UNITED STATES OUTLINES NEW US POLICY ON LANDMINES TO CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

UNITED STATES OUTLINES NEW US POLICY ON LANDMINES

TO CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

President of Conference Invites Participants to Informal

Open-Ended Consultations on Programme of Work on Tuesday, 9 March

     GENEVA, 4 March (UN Information Service) -- The United States this morning outlined the new United States policy on landmines, which was announced on 27 February, to the Conference on Disarmament.

Ambassador Jackie Sanders of the United States said that among other things, the new United States landmine policy provided that after 2010, the United States would not use persistent anti-personnel or anti-vehicle landmines on any battlefield, for any purpose, anywhere in the world; and that within one year, the United Sates would no longer use any non-detectable mine of any type.  The United States would seek a worldwide ban on the sale or export of all persistent landmines to prevent the spread of technology that killed and maimed civilians.  Funding for the State Department’s portion of the United States humanitarian mine action programmes would be increased by 50 per cent over fiscal year 2003 baseline levels, to $70 million.  And the United States would continue to work hard for universal membership in the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and for negotiation of a new protocol on anti-vehicle mines.

Ambassador Sanders said the new landmine policy was committed to eliminating the humanitarian risks posed by landmines.  It directly addressed the central humanitarian problem caused by most landmines in the world today, their longevity.  The United States was the first major military Power to commit to giving up all non-detectable landmines and all persistent landmines.  The United States emphasized its appreciation for the efforts that supporters of the Ottawa Convention and others had taken to address the humanitarian problems caused by landmines, and it looked forward to working together toward the common goal.

Ambassador Rajmah Hussain of Malaysia, the President of the Conference, announced that she intended to invite all delegations to the Conference to informal open-ended consultations on a work programme on Tuesday, 9 March at 10 a.m.  She would appreciate it if those who would be attending could come prepared.  She hoped these informal consultations would provide for a lively interaction on the work of the Conference.

The President also said that the secretariat had just distributed a background paper on the selection process to consider requests from non-governmental organizations to address the Conference.  This was a follow-up to the decision taken by the Conference on 12 February to enhance the participation of civil society in the work of the Conference.

The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 11 March.  The President noted that the Conference would commemorate International Women’s Day (8 March) at that plenary.

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