Appended to this memorandum are two White House fact sheets
announcing U.S. Anti-Personnel Landmine Policy and U.S. Efforts
to Address the Problem of Anti-Personnel Landmines.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 1996
FACT SHEET
U.S. Announces Anti-Personnel Landmine Policy
People in 64 countries, mostly in the developing world, face
a daily threat of being killed or maimed by the estimated 100
million landmines in place today. Anti-Personnel Landmines (APL)
claim more than 25,000 casualties each year, obstruct economic
development and keep refugees from returning to their homeland.
As more than a million mines are still being laid each year, they
will remain a growing threat to civilian populations for decades
unless action is taken now.
The U.S. initiative sets out a concrete path to a global ban
on APL but ensures that as the United States pursues this ban,
essential U.S. military requirements and commitments to our
allies will be protected.
International Ban - The United States will aggressively pursue an
international agreement to ban use, stockpiling, production, and
transfer of anti-personnel landmines with a view to completing
the negotiation as soon as possible.
Korea Exception - The United States views the security situation
on the Korean Peninsula as a unique case and in the negotiation
of this agreement will protect our right to use APL there until
alternatives become available or the risk of aggression has been
removed.
Ban on Non-Self-Destructing APL - Effective immediately, the
United States will unilaterally undertake not to use, and to
place in inactive stockpile status with intent to demilitarize by
the end of 1999, all non-self-destructing APL not needed to (a)
train personnel engaged in demining and countermining operations,
or (b) defend the United States and its allies from armed
aggression across the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Self-Destructing APL - Between now and the time an international
agreement takes effect, the United States will reserve the option
to use selfdestructing/self-deactivating APL, subject to the
restrictions the United States has accepted in the Convention on
Conventional Weapons, in military hostilities to safeguard
American lives and hasten the end of fighting.
Annual Report - Beginning in 1999, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff will submit an annual report to the President and
the Secretary of Defense outlining his assessment of whether
there remains a military requirement for the exceptions noted
above.
Program to Eliminate - The President has directed the Secretary
of Defense to undertake a program of research, procurement, and
other measures needed to eliminate the requirement for these
exceptions and to permit both the United states and our allies to
end reliance on APL as soon as possible.
Expanding Demining Efforts - The Department of Defense will
undertake a substantial program to develop improved mine
detection and clearing technology and to share this improved
technology with the broader international community. The
Department of Defense will also significantly expand its
humanitarian demining program to train and assist other countries
in developing effective demining programs.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
May 16, 1996
FACT SHEET
U.S. Efforts to Address the Problem of
Anti-Personnel Landmines
The Administration is committed to addressing the
humanitarian crisis caused by the indiscriminate use of anti-
personnel landmines (APL). It is estimated that every year more
than 25,000 people are maimed or killed by these weapons. To
this end, the Administration has pursued a broad range of efforts
to control the transfer and use of APL, as well as to protect
civilians from those APL that have already been laid in the
ground through mine awareness and mine clearance programs.
· Since 1992, the United States has observed an export
moratorium on APL. The United States has urged other countries
to adopt export moratoria as well. To date, more than 30 nations
have joined us.
· In 1994, in his UN General Assembly address, President
Clinton initiated the call for the eventual elimination of APL.
Since then, the UN General Assembly has adopted annually by
consensus a resolution supporting this goal.
· Also at the UN General Assembly, in 1994, the President
proposed an international agreement to reduce the number and
availability of APL. A first meeting on the program to restrict
the production, stockpile and transfer of APL was held in June,
1995. Consultations on it continue.
· The United States pressed for tighter restrictions on APL
use in the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). At the
conclusion of the CCW Review Conference on May 3, 1996, a number
of important improvements to the CCW were adopted, including
provisions that: all APL must be detectable, all non-self-
destructing APL can only be used in marked and monitored areas,
and self-destructing self-deactivating APL must have a lifespan
of no more than 120 days with a combined self-destruct, self-
deactivate reliability rate of 99.9%. CCW parties also agreed
that the new rules should be extended to internal armed
conflicts.
· The United States contributes to demining programs around
the world. In fiscal year 1996, the United States government
will spend about $32 million in cash and in-kind contributions to
demining programs in fourteen countries: Afghanistan, Angola,
Bosnia, Cambodia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Laos, Mozambique,
Namibia, OAS/IADB regional; program in Central America (Honduras,
Costa Rica, Nicaragua) and Rwanda.
-- In Bosnia, the United States has led the effort to
establish a Mine Action Center in Sarajevo, which
coordinates mine information, . education, and demining
activities there. The United States provided the initial
$8.5 million for the center.
· The Department of Defense is pursuing research and
development of technology specifically designed for the needs of
humanitarian demining operations. The FY97 request for this
program is about $7 million.
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