02.05.2008

Ten Years After Ottawa

Successes and limitations of the mine ban

2007 marked the tenth anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel Mines and the conferring of the Nobel Peace Prize on the international campaign which forced the prohibition through. Medico, as co-founder of the campaign, used the twin anniversary to make a critical review of what has been achieved and which tasks remain unresolved. At a congress in November, co-organised by the Foreign Office, delegates included Secretary Gernot Erler, Bobby Muller, also a cofounder of the campaign, and Tun Channareth from Cambodia who, like Muller, survived a landmine explosion

A further highlight of the anniversary year was the presentation of 1,020,174 signatures to the German Government calling for the prohibition of mines and cluster munitions. Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul received the signatures accompanied by prominent supporters such as Ulrike Folkerts.