The
Non-State Actors Working Group (NSAWG) was established by country campaigns in
the ICBL to address the issue of non-state actors (NSAs) and landmines. One of
the main challenges to the movement to ban and completely eradicate
antipersonnel mines is the involvement of non-state actors -- or armed groups
operating outside of government control -- in the landmine problem. The Working
Group sees the need to develop a complementary process to the Mine Ban Treaty to
engage NSAs in an unconditional ban on the use, production, stockpiling and
transfer of landmines and obtain their cooperation on integrated mine action.
The Working Group promotes and disseminates research and information related to
NSAs and landmines.
In 2001 and the first half of 2002, the NSAWG membership expanded from 17 to
23 country campaigns.[4] The
NSAWG co-chairs are the Philippine Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Swiss
Campaign to Ban Landmines. The NSAWG collaborates closely with the Geneva Call,
an independent, international humanitarian NGO, which provides a mechanism for
NSAs to sign a “Deed of Commitment for Adherence to a Total Ban on
Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action” and/or to deposit
their own mine ban declarations. The Deed of Commitment was expanded in 2001,
but the main terms of the Deed remain
unchanged.[5]
The ICBL NSA Working Group coordinates, supports and initiates activities
aimed at promoting NSA engagement on the landmine ban. Working through country
campaigns and/or in partnership with other organizations, NSA-related work in
2001 and the first half of 2002 included the following activities.
REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
In 2001 and 2002, members of the NSAWG worked to
draw governments’ attention to the need to engage NSAs on the landmine
ban. Following initiatives undertaken by Geneva Call representatives, the
European Parliament passed a resolution on 7 September 2001 acknowledging the
need to engage NSAs on the mine ban issue. The NSAWG and Geneva Call
representatives attending the Fourth Meeting of State Parties in Managua,
Nicaragua, in September 2001, worked with the governments of Colombia and the
Philippines to successfully introduce wording into the Managua Declaration
affirming the need to engage NSAs.
On 7 March 2002, the Geneva Call hosted an informational meeting on NSAs in
the European Parliament attended by approximately 40 people, including the two
Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Governments and the Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A). As a result, the European Parliament decided to create a
Working Group on NSAs with a special focus on landmines, chaired by Bob van den
Boos, a Member of the European Parliament.
NSAWG country campaigners promoted NSA-related work in various fora such as
at the Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association Conference in the Philippines in
December 2001; the Kuala Lumpur conference on stockpile destruction in August
2001; the Bangkok landmine conference in May 2002; and in various other
conferences and seminars.
The Kenya Coalition Against Landmines continued to advocate for the inclusion
of the NSA and landmines issue in the East Africa Community/Inter-governmental
Agency for Development (EAC/IGAA) sub-region, especially in the peace
processes.
ENGAGING NSAS
NSAWG country campaigns and partners continued
their respective initiatives to directly engage NSAs on landmines and to
indirectly reach out to NSAs through the media and conferences. Country
campaigns in Australia, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Africa, are
engaged primarily through a third party, either an organization or individuals
who have gained the confidence of the groups concerned. Actual engagement took
place with NSAs in Bangladesh, Burma/Thailand, India, Northern Iraq/Iraqi
Kurdistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Morocco/Western Sahara.
Key developments on this front included:
Sri Lanka: In January 2002, the Sri Lankan Campaign though the
Inter-religious Peace Foundation launched a two million-signature petition
campaign aimed at moving both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) closer to supporting the ban on antipersonnel mines. The
LTTE’s eastern province leader, Karikalan, declared “full support
will be accorded to the people’s letter with two million signatures
requesting the banning of
landmines.”[6] A
cease-fire accord, which took effect in February 2002, has hastened demining
initiatives. In April 2002, the NSA WG chairs held a special session on Sri
Lanka to assess possibilities and coordinate
initiatives.[7]
The Philippines: In April 2002, the Philippine Campaign facilitated a
Geneva Call mission to the Philippines to investigate alleged antipersonnel mine
use by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which secured a reaffirmation
of the MILF’s commitment to an unconditional ban on antipersonnel mines,
understood to be victim-activated. Previously, the MILF had justified use of
antipersonnel mines on “defensive and discriminate” grounds. A
highlight was the signing of a new Deed of Commitment under the Geneva Call by
the MILF’s Vice-Chairman for Military Affairs and Commander-in-Chief on 7
April 2002. The PCBL continued to track the government peace processes with the
different rebel groups (Communist and Moro) in the country to secure a
“landmine” component in negotiations.
Sudan: The SPLM/A signed the GC’s “Deed of
Commitment” on 4 October 2001, after making a declaration of intent to
sign on 10 August 2001. The European Union announced support for a
“cross-conflict” project for mine action, with SPLM/A cooperation.
NSAWG member country campaign/partners in United Kingdom are also actively
involved in the field in Sudan, engaging NSA cooperation for mine action. The
Kenya Coalition Against Landmines helped facilitate GC work with the SPLM/A.
Iraqi Kurdistan/Northern Iraq: The GC continued to collaborate with
the Turkish campaign to engage in a dialogue with the Kurdish groups from
Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
PUBLICATIONS
In September 2001, the NSAWG released a 192-page
book on the proceedings and outcome of the “Engaging Non-State Actors in a
Landmine Ban, A Pioneering Conference,” held from 24-25 March 2000. A
second edition of the Working Group’s brochure was produced in April 2002.
The NSA Database previously hosted by International Alert in London is being
transferred to Geneva Call. In 2001 and 2002, Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan of the
Thai Campaign continued to update the NSA-WG pages of the ICBL website page:
www.icbl.org/wg/nsa.
For more information, contact the ICBL NSA Working Group Co-Chairs:
[4] Country campaign members of the NSA WG
now include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Australia, Colombia, Canada, Germany,
India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Palestine, Pakistan,
the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UK, and
Zimbabwe. [5] The Deed includes now five
new operative paragraphs (numbers 6-10) which deal respectively with:
non-effect on legal status, publicizing compliance or non-compliance, attracting
adherence of other armed groups, complementing or superceding existing
unilateral declarations on antipersonnel mines, effectivity upon its signing and
receipt by Government of the Republic and Canton of Geneva as
custodian. [6] Daily Mirror, 25 January
2002, p. 5. [7] The meeting was attended
by representatives of the Sri Lankan campaign, the International Working Group
on Sri Lanka, Landmine Action-UK, Mines Advisory Group, Sri-Lanka Mines Action
Resource Center, and the Geneva Call.
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