A4-0119/95

Resolution on landmines and blinding laser weapons

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 17 December 1992 on the devastation caused by mines ((OJ C 21, 25.1.1993, p. 161.)),

- having regard to the resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly of 2 February 1995 on land mines in Angola ((ACP-EU 1463/95/fin. )),

- having regard to the resolution on the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the problems posed by the proliferation of anti- personnel mines in Africa adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Unity on 23 June 1995,

- having regard to its resolution of 29 June 1995 on anti-personnel landmines: a murderous impediment to development ((Part II, Item 8(b) of these Minutes.)),

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy (A4-0119/95),

A. whereas there are between 80 and 110 million mines laid in some 65 countries and more than 2 million or so are added every year,

B. whereas five to ten million new mines are produced worldwide each year and an estimated 26 000 people per year - mainly civilians, amongst them many women and children - are killed or maimed by landmines,

C. whereas mine clearance efforts only manage to remove some 100 000 each year, with the result that an already serious problem grows worse all the time,

D. whereas the military usefulness of anti-personnel mines (APMs) is marginal at best, and mines are often used to terrorize the civilian population rather than to meet defined military objectives,

E. whereas the principal victim of mines is the civilian population; whereas, given that many mines laid can remain active for decades afterwards, casualties continue to occur among the civilian population for many years after hostilities have ended,

F. whereas vast areas of several countries have been rendered virtually uninhabitable, thereby making the whole process of social, medical, environmental and economic development impossible; whereas these social and economic difficulties may cause conflicts to resume,

G. whereas this also prevents refugees returning home; whereas the number of mines still being laid will lead to increasing numbers of refugees in this plight,

H. whereas the 1980 United Nations Convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects (the CCW) and its Protocol II on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices (the Landmines Protocol) has very largely failed to deal with the problem of landmines, firstly because of lack of adherence and observance, secondly because it applies only to international conflicts, and also because the measures contained therein are inadequate and therefore need to be strengthened,

I. whereas this Convention will be the subject of a Review Conference in September/October 1995, giving a vital opportunity to improve it,

J. recognizing the global awareness and information campaign of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in the light of the Review Conference,

K. whereas anything less than a total ban on APMs will mean that mine clearance problems persist, as self-destructing mines cannot be distinguished from others in the field,

L. welcoming the recent law passed in Belgium completely banning the production, transfer, sale, export or use of APMs,

M. welcoming the resolution in favour of a worldwide ban passed by the Swedish Parliament in June 1994 and the resolution of the Italian Senate of August 1994 calling on the Italian Government to order the cessation of production of APMs by Italian companies and companies operating in Italy,

N. approving the various moratoria on the export of APMs in effect in several countries of the European Union as well as in the United States of America and elsewhere,

O. whereas there is an urgent need to take action to ban blinding laser weapons,

P. welcoming the agreement by the Group of governmental experts preparing the Review Conference on a new draft protocol prohibiting blinding laser weapons,

1. Declares its support for a total ban on anti-personnel mines and spare parts, to cover production, stockpiling, transfer, sale, export and use;

2. Welcomes the adoption by Council of a joint action on anti-personnel mines;

3. Notes that the joint action as adopted by Council contains a moratorium covering a total ban on the export of non-detectable and of non-self- actuating APMs to all countries, and a ban on export of all APMs to countries which have not ratified the CCW and its Landmines Protocol, but points out that these provisions are in fact less extensive than those to be found in most national moratoria already in existence, and do not, of course, cover production and storage at all;

4. Welcomes the provisions of the joint action to promote the universal character of the Convention and to strengthen its Landmines Protocol, in particular by

- the extension of its scope to cover non-international armed conflicts,

- the substantial strengthening of restrictions or prohibitions on APMs, including those on their transfer,

- the insertion of an effective mechanism for verification,

- the insertion of provisions for technical assistance in mine clearance;

5. Considers, however, that these provisions are too weak and vague and do not significantly further the goal of a total ban on APMs;

6. Calls on the Council, therefore, to amend and extend the scope of its joint action (or to adopt supplementary joint actions) as follows, making more specific the provisions on APMs, strengthening the rules on anti-vehicle mines (AVMs), strengthening the Convention as a whole and tackling the problem of blinding laser weapons:

(a) as far as the Convention itself is concerned:

(i) extension to apply in all circumstances,

(ii) introduction of provisions for effective implementation and compliance,

(iii) addition of a protocol banning all laser weapons which can cause blindness,

(iv) introduction of a provision for annual reports as well as automatic review conferences every five years covering the operation of the Convention and its provisions,

(b) as far as Protocol II on landmines is concerned:

(i) all landmines must be detectable in all soils by standard mine-sensing devices and a precise specification given,

(ii) no landmine may contain an anti-detection device and no APM an anti-handling device,

(iii) all APMs must be self-destructing and all AVMs self-neutralizing and a verification of standards introduced,

(iv) introduction of effective provisions restricting transfer of mines;

7. Invites the governments of the Member States of the European Union to take all possible steps to ensure that NGOs can participate fully in all meetings in the Review Conference;

8. Notes that the joint action as adopted by the Council contains provisions on mine clearance, but stresses that mine clearance efforts can in no way provide a satisfactory solution to the problem of APMs and that therefore a total ban is essential;

9. Calls on the Council to include in the joint action an EU-wide ban on production of APMs on its territory or by companies registered within the Union, as well as the stockpiling (including the maintenance of existing stockpiles), transfer, sale and use of APMs, whatever the outcome of the Review Conference; calls on the Member States in any case to introduce national legislation on such a ban as soon as possible;

10. Calls on the Council to include in the joint action also a comparable EU- wide ban on AVMs which are not self-neutralizing, or not detectable, or which contain anti-detection devices; calls on the Member States in any case to introduce national legislation on such a ban as soon as possible;

11. Also calls on the Member States to suspend technological research related to the production and/or improvement of landmines and to take steps to ensure the reconversion of mine-producing firms;

12. Regrets that Luxembourg and Portugal have not yet ratified the CCW and calls on all Member States to ratify the convention as revised this year as well as other fundamental instruments of humanitarian law, in particular the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions;

13. Regrets that only a tiny number of African and Asian states, among them those most affected by mines, have signed and ratified the CCW, and considers that this issue must be raised in all negotiations between the EU and third countries; believes moreover that specific economic and political incentives for accession must be provided;

14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States of the European Union, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the ACP-EU Joint Assembly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Steering Committee of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Government of the USA.