Focus on anti-personnel landmines

EHL – Exploration 2D

Ms. Ripley

Rationales for prohibiting certain weapons “Should any weapons be

prohibited in armed conflict? Which ones? Why?”Possible Questions

• What does indiscriminate mean? What does targeted mean?

• What is the difference between missing the target and indiscriminate?

• What are some weapons that cannot discriminate?

Rationales for prohibiting certain weaponsWhat is the difference among:• Lawful and unlawful targets in

an armed conflict.• Being able to control whether

the weapon will hit the intended target ANDhaving no control over whom or what the weapon will eventually hit.

Landmines and Consequences• The Video “Landmines Keep Killing”

illustrates the damage cause by anti-personnel landmines and allows learners to trace the consequences of their use on individuals, their families, communities and countries.

Possible Questions:• How do landmines work?• How did these victims get injured by

landmines?• What do you want to know now

about landmines?

Focus on the Individual

• Complete the Chart

Possible Questions:• Do you see one consequence leading to

others?

• Who else is affected? In what ways? What consequence might that have?

• When you trace out the ripples, what consequences do you see for the world?

A First Step Video

Notes from the video

Cluster Munitions

• See the PPT on Cluster Munitions

• Fact Sheets and other resources at the end of this ppt.

Cluster Munitions• Video 3.21

Footage of M85 cluster munitions fitted with self-destruct mechanisms that have failed to explode and remain armed and dangerous. These weapons are stockpiled by numerous European countries that have claimed they do not pose a humanitarian threat. However, this clip, filmed in southern Lebanon after the ceasefire in August 2006, clearly shows that they remain a serious threat. 

Cluster Munitions

• Video Human Rights Watch A short film documenting the lethal effects of the use of cluster munitions worldwide, with commentary, new statistics and analysis from military experts at Human Rights Watch. Footage shows how cluster munitions have endangered civilian populations from the Vietnam era through current conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon. 

Information from ICRC 1998• Blinding laser weapons, which can

be as small as an ordinary rifle and were on the verge of large-scale production before the adoption of Protocol IV to the 1980 convention, emit a laser beam which can cause immediate and irreversible blindness over distances of up to several kilometers. The protocol prohibits the use and transfer of laser weapons specifically designed to cause permanent blindness. This is the second time in history that a particularly heinous means of warfare has been prohibited before it has been used on the battlefield. (Exploding bullets were banned soon after their development in 1868).

The Picture Worldwide

• Fact Sheet – A look

The Picture Worldwide

Possible Questions:• What does the “world

picture” add to the personal impact seen in the video?

• Who is responsible for the use of landmines?

• What can be done about landmines?

What does it take to make IHL• What can people who are

not government officials do to strengthen IHL?

An Interview with Mary Wareham

Questions:• How did ordinary people get people

in power to listen?• What hurdles did they overcome?• What effect has the Ottawa treaty

had?• Do you know anyone who has

participated in the campaign to ban landmines? How did he or she do?

• Do you know of any other weapons that may present similar problems?

Art. 35, Additional Protocol 1 of 1977• In any armed conflict, the

right to the Parties to the conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited.

• It is prohibited to employ weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.

Video: Shattered Lives • Shattered Lives (5 mins)-

Landmines• Great song and very moving

images • Mines have been planted like

plant seed in the ground• They know no distinguish b/w

civilian or soldier• Very good and very powerful • Bernard Carney – Gardens of

Death

Extension Activity

Extension Activity

Extension Activity

Extension Activity• Geography exercise- choose a

country or a village that still has landmines what are the implications for that country’s resources/economy

• Manipulations – physical challenge for a day – how does that impact you

• Paper on the floor- move around to avoid the landmines – Have the red paper and then a scenario on the back

• Profile cards

Key Ideas• Weapons such as landmines and

biological and chemical weapons are prohibited because they are indiscriminate- they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians – and because they cause unnecessary suffering.

• In addition to medical and psychological consequences for the victims, the use of landmines also has social and economic consequences for individuals, their families, their communities, countries and the international community.

• The banning of the production and use of anti-personnel landmines (the 1997 Ottawa Treaty) is an illustration of the way international humanitarian law may evolve as a result of popular mobilization.

Resources

• International Campaign to Ban Landmines

• ICRC• Soccer game with

landmines• New Waterford – don’t sit

on the bench

Cluster Munition Resources• Cluster Munition Coalition

(www.stopclustermunitions.org):This is the main site of the international campaign that represents the coalition of NGOs around the world working to stop clusters.

• Canadian Red Cross (http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=001723&tid=005):Contains information on the rules of war, international humanitarian law including a toolbox for educators.

• Handicap International Canada (http://www.sousmunitions.ca/):Contains fact sheets, research and campaign information. Available in English and French.

• Human Rights Watch (http://hrw.org/campaigns/clusters/takeaction.htm):Contains statements, press releases, video and audio footage, and current research on cluster munitions.

• Landmine Action (www.landmineaction.org):Contains extensive research and publications on cluster munitions.

Cluster Munition Resources• Research & Publications• NGO Statement to the Canadian Standing Committee on Foreign

Affairs and International Development, March 1st, 2007 (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/03/01/canada15442.htm)

• Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Their Communities (http://en.handicapinternational.be/download/0606_WEB_FINAL_REPORT_HI_BD.pdf): (  8.43Mb)A Handicap International report, published in May 2007, which documents the impact of cluster munitions on the lives of people and communities in 25 countries and areas.

• Forseeable Harm: The Use and Impact of Cluster Munitions in Lebanon 2006 (http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/ForeseeableHarmfinal.pdf). (  1.44Mb)

• Survey of Cluster Munition Policy and Practice (http://hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/cluster0207/cluster0207web.pdf):  (  368Kb)This survey provides a global overview of cluster munitions, timeline of their use since 1943, country profiles of the more than 70 nations known to stockpile cluster munitions, and the applicability of international humanitarian law on the use of these weapons.

• Yellow Killers (http://www.npaid.org/filestore/YellowKillersNPA.pdf): (  6.61Mb)Norwegian People’s Aid report studies NATO's use of cluster munitions in Serbia in 1999 and that victims that are still occurring today.

• Cluster munitions in Kosovo: Analysis of use, contamination & casualties (http://www.landmineaction.org/resources/LMAKosovoFinal.pdf): (  1.83Mb)This report, produced by Landmine Action, provides a detailed analysis of the use of cluster munitions in Kosovo, the unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination that resulted and the civilian casualties that were caused.