U.S. Not Signing Ban On Landmine, But Is Sending Delegation To Conference

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The U.S. State Department officials said the country will not be joining the international treaty banning landmines. However, a U.S. official delegation will be attending the conference scheduled for this weekend in Cartegena, Colombia.

Just a handful of other countries have refused to sign the 1997 established accord. China and Russia are among the other countries that are not part of the pact. Anti-landmine proponents are thrilled with the idea the U.S. is sending observers to the conference, it marks the first time a U.S. delegation has attended. However, some political activists had hoped with a new era in the White House the Obama administration would reverse the current policy of not being a signing member of the ban.

The treaty's main goals are to end the production, use, stockpiling and trade in landmines. The stance of the U.S. government is that the country would not be able to meet its national defense needs, nor its security commitments to its allies if the treaty were to be signed. Despite the official decision of U.S. policy makers, America is the world's largest contributor to humanitarian landmine cleanup programs. Since 1993, the United States has given $1.3 billion dollars to programs to remove the deadly devices.

Furthermore, despite not signing the United States has abided by many of the treaty's tenets. For instance, the U.S. has not used anti-personnel mines since the 1991 Gulf War, has not exported any since 1992 and has not produced them since 1997.

Landmines are known to have caused 5,197 casualties last year, a third of them children, according to the Nobel prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Currently 156 countries have signed the treaty.