Landmines Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

When people think about human rights, they might think about the basics for living, safety, safe source of food and water. Safety is a big part of living a peaceful life. According to philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes in his work titled “Leviathan”, to achieve security one would have to give up all liberties and obey a king, and the government should put fear into their people. Others such as Jean Jacques Rousseau said that the government should not put fear into the people, but the people should put fear into the government. In countries that are considered third world, the government is often corrupt and strikes major fear into the people. No one should live this way, especially if something as dangerous as a landmine

Since wars have ended, there are an uncountable amount of active landmines left in former war zones. These abandoned landmines have an unfortunate trait where they cannot distinguish soldiers from civilians. Even after decades since the conflict ended, landmines still have the possibility to be active. “Year after year, Landmine Monitor has reported that civilians account for 70 to 85 percent of casualties”; these numbers of civilian casualties are considered significant, and also appalling. Human Rights Watch wrote an article regarding the Unites States’ standing in regards to landmines and its policy. The Human Rights Watch states that, “Commitment not to use antipersonnel landmines outside of the Korean Peninsula and not to assist, encourage, or induce other nations to use, stockpile, or transfer antipersonnel mines outside of Korea.” The Korean War ended with a divided Korea of North and South. Their borders between is traced with antipersonnel from mines east to west. Supposedly the United States banned the use of antipersonnel mines except for the Korean Peninsula. Officials may have their reasons to keep using landmines to protect a border from an invasion. But, is it really worth keeping explosive devices that will affect the individual who unknowingly confronts it? The Korean Peninsula is anything but a demilitarized zone, and Humans Rights Watch asked; “How does the US policy

As a reoccurring statement, landmines do pose threat to human rights. The United States should sign the Ottawa Convention without delay, once and forever banning the use of mines. As of 2012 the number of countries that signed the treaty has grown to 156, “Eleven years after opening for ratification, the [Ottawa] Convention has 156 State Parties, and international trade in landmines has virtually ceased.” Unfortunately the United States is not part of this treaty. Former president Bill Clinton had participated in the Ottawa process leading up to the convention; however, he refused to sign because of pressure from the Pentagon. When President George Bush was elected, and the Afghan/Iraq wars started, he announced that the US will continue to produce and stockpile mines. The ICBL was launched in 1997 with the objective to eliminate landmines in the world. The effort put out by the ICBL helped set conditions for talks about the use of weapons during the Cold War. The main talking point was: “What weapons and methods of warfare had produced the most significant impact on the lives of civilians.” For an organization that started off fairly small, many can consider the Ottawa Convention a major impact for the ban of landmines globally. A direct impact of the convention is that in 2013 in which the number of landmine related incidents decreased significantly. “In its annual report… the International Campaign to Ban Landmines