PRESS RELEASE: International Report states an increased number of landmine-victims in India

Launch of Landmine Monitor Report 2008 & Panel Discussion on
“Addressing Rising Insecurity in India:
Ways to Control Spread and Proliferation of
Arms, Light Weapons, Landmines & IEDs”

Saturday, 6 December 2008, from 10.00 am till 1.00 pm
Conference Room, Control Arms Foudation of India, B5/146, safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 4, 2008 – The number of landmine-victims in India has increased significantly in the last one year. According to the Landmine Monitor Report 2008 published recently by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, at least 170 new casualties of victim-activated explosive devices have been identified, 41 people were killed and 129 injured. Out of these, there were 89 civilian casualties and 81 military.

This casualty rate is much higher than reported in Landmine Monitor 2007, which identified 107 casualties (41 killed and 66 injured). However, it is believed that the number might be higher, because more casualties were either reported only in local media, or were unreported due to the incidents occurring in remote areas.

“In the last year, landmine and IED casualties dropped worldwide. But in India casualties of civilians and military personnel have increased. This is an irony,” says Ms. Binalakshmi Nepram, Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India. Most deaths have been reported in Jammu & Kashmir, along the Loc and the international border with Pakistan, in Manipur and Chhattisgarh. “The Government of India has a responsibility for its people and needs to take a much more proactive role to control this before more innocent lives continue to be lost,” states Ms. Nepram.

Until now, India has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. On 5 December 2007, India abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 62/41 calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. India is among the small number of countries that have abstained on all the previous annual General Assembly resolutions supporting the treaty. In explaining its abstention, India stated, that only the “availability of militarily effective alternative technologies that can perform, cost-effectively, the legitimate defensive role of anti-personnel landmines” especially along the land borders would enable India to facilitate the goal of the complete elimination of anti-personnel mines.

“There is no need to wait for alternatives for India to sign the Mine Ban Treaty. Non-Explosive viable alternatives already exist with all armies”, says Retired Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh, Diplomatic Advisor to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. “Worldwide, 156 countries have signed the Mine Ban Treaty. They are banning the use, production, stockpile and trade of landmines and their armed forces learnt to protect their borders without using landmines, India can do it too”.

Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), along with several other organisations has been working on the issue of landmines in India over several years. In this context CAFI had organised a Conference on the “Indispensability of Anti-Personnel Mines for India’s Defence: Myth or Reality” in March 2008 in New Delhi. Participants included military personnel, activists, humanitarian agencies, scholars and the media.

However, Landmine Monitor reported an estimated stockpile for India of between 40 and 50 lakh antipersonnel mines, one of the world’s largest stockpiles. India has neither confirmed nor denied this estimate. Moreover, India is one of the few countries still producing antipersonnel mines. And even though, India has often claimed that it has never exported or imported antipersonnel mines, five Mine Ban Treaty States Parties have reported Indian-made mines in their stockpiles: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sudan, and Tanzania.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines commenced the annual Landmine Monitor Report in 1998, to monitor and report on implementation of and compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. For a full copy of the 2008 Landmine Monitor Report, please log on to www.icbl.org/lm/2008/.

On Saturday, December 6, 2008, Control Arms Foundation of India is going to launch the Landmine Monitor Report 2008 at Conference Room, Control Arms Foundation of India, B 5/146, First Floor, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi 110029. The launch is followed by a Panel Discussion on “Addressing Rising Insecurity in India: Ways to Control Spread and Proliferation of Arms, Light Weapons, Landmines & IEDs”.

For further information please contact:
Ms. Reena Mutum at 9971103691 or reenamutum@gmail.com
Ms. Gitika Laishram at 9899702455 or gitika.laishram@gmail.com
Ms. Elizabeth Imti at 9953749725 or elizabeth.imti@gmail.com