South Sudan reception centre, UNHCR refugee camp, November 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Friday 11 November was a day of rising fears internationally that tensions are building along the Sudan-South Sudan border after a series of bombs were dropped just inside South Sudan’s Unity state, hitting a refugee camp. Several Geneva-based humanitarian groups expressed their growing concern Friday.
And then late Friday came some good news from New York, that the newly-formed Republic of South Sudan has made banning anti-personnel mines one of its first multilateral commitments.
It became an independent state 9 July 2011, but fighting and accusations have continued between the two countries.
South Sudan “deposited its notification of succession to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention today at the United Nations headquarters in New York, becoming the 158th state to agree to be legally bound by this landmark humanitarian instrument,” the AP Mine Ban Convention office in Geneva said in a statement Friday night.
The news was a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy reports of the bombs and world reactions to them. Authorities in South Sudan blamed Sudan for the bombardment of a refugee camp in the oil-rich border state of Unity, according to UPI.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for “an independent, thorough and credible investigation to establish the precise circumstances of this aerial bombing.” She said in a statement late Friday that “The camp at Yida, which is close to the border with Sudan, is housing thousands of civilians, including women and children.” She added that “while the number of casualties is not yet clear, I understand that five or six bombs were dropped on the camp, and that at least one fell close to a school.” Pillay says that if “it is established that an international crime or serious human rights violation has been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice.”
The UNHRC, the High Commissioner for Refugees office in Geneva deplored the bombings, noting at its weekly briefing Friday that there were reports earlier in the week of bombings in New Guffa Village in Upper Nile state, in addition to Thursday’s bombings in Unity state.
“Several bombs dropped by an aircraft in the Yida area impacted a temporary camp that shelters over 20,000 refugees who have recently fled violence in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan’s Southern Kordofan State.
Two of the bombs fell within the Yida camp, including one close to the school. Fortunately there were no casualties in the camp and we are verifying the situation of surrounding communities. UNHCR had been readying new refugee sites away from the border when the incident occurred in Yida yesterday. We had hoped to begin the relocation of refugees but our efforts have so far been hampered by heavy rains which have made the road to the camp impassable.”
The significance of the measure taken by South Sudan was noted by the Convention’s leadership. “ndmine contamination in South Sudan is a grave problem for reconstruction and development, and impedes agricultural activities,” said H.E. Gazmend Turdiu, the Convention’s President. “By joining the Convention, South Sudan is making a commitment to clear mines on its territory, to assist landmine survivors and to never, under any circumstances, use anti-personnel mines.”
The Internal Displacement Centre (IDMC) in Geneva also voiced its concern Friday, noting that each side has been blaming the other for escalating violence. The US Wednesday condemned Sudan for air attacks in recent days, with State Department spokesperson Mark Toner saying, “The provocative aerial bombardments near the border increase the potential of direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan.”
The IDMC said Friday in a statement that
“The government of Sudan has accused South Sudan of supporting rebels on the northern side of the border, in the states of South Kordofan, where fighting has been ongoing since June, and in Blue Nile which has seen fighting since September. On 5 November, Sudan submitted a complaint against South Sudan to the UN Security Council, accusing it of providing rebels with “anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles as well as with ammunition, landmines and mortars”. Sudan has imposed restrictions on humanitarian access to South Kordofan and Blue Nile citing security concerns, including the presence of landmines and the movements of rebel groups. Humanitarian organisations estimate that over 200,000 people have either been displaced or severely affected by the conflict in South Kordofan. The UN estimates that 28,500 Sudanese from Blue Nile have fled to Ethiopia and that 19,500 others have taken shelter among communities along the border.”
South Sudan, for its part, says the IDMC, denies supporting the rebels. It “has repeatedly accused Sudan of supporting rebels on its side, in Upper Nile and Unity states. The most recent fighting in Unity state took place on 29 October, after the rebel SSLA (South Sudan Liberation Army) warned the UN and humanitarian organizations to leave the area for their own safety. This put at risk displaced communities who depend on aid for survival, and troops with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMiss) were deployed to help local authorities deal with the aftermath of the attacks and to monitor the situation. In addition to ongoing internal displacement within Unity state, the UN has reported more than 20,000 people fleeing into the state from South Kordofan in Sudan. Humanitarian aid organizations are concerned that “the number of people arriving to Unity might double before the end of the year if fighting continues in South Kordofan.”
Landmines in South Sudan are the result of over 20 years of civil war and the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre in South Sudan reports that, “all 10 states of the newly-formed country have reported mine-related injuries and deaths. Contamination in 306 villages varies in size, from an item that may take an hour or so to destroy, to entire minefields which could take up to a year or more to address.” The AP Mine Ban Convention says that as of September 2011, “a total of 3,210 injuries and 1,263 deaths had been reported in the country. Since 2005, over 25,000 landmines have been destroyed. To date over 2,700 landmine survivors have received support.”
South Sudan, as a party to the Convention, will now have the right to ask other signatory states for help.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Gazmend Turdiu, who presides over the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention, spoke out sharply against Israel’s renewed use of landmines, during a visit to Geneva 6 September to prepare for the Convention’s November meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Israel, which is not a party to the Convention signed by 156 states, has recently placed mines along the Syrian border. “New deployments of anti-personnel mines by Israel were openly acknowledged on 10 August by the Israeli Defence Force journal BaMachaneh, which described the emplacements of mines along the Syrian border,” the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention office in Geneva says in a statement. “Later, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate the International Campaign to Ban Landmines brought it to the international community’s attention.”
Turdiu says that “enhancing existing minefields as Israel has done, run counter to the norms that are accepted by the majority of states”, adding that “the insidious, indiscriminate nature of anti-personnel mines means they must be eradicated. It is our responsibility to make our concern about this objectionable behaviour widely known.”
About the AP Mine Ban Convention
The AP Mine Ban Convention office describes the treaty:
“The AP Mine Ban Convention was adopted in Oslo in 1997, opened for signature in Ottawa the same year and entered into force in 1999. To date 156 States are parties to the Convention, 152 of them no longer hold stocks. Almost 44 million mines have been destroyed by the States Parties. 34 of 50 States that at one time manufactured anti-personnel mines are now bound by the Convention’s ban on production. Most other parties have put in place moratoria on production and / or transfers of mines. Demining has resulted in millions of square metres of once dangerous land being released for normal human activity. was adopted in Oslo in 1997, opened for signature in Ottawa the same year and entered into force in 1999.
“To date 156 States are parties to the Convention, 152 of them no longer hold stocks. Almost 44 million mines have been destroyed by the States Parties. 34 of 50 States that at one time manufactured anti-personnel mines are now bound by the Convention’s ban on production. Most other parties have put in place moratoria on production and / or transfers of mines. Demining has resulted in millions of square metres of once dangerous land being released for normal human activity.”
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.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland will lead efforts to backup a major conference that opens 29 November in Colombia, the Cartagena summit on a mine-free world. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty entering into force and provides the opportunity for its second review conference to assess progress and how well the convention is being respected.
