mine-clearance activities in the region. The goal was to promote reconstruction and sustainable development and, ultimately, a lasting peace in the region. He expressed gratitude to States and the United Nations for the assistance furnished so far for mine-clearance activities. The countries of Central America had provided the Department of Humanitarian Affairs with information on mine-clearance activities undertaken so far. Such activities were hampered by a lack of consistent financing. Greater involvement of the international community with regional organizations, such as the Organization of American States (OAS), was critical.
The international convention banning and restricting the use of certain conventional weapons was a first step in reducing the suffering of the civilian population, he said. The Central American countries were working to ratify that document. Greater efforts and political will were needed to put an end to the inhumane mine situation, which destroyed lives and the environment. The ultimate solution to the problem of mines was to attain a complete ban on the production, stockpiling, export and proliferation of land- mines.
Action on Draft Resolution
The following countries joined in co-sponsoring the draft resolution: Azerbaijan, Latvia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mozambique, Republic of Korea and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Explaining his position before action, MANUEL TELLO (Mexico) said his country fully supported the draft. Millions of land-mines remained dangerously silent, bearing witness to past wars, and occasionally exploding. Mexico welcomed measures taken to alleviate the suffering of the millions of victims, many of whom were children. "Never the less, we must not deceive ourselves. The efforts of the international community to clear mines will always be insufficient," he said. Far fewer mines were removed or deactivated than were laid around the world. Mine clearance and the freezing of exports were noble purposes, but they were only palliatives. They by no means resolved the problem. "If the objective of all States is truly to remove the possibility that civilians will be injured, maimed or killed by mines, then we must ban once and for all -- forever -- the manufacture of these artifacts of pain and death." That was the only ethical option before the international community. Mexico remained fully committed to the complete elimination of all types of mines.
The Assembly adopted the draft resolution on assistance in mine clearance without a vote.
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