US to be observer only at Cartagena summit

Demining demonstration in Tirana (photo: Cartagena Summit)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The United States will be attending the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-free World in Colombia 30 November as an observer only, following a review and recent decision not to sign the landmine treaty, US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly said at a daily briefing in Washington Tuesday 24 November. The summit is the Second Review Conference of the Ottawa Convention, informally known as the landmines ban treaty. CNN reports that the decision comes as a surprise to observers who believed the US has been considering joining the 156 other nations who have signed the treaty, citing Human Rights Watch’s reaction. The decision also dashes hopes of the Geneva-based Cartagena Summit secretariat that the US would soon be a party to the treaty.

The official name of the treaty is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and on Their Destruction. It’s also often referred to as the AP (anti-personnel) Mine Ban Convention. It entered into force in 1999. China and Russia are the only other major powers not to have signed the convention.

Not in interests of US defense needs

Kelly’s response when asked why the US is not signing the treaty was that “we made our policy review and we determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs, nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we sign this convention.”

The US will be an observer, he noted, because “clearly, we have – as a global provider of security – we have an interest in the discussions there. But we will be there as an observer, obviously, because we haven’t signed the convention, nor do we plan to sign the convention.”

US major contributor to mine clearance, weapons destruction

Kelly pointed out that the US is “the world’s single largest financial supporter of humanitarian mine action. Since 1993, the US has provided more than $1.5 billion worldwide, dedicated to building new partnerships with more than 50 post-conflict countries and supporting efforts by dozens of NGOs to promote stability and set the stage for recovery and development through mine clearance and conventional weapons destruction programmes.” The US State Department and US Defense Department work together in this area.

Treaty has been effective, says Nobel prize group

The treaty has been effective, according to a report issued 12 November by the Geneva-based International Campaign to Ban Landmines: “Some 3,200km2 of land has been cleared of mines and explosive remnants of war, and new casualties each year declined significantly to 5,197 recorded casualties in 2008.” The group was a co-Laureate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

While landmine ban groups have lauded efforts made by the US to clear mines, Reuters notes that “In contravention of the treaty, however, the United States stockpiles some 10 million antipersonnel mines and retains the option to use them.”

Links to other sites: US official statement, 24 November 2009, CNN, International Campaign to Ban Landmines (network), Reuters

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