According to the United Nations (UN), between 15 to 20 thousand people are killed by landmines each year. Landmines are small explosive devices designed to detonate upon contact. Often times these bombs are concealed as ordinary objects or hidden below ground, which allows them to serve as ideal war tools. Although landmines target enemy soldiers, approximately 80 percent of victims are civilians, according to the UN, most of whom are women, children and the elderly, who accidentally detonate these devices, which are present in over 78 countries across the globe. Most active landmines today are remnants of previous civil and international conflicts that have ended, yet they continue to pose the same threat long after the conflict ends.
Making landmines is cheap and easy, but the process of removing them from the land is difficult and expensive. While the UN reports that it costs between $3 and $75 to make a landmine, safely removing each one from the land costs between $300 and $1,000 dollars. Due to their nature, landmines must be removed manually and individually which puts many more at risk of suffering from the explosion of one of these artifacts.
The victims who are not always human, as animals also commonly fall prey to landmines that are not fatally wounded often lose one or more extremities, such as a leg or an arm. Many also suffer burns on their faces and lose their hearing or sight. International agencies and governments have been trying to keep records of the number of victims for years, but many of the cases remain unreported because they tend to occur in rural communities in developing countries where communication is difficult and media coverage is rare.
Since the introduction of landmines during WWI, many groups have spoken out against them and the opposition continues to grow each day. In 1994, President Clinton was the first government leader in the world to call for a ban on landmines. This triggered the development of the Ottawa Treaty, often known simply as the Mine Ban Treaty, which called for the prohibition of production, use, trade and stockpiling of landmines. At the time of the treatys adoption in 1997, 122 countries signed the convention, a number that has now soared to 161. The Unites States, however, has not signed. Despite being the first proponent of an international ban, the U.S. claims that it has the right to use landmines in certain situation and thus refuses to sign.
We adamantly believe that a universal ban on landmines is crucial to protect the lives of millions of people throughout the world and move toward peace. As Colombians, we have had the opportunity to witness the atrocious consequences of landmines both on their individual victims and on the greater society. Our country suffers the loss of innocent lives and the pain of civilians who have fallen prey to the dangers of these devices daily. The fact that certain countries are still ambivalent on the international landmine ban saddens us because it is a problem that urgently needs to be addressed. Forcing influential nations to sign the Mine Ban Treaty is not within our immediate power. What is within our power is to bring the issue to Tufts and ask for support in raising awareness for this cause of global significance.
It is important to remember those who have unjustly lost their lives or limbs to landmines and to show our support to those who have suffered physically and mentally from them. It was in this spirit that in 2005 the UN General Assembly designated April 4 as the annual International Day for Mine Awareness and that each year since then, thousands of people have participated in the different campaigns to bring attention to this pressing issue. One such effort is the Lend Your Leg campaign, in which people roll up their pant legs to symbolize the lives and limbs that have been lost as a result of landmines.
This year, April 4 will be a day to show we care by doing something as simple yet meaningful as rolling up our pant leg in recognition of landmine violence and its consequences. Today we will show victims our admiration and our support. Today we will lend them our legs. And today, we are asking the Tufts community to join us.
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Mariana Berenguer is a sophomore majoring in sociology. She can be reached at Mariana.Berenguer@tufts.edu. Pablo Jimenez is a sophomore majoring in international relations. Pablo.Jimenez@tufts.edu. Sofia Linares is a sophomore majoring in international relations. She can be reached at Sofia Linares@tufts.edu. Santiago Ossa is a sophomore majoring in environmental engineering. He can be reached at Santiago.Ossa@tufts.edu.
