Bogota- The push to free the world of anti-personnel landmines gained steam Monday in Colombia as representatives of 156 countries met in the picturesque seaside town of Cartagena to review progress. Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos opened the six-day summit on a Mine-Free World on Sunday.
"We have lived in our own flesh the consequences of this tragedy," Santos said.
The 156 countries are signatories to the 1997 Ottawa convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
Russia,
China and the US, which along with
India are among the 39 countries which have not signed the convention, sent observers to the gathering.
According to official government figures, landmines and other anti-personnel bombs claimed 8,081 victims between 1990 and 2009 in Colombia alone. Civilians made up 35 per cent of the casualties, the remaining were army and police officers.
In the first six months this year, there were 370 victims - 122 civilians and 248 soldiers.
Mines are cheap defensive weapons often used by rebel groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). They are easily transported and stored, cost only several dollars a piece and require no special training for use.
FARC and other rebel and paramilitary groups continue to lay new minefields to bar access to their regions by the Colombian military. Mines are also laid to keep illegal drug plantations - which are a major source of
finance for the rebels - out of reach of the army.
Norwegian ambassador and summit president, Susan Eckey, thanked Colombian authorities for
hosting the summit and said delegates were motivated by the tragic consequences of mines on people's lives that were apparent in the South American country.
Since the treaty came into effect in 1997, signatory states have cleared millions of mines. But landmines, along with cluster bombs and other anti-personnel bombs not included in the treaty, continue to plague people in more than 80 countries, according to the German organization Action Landmine.de.
The treaty, which was signed in Ottawa, Canada, mandates that signatories ban the use, production and storage of anti-personnel mines. Anti-vehicle mines are exempted from the treaty.
The United States, the only member of NATO that has not signed the treaty, signalled in recent days a possible change in its position. The US State Department said in
Washington that its policy was under review, a process it said would take some time because it is the first look by the Obama administration at the policy since 2003, when the Bush administration declared Washington would not sign the ban.
The United States has not used or produced landmines in the 12 years since the treaty has existed but continues to keep stockpiles, which would be prohibited under the treaty.
The United States is the world's largest contributor to humanitarian landmine cleanup programmes. Since 1993, the United States has given 1.3 billion dollars to landmine removal programmes.
