Update on Efforts to Ban Landmines

Representatives Lynn C. Woolsey (California), Hilda L. Solis (California), and James P. McGovern (Massachusetts) introduced The Roots of Peace Act, H.R. 5497 on September 26, 2002 to stop the destructive effects of landmines. Landmines are weapons of terror that do not discriminate between combatants and civilians and can cause a lifetime of unnecessary suffering. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 200,000 Afghan citizens died or suffered injuries from landmines during the 23 year war.³ House Resolution 5497 discusses the destructive consequences of landmines and calls on the Secretary of State to construct a program that would financially assist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their de-mining efforts. The bill describes NGOs as those groups that "facilitate the removal and disposal of unexploded ordnance in agriculturally-valuable lands and to develop such lands after the removal and disposal of such ordnance." Within or in the passing of a year the Secretary of State would then report and discuss the NGOs efforts with Congress. ⁴

According to the HR 5497 document, Afghanistan is particularly affected because agricultural regions, such as the Shomali Valley, which could sustain the population, are covered with landmines.⁵ Representative Woolsey stated that "in order for Afghanistan to rebuild after more than 20 years of warfare, the agricultural fields must be cleared of landmines."⁶ Civilians should not have to fear being victimized by landmines during or after wartime. Continued support for the sponsors of The Roots of Peace Act is critical to stopping the harmful effects of landmines.

Encourage the United States government to ratify the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (open for signature at the Ottawa, Canada Convention).⁷

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