On December 26, 1993, six-year-old Augusto was walking through an open field near Luanda, the capital of Angola. Suddenly he noticed a shiny object on the floor. Fascinated, he decided to take it. His next step triggered a land mine.
As a result of the explosion, Augusto had to amputate his right foot. At 12 he is wheelchair bound and blind most of the time.
AUGUSTO was mutilated by an anti-personnel landmine, so named because its main target is people instead of tanks or other military vehicles. It is estimated that more than 350 types of anti-personnel landmines have been produced in at least 50 countries. Many of them are meant to hurt, not kill. Because? Because wounded soldiers need help, and a soldier mutilated by a landmine will delay military operations - exactly what the enemy wants. In addition, the desperate cries of an injured fighter can cause terror in the hearts of his comrades. As a result, landmines are generally considered to be most effective when the victims survive - if only barely.
However, as mentioned in the previous article, most landmine explosion victims are civilians, not soldiers. This is not always accidental. According to Landmines - A Deadly Legacy, some explosives "are deliberately targeted at civilians in order to empty areas, destroy food sources, generate flows of refugees or simply spread terror".
To give an example, in a conflict in Cambodia, mines were laid around the perimeter of enemy villages and those villages were bombed with artillery fire. Civilians tried to flee and fled directly into the minefields. To force the government to negotiate, members of the Khmer Rouge have laid mines in rice fields, scaring farmers and practically disrupting agriculture.
What happened in Somalia in 1988 was perhaps even more hideous. When Hargeysa was bombed, residents had to flee. The soldiers then planted land mines in the abandoned houses. When the fighting ended, the refugees returned to be maimed or killed by hidden explosives.
But landmines threaten more than life and limbs. Consider some other effects of these menacing weapons.
Economic and social costs
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan comments, “The presence - or even fear of being - a single landmine can prevent an entire field from being cultivated, steal an entire village's livelihood, and be another obstacle. the country's path to reconstruction and development ”. In Afghanistan and Cambodia, for example, around 35% more land could be farmed if farmers weren't afraid to step on the ground. Some are at risk. "I'm afraid of mines," says a Cambodian farmer. "But if I don't go out to cut grass and bamboo, we won't survive."
Landmine explosion survivors often face an overwhelming financial burden. For example, in a developing country, a child who loses a leg by the age of ten may need up to 15 artificial limbs in their lifetime, each of which costs an average of $ 125. Okay, that doesn't seem too expensive for some. But for most of Angola's population, $ 125 is more than three months' wage!
Also, consider the excruciating social costs. Citizens of an Asian country, for example, avoid coming into contact with amputees because they fear that they will be contaminated by "bad luck". Marriage can only be an illusory dream for an amputee. "I have no plans to get married," complains an Angolan, whose leg had to be amputated after being injured in a land mine explosion. "A woman wants a man who can work."
Understandably, many victims experience low self-esteem. "I can no longer support my family," says a Cambodian, "and that makes me ashamed." Sometimes these feelings can be even more debilitating than losing a limb. "I think the biggest damage I have suffered was emotional," says Artur, a victim in Mozambique. “I was often irritated just because someone was looking in my direction. I thought that no one else had any respect for me and that I would never lead a normal life again. ”*
And the demining?
Intensive efforts have been made in recent years to encourage nations to ban the use of landmines. In addition, some governments have begun the dangerous task of removing the planted mines. However, there are several obstacles in the way. It has to do with time. Mine clearance is painfully slow. In fact, deminers estimate that clearing a mine takes on average a hundred times longer than planting a mine. Another obstacle is cost. A single mine costs between $ 3 and $ 15, but removing a mine can cost up to $ 1,000.
Complete mine clearance therefore seems practically impossible. For example, in order to clean all mines in Cambodia, everyone in this country would have to spend all of their income on this task in the coming years. It is estimated that it would take a century to clear all mines even if funds were available. The world view is even darker. It is estimated that demining the planet using current technology would cost $ 33 billion and would take more than a thousand years!
Innovative techniques for clearing mines have been proposed - from using genetically engineered fruit flies to detect explosives, to using giant remote-controlled vehicles that would clear two hectares an hour. However, it may take some time before such techniques become widely used and are likely only available to the richest countries.
So in most cases, demining is done the old-fashioned way. A man crawls on his stomach and feels the ground in front of him inch by inch with a stick. He cleans 200 [20] to 500 [50] square feet every day. Dangerous? Yes! For every 5,000 mines removed, one deminer is killed and two injured.
Efforts to unite against landmines
In December 1997, representatives of several countries signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Storage, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Treaty. "This is an unprecedented or parallel achievement in international disarmament or humanitarian law," said Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada. * Still, nearly 60 countries - including some of the world's largest landmine manufacturers - have not yet signed the contract.
Will the Ottawa Treaty succeed in removing the scourge of landmines? Maybe to a certain extent. But many are skeptical. "Even if all countries in the world followed the Ottawa procedures," emphasizes Claude Simonnot, Co-Director of Handicap International in France, "this would only be one step towards freeing the planet from all mine hazards." "Why?" Millions of mines remain buried in the ground and wait patiently for future victims, "says Simonnot.
Military historian John Keegan mentions another factor. War, he says, “reaches the most secret places in the human heart. . . Where there is pride, where emotions are fundamental, where instinct is king. “Contracts cannot reverse deeply ingrained human traits like hatred and greed. But does that mean that humans will forever be defenseless victims of landmines?
Nice