A Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom October 24-27, 1997. The secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, recently told Human Rights Watch, "I take the issue of landmines very seriously. It is on the agenda for the heads of government to discuss in Edinburgh and I will be pushing for it to be a priority."⁽¹⁾

Nearly two-thirds of the members of the Commonwealth have already committed to signing the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines in December in Ottawa, Canada. Several Commonwealth countries, most notably Canada and South Africa, have been at the forefront of the movement to eradicate this insidious, indiscriminate weapon from the face of the earth. However, a half-dozen Commonwealth members have indicated that they are not prepared to sign the treaty: Bangladesh, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. Three of those nations--India, Pakistan, and Singapore--continue to produce antipersonnel mines. Twelve members of the Commonwealth appear to be undecided about whether to sign the treaty: Australia, Brunei, Gambia, Kenya, Kiribati, Maldives, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

At least fourteen Commonwealth countries are suffering from an estimated two to five million landmines planted in their soil. Landmines plague Commonwealth members in Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Europe. The most heavily infested are Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Others affected include Bangladesh, Cyprus, India, Malawi, Malaysia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia. The Falkland/Malvinas Islands (administered by the United Kingdom, claimed by Argentina) are also strewn with mines. In many of these countries antipersonnel mines pose a daily threat to rural development and free trade movement, the very focus of the Edinburgh meeting.

Mines continue to be laid in several Commonwealth countries--including India, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, and Uganda--by government troops, opposition forces, or criminals. In 1996 landmines were available in Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia in exchange for food and second-hand clothing. Mines can be bought in South Africa for as little as U.S.$25.

Thirty-four of the fifty-two active members of the Commonwealth are committed to the ban treaty. (Nigeria and Sierra Leone have had their memberships suspended). Many have already taken steps domestically to prohibit the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel landmines. Five former producers--Canada, South Africa, Uganda, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe--have decided to ban future production. Nearly all Commonwealth nations have declared a formal ban or comprehensive moratorium on antipersonnel mine exports. Singapore, recognized as one of the biggest producers and exporters of mines in the developing world, has announced only a limited export moratorium, on so-called "dumb" mines.

Given the overwhelming majority view, it should be an achievable goal for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to issue a declaration of support for the treaty signing in Ottawa and the urgent need to ban antipersonnel mines. Human Rights Watch urges the Commonwealth governments that have not committed themselves to the December ban treaty to do so immediately. It is expected that more than one hundred nations worldwide will sign the treaty in December.

Members of the Commonwealth should lead in implementing regional and international landmine resolutions, such as those of the Organization of American States (OAS), Organization of African Unity (OAU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the U.N. The Commonwealth should follow the example of the Central American states, Caribbean states, and Southern African Development Community and seek to make the Commonwealth a mine-free zone.

Nongovernmental organizations brought the global landmine crisis to the attention of the public and governments in the early 1990s, and have been the driving force in the international ban effort. Six NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, launched the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) in 1992 and it has grown into one of the most diverse and successful NGO coalitions ever. The 1997 Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded to the ICBL and its coordinator, Jody Williams. The ICBL now consists of more than 1,000 NGOs in more than fifty nations. It includes organizations involved in demining, victim assistance, rehabilitation, human rights, arms control, humanitarian relief, medical, veterans, religious issues, and more. The ICBL has national landmine ban campaigns, or is active, in many Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, India, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The ICBL has two calls: for a comprehensive ban on the use, production, stockpiling and export of antipersonnel mines, and for increased resources for humanitarian mine clearance and victim assistance programs.

Malaysia was the first Commonwealth nation to publicly declare its support for a total ban on antipersonnel mines, in December 1994. Other early supporters included Mozambique and New Zealand in October 1995, Canada in January 1996, Australia and Jamaica in April 1996, and South Africa in May 1996. While most of these nations have subsequently been leaders in the global ban movement, Australia has lagged behind, and has still not committed to signing the ban treaty in December.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) has endorsed a total ban, first with a Resolution of the 62nd Council of Ministers in June 1995 and again in 1996 and 1997. The Organization of American States adopted a resolution in June 1996 calling for the establishment of a hemispheric mine free zone. The six Central American states declared themselves the first mine free zone in September 1996, and the CARICOM (Caribbean) states followed suit in December. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) also became a mine-free zone in August 1997, but this was short-lived because membership was expanded in September and included the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), a country that has yet to indicate its wish to ban landmines.

A key event in the global march toward a mine ban was the Canadian government-sponsored conference held in Ottawa, October 3-5, 1996, which brought together fifty pro-ban governments, as well as twenty-four observer states, dozens of nongovernmental organizations with the ICBL, the International Committee of Red Cross and other international groups. In Ottawa states agreed to a Final Declaration committing themselves to "seek the earliest possible conclusion of a legally-binding agreement to ban the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of antipersonnel mines and to increase support for mine awareness programs, mine clearance operations and victim assistance." Perhaps more importantly, the participants developed a Chairman's Agenda for Action, which laid out concrete steps at the international, regional and national levels for achieving a ban rapidly. And in a dramatic announcement at the end of the conference, Canada's Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy stated that Canada would host a ban treaty signing conference in December 1997. The conference also featured perhaps unprecedented cooperation between governments and NGOs, which has continued to the present day.

The success of this "Ottawa Process" has been stunning. Austria hosted a preparatory meeting from February 12-14, 1997 to begin discussions of the elements of a ban treaty. One hundred and eleven governments participated, though many of them were not prepared to commit to a December 1997 time frame. Present in Vienna were Australia, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe. South Africa, the first nation to speak, made a particularly strong statement in support of the Ottawa process, as did Canada and New Zealand. Austria circulated a draft ban treaty prior to the conference that served as the basis for discussion.

Belgium hosted a conference in late June 1997 in which 107 governments endorsed a declaration supporting the principles of the Austrian draft ban treaty, the negotiation of the treaty in Oslo in September 1997, and the signing of the ban treaty in Ottawa in December. Thirty-four Commonwealth nations endorsed the Brussels Declaration.

Eighty-nine governments came to Oslo as full participants for the negotiations, and another thirty-two as observers. The negotiations, which lasted from September 1-18, produced a treaty that drew high praise from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The treaty prohibits the use, production, import and export of antipersonnel mines. It requires destruction of existing stockpiles of antipersonnel mines within four years, and destruction of mines in the ground within ten years. It also requires state parties to provide detailed information about antipersonnel mine stockpiles and minefields. It calls on states to provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation of mine victims. Twenty-two Commonwealth governments were participants, and six were observers.

Thirty-four members of the Commonwealth are already committed to ban the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of antipersonnel landmines. That is already two-thirds of Commonwealth membership. Twelve other countries are close to signing. This leaves only six--Bangladesh, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka--that are actively against a global ban.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting should issue a declaration of support for the ban treaty to be signed in Ottawa in December and for the need to urgently ban antipersonnel landmines globally. International and regional momentum is growing rapidly. The Commonwealth should follow the example of the Central American states, Caribbean states, and Southern African Development Community and seek to make the Commonwealth a mine-free zone.

1. Human Rights Watch interview, London, October 16, 1997.