U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Comments Of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy
On The Nairobi Summit On A Mine-Free World
Monday, Nov. 29, 2004

[Following are the comments of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on the landmine treaty conference that convened this week in Nairobi, the first review of the implementation and status of the 1997 treaty that bans the production and use of anti-personnel landmines.  Leahy has long been the leading U.S. officeholder working to ban anti-personnel landmines. The treaty has been ratified by 144 nations, including most European countries and every nation in the Americas except Cuba, Haiti and the United States.  The Bush Administration declined to send U.S. representatives to the Nairobi summit.]

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“This is a milestone that few would have thought possible five years ago. The 144 nations that have joined the treaty and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines together have shown that the goal of a worldwide landmine ban is within reach.  But it will remain beyond the world’s grasp as long as the United States, Russia and China refuse to join this effort.

“Our country has made many contributions to the effort to de-mine areas of the world where landmines pose the greatest danger to innocent civilians, but our refusal to join the treaty gives nations that are the worst offenders an excuse to do the same.

“The Bush Administration’s decision to shun this conference was aloof and ill-considered.  We need to engage with the rest of the world on this and on other problems that we cannot solve on our own.  The world looks to the United States for leadership on human rights, and U.S. detachment hinders progress.  U.S. participation in Nairobi could have given a real boost to this unprecedented humanitarian effort.

“It is regrettable that the Bush Administration not only has stayed away from this conference, but it has also walked away from the commitment the Clinton Administration made to find alternatives to these indiscriminate weapons.  I hope the Administration will reconsider its approach to the treaty and to the landmine problem and will begin looking for constructive ways to lead the world toward the goal of ending their use once and for all.”

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