Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
55032132
label
Land mines: Land mine Survivors Network
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
55032132
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
Land mines: Land mine Survivors Network
citationUrl
collections
Records of the First Lady's Office (Clinton Administration)
Melanne Verveer's Subject Files
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
55032132
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
otherTitles
2068127-20130534S-120-008-2022
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
917da4d084b5a434
ocrText
Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. paper
re: personal survivor stories (4 pages)
n.d.
b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20040
FOLDER TITLE:
Landmines: Landmine Survivors Network
2013-0534-S
rc1611
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
MA
I
and
D
NSW
AA - NEW 7 Z C 2 -
<<< S X S A of E - ~ - n
NE al A O ) H I BUN 31 N
THE
PHOTOCOPY
PRESERVATION
Apr 20 99 11:05a
Gerard White
202-661-3529
p.2
LN
file Lendmenes
LANDMINE
SURVIVORS
April 19, 1999
NETWORK
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The First Lady
Office of Correspondence, Room 18
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Mrs. Clinton:
I am writing to invite you to visit landmine survivors on a humanitarian mission to
Jordan. As you know, 300,000 people live with shattered lives and limbs in countries
around the world. Someone steps on a landmine every 22 minutes. 26,000 people are
maimed or killed each year.
You may recall that we met during the White House unveiling of the Superman Comic
for mine awareness in Bosnia. In 1984, I was a Brown University Junior enjoying a
semester abroad in Israel. I went camping with friends in the Golan. Ignorant of the fact
that we had made camp in a minefield, I woke up and stepped on a mine and lost my leg
below the knee. I always say that I am the luckiest survivor in the world. My medical
care and rehabilitation were excellent. I returned to the United States-a society that
protects the rights of the disabled-graduated from college, established my professional
life, married and have four children.
In many mine-afflicted countries, a landmine explosion ends life even if the injured
person survives. Some societies discard their disabled. Medical care is minimal and
rehabilitation frequently non-existent. Landmine survivors lose more than an arm or a
leg: they often lose their place as valued members of their communities.
Founded in 1997, Landmine Survivors Network works to assist mine victims and their
families to recover, heal, and resume their role as participating and contributing members
of society. Our programs are designed to promote comprehensive rehabilitation through
an integrated system of peer counseling, sports, social and economic re-integration.
LSN monitors the care of survivors worldwide and has in-country programs under
development in Bosnia, Jordan, Mozambique, Eritrea and Ethiopia. I am sure you are
aware that Her Majesty Queen Noor is our honorary chair/international spokesperson.
LSN is a member of the coordinating committee of the Nobel Prize-winning International
Campaign to Ban Landmines and chairs the first Global Taskforce on Victim Assistance.
You may also recall that co-founder Ken Rutherford and I accompanied the late Diana,
Princess of Wales to Bosnia in 1997. We learned on that trip that when international
700 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, #950, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
PHONE: 202.661.3537 FAX: 202.661.3529
Apr 20 99 11:05a
Gerard White
202-661-3529
p.3
guests like Princess Diana, Queen Noor, or you are willing to reach out to survivors, it is
an effective intervention in a sometimes hopeless environment. The overall status of the
landmine survivor begins to change in their society and the international community is
reminded that there is need for humanitarian relief and economic development.
The trip to Jordan would be organized to accommodate your schedule. In conversation
with Queen Noor last week in Amman, it was clear Her Majesty would be delighted to
accompany you on visits to rehabilitation centers and survivors' homes. We also would
be honored to escort you to the Jordan Valley to witness mine-clearing activities
underway by the Jordanian Royal Corps of Engineers. The trip would be a wonderful
tribute to the visionary King Hussein who called for a landmine-free Jordan Valley in the
year 2000.
We think you would be delighted to see with your own eyes the redemption of
historically sacred landscapes such as Bethany, where the New Testament says Jesus was
baptized by John. Last July, I had the privilege to make a special visit to this recently
demined area. It is not yet open to the public, though preparations are being made for
tourism in the year 2000 to celebrate the bi-millennial birth of Christ.
Jordan has been a leader in mine action in the Middle East. Last summer, Jordan
courageously signed the Mine Ban Treaty in August and then ratified in November. This
month, Landmine Survivors Network became the 29th international NGO registered to
work in Jordan. LSN will develop a pilot project to serve nearly 3,000 amputees,
including an estimated 700 to 900 Jordanian mine victims. LSN will establish the first
effective amputee peer support network-a project model that can be replicated in other
mine-affected countries, or applied to other types of trauma recovery such as breast
cancer.
Needless to say, we are very eager to discuss our work with you in person. We hope you
will consider joining LSN on this creative orientation to the scourge of landmines in the
Middle East.
I have attached some background information about LSN, including several media clips.
I can be reached at my office in Washington by phone (202-661-3537) or fax (202-661-
3529). I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
Jerry White
Director
Jordan Times
Jordan Times, Wednesday, April 14, 1999
3
Home News
Landmine Survivors Network
opens branch in Jordan
to aid victims
AMMAN (J.T.) - Her
national rehabilitation ser-
Majesty Queen Noor Tues-
vices directory. There are an
day met with Minister of
estimated 700-900 landmine
Social Develpment Faisal
survivors in the Kingdom.
Rufu' and the founder of the
Later, Queen Noor met
Landmine Survivors Net-
Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah
work (LSN) Jerry White at
Khatib to discuss the first
Bab Al Salam.
meeting of state parties to
Queen Noor, the patron of
the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty
LSN, expressed her satisfac-
in Maputo, Mozambique,
tion that the LSN registered
May 3-7.
a branch in Jordan at the
Jordan has been offered
Ministry of Social Develop-
the opportunity to co-chair
ment.
the conference, and HRH
The Queen noted that the
Prince Zeid Ben Ra'd will
LSN Jordanian branch will
head Jordan's delegation.
play an important role in
He will read a message from
fulfilling Jordan's ratifica-
the Queen.
tion of the 1997 Mine Ban
The 1997 Mine Ban
Treaty: a key component of
the treaty is humanitarian
Treaty comprehensively
support to landmine sur-
bans all anti-personnel
vivors.
mines. requires destruction
The Queen added that the
of stockpiled mines within
Middle East and North
four years. requires destruc-
Africa, one of the most
tion of mines already laid
heavily mined in the world.
within ten years, and urges
will benefit from LSN's
extensive programmes to
branch. that will develop
assist victims.
model pilot programmes for
The treaty entered into
Jordan and the region.
force on March 1, 1999. To
According to Jerry White.
date. 135 countries, world-
the LSN branch constitutes
wide have signed the con-
the "first amputee support
vention and 71 countries
network in the Middle
have ratified it. In the
East."
MENA region, only Jordan,
LSN is completing an
Qatar and Yemen have
overview of the prosthetic
signed and ratified the ban
and rehabilitation centres in
treaty. while Tunisia and
the country. The list will be
Algeria have signed, but not
published soon as the first
yet ratified.
THE TIMES TUESDAY JULY 14 1998
JAMAL NASRALLAH / EPA
Jordanian
Queen in
landmine
crusade
BY CHRISTOPHER WALKER
QUEEN NOOR of Jordan
yesterday lent her support to
the anti-landmine crusade.
previously led by Diana, Prin-
cess of Wales, when she spoke
against the weapons at an
event in the Jordan Valley at
the climax of the first Middle
East conference on the issue.
The 46-year-old American-
born Queen was persuaded to
take up the mantle after
meeting the co-founders of the
Washington-based Landmine
Survivors Network at the
Princess's funeral. Yesterday
was her first public appear-
ance in the field as patron of
the group which organised
the Amman conference for
350 delegates, including 38
landmine survivors.
Before appearing in helmet
and dark glasses in a fashion
reminiscent of the Princess,
the Queen, King Hussein's
fourth wife, told delegates: "If,
in recent years, Jesus were to
have spent his 40 days in the
wilderness, or Elijah to have
crossed the River Jordan, or
John the Baptist to have
proclaimed his message of
repentance, they would have
had to survive not only the
ancient tests of hunger and
thirst, but modern threats of
minefields."
She said that 10 per cent of
Jordan's population lived in
areas that had been rendered
dangerous or unproductive
Queen Noor dons protective gear during her visit to the Jordan Valley yesterday
by landmines.
4 july 1998
the magazine times
and
tanita tikaram
jonathan meades
steven berkoff
john diamond
secret
weapon queen noor
takes on diana's
landmines battle
the three tenors
raise their game
will self on
christie V mcvicar
fathers lost
and found
PLUS
In the months before
her death, Diana
became the patron
saint of landmine
victims with her high-
profile trips to Angola
and Bosnia. Yet one year
later nothing has changed.
Now Queen Noor hopes to
make the world care again
forgotten
Mirzeta Gabelic
(pictured last
month, right) had
her leg blown off
by a mine when
she was just 15.
Diana visited the
teenager in Bosnia
last year (left) -
"She had real
feelings," says
Mirzeta. "It wasn't
like talking to an
important person."
Queen Noor of
report by
Jordan (top) is
set to succeed
daniel mcgrory
PETER NICHOLLS
Diana as patron
of the Landmine
photographs by
Survivors Network
IPG
tom stoddart
28
to
hey were friends, but Queen Noor of Jordan visibly
winces whenever Diana's name is mentioned. She will
have to get used to it, though, for next week the Queen
goes public with her decision to take up Diana's role as
patron of a front-line charity for landmine victims.
For a few short weeks last year, Diana brought land-
mines to the forefront of world attention. Suddenly
newspapers were more than happy to carry the story on
their front pages, world leaders only too eager to rush to con-
demn these most cruelly destructive of weapons that kill up
to 25,000 civilians a year. Now the anti-landmine lobby is
hoping that another beautiful, blonde royal mother can
regain the lost momentum of the past year.
Queen Noor is uncomfortable at the thought of inviting
comparisons between herself and Diana, Princess of Wales.
She is passionate about the cause but wary of people thinking
she is just another photogenic royal replacing Diana as the
international conscience who looks good on magazine covers.
"I can't play the same role as her," she says. "I'm in a different
position and I have a different approach to the work." She has
chosen to announce her involvement not by cradling children
in a war zone for the cameras but with a speech to an inter-
national conference of landmine survivors in her own capital,
Clockwise from above:
Ken Rutherford (left)
'For a time these people felt
and Jerry White of the
LSN talk to Queen Noor
about what it means to
Amman, next Friday. More Islamic scholars will be there
be a landmine victim;
than paparazzi, which is just how she wants it.
young casualties of
Hers is an easily understood caution. Nearly a year on,
war Zarco Beric (left)
so many gaps have been left by Diana's death that no
and Malik Bradoric
one dares fill. Charities feel awkward about asking any-
playing football; and
one to take her place. but in the meantime those who
posing with Diana
most needed Diana's help feel abandoned. It is the for-
during her Bosnia
gotten plight of some 300,000 crippled victims that per-
visit last year; Ken
suaded Queen Noor to brave the inevitable comparisons.
Rutherford with Diana
Over a hundred charities have been set up in the past
at Sarajevo airport
five years to campaign for a ban on landmines, but the
Washington-based Landmine Survivors Network (LSN)
claims to be the only one working directly with the
victims. Its co-founders. Jerry White and Ken
Rutherford, were the men with whom Diana travelled
NICHOLLS
to Bosnia just weeks before her death last year. White
lost his leg as a student in 1984 on a walking holiday in
the Golan Heights. Rutherford was an aid worker in
30
PIRIGO MINAS !!
MINES
PETER NICHOLLS
It someone cared, someone could make a difference'
Somalia when he lost both legs after his car ran over a land-
Queen Noor is no stranger to this cause. She was campaign-
mine in 1993.
ing on the issue 25 years ago when as Lisa Halaby, student
After agonising over who to enlist as their new patron, they
activist and peacenik, she joined the American campus protests
sent what they admit was a presumptuous fax to Queen Noor,
against the Vietnam war. She intends to lobby every leader she
whom they had met at Diana's funeral, saying only she could
knows to ratify the so-called Ottawa Treaty that was meant to
rescue their cause. White flew to Amman with a sheaf of doc-
eradicate the use and manufacture of anti-personnel mines.
uments promoting LSN's work, and prominent in the pile were
(Tony Blair appears to have already got the message, as he is
pictures of Diana's trip to Bosnia. "She liked the work we were
making MPs come in for a weekend sitting to rush through the
doing and said, 'Just how involved do you want me to be?' She
legislation before the August anniversary of Diana's death.)
also asked the King to join us at the conference, which will be
Lisa Halaby grew up in Washington and California with a
the biggest-ever international gathering of landmine victims."
Syrian father and a Swedish mother. When she met King
What Rutherford and White are banking on is that, like
Hussein 20 years ago she was 25, working as an architect, and
Diana, Queen Noor will make presidents and prime ministers
he had lost his third wife in an air crash. She was employed
listen. She is friends with the Clintons and the Blairs and has
by the British firm commissioned to replan Tehran, and was
already tried to enlist Hillary Clinton's support. "We need
involved in planning a pan-Arab aviation university in Amman
somebody to make us heard again," says White. "We need an
- the brainchild of the King. She remembers going to the
individual who is as passionate as Diana but is not intimi-
palace uninvited along with her father, a former president of
dated to step into a role that she was so closely involved in."
the airline Pan-Am - "The romance blossomed by chance."
31
investigation
They managed to conduct their courtship despite the smoth-
mines, then anything she had to do to please them was worth
ering presence of security guards and courtiers. She became
it." At a $3,500-a-plate dinner in Washington for the American
"Light of Hussein" - "Noor Al Hussein" - a stepmother to
Red Cross the party people were fighting to shake Diana's
eight, mother to four of her own, and a stateswoman prepared
hand. "She turned to me and whispered, 'If it gets money for
to speak her mind in a region not known for encouraging
the survivors, then so what?" remembers White.
women to take a prominent political role. When she gave her
There was incredulity inside Buckingham Palace when Diana
first speech in Washington on the Middle East peace process
informed them she was going to Bosnia with two maverick
in 1982, several newspapers sent along their fashion writers.
Americans. But in a few short weeks they became as close to
Though she is an obvious beauty, those who gauge her by
the Princess as any who had worked with her. On the eve of
looks alone do so at their peril. By her own admission she is
her funeral the two men said prayers with her two sons, Prince
addicted to facts. Although she intends to visit those coun-
Charles and other close relatives in the room where her coffin
tries blighted by landmines, she stresses that her approach
was laid in Kensington Palace. "Prince William made a point
will be more intellectual than intuitive.
of telling us how much the trip to Bosnia meant to his moth-
She has been quietly doing her homework since LSN
er and how she had planned more visits with us in the future.
approached her to be their patron, and has already made one
We told him that she made a difference to people who never
low-key fact-finding visit to Bosnia. She is also known to be
had anyone care for them before," says Rutherford.
particularly concerned about the curse of landmines in her
With the anniversary of Diana's death just a matter of
own backyard. Half the world's estimated 100 million land-
mines are littered around the Middle East, and she admits
Bosnian Halil Beganovic had a football career wrecked by a mine
that her life there has shaped her views that
"an obscene amount of money is spent on
weaponry and military hardware". What is
so obscene about landmines is that they are
meant to kill and maim the innocent. "Wars
aren't won by them and no legitimate gov-
ernment can justify the use of such a terri-
ble weapon," she says.
Privately, she has lobbied her husband
about Jordan becoming the twentieth coun-
try in the world to ratify the international
convention which would rid the earth of
these cruel weapons. Even if he does, it
would take 40 countries to do the same
before it comes into force. "I would not
want there to be fantastic expectations
about what I can achieve. I would be happy
if I could promote awareness. I have con-
tact with lots of heads of state and I speak
abroad on a number of issues. If I can pull
those themes together with landmines,
then be assured I will."
'What chance have
I
got now? What girl is going to look at me?'
hen Ken Rutherford and Jerry White first contacted
W
weeks away, there will be any number of claims made about
Diana in July last year, they had no idea she would
the course her life would have taken had she lived. White and
become so quickly and practically involved in their
Rutherford are adamant that she was committed to making
charity. "We were a real cowboy operation. Just the
the plight of landmine survivors her priority. "She told us she
two of us and a student volunteer who helped answer the
was fed up with being a poster princess for big-name chari-
telephone, so we wrote to her and asked her to advise us."
ties who just wanted to use her face for fund-raising. Diana
The surprise response was an invitation to Kensington Palace.
was better versed than us in what our campaign should be
"She sat with her legs curled up underneath her, patted the set-
doing, and she wanted to get her hands dirty."
tee where we should sit and said, 'Right, boys, what do you
Many of those closest to Diana confirm that she was plan-
want me to do?" Ken Rutherford remembers. "We blurted out
ning a radical reappraisal of her working life and wanted to
that if she really wanted to see our work she should come with
be associated only with organisations that let her use her
us to Bosnia. She said, 'Great idea. I'll be there in six days."
skills, not just her profile. Some claim she felt her visit to
It wasn't long before an international consensus about land-
Angola was too much of a stunt. She wanted to meet more
mines emerged. "No democratic politician could fail to see the
victims and get a feel for what they needed from her.
attraction of being on the same side as Diana," says White. And
Rutherford and White persuaded her they needed at least
the Princess was the first to recognise that. "It didn't matter
ten days to rent a flat for her to sleep in. They didn't dare
why they were doing it. Her view was that if they signed
tell her they also needed to borrow a car. When the British
treaties, funded operations to clear mines, and most impor-
ambassador in Sarajevo got wind of the idea he. the Foreign
tantly recognised the need to help the 300,000 injured by land-
Office. Downing Street and the Palace tried to dissuade her
33
from going. "Diana told us
still leaks from the mortar holes
there was nothing anyone could
and the bedding is still
do about it and they had better
scorched from when a shell
get used to it because this was
exploded in the front room.
the way she was going to con-
Mirzeta confesses her first
duct herself in the future,"
impression was disappoint-
remembers White.
ment when Diana walked
She vetoed arrangements for
through the door. "I thought
her to meet the Bosnian presi-
she would be a rich woman,
dent, explaining she wanted to
with lots of jewellery, but she
use her limited time visiting sur-
was wearing jeans." The
vivors, not making small talk.
Princess insisted on going into
The British Army offered to use
the house alone, which was just
its peacekeepers in Bosnia as
as well since there was barely
bodyguards, but again Diana
room enough in the cluttered
insisted on taking the two detec-
lean-to for Mirzeta, her sister,
tives who usually guard her sons.
two brothers and her parents.
Jealous rivals in the charitable
Diana stopped and knelt by
sector sent indignant faxes to
Mirzeta's eight-year-old sister,
Kensington Palace warning the
Selima, who lay rigid on a
Princess that she risked damag-
urine-stained sheet. "She cra-
ing her reputation as a humani-
dled the child, talking to
tarian champion if she associat-
Mirzeta, and then turned to us
ed herself with "cowboys like
and said Selima had cerebral
LSN". Rutherford remembers:
palsy," says Rutherford. "What
"She tore up the faxes. We were
was apparent to me was the
at dinner on our first night in
unique way Diana touched
Bosnia and, angry at all the
people. She made them feel
people telling her what she
they were the centre of her
should do and how she should
Ediba Viteskic from Sarajevo lost a leg in an explosion
universe and she would make a
do it, she pointed her knife at
which also injured her six-year-old daughter, Yasmina
difference to their lives."
my throat and said, 'You know,
For over an hour Mirzeta
Ken, no one double crosses me and gets away with it.' She
explained how she had missed out on a year's schooling while
told us that since her divorce every action Buckingham Palace
she went through a dozen operations in Sarajevo and Germany
took was to drive her further into isolation. She said: "They
to fit her artificial limb. "We had already introduced Diana to
have to know I am not going to sit still and be crushed."
the world of stumps when we met at Kensington Palace the
Bosnia was the ideal place for Diana to dodge protocol.
first time," says White. "We took off our prostheses so she
The country is so anarchic that rival militias didn't have a
would be comfortable with what survivors have to do. She
clue what her cavalcade of vehicles was doing careering over
never flinched. She understood what girls like Mirzeta needed."
craters trying to shake off two busloads of journalists shout-
She is an attractive girl, with black, bobbed hair, at that self-
ing out questions about Dodi Fayed. Her convoy bumped its
conscious age when looks matter among your peers. Mirzeta
way over the potholes to her first appointment in a shanty
told Diana how she made her schoolfriends come to her house
town beside Sarajevo's rubbish dump.
and take away all her short skirts because she couldn't bear to
She had gone to see Mirzeta Gabelic, who had lost her right
let anyone see her stump. She wouldn't go to her school's grad-
Ediba
about the
'My
have me, so we are blessed'
leg in April 1997 when she stepped on a landmine as she took
untion party because she couldn't find a dress long enough to
a shortcut across a field on her way to market. Mirzeta was
hide her false limb. "She had real feelings," says Mirzeta. "It
then 15. The girl had not been told who was coming to visit
wasn't like talking to an important person. Diana said she would
her, only that it was some "important woman" from abroad.
help us get the materials so my sister and I could have our own
The only name Mirzeta could think of was Hillary Clinton.
bedroom." Since that visit, and the Princess's death three weeks
One year on, Mirzeta is very well aware of who her impor-
later, no one in authority has been to see the Gabelics. Their
tant visitor was. But, despite the Princess's high-profile visit
experience is typical of all the people Diana met.
and the snapshots recording the event. there is little sign of
"For a time these people felt someone cared, someone
her lot having improved. Faded magazine pictures of Boyzone
could make a difference. Governments, pop stars and movie
cover walls still pockmarked by mortar fire.
producers all wanted to get on board; there were big prom-
To have stood here outside Mirzeta's home during the war
ises of money. Then Diana is killed and the telephones don't
would have been an act of suicide. Civilian homes like this used
ring any more," says Rutherford. "We've lost the momentum."
to provide target practice for the Serbs who sat on the hillside
Landmines don't respect ethnic borders, and Diana was
opposite. But in this same city, families now picnic on the hill-
determined to visit all sides of Bosnia's divided house.
tops from where Serb gunners strafed the old town. Mirzeta's
Crossing the front lines in this madhouse takes 100 meetings,
house has been patched together with repairs, but the tin roof
bribery, patience and, for a stranger, considerable nerve.
35
British military commanders
not just Ediba's strength but
were nervous, but Diana was
her stoicism. She talks about
undaunted. She took pleasure
how hard it must be for
at managing to unite two fami-
Princes William and Harry to
lies divided by war yet bound
lose a mother. "Mine still have
by the tragedy of their sons.
me, so I and they are blessed."
Malik Bradoric, 15, was helping
Some victims confess they
his father to collect firewood
would rather have lost their life
at the end of March 1996
than a limb. Eighteen-year-old
when his leg was blown off by
Halil Beganovic was an accom-
a landmine. The Bradorics are
plished footballer who recently
a Bosnian family whose home
went back to his old village with
had the misfortune to straddle
friends to see which, if any, of
the front line at Svjetlica. Three
his favourite bars survived the
days after Malik was injured,
bombardment. He stepped off
and 4km away, 13-year-old
the road to urinate. "There was
Zarco Beric lost his leg in pre-
this huge thud. I shouted to my
cisely the same way.
mate to see if he was all right. It
What Diana did not live to
was only about a minute later I
see was the friendship that has
felt for my left leg and it wasn't
developed between these boys
there. What chance have I got
and their families. Malik wears
now? There aren't jobs for the
a T-shirt that ironically implores
able-bodied. What girl is going
us to "beware of mines", and
to look at me?" he says.
like too many teenagers in this
LSN has scant funds to help
country is familiar with the
Halil and the hundreds of
techniques of orthopaedic
other Bosnian victims. "People
surgery. He explains, just as he
think because we were associ-
did to Diana, how he needs fre-
ated with Diana we are rich,"
quent sessions in hospital to
Eighty-five-year-old Zumreta Mehmedovic returned to
says White. "We never received
have his artificial limbs match
her abandoned village only to fall victim to a landmine
a penny. Twenty days after she
his growth. Zarco was among
travelled with us she was
those invited to walk behind the cortège at Diana's funeral.
killed." The final blow is that the charity established in her
He ignored the pain of his prostheses, remembering only his
memory has refused LSN's appeal for money. "They told us,
feelings about the Princess. "I was really sad she died. I
'We know the Princess loved you, and your work is what she
thought things would be better for me and Malik and the
wanted, but you're American and we are under pressure to
others. Sometimes it feels like a dream that a princess cared."
give it to homegrown charities."
The legacy of landmines is that they do their worst years
At the Mine Action Centre in Sarajevo, the coordinator, Dave
after the guns fall silent. Ten days ago Zumreta Mehmedovic
Armitt, points to the maps plotting the whereabouts of mines.
walked back to her home on a deserted front line that is known
The red dots that mark each mine are like a rash. In two years,
locally as "the empty village". Most of her neighbours were too
de-mining teams have checked 6,000 areas known to be mined:
scared, but 85-year-old Zumreta had survived two world wars
there are another 24,000 areas still to be investigated. Of the
and her country's senseless bloodletting. Not much was left
million mines thought to be buried in Bosnia they have cleared
after the fighting, but Zumreta was determined to reclaim what
just over 5,000, but the money allotted by government for their
Diana's work had only just begun,
and it is up to us to carry it on'
was hers. On her arrival she went searching for firewood. The
work is dribbling away. "We were promised S28 million, and
explosion tore off her left leg beneath the knee, injured her
this year we got $2.5 million," says Armitt. Diana's picture hangs
hand and breast. She has no other family, and doctors at Tuzla
on a wall beside a letter thanking him for the time he spent
hospital admit no one has yet given any thought as to what hap-
with her in Sarajevo. He shakes his head. "When Diana came to
pens to her now. There are too many like her to count.
see us, people wanted to bury us in money. Now nobody cares."
The authorities have never heard of Ediba Viteskic and how
Queen Noor is confident the world will come to its senses
she survived Sarajevo's siege with her 12 children. Her way of
and end "the greatest sin facing mankind". "I was so delighted
celebrating the peace was to visit a friend trapped on the
when Diana got involved in this campaign because I knew she
wrong side of the front line. The landmine, long forgotten by
would make such a difference. The pity is I never got the
whichever uniform had hidden it near the bombed-out Bristol
chance to talk to her about it. Remember that 20 days after
hotel, shattered her leg. Her six-year-old daughter. Yasmina,
she was in Bosnia she was killed. Her work had only just
had her legs and face scarred by shrapnel. "I tried to reach out
begun, and it's up to us all to carry it on."
for my daughter but I couldn't move," Ediba says. "I could see
my dress burning and smell my flesh, like a barbecue."
For donations to, or further information about, Landmine
The only money the family gets is a war pension worth
Survivors Network, write to: LSN, 700 Thirteenth Street
about £60 a month. What strikes any visitor to her home is
NW. No 950, Washington DC 2005 (tel: 001 202 6613537)
36
AMMAN SUNDAY, JULY 12, 1998, RABI I 18, 1419
Volume 23
Number 6887
Queen: Jordan to sign Ottawa
By Hind-Lara Mango
insidious leftovers are a bit-
Convention
Special to the Jordan Times
ter reminder of past conflict
and a threat to future
AMMAN - Her Majesty
progress."
Queen Noor yesterday
The Queen noted that in
'These indiscriminate killers constitute one of
announced that Jordan will
addition to the multiple
sign the 1997 Ottawa Con-
operations survivors need
the greatest public health hazards of the late
vention prohibiting the use,
to salvage limbs and the
stockpiling, production and
multiple visits to hospitals
twentieth century; a modern man-made epidemic
transfer of anti-personnel
to fit prosthetics, the less
(AP) landmines, becoming
quantifiable cost of "psy- destroying 14,000 mines.
ratified it.
Bill includes 10 laws
the 128th country to do so.
chological scars and shat- The second phase began in
Mr. Sommaruga said the
stressing that landmine sur-
Speaking at the opening
tered dreams" also add 1995 and has cleared
ICRC is currently running
vivors should share the
of the first Middle East
their toll on victims and the 50,000 mines of the esti-
physical rehabilitation pro-
same rights and protection
conference of the Land-
community alike.
mated 300,000 mines in the
grammes in 11 countries
enjoyed by all people.
mines Survivors Net-
"About 10 per cent of our Kingdom, mostly in the
tailored to each country's
His Royal Highness
work(LSN), the Queen said
population live in areas still northern and western areas.
social and economic needs.
Prince Ra'd, patron of the
that the Cabinet will now
dangerous and economical- ICRC President Cornelio
"To eliminate the need to
Hashemite Charitable Soci-
proceed with constitutional
ly unproductive because of Sommaruga told the Jordan
import expensive, ready-
ety for Soldiers with Spe-
arrangements for the sign-
landmines," Queen Noor Times on the sidelines of
made prosthetic compo-
cial Needs, will open this
ing and ratification of the
said.
the meeting that Jordan's
nents from abroad, the
morning's session. Plenar-
treaty. She also committed
She noted that mines have announcement of its intent
ICRC has introduced new
ies include the social and
herself to joining efforts
rendered farmland useless, to sign the Ottawa Treaty
materials and developed
economic reintegration of
aimed at achieving an inter-
endangered livestock and was "a historical opening to
special moulds to facilitate
landmine survivors in addi-
national ban on mines and
wildlife, and made forests this conference. Jordan's
low-cost production at the
tion to religious perspec-
addressing the needs of sur-
and pastures off-limits.
decision will be a signal to
local level," he said.
tives on landmines and sur-
vivors.
Queen Noor said that 26 other countries of the
Jordan is working on set-
vivor assistance.
"It is with a great sense of
conflicts over the past 58 region."
ting up a similar centre.
This event is attended by
privilege that I commit
years were examined in a From the Middle East
At the opening of this
350 participants represent
myself to join your efforts
1995 study by the Interna- only
Qatar,
Algeria,
venue, 12-year-old Ibrahim
ing 33 countries mainly
to seek to realise our shared
tional Committee of the Tunisia, and Yemen have
Waradat, a landmine sur-
from the Middle East. It is
goal of not only a world-
Red Cross and Red Cres-
signed the Ottawa Treaty.
vivor who lost his left hand,
organised by the LSN in
wide ban on mines but also
cent which found that AP
On Friday, Norway ratified
four of his right fingers, his
cooperation with the Jordan
a collective commitment to
mines did not play a signif-
the treaty bringing the
left eye and part of his
Red Crescent, the
survivors," the Queen said.
icant role in the outcome of
number of states to have
vision in his right eye, pre-
Hashemite Charitable Soci
"Much global attention is
any conflict.
done so to 24. However, the
sented the Queen with the
ety and the International
focused on preventing new
There are over 100 mil-
treaty will only go into
first Bill of Rights for
Campaign to Ban Land
weapons of mass destruc-
lion landmines planted all
effect after 40 states have
Landmine
Survivors.
The
mines
(ICBL).
tion but less attention is
over the world and it is esti-
paid to these weapons of
mated that 53 per cent are
mass destruction in slow
located in the Middle East,
motion these indiscrimi-
with the highest concentra-
nate killers constitute one
tion in Egypt. Mines left
of the greatest public health
behind after World War II
hazards of the late twenti-
are still killing children all
Jordan
eth century, a modern man-
over the world with psy-
made epidemic," Queen
chological and socio-eco-
Noor said in her opening
nomic impacts.
remarks.
According to General
The Queen stressed that
Nasser Majali from the
landmines are the cruellest
Royal Corps of Engineers,
and most severe form of
Jordan embarked on a
warfare with an average life
national demining pro-
Times
span of 50 to 100 years.
gramme in 1993, but never-
She described the venue of
theless, "400 people have
the conference as "unfortu-
been injured from land-
nately appropriate" because
mines in Jordan, including
the Middle East is littered
221 military personnel."
with more than half of the
Military sources believe
Committing herself to efforts
world's deployed land-
that there are approximate-
mines.
ly 300,000 mines planted in
"Landmines are generally
the northern and western
placed in rural areas in
parts of the Kingdom.
for global mine ban:
order to shatter the morale
Gen. Majali said the first
and integrity of the family,
phase of the programme
clan, tribe and village," she
ended in 1995 with the
said, adding that "even in
clearance of 30 minefields
long hoped-for peace, these
in the Jordan Valley -
Mall of Kishn for jandmona Name
I
As
I
Manager
I
United
-
Her Majesty Queen Noor receives a Bill of Rights for Landmine Survivors from Ibrahim
Waradat, a Jordanian landmine victim, at the opening of a two-day conference on land-
mine survivors in Amman on Saturday. Queen Noor pleaged her support for a world-
wide campaign against landmines, a cause which was championed by Diana, Princess of
Weles, before her death last (D nhote).
The New York Times
Copyright © 1999 The New York Times
TUESDAY MARCH 2, 1999
A10
Land Mine Pact in Effect, Without U.S.
GENEVA, March 1 (AP) - An
international treaty to ban land
mines, which kill and maim some
25,000 people each year, took effect
today and was hailed by ceremo-
nies, choirs and bells of peace.
The treaty, concluded in Ottawa
in 1997, has been signed by 133
nations and ratified by 65 of them.
About 12 countries have destroyed
their entire stocks of land mines.
Major users and producers -
including the United States, Russia
and China - have refused to join
in. And even with the treaty, it will
take still take decades to clear the
tens of millions of mines scattered
in more than 60 countries.
"The battle ahead is to make
this treaty full effective not just in
law but also in implementation,"
the United Nations Secretary Gen-
eral, Kofi Annan, said in a message
to the ceremony in Geneva.
Underlining the continuing prob-
lem, two children were killed and
six others wounded when a mine
exploded in northern Rwanda, the
Rwandan radio reported today.
The treaty, agreed to after a
campaign by charities working
Linki
Res
with victims, commits signers to
stop the production, use and export
of land mines.
President Clinton has set 2006 as
a target for joining the accord,
saying the United States needs to
use mines until then along the
tense border between North and
South Korea.
Seats for the United States dele-
gation were conspicuously empty
at the start of a ceremony marking
the land mines accord at United
Nations headquarters here. The
sounds of a "peace bell" and a
children's choir floated through
United Nations offices in Vienna.
Paul Hosefros/The New York Times
Susan Walker, coordinator of the
Demonstrators in front of the White House yesterday displayed
International Campaign to Ban
artificial limbs of victims of land mine explosions to protest the
Land Mines, which was awarded
United States decision not to join the new treaty banning the mines.
the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, said
her group would focus this year on
Here 3-year-old Hayden Rutherford sat on the lap of his father, Ken
the Middle East and former Soviet
Rutherford, who lost both legs to a land mine while working as a
Union to try to persuade nations
credit union training officer in Somalia. Mr. Rutherford had tempo-
there to go along with the accord.
rarily detached his artificial lower limbs for the demonstration.
Friday, August 28, 1998
THE CHAUTAUQUAN DAILY
Page 7
LECTURE
Landmine Survivor Network founder calls for ban
by Shannon Wingard
one because they don't know
Staff Writer
"the footfall of a solider or of a
child," he said.
Landmines maim or kill
The landmine's explosion
someone every 20 minutes.
caused White to lose his right
They injure more than 26,000
leg below the knee, and his left
men, women and children each
leg was blown wide open. He
year. Landmines have harmed
spent six months in Israeli hos-
more than 100,000 Americans
pitals before he returned home.
and they have caused about
After finishing his education at
70,000 amputations in Angola
Brown, White began working as
alone. Almost 100 million
the assistant director of the Wis-
landmines exist throughout 60
consin Project on Nuclear Arms
countries of the world today.
Control where he tracked the
Jerry White, co-founder of
spread of nuclear, biological
the Landmine Survivors Net-
and chemical weapons and the
work, spoke about the hazards
missiles that delivered them.
of landmines and their "De-
Ken Rutherford, an Ameri-
struction in Slow Motion" for
can landmine survivor, con-
the Chautauqua Peace Society
tacted White in 1995. Ruther-
on Tuesday in the Hall of Phi-
ford lost both of his legs beneath
losophy.
the knee in a landmine explo-
"I didn't know what a
sion in Somalia. White and Ru-
landmine was, until I stepped
therford met and began dis-
on one," he said. "Even then I
cussing their personal landmine
encounters.
"I didn't know what a
According to White, Ruther-
landmine was until I
ford said "landmines have
stepped on one.."
killed more people than nuclear,
- Jerry White
chemical and biological weap-
ons combined."
Photo by Debra Swanson
didn't know what it would
White and Rutherford went
Jerry White, co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network, spoke
mean for my life."
to the United Nations Review
about the human tragedies caused by landmines around the world and
During his junior year at
Conference on Landmines in
the need for all nations, including the United States, to agree to stop
Brown University in Provi-
Vienna in September 1995 and
using them. White spoke Tuesday evening in the Hall of Philosophy.
dence, White decided to go
spoke about the threat posed by
abroad and study the Jewish landmines. They met other sur-
about landmines and to ban
the landmine survivors in
background of Christianity in
vivors from around the world.
them. The campaign also wants
Bosnia before her death in 1997.
Israel. He went hiking with
"There was this strange
to exterminate landmines,
She met families who lost a
some American friends in
shared suffering," White said,
which costed $3 each to make
loved one to a landmine as well
Northern Israel on April 12, "a family among survivors."
and will cost $1,000 each to de-
as meeting with landmine sur-
1984. As he hiked down the side
White and Rutherford, with
tect and destroy.
vivors, White said.
of a hill, White said he heard an
the help of other survivors, an-
"Americans don't really un-
The LSN focuses on helping
explosion and was thrown to
nounced the creation of an in-
derstand," White said. "We
the survivors find "the recipe
the ground. He said he thought
ternational organization for
have peace here and we don't
for survival and recovery," he
terrorists caused the explosion
landmine survivors in Geneva,
think much about landmines."
said. "This is something we
and he and his friends waited
Switzerland in April 1995. The
Princess Diana of Wales was
brought to the International
for another attack.
Landmine Survivors Network,
introduced to LSN in June 1997
Campaign to Ban Landmines,
"We looked down at my
based in Washington, DC., was
and took an interest in the or-
an awareness that the survivors
wounds and we realized that
the first organization created by
ganization. White said she
have to be helped."
the threat wasn't coming from
landmine survivors to help
helped transform the percep-
the air, or anywhere, but be-
landmine survivors.
tion of landmines from a secu-
The Ottawa Treaty to ban
neath us," White said. "We were
"I found myself impassioned
rity to a humanitarian issue.
in a mine field, whatever that
landmines was signed by 124
to work on this issue," White
"That was an enormous con-
countries in December 1997.
was, and for however long that
said, who is the director of the
tribution," he said. "In addition,
The treaty recognizes the need
extended, on this beautiful hill
organization.
she brought the issues to the
in Israel." He and his friends
to ban the production, impor-
The LSN became actively in-
homes and living rooms across
volved in the International
tation and exportation of
were walking on a Syrian
America. This woman had a
landmines. It also helps reha-
stronghold from the 1967 war.
Campaign to Ban Landmines,
charismatic gift of compas-
bilitate landmine survivors and
He said he believes which received a Nobel Peace
sion."
it became the first arms control
landmines
represent
a
Prize in 1997. The campaign
Rutherford and White took
treaty to include humanitarian
"coward's weapon" because
combines more than a thousand
Princess Diana to meet some of
they are designed to maim and
assistance. The treaty becomes
world-wide organizations who
mutilate people. Landmines
dedicate themselves to expand-
don't discriminate against any- ing the public's awareness
an international law after 140
the world a view of this mass
countries signed it.
suffering, I say 'don't pity, do
"In Vietnam, 90 percent of
something to help and under-
the casualties, American casu-
stand that these are strong
alties, were caused by Ameri-
people," White said.
can-made landmines or
Of the internationally esti-
landmines that had American-
mated 500 million disabled
made components," White said.
people, 80 percent live in third
"It is a shame and a horror to
world countries and only 3 per-
me that our president has not
cent of these people have access
signed the global mine ban
to medical care, White said.
treaty."
White said people should
White said the United States'
write to President Clinton if
allies in the North Atlantic
they think the United State's
Treaty Organization all have
should sign the landmine ban
signed the treaty, except for Tur-
treaty.
key, and every country in our
hemisphere has signed it, ex-
He said he encourages
cept for Cuba.
people to thank the president
He said the United States
for his Sept. 17 pledge to "in-
joins countries, such as Iran,
crease assistance to land mine
Iraq, China, North Korea, Paki-
victims to help them heal and
stan and Russia, as non-sup-
take their place as productive
porters of the treaty.
members of their societies."
White recently returned from
Write to the president at:
the National Disability Confer-
President William J. Clinton
ence of Landmine Survivors
Attention: Sandy Berger, Di-
and Other Disabled Persons.
rector
The conference, which was held
The White House
on Aug. 8- 9 in Bosnia, was the
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
first and largest gathering of
Washington, DC 20500
international survivors. Her
Landmine Survivors Net-
Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
work directs its assistance to
became the Landmine Survi-
more that 300 thousand
vors Network's new patron.
landmine survivors around the
"She is a tremendous advo-
world. People should visit the
cate and understands, coming
LSN
web-site
at
from the mine fields herself,
www.landminesurvivors.org
what the problem is," White
for more information about the
said.
organization and the ways they
"As I show people around
can help.
AT HOME WITH HIS FAMILY IN WASHINGTON
SHARES PERSONAL MEMORIES OF DIANA'S
AMERICAN ANTI-LANDMINE CAMPAIGNER
TRIP TO BOSNIA A YEAR AGO AND SPEAKS o
KEN RUTHERFORD
THE INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION SHE MADE
ON HER LAST HUMANITARIAN VISIT ABROAD
A
merican aid worker Ken Rutherford. who lost
Landmine Survivors Network. Ken's work goes on.
saw children. it went into overdrive and something
both legs after his car hit a landmine in
His courageous story. told in graphic detail.
came over her."
Somalia in 1993. was the man who inspired the
is due to be broadcast in a TV special on land-
Ken believes it was his own family life and desire
Princess of Walcs to become actively involved with
mines on August 21. entitled Diana's Legary: A
to help others that forged a special link between
the anti-landmine campaign. He. in turn. drew
999 Special.
him and Diana.
inspiration from Diana's dedication to his cause.
Here. on the eve of the anniversary of Diana's
"It seemed strange that out of the people Diana
In August last year. millions of television viewers
death and that crucial visit to Bosnia. Ken talks
could have been with. she chose us. Mc and Jerry
worldwide saw Ken. 35. alongside the Princess in
about his relationship with the Princess and his
were just two Americans with one leg between us.
Bosnia - on what was to be the very last working
own personal triumph over tragedv.
But Jerry has four kids and I have two. Diana could
trip of her life.
At the beautiful Washington home he shares
relate to all that. She liked the idea of disabled
During that visit. which she undertook on the
with his wife Kim. Ken pauses to reflect. cuddling
people helping other disabled people. I think she
invitation of Ken and his partner in the Landmine
his two sons, Hayden. three. and 19-month-old
was happiest with her own kids and working with
Survivors Network. Jerry White. Diana's immense
Campbell.
those people who needed help."
energy and capacity to care drew her close to her
"Of all the visits to landmine victims we made in
Ken first met Diana when he travelled
companions. Three weeks later. she was dead. But.
Bosnia, the ones with children were the most
to London to give a speech to the Roval
with the momentum she brought it and with
emotional." he savs. "Diana always had this
Geographical Society about his horrific landmine
Queen Noor of Jordan as the new patron of the
pleasant, comforting demeanour. but when she
accident.
Already involved with the banning of landmines
through her British Red Cross work. Diana gave a
speech 100. Afterwards she found time to talk to
Ken's wife.
"After seeing her so much on television we
wondered what she was really like underneath."
says Kim. "But she was very sweet. very personable
and sincere.
"Ken had mentioned in his speech that he
wanted to take me for a walk in his favourite
London park. Diana warned us that the media
might be lurking in the bushes as we went by. I
guess she was speaking from personal experience."
Ken's next meeting with the Princess was the
very following week when she visited Washington
on behalf of the British Red Cross.
"We were there together again and joked about
giving the same speech." savs Ken. "Later
that night Kim and I were invited to an official
banquet hosted by the American Red Cross. There
was Diana again. She said. Ken. I really want
to help you. If I can be of assistance. please
call me.
"About a month later. we sent her a letter telling
her we were going to Bosnia to work with
landmine victims. and invited her along. Her
response was to ask us to drop by Kensington
Palace.
"So Jerry and I went there and she was upstairs
waiting for us. We soon discovered she was already
well on board with the idea of coming with us to
Bosnia."
Despite being told not to go on the trip by
official sources, Diana was insistant. "She said she
would go as a private British citizen and British
1238
citizens can go where they like!" savs Ken.
"What struck me most was that a person in her
position. with so much glamour and status. who
could go anwhere in the world and do what she
wanted. could take off with two disabled men and
work with us on a personal basis. She didn't care
that Bosnia was dangerous or that the roads were
bad. She cared about people."
That trip took place in August last year. It was
stressful, not just because of the tragic victims
Diana saw. Her romance with Dodi Faved was big
news and she had just been photographed on
holidav with him.
"I didn't even know who Dodi was." recalls Ken.
HELLO!
"I only learned about it all from the reporters. And
Diana never mentioned anything."
During the short. but poignant trip. Ken got as
close as anyone to Diana. "Jerry and me always
wondered how she could have survived so much. It
seemed that in everything she was uring to do. she
was being closely investigated. watched for
everything she wore. what she ate where she was
and who she was with."
Along with two bodyguards and her loval butler
Paul Burrell. Ken. Jerry and Diana spent two
74' Ken Rutherford with the thankyou letter he received from Diana only the day after she arrived
nights and three highly pressurised days in Bosnia,
back from their trip to Bosnia (above). He decided to turn down a request to allow the letter to
travelling miles to visit those who had lost limbs
go on show at Althorp: "That letter is too precious to me." With wife Kim, and sons Hayden,
after stepping on landmines
three, and month cld Campbell (above right). Meeting Diana for the August 1997 (right)
"Sometimes we were working for 16 hours." savs
she was. And you couldn't blame her. It was
the family's shack. she made straight for the
Ken. "And even though we had a schedule worked
really hard."
bedridden child.
out. it always went wrong. Diana wanted to stav up
Although shc saw 60 landmine victims on her
"Diana took her in her arms. with the child's
longer to talk to people and also get an carlier
trip. Ken recalls one little girl in particular who was
poor legs and arms just dangling over her lap."
start the next morning. It was a hard trip on
singled out for some special Diana magic.
Ken recalls. "She rubbed the girl's legs while
terrible roads. And it was ven emotional.
The child was the sister of a victim and suffered
looking up at us. Then the little girl started to
"We rented a house the first night and staved in
from cerebral palsy. When Diana called round to
smile at her. It was the first time I'd ever seen
a hotel the second. On that last night Jerry and I
worked out the menus. We did stuffed cabbage
and a Bosnian speciality of apple marinated in
some form of alcohol with a ginger snap in it.
"Paul Burrell said Diana wouldn't cat it - but
she did. She tried everything. We did our best to
make everything right for her. Paul had told us
Diana liked fruit so we made sure there was loads
of fruit in her room and in all the cars she
travelled in.
"On the first night, we held a focus group and
had 20 landmine victims from Bosnia in one room
to talk about their problems.
"It came at the end of a long day. We'd already
put Diana into a car and driven her for nearly
three hours. Then we ended up in this room. with
no air conditioning. for more than two hours. The
guys all forgot Diana was there and talked about
everything - their personal problems with wives
and girlfriends and of course about not being able
to walk.
"It was after 11pm when we finished. and we
were up by 8.30 the next morning. We called on
several families and visited a gravevard. We took
Diana to an area which is the most infested with
landmines. We had a walk round. visited a
landmine action centre and then had a farewell
reception.
"It was no wonder we faxed Diana before the
trip to ask if we'd crammed in too much. But she
wanted to do more."
"If you see pictures of her at the start of that trip
and then at the end. you can see how exhausted
'Diana made it cool
to talk about landmines
as a humanitarian, not
just military, issue. She
talked about victims'
seems such a part of our life that I
guess it feels normal."
Ken adds quietly: "Yes. there were
some bad times. When I decided to
have mv second leg amputated. in
particular. I did that because Havden
was learning to walk and with mv
crippled foot. I couldn't keep up with
him. But I did get to have that walk in
my favourite London park with Kim.
"And we have baby number three
due at the end of this month. It would
make me feel strange if the baby was
born on August 31. the anniversary of
Diana's death."
To have had such a high-profile
figure involved with the Landmine
Survivors Network for longer would
have been wonderful for the
organisation and those it helps. but
By chance, Ken and his colleague Jerry White met Princes Charles, William and Harry outside Kensington Palace on the
Ken is quick to point out: "Now that no
day before Princess Diana's funeral (above). Ken at home with Hayden and Kim, who is expecting their third child this
have Queen Noor of Jordan as patron
month (below). The Rutherfords cannot forget Diana, and her contribution to their cause. "She may no longer be around,"
we II carry on in a different was.
says Kim, "but she made the landmine campaign high profile and that's something that can't be taken away"
Queen Noor is just as committed to
her smile. Diana looked straight into
got home where mv mother was
the campaign.
realised that things like that just make
her eves and smiled right back. The
"But we all still think of Diana We
babysitting and the TV was on. Then
you kick into overdrive and you do
world never saw that.
we heard about Diana. Radio and TV
can't forget her. She just got a thrill
what you need to. to get through.
"I'm sure that if Diana could have
stations rang mc. but I couldn't talk
out of working in places that really
"It was very hard - but when you're
another lifetime. she would be some
to anvone.
needed help.
in the thick of it. you just kind of plug
sort of health carer or physical
"Then on the Tuesday I got a call
"I will be having a private moment
along and you can't get caught up in
therapist. You hear about the Diana
from Michael Gibbins [Diana's
on the anniversary of her death. But to
just how miscrable it could be or how
magical touches and that 'one to one'
accountant] at Kensington Palace.
commemorate her visit to Bosnia. we
difficult it is. You have to make the best
effect... and it's true."
asking if I would go to the funeral. He
have also organised a reunion of all
of the situation.
asked if I could bring my wife because
the 60 landmine vicums she met there.
Diana's generosity to those in need
"The first year was the most difficult
is. of course. well known. but Ken was
that's how Diana would have wanted it.
That reunion will be something
- just getting to the point where Ken
also impressed by the strength of her
I said we'd be honoured
really special.
could stand on two legs and walk down
feeling for her own sous. Prince
"We flew to London. The dav before
"Diana's visit to Bosnia seems
the street like any other normal
William and Prince Harry
the funeral. when we were coming out
light years away now. Who could
of Kensington Palace. by sheer chance
person. To get to that stage was a time
have known it would be her last
"The love for her two sous was
extraordinary." he savs. "She said they
we bumped into Princes Charles.
of frustration and impatience for Ken.
working trip:"
H
William and Harry during their
He knew he had to get to that point of
were her best friends
walkabout. Jerry told Prince William
physical healing where he could put
INTERVIEW SUE BLACKHALL
"She also talked about her father.
that we had been in Bosnia with his
on a pair of legs. I was always optimistic
PHOTOS MIKE WILSON
the late Earl Spencer. who instilled in
her this discipline to write thankvou
mother and he said: Yes. she told me
about medical technology. Now it just
CO-ORDINATION SARAH CARTLEDGE
letters within 24 hours. She said if she
all about it. Jerry added: Your mother
didn't write her thankvou letter in that
brought a lot of hope to the people
time. why bother:
she met there.' William replied: Yes.
"So we weren't surprised. Jern and
she loved everybody.
1. when we got these long letters from
-I turned to Prince Charles and told
her the dav after she arrived back in
him we had been in Bosnia with the
England from the Bosnia trip."
Princess. He said: 'Oh yes. you work
with landmines.' He asked if I was a
That letter. thanking Ken for his
victim and we discussed how there
help and expressing her wish to
remain involved with the Landmine
were landmines all over the world.
"Diana made it cool to talk about
Survivors Network. is now framed. It
sits on the mantelpiece next to a letter
landmines as a humanitarian. not just
military. issue. She talked about the
from President Clinton
"Diana had a hard life and the way
victims and the whole language of the
debate changed. She had tremendous
she lived it. I think. did justice to her
energy and time to give. It gave me the
strength and personality. She got a lot
feeling that I could do more. and do
of joy out of giving life to her two sons
it better.
and she wanted them to have as much
"When I lost my legs in the
experience of the world as possible.
explosion. I remember thinking that
"She was a tremendous asset to
all I wanted was to marry Kim. have a
charity work. She knew it. And even
family and fulfil my dream of being a
though no one in Bosnia knew she was
teacher. I had never had a challenge
coming. they all recognised her."
before. But I believe everything
Having known Diana SO briefly. but
happens for a reason."
perhaps more intimately than many of
As Ken plays with his two boys. Kim
her longer-term friends. Ken will never
looks on. "If I had to sum Ken up. I
lorget the moment. shortly after
guess I'd sav he's a very charismatic
they'd returned from their trip. when
man." she savs. "People are drawn to
76
he heard of her death.
him and he has this trait towards
"Kim and I were at a party when we
helping people. He has a very big
heard that Dodi had been killed. 11c
heart. When Ken had his accident. 11°C
December 26, 1997
MAGAZINE
'If you are going
to step on a land
mine, you should
do it in Israel,'
says Jerry White.
In 1984 he did,
and lost a leg.
Today he is
leading a global
mission to aid
other victims.
'Israel should
do away with this
horrible weapon,'
says White.
BURIED TERRO
Buried
Terror
Jerry White,
who lost his
leg when he
stepped on a
land mine in
Israel, is now
leading a global
effort to help
the victims
of this
controversial
weapon.
By Eetta Prince-G.bson
am one of the luckiess rana-inine P
I
the world." siya Jerry White After ... ,
you are going to step on and nine. you
should do it in Israel White 34 director
of the Landmine Survivors Network
Washington-based international advocacy
and jobbying group. He recently returned from Ottews
nere he attended ceremonies marking the signing by more
han 120 nations of the Treaty to Ban the Stockpiling.
Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines
It . estimated that there are more than TO million and
nines strewn in more than 60 countries killing or brutally
maining some 26,000 people a year. Although White is eesta-
de at the success of the movement which led to the Ottawa cer-
emonies. he is also concerned that not enough attention is
being paid to the needs of survivors of land mines and foresees
that his fledgling organization still faces serious challenges
But 13 years ago, in 1984. he was J 20-year-old student on
the One-Year Program at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. He was hiking through Galilee and the Golan
Heights when he stepped on a land mine at Givat Azaz. near
Banyas, blowing off his right foot at the unkle and ripping
open his left calf and knee.
A native of a Cohasset Massachusens - small own on
Massachusetts Bay. and a devout Catholic in his youth.
White took a year off from his studies at Brown University
to find out more about his own religious beliefs "Finad to
know the Jewish context of Christianity - that could
understand if Christ really was the Messiah or just . fanat-
is. part of a bizarre cult.
8 THE JERUSALEM POST MAGAZINE
And any way." White adds during a recent interview in
step on piles of rocks. But White is over six feet tall and at
recults "Sheld 10 prosis. but we make her we prom
Washington. "I had always preferred the ON Textament
the time he weighed well over M knograms. They stumbled
miserable with our joking around."
After all Paul had a really annoying personality reli-
and NII his tom leg hitting the ground. causing him exeru-
Anytime White or anyone che felt self-pity someone
your and Catholic but I sure didn't want to be a
stating pain. After falling J third time he JUST couldn con-
remain birn to take a tour of shikin bet. the second
had find some answers."
time One friend stayed with him the other Fritz went for
lution ward Then he could we what "real tragedies" with
He Stys" with modern Istael Tall. athletic grade
help A. he came in the road. Fritz met up Rh a kitburznk
Every often someone would suddenly say, To
looking going and he adds with an ironic grin
be heard the explosion. recognized the sound and set
funny this wine This my life" and the wa
Gentile and preppie-looking" he made friend. early
on in his van to sheck it out Together, Fritz and the kib-
get very, very quive These were lots of things
issumed Hebrew quickly worked on a moshav and "yener-
Dutznik went back into the minefield unitied again
tunny at ail Like the soldier who stole the sleep
ally had at good time." When spring break came around
BY tep on the same tocks, It *** form nearly un Boar and
required to Was su tred at being unable to
White and two American friends set on with their back.
a half to get White back to the road. where by new an ambu-
because he bring himself to ask more H.
pucks and sleeping bags to explore the northern country
lance was waiting
- afraid that he might take too many After Jil.
and where Jesus had preached to his disciples.
it a miracle that we didn't set off another mine?
so young
White suddenly asks. rhetorically Then he answers. don't
"And you would realize that not everyone can joke that That
While Wahout 9 his friends had camped out in a wood. and at
know. Maybe we just didn't step on a land mine. Today,
every one can survive. Not everyone can learn that you really
a.m.. they set our through to hitch
Smith age and greater experience in life. I think that we just
have to value your life more than you value your body."
ride to Kiry at Shmona White was in front, friends sev.
Midn't I'm not less a person of faith today. but I know that
After the initial surgery. White's parents and American
eral moters behind. Then suddenly. his Tue and world
being a Christian or a spiritual person doesn't spare me from
friends encouraged him to return to the US for further treat-
changed
suffering. and it doesn't grant me any miracles. The world
mentand rehabilitation. where he would have excellent care
The earth exploded around me, he landed on
just isn't that linear. But at the time. in my youth. my faith
and a private room. But- he chose 10 remain at Sheba
my hands and knees. I smelled something/diorrible AM was
was its strongest, and that is what helped me."
Hospital. "There certainly was DCP privacy in the hospital,"
my own burning flesh and I tasted din and blood."
White recalls. "There's no privacy in Israel. anyway. but the
At first. White thought he was under rocket attack "At the
W
Thite believes it was a combination of faith and humor.
hospital was even worse. But the medical care was great.
university, they had warned us about terrorists. about suspi-
together with a "tough love" approach to rehabilita-
and had Israch friends and my moshay family and. most
importantly. I had the guys and the tough-love
He thinks that he was NO accepted because he Was good
looking. funny and likable. and also because he was
weird erston American not and deeply design
After some deliberations. the National Insurance Institute
agreed to cover White's hospitalization. guess the NII
embarrassed that an American had wandered into A
minefield on Istach territory. And they knew that pay
insurance wouldn't cover my care. since do you ever read
the small print! doesn' reever and of war and the BAD
probably they MM knew " was the right thing to do
But sometimes he says. "Istaelis aren very
sensitive He revalls the nurse who asked him
fuzzily coming out of one of his numerous
"How could you have gone into - minetield Did
the signs?
Yeah. right. like we saw the signs and went 11' any
And there was the surgeon who came in the Evening
beft surgery - amporate more of his leg. he
up litte on White's stump eight mehes below his
sent White off to get his leg x-rayed "So I'm wheeling
my self down the hall. and had thought that they
going to take off a little Pit. And all alsos.
to x-ray, and suddenly I realize that that line is going to the
the end of my leg.
White remained in Israel hospitals for over five months
undergoing grueling rehabilitation before ne was Titled
a prosthesis. Then he returned to the US and to Brown
University. in Providence Rhode Island. to finish his
degree. He took up tennis and hiking again. determined Dell'
live "a whole life He dated a lot. although he Some
of the women dated were too interested in my stump They
were conseious of dating un amputee. but that's not iny con-
sciousness I didn't see as disabled or incomplete
Then I met Kelley. She doesn't really think about my being
an amputee But then. when she needs to. she is Florence
Nightingale. lancing at sore." They married and now have
White and Ken Rutherford with two local teens and Princess Diana in
four children.
Bosnia last August. Diana was a woman who was drawn to the most
In 1995. White was working as an arms-control analy
vulnerable populations of the earth.' says White. 'There are a lot of
Itracking nuclear proliferation for the Wisconsin Project. a
people who see mines as a security issue. or a military issue - an issue.
small private monitoring group in Washington. when he
met Ken Rutherford. who lost both legs to a land mine in
not a question of human suffering. And she could see beyond the statistics
1993 in Somalia. where he was volunteering to help
and numbers to the real human suffering.'
Somalis qualify for business loans. Rutherford Was in
Washington to complete his Ph.D. and mutual acquire-
tances thought White could help Rutherford receive proper
medical care.
clous-looking Palestinians and so on But nobody talks
tion that helped him to "get back on his feet." After two
"He thought that he was the only American civilian casu-
about land mines. So I thought that these were rockets. that
weeks of treatment in Safed. he was taken to Sheba
alty." White says of Rutherford. "and we discovered that we
there would be another one. and that I had only seconds to
Hospital. where he was placed in a unit with soldiers. many
had much in common."
live. I felt sheer terror. Then there was silence. total silence."
of whom had also suffered traumatic mine amputations. On
Rutherford told White that he was "tracking the wrong
White and his friends realized that he had stepped on a
his first day there. another amputee came up to him.
weapon of mass destruction. He told me that land mines
land mine. "And my friend turned me over. and I vaguely
Pointing to his head. the soldier said. "It's all up here. you
have killed more people than nuclear and biological
realized that my leg was gone. And then the onset of the
know. not down there." pointing to his stump. "And you're
weapons combined. I didn't know that then."
pain, the terrible. terrible pain. when I wished I had died so
just a Bee-Kay la below-the-knee amputee]. so it's like you
That summer. the newly founded International Campaign
it wouldn't hurt so much.
just have a head cold."
to Ban Land Mines was sponsoring a conference in Vienna.
He remembers that he began to chant and scream. "I have
"And I was thinking. I guess this guy is right. Get over it.
and White and Rutherford decided to attend. "There were
no foot. I have no foot, I have no foot." But his friends kept
Jerry. And I didn't want to feel like the American kid. soft
some survivors there and we quickly realized that we shared
their heads. "They yelled at me. 'Don't move and shut up!'
and spoiled. I wanted to show them that I was just as tough
a common bond that crossed cultures. At the conference. the
Yeah. right. like I could really move or that I shouldn't be
as any Israeli guy."
survivors spoke out, and the stories were the same: I was
screaming when I had just lost my foot.
White demanded that they speak to him in Hebrew
going to get some water.' 1 was playing in my backy ard. 1
"But I did stop myself. because somehow I knew that we
("Maybe I didn't want to understand everything"). joined in
was hiking in a beautiful field.' And for all of us. one day.
had to cope. I was able to pay attention to my friends, so
on the black humor, and became a part of the crowd.
the world exploded around us. and it was never the same.
that we could get out. The human will is so strong. you can
"When [then-defense minister] Yitzhak Rabin paid a visit.
But White was not satisfied with the way the survivors
make decisions about how you will respond, even in this
all the guys told him. Hey. there's this American guy who
were treated. "There was a tendency to talk for them Wheel
terrible situation.
speaks Hebrew.' So they made me talk to him. cameras
them out. pass the mike and wheel them back. Like poster
"And I had faith." White continues. "Early on. I remem-
clicking and all. And in the background. the guys are shout-
children."
her. I had a sense of grace. that it would be OK. that we
ing. 'Tayar metumtam. tayar metumtain (*Stupid tourist.
White and Rutherford began to talk with the survivors and
would get out alive. I just believed. and I prayed for mercy
stupid tourist")."
the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) was born. "There
and for God's grace. Despite the pain, White remained
When one of the men went into surgery. they would all
is no organization that allows the survivors to speak out
conscious. It took a brief moment until the young men real-
warn him that if the surgeon's dog was hungry. he'd lose
loudly with dignity, and we decided to be that organization.
ized that there was only one way out through the mine-
more of his leg.
and to turn up the volume about the survivors within the
field to the road. His friends started to carry him. trying to
"And there was this beautiful young psychologist." White
campaign. There are lots of organizations working on dem-
DECEMBER 26. 1997 9
ining. and there are lots of organizations providing various
that are no less severe than Israel's, like nations from the
services, but we are the only organization for survivors, by
former Soviet Union, have agreed to demine.
survivors. about survivors."
"Israel is only parroting some of the American arguments.
According to UN statistics, the vast majority of mine vic-
saying, 'We aren't the problem,' 'We don't export mines,'
tims are civilians, many of them children. In the former
and all that. But this is a global issue. There is now a code
Yugoslavia, an estimated four to six million mines have
of behavior endorsed by more than 120 countries, and I
been laid on mountain roads, in villages, fields and forests.
would expect Israel to join that code."
Between five and 10 million mines were laid in Angola dur-
The US did not sign the treaty, either, but White believes
ing the extended civil war. In Cambodia, which has the
that it will. "And then." he warns. "Israel will remain alone
world's highest proportion of mine amputees, there are
with rogue states like Pakistan and Iraq. And that won't be
nearly 10 million mines lurking beneath the soil, claiming
pleasant."
more than 300 victims a month. But survivors are a vulner-
White also believes that mines hurt more Israeli civilians
able group. with no political power and deeply in need of
than most Israelis believe, although he acknowledges that
services and assistance.
he has no data. "Most Israelis, and especially Israeli Jews.
who live in the bigger cities, consider mines a minor issue.
Tn most countries, medical care if the victims can get it
"But the issue is deeper than that. Banning land mines is
is poor and irregular, according to White. Prostheses are
a global issue. and Israelis just don't get involved in global
expensive, and distribution of the devices is often hampered
issues. The success of the Campaign to Ban Land Mines is
by corruption. Frequently, victims of land mines are
a story of the success of civil society throughout the world.
shunned by their own societies. Many are destitute. LSM
of people lobbying their governments and spurring them to
seeks to improve service provision and rehabilitation of
action. That's why it won the Nobel Prize. But Israelis are
mine victims worldwide. At the same time. it enables vic-
ignoring this. Israelis move in spheres that are comfortable
tims to be heard as stark witnesses to the horror of mines.
to them. They travel throughout the world but they remain
"People don't realize." White says, "that a minefield
isolated... The ban is an opportunity for global awareness
doesn't look like a minefield. A beautiful pasture may be a
and civil action."
minefield. and a hillside with a cool stream running through
Banning mines, he believes. could be a confidence-build-
it may be mined. It isn't usually demarcated or fenced off.
ing measure between Israe! and its neighbors 'It's an iron-
If it were. who would go in?
ic sort of opportunity, since there is not much at stake. Israel
"Look at me." he continues. "Israel takes pride in how
and her neighbors can't talk about cutting back on serious
well it has fenced and marked its minefields. but fences
weapons. but they certainly could talk about weapons that
break down. signs fade, fall or are stolen. and mines shift
matter less, like mines. This could be a peace-building
with changes in weather and soil erosion. [Givat Azaz]
opportunity, with Lebanon. for instance."
looked beautiful. calm and inviting. It looked like a place to
White also wishes that the Israeli medical community would
take a walk. not a place to get blown up.
be more involved with worldwide efforts. The Israeli model
An IDF soldier defuses a mine.
Contrary to the common misperception, most mines are
of rehabilitation works." he says. "I am proof So let's look at
not laid according to well-marked maps. waiting for demi-
that model. and then see how it could work in Mozambique or
'Israel has valid security concerns,'
ning. "And even if you had a map. would you, as a deminer.
in Cambodia. That's a peace-building opportunity. too."
says White. 'But having said that, / still
trust it?" White challenges. "All the talk about fencing and
marking minefields is a distraction from the real need: to stop
A
$ he gets older. White's injuries cause him increasing
think that Israel should sign the ban.'
the proliferation of land mines and to help the survivors."
pain. "There are different levels of annoyance and
Moreover. mines "won't win wars. and they have never
pain." he explains. "I get sores [where the stump meets the
kept an army from meeting its objective. Warring sides can
prosthesis] all the time. and sometimes the prosthesis falls
just go in and pick up the mines. so they are really just a
off. Or suddenly it just doesn't fit anymore, and I get blis-
boomerang. They are messy and they come back to haunt
ters or sores.
us. In the Persian Gulf. American soldiers were wounded
"Getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bath-
wading through the mines that the American forces had
room only another amputee can understand how that mun-
sown from the air.
dane activity can be so difficult. Because you have to fully
"So it is clear: the human suffering outweighs the military
wake up so that you don't fall. If you fall on your stump. it
this is not something that does not affect me personally.
utility. Mines should be outlawed. like poison gas and
is one of the most excruciatingly painful experiences you
When I see a boy who has been torn apart. when I see a fam-
chemical warfare."
could ever imagine."
ily destroyed. when I walk into a hospital stinking of urine
Although LSM began in the context of the International
And there is the phantom pain. "It's so strange, it comes
and blood, I am incredibly affected. Does it cloud my judg.
Campaign to Ban Landmines, White and Rutherford quick-
and goes. For a second, it is as though someone came with
ment? Probably. Does it make me more ferocious in doing
ly concluded the ban has limited value for victims.
an ice pick and stabbed me in my foot, then took the pick
what I have to do? Absolutely.
"Obviously. we support the ban," White says, "and I am
out, and there is no residual pain. And there have been times
"I realize," White continues, "that I have a unique posi-
overjoyed that so many nations have signed the treaty. But
when I have had a phantom pain attack for 20 minutes.
tion. I have an American face, so in this very isolationist
what about the victims? The ban won't help them. The
"Sometimes, I can feel my toes. or cramp my ankle, the
country, I can tell my story. And that will help Americans
treaty stipulates obligations about demining. but it only
one I don't have. I can even make my foot hurt. the one that
to start to care, to start to think about the stories of people
urges the countries to provide victims assistance. I'm thank-
isn't there.
who are so much less fortunate. It's more effective than a
ful that that is there: even the urging was absent in the ini-
"When I see how life comes full circle, it is as though I
Cambodian coming over and telling his story, even though
tial drafts of the treaty. The treaty may urge. but justice
have been trained to do exactly what I do now." White
his tale is much. much sadder. So how can I but do this?"
demands that countries that have used land mines be
observes. "I have a sense of an emotional commitment to
Yet. he insists, he does not think of himself as a land-mine
responsible to their victims," White says.
this cause. It's also a sense of a spiritual vocation. as though
survivor or disabled or victimized. "Professionalizing my
White believes that his organization deserves much of the
I cannot [help but do] what I do now.
injury makes me shudder. But this is the time to do the work
credit for gaining recognition for victims. inadequate as it
"At this time in my life, I am completely emotionally
I do. so I will apply my professional and emotional skills to
is. in the treaty. In August, LSM hosted the late Princess
engaged in what I am doing. I do not remain aloof or apart.
this mission. But I don't see myself as Mr. Mine Victim.
Diana's three-day, house-to-house visit of Bosnian mine
For the LSM. I can play the political game here in DC, but
and in five years. I hope I'll be doing something else."
victims and their families. White and Rutherford had first
met Diana the previous June at a land-mine conference in
London. then they saw her again at a Red Cross fund-rais-
ing dinner in Washington.
A NEED FOR MINES
In July, as they headed for Bosnia for a project aimed at
getting Croat and Moslem disability groups to cooperate.
Diana invited them to stop for tea at Kensington Palace.
After listening to their plans, Diana said that she "wanted to
I government acknowledges, and that's how things will
srael is surrounded by "millions" of land mines, the
Shiron says that, in recent years, mines have been
removed from some areas, including the border with
follow in their footsteps."
remain as long as it is in a state of war with its Arab neigh-
Jordan. Under the peace treaty, minefields have been
"Diana was a woman who was drawn to the most vulner-
bors. The Foreign Ministry says the state cannot commit
removed. "It's a joint effort," Shiron says.
able populations of the earth. She seemed to have radar for
itself to a total cessation of the use of land mines, as long
But military sources say that the removal of tens of thou-
those who suffered and an ability to reach out to them. And
as the terrorist threat against us is real.
sands of mines along the border with Jordan was a strictly
it was real. There are a lot of people who see mines as a
In principle, Israel agrees with the Treaty to Ban the
IDF endeavor, since the Israeli method of mine removal is
security issue, or a military issue an issue. not a question
Stockpiling. Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel
to blow up the entire field. Arab armies, on the other hand,
of human suffering. And she could see beyond the statistics
Mines, but joined the US as one of the few countries
still employ the doctrine of removing them by hand so they
and numbers to the real human suffering."
refusing to sign the treaty at this time.
can be used elsewhere. This causes more casualties.
Diana ahead of other public figures, White says under-
"We support the treaty. But, because of the special secu-
Due to the numerous wars and fluid borders, the territory
stood that even after a ban, there would still be victims. In
rity situation Israel is in. we can't agree to the immediate
under Israeli control is scattered with live minefields. Some
what was to be her last official visit abroad. Diana visited
and all-encompassing implementation that [the treaty]
of these are marked, but some remain unfenced and other
families, rehabilitation centers, and with the factious dis-
demands." ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron says. "As
mines are often washed away by flooding.
ability groups.
long as the security situation does not stabilize, [compli-
"Over the years, we have had problems with old mine-
ance with the treaty] can't progress."
fields," Shiron says "Today when you lay a minefield you
W
Thite still has many friends in Israel, where he visits
Israel manufactures antipersonnel land mines. Shiron
map it out. But in the past, either they are not mapped out,
every few years. He is outspokenly critical of Israel's
says that Israel has extended its moratorium on exports of
or in some cases they are not marked at all."
decision not to sign the treaty.
land mines to 1999. but is unable to commit itself for now
Shiron adds that Israel is involved in humanitarian
"I respect the Israeli decision to stop all exports and to
to a total ban on their use until an effective alternative is
actions against antipersonnel land mines. This included
decrease internal use. And I know that what happens in the
available to ensure the protection of civilians "threatened
sending a team to Angola and an observer delegation to
Middle East is different than in Europe, and that Israel has
on a daily basis by terrorists. We will support all efforts to
Ottawa. "We have agreed with Canada to build a special
valid security concerns. But having said that, I still think
prevent proliferation and the export of antipersonnel land
project to rehabilitate victims of land mines. Israel will be
that Israel should sign the ban. Israel should join the other
mines, and we will agree to gradual implementation [to
involved either in rehabilitating the victims or in remov-
countries and do away with this horrible, inhumane
prevent] their proliferation in the region."
ing the land mines."
Arieh O'Sullivan
weapon. Countries with longer borders and security issues
10 THE JERUSALEM POST MAGAZINE
WALK
FEAR
The Global Movement
to Ban Landmines
Edited by Maxwell A. Cameron,
Robert J. lawson, and Brian W. Tomlin
CHAPTER 7
THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE
SURVIVORS NETWORK
Jerry White and Ken Rutherford
When the Ottawa Convention was signed in December 1997, it included
a clause to provide humanitarian relief for the hundreds of thousands of
men, women, and children who have been maimed by landmines. It was an
unprecedented achievement that came-about through the efforts of many
people. But, most importantly, landmine survivors themselves played a
central role in ensuring that the people most wounded by these inhumane
devices would not be forgotten in the first treaty to ban their use.
Landmine victim statistics are well known to many people, but after a
while the numbers become mind-numbing. It is easy to forget that there is
a face and a name behind each landmine casualty. Also less well under-
stood is the personal horror that each victim experiences in the moments
after an explosion. Landmines tear off limbs and shoot shrapnel and dirt
into the body. Even one's own bones become projectiles. If the eyes are not
blinded during an explosion, a victim can see his own body torn, mangled,
and bleeding. Without nearby help, the unfortunate victim usually dies
alone.
The voices of landmine survivors were first heard at the international
level at the Vienna CCW conference in September 1995. In an unusual
development, representatives of NGOs working directly with landmines and
landmine victims were invited to speak to the delegate assembly. It was not
just another diplomatic discussion with government officials stating the
same stale points of view. Instead, people who were experiencing the
tragedy firsthand were helping to set the tone of the discussions. During
their speeches, persons injured by landmines from Afghanistan, Cambodia,
and the United States provided powerful evidence for urging the ban on
these weapons.
THE VOICES
Ken Rutherford (United States): 'In December of 1993, I was working in
Somalia with the International Rescue Committee. I was inspecting a pro-
gram site near the border with Ethiopia when my car hit a landmine. After
the explosion, I saw my foot lying on the floorboard of the car. I thought,
"Is it mine?" I kept trying to put it back on. I dragged myself out of the car
and called for help on my radio. I am here today because of the resources I
had at my disposal. I had a radio, airplanes evacuated me to a hospital, and
100
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
101
I returned to the United States to receive, to date, over $300,000 in med-
At that time, in Switzerland, the authors decided to create a new inter-
ical care. Needless to say, most mine victims are not so lucky.'
national organization, the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN), to become
Jerry White (United States): 'I was only four years old when Syrian sol-
a powerful advocate for those disabled by mines and to offer practical assis-
diers, retreating during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, laid Soviet-supplied
tance to one of the most vulnerable populations in the world. It was a rad-
mines in the Golan Heights. My mine waited silently in the ground for 17
ical concept in some ways: a new NGO staffed by landmine survivors to
years before it exploded under my right foot while I was hiking in an
empower and offer peer support to other survivors. The authors recognized
unmarked minefield. I wasn't a soldier. I was a student taking a break from
that in the fellowship of suffering that survivors share, there is also empow-
studies to explore the Middle East. There were no fences and no signs to
erment and strong motivation to do whatever it takes to end the suffering.
keep me out. I was lucky I had friends with me and a farmer nearby who
A strong bond began to form among mine victims, along with a strong
heard the blast. All the talk about fencing and marking minefields is a dis-
desire to work together towards a global ban and to find help for the
traction from the real problem: how to stop the proliferation of landmines.
wounded.
Even in a small, security-conscious state like Israel, fences break down,
Together, the survivors decided to increase the pressure on govern-
signs fade, fall, or are stolen, and mines shift.'
ments and international organizations. First, Ken Rutherford and Tun
Abdul Rahman Sahak (Afghanistan): 'Can you think for a moment
Channareth, a Cambodian landmine survivor, introduced the 'Wall of
what a human being would suffer in this situation? Imagine the extent of
Remembrance', a photographic collection of mine victims in Battambang
the injuries and pain while struggling between life and death with blood all
Province, Cambodia. The victims were injured between the closing of the
around. I am proud to be a spokesman for my country. I would like to join
Vienna CCW conference in October 1995 and the opening of the Geneva
the voices of my disabled brothers and sisters
to call for a total ban on
CCW conference in April 1996. During this brief period there were more
production of all types of mines.'
than 230 mine accidents in a province of fewer than 250,000 Cambodians.
As the UN landmine conference unfolded, however, the disabled
Behind the Wall of Remembrance display, the ICBL had set up an electronic
participants felt they were being relegated to the conference sidelines.
counter that clicked every 22 minutes to signal another mine victim
While most conference attendees were respectful, there was a sense that
injured somewhere in the world. Like the Wall of Remembrance display,
no one quite knew what to do about the needs of the survivors. As land-
the scoreboard only counted victims since the end of the UN CCW landmine
mine survivors themselves, the authors saw a need to increase the volume
conference in Vienna. By the end of the Geneva conference the haunting
and to become more a part of the process. The authors discussed the need
clicker had registered nearly 15,000 new victims.
for more representation for landmine survivors both within the ICBL and at
Tun Channareth, known as Reth by his friends worldwide, has been an
conferences. If this debate was about landmines, then who was more suited
inspiring leader in the global movement to rid the world of anti-personnel
than survivors to provide evidence of the indiscriminate nature of the
mines. Reth lost both his legs to a landmine in 1982 near the Thai-
weapon?
Cambodian border. His friend had to carry him nearly 30 kilometres to a
medical post for emergency care. Reth has travelled the world and met
GENEVA: THE UN CCW CONFERENCE
with scores of world leaders and various groups to discuss the impact of
mines on countries such as Cambodia and call for much-needed assistance
In April 1996, at the follow-up conference in Geneva, the issue causing the
for mine-contaminated communities. At the conference Reth told the del-
most disappointment was that the needs of the victims, mostly civilians
egates that 'if it were their children being blown up' they would have
injured through no fault of their own, were not being discussed. Our land-
already banned landmines. He then asked, 'How can so many clever peo-
mine-disabled friends had travelled a great distance to Geneva, only to dis-
ple sit together for two weeks and fail to do what ordinary people back
cover apathy concerning their needs. Did no one really care, or had the
home are asking them to do?'
needs of survivors not been properly communicated? One of the slogans of
The second way that landmine survivors amplified their voices at the
the international campaign had been 'to speak for those who cannot speak
Geneva CCW was at a press conference organized by Jerry White and a team
for themselves'. Perhaps the time had come for landmine survivors to start
of budding LSN 'associates' working under the umbrella of the ICBL. In
speaking on their own behalf.
the main lobby of the United Nations conference centre, survivors read a
102
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
103
statement, 'We Are Outraged'. Survivors from Cambodia, Afghanistan,
people who have been killed or maimed by mines in Afghanistan? I con-
Mozambique, England, Bosnia, and the United States voiced their anger
demn the use of mines and can't believe that this conference has agreed to
and frustration with the world's diplomats and politicians. One by one, the
their continued use.'
survivors removed their prosthetic limbs, describing their personal encoun-
British mine-clearance expert Chris Moon also spoke forcefully: 'I
ters with mines and calling on the world's diplomats to ban these weapons.
accept the loss of my right lower leg and hand with good grace because I
In their statement, the mine-injured asked, 'Why do you covet weapons
chose to run humanitarian mine-clearance teams. For this reason, I do not
that primarily kill civilians and do not discriminate between soldiers,
consider myself a victim but want to point out that people in mined areas
women, and children? Most of the delegates here have never seen a mine-
have no choice. Blown up by a mine in Mozambique in March 1995, I have
field or experienced firsthand the horror caused by landmines. One short
sympathy for mine victims. In fact, I ran in the London Marathon a year
visit to a mine-infected country would do wonders to cure the indifference
after my accident to assist those less fortunate because I believe actions
of the world's politicians and diplomats.' The press conference included
speak louder than words.' True to his word, Chris continues to raise money
testimonies from the authors, Tun Channareth, and other persons with dis-
for landmine survivors through actions. In 1997, he also ran marathons in
abilities who had travelled on crutches and in wheelchairs to speak out.
Cambodia, Mozambique, and Australia and ran 150 miles in the Sahara
Desert to raise over $150,000 to make artificial limbs for amputees in
Vietnam. Chris also raised awareness of the Landmine Survivors Network
MORE VOICES
when he carried the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the
A young Cambodian boy, Kherm Man So, recounted: 'I was blown up in
1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan.
Cambodia
in January. I was going to school with two friends when they
In Geneva, landmine survivors met in small groups and targeted their
picked up a landmine and were killed. We didn't know it was a mine. I am
messages one-by-one to intransigent government delegations. In sum, sur-
14 years old and now have only one leg. Why did they just make it easier
vivors said they came to Geneva 'to put a human face on the mass suffer-
to make new mines?"
ing caused by landmines. We have travelled a long distance with crutches,
A brave Bosnian survivor, Pero Jakic, recalled: 'I was injured by a mine
artificial limbs, and wheelchairs to tell our personal stories in the hope that
while visiting my burnt-out house in Sarajevo. Mines will prevent families
the world's diplomats would listen to our plea to ban anti-personnel land-
from returning to their villages. My closest neighbour and her 17-year-old
mines from the earth. But this conference has turned a deaf ear to our cries.
son were killed by a landmine when they went back to visit their former
We have no choice but to denounce the CCW's shameful agreement.' The
home. I came here to describe what people are suffering in Sarajevo and
statement concluded: 'We were warned that this conference would not
other parts of the world. I would like the whole world to know that pro-
address our desire for an immediate and total ban. But we had no idea that
ducers of mines must stop now so that people don't die and so that there
the conference would settle for such a reprehensible agreement. Therefore,
are no more handicapped.'
we cannot support it and we must express our outrage.'
Mozambique's leading disability rights advocate, Farida Gulamo, said:
'For years, I have witnessed the human suffering and economic devastation
DEFINING VICTIM ASSISTANCE
caused by landmines in my country. Mozambique's richness is in its agri-
culture, but landmines have devastated the rural areas where farmers can
What, exactly, is meant by victim assistance? What kind of structure is
no longer safely grow crops. It saddens me to watch these diplomats discuss
needed to co-ordinate assistance? Which categories of humanitarian relief
ways to improve mines. Don't they see the humanitarian crisis?'
should be included? The LSN began to define survivor assistance to include
Usman Fitrat, 25 years old and from Afghanistan, shared his own
the 'care and rehabilitation provided for the immediate and long-term
poignant story: 'I was 11 years old when my mother and cousin were mer-
needs of mine victims, their family members and/or dependants, and mine-
cilessly killed by landmines on the way home from a local health clinic.
affected communities. Victim assistance includes, but is not limited to,
Ten days later, I lost both my hands and my left eye in a mine explosion.
emergency and medical care; access to prosthetics, wheelchairs and other
My own grandmother saw it and thought I was dead. Let me ask one ques-
assistive devices; social and economical reintegration; psychological and
tion: What was my fault and that of several hundred thousands of innocent
peer support; accident prevention programs; and legal and advisory
104
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
105
services.' The definition of 'victim assistance' was derived from discussions
Meanwhile, the United Nations was still talking about legitimizing
with other NGOs active in the ICBL as well as from informal discussions with
new types of landmines, and a global ban seemed years, if not decades,
government and UN representatives.
away. Some members of the campaign, though reluctant to say so publicly,
Looking into the needs of the victims, especially in developing coun-
believed that insisting on victim assistance measures would just muddy the
tries, the LSN was nearly overwhelmed by the desperation of thousands of
waters and potentially give governments another excuse for not commit-
survivors with no.access to affordable care. Aside from the emergency and
ting to a ban of any sort. Landmine survivors respectfully disagreed. As the
acute medical care required immediately following a mine blast, the pro-
debate continued over the next few months, much was made of 'the poor
duction and training for the use of assistive devices, including prosthetics,
victims'. One of the biggest challenges was to convince other campaigns
wheelchairs, crutches, and specially designed transportation, are of urgent
that survivors were more than just 'poster children' for the ban movement.
necessity. There is also a need for psychosocial support programs, data col-
Strangely, it was as if amputees had to demonstrate that though landmines
lection of mine-affected populations, mine awareness programs, social rein-
had blown off limbs and left horrible scars, survivors' minds, dreams, and
tegration, employment opportunities, and legal services. It was obvious
humanity were still intact.
that, to offer this range of services, landmine survivors would need to enlist
The Landmine Survivors Network, now an official NGO, decided to
the help of all governments and NGOs pushing for a ban treaty. Today, an
take its concerns regarding the need for victim assistance directly to policy-
enormous gap exists between rehabilitative care available in affluent coun-
makers. Not willing to wait until other campaigners understood the cen-
tries and what most mine victims receive in developing countries recover-
trality of victim assistance to the larger issue of banning landmines, the LSN
ing from years of war. For example, the American authors of this chapter
charged ahead by setting up independent meetings with the UN
have received care approaching a combined cost of $800,000.¹ This is in
Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the American Red Cross, and the
contrast to the United Nations estimate that the average lifetime care of a
US National Security Council, Department of Defense, State Department,
landmine victim is between $5,000 and $7,000.
and Agency for International Development (USAID). We hammered away
Another question was how to define landmine victims. In consultation
at the same message-of course, a global ban was imperative, but a 'paper'
with other NGOs, the LSN proposed a broad definition: 'human beings
treaty that did not take into account the urgent need to help rehabilitate
impaired due to physical, psychological, social or economic harm or injury
hundreds of thousands of survivors would be a tragically missed opportu-
caused by the explosion of landmines; family members and/or dependants
nity. To our thinking, victim assistance had to be a part of any meaningful
of the mine-disabled or mine fatalities; all human beings affected by the
discussion on how to stop the mass suffering caused by mines. Solving the
existence of mines who, due to the threat of mines, could not or cannot
landmine problem would require an integrated approach that took into
pursue their normal activities.'
account the need for accelerated mine clearance and survivor assistance.
In late 1995, very few people in the campaign were pushing for victim
In a May 1996 letter, Jerry White, Ken Rutherford, and Marianne
assistance. Several organizations such as Veterans International, Handicap
Holtz, an American nurse who lost both legs to a landmine in Zaire in
International, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
1995, strongly urged US President Clinton to remember that 'most mine
were, of course, providing prosthetics and other assistance in the field, but
victims are civilians, including women and children. Many have trouble
NGOs were not lobbying for such assistance to be part of the talking points
supporting their families and many are ostracized and denied proper med-
for solving the landmine problem. The pursuit of a global ban was the
ical attention or rehabilitation.' The President's response communicated
central, unrelenting focus of the ICBL. On the surface, at least, it seemed
his desire to secure a special exemption for mines in Korea and that he had
logical that wealthier states would resist the inclusion of landmine victim
instructed the Secretary of Defense to look into improving demining tech-
assistance in the treaty, as many of them do not have landmine-disabled
nology. No mention was made about victim assistance. In his defence of
populations. Any mine victim assistance provided by these states would
US policy, the President seemed blind to the humanitarian need for urgent
necessarily go to foreign populations. And poorer countries, those most
action to protect civilian populations.
affected by landmines, have limited means and infrastructure to support
In October of 1996, the LSN demonstrated a prototype of the first data-
the growing number of survivors. Victim assistance seemed a no-win situa-
base designed to track the needs of mine victims worldwide and the limited
tion for garnering political support.
resources to help them. As word of the LSN's new information strategy
106
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
107
started to reach mine victims in all regions, it began to serve as a small
I am also convinced that individuals, NGOs, and governments all want
clearinghouse of information and resources. By 1998, the database
to help. But why is it that victim assistance has not moved beyond the
contained profiles of scores of landmine survivors and their families
rhetorical level? Survivors tend to be awfully strong and motivated peo-
in Mozambique, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Jordan, Lebanon, and
ple. They want a chance to be productive again, not to become dependent
Afghanistan. It also contains detailed information on over 1,000 organiza-
on charity.
tions and has been used by media and NGOs alike as a source of information
about the world's mine-affected people and communities. But, while a
White ended his statement by encouraging the Canadian government to
database is useful to keep track of needs, it cannot meet those needs. Only
honour its own survivors-the brave peacekeepers now threatened by
by engaging the international community in a global effort would the LSN
landmines spread throughout the former Yugoslavia. He reminded the
succeed in its efforts to respond to the pleas of landmine survivors.
Canadians of Mark Isfeld, 'one of Canada's finest military sons, who was
killed removing mines in Croatia in 1994 on his third peacekeeping duty'.
Mark's father, Brian Isfeld, was sitting among the governmental and NGO
OTTAWA CONFERENCE, 1996
delegates as White went on to describe how 'Mark cared deeply about stop-
At the October 1996 landmine conference in Ottawa, the LSN called for an
ping landmines from killing children. He would take candy and little dolls
integrated approach to mine action, including a ban, accelerated mine
knit by his mother, Carol, to hand out to the children where he served.'
clearance, and increased assistance for survivors. At the time, the call for a
Brian and Carol Isfeld are landmine survivors. They, like hundreds of thou-
global ban was receiving the greatest attention. The CCW was still calling
sands of families worldwide, know what it means to have your life suddenly
for legalizing some mines and for increasing the metallic content of older
and forever changed by losing a loved one to these cruel and unpredictable
mines so that they would be easier to detect. The ICBL and its members,
including the LSN, were calling for nothing less than an immediate and
weapons. By the end of the Ottawa conference, victim assistance had received
comprehensive ban without loopholes. Victim assistance and demining
rhetorical support as something that should be included in the treaty. The
were secondary goals of the ICBL, however. The LSN approached the ICBL
American and Irish delegations seemed keenly interested in pursuing the
co-ordinator to determine whether its leadership would object to the LSN's
issue, and Canada appeared ready to take a leadership role. Without their
efforts to promote effective victim assistance in Ottawa. There was no
early interest, victim assistance might very well have stayed on the shelf.
response, so the LSN took matters into its own hands and prepared to fight
But now, there was a glimmer of hope that mine victims would get the sup-
for the rights of survivors. As the victims who had stared out from silent
port they needed to help each other on the road to recovery.
photographs for too long, the Landmine Survivors Network believed it was
The LSN privately urged the ICBL members to help landmine survivors
time to be heard.
get proper care instead of just flying them around the world to speak at
The LSN found an ally in Jill Sinclair, an official in Canada's
international landmine conferences. Usman Fitrat, for example, was given
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Sinclair under-
a false eye during his trip to the Ottawa, thanks to the pro bono assistance
stood Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy's sympathy for
provided by Canadian eye specialists, Thomas Dean and Dr A.G. Watson,
mine victims, and her office helped arrange for the LSN to make a presen-
who enthusiastically heeded the call by the LSN to help mine victims, and
tation to the plenary meeting of the Ottawa conference. Speaking on the
the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights pitched in to make sure
final day of the conference, Jerry White made a statement that was
Usman made it to all his eye appointments between media interviews and
intended as a wake-up call:
panel discussions.
Despite all the talk about the human suffering of mine victims, it seems
MOZAMBIQUE NGO LANDMINE CONFERENCE
that we still have trouble putting our money where our mouth is. What is
really being done to help these victims? Very little, I'm afraid. I do not
In February of 1997, the Fourth International NGO Landmine Conference
doubt that every person in this audience is horrified and personally moved
was held in Maputo, Mozambique-an appropriate venue as Africa is the
continent in the world, with Angola alone
108
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
109
having tens of thousands of amputees from landmine explosions. Once
productive to the overriding goal of the campaign, which was, of course, a
again, the LSN was asked to identify and invite survivors to participate in
total ban on landmines.
the conference. We came with high hopes, even arranging for Bosnian
landmine survivors to join us in Maputo. While eager to embrace the sur-
OAU Conference in Johannesburg
vivors, conference participants appeared unsure of how best to include
In May of 1997, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) hosted a
their disabled guests in the dialogue on the treaty and the role of victim
conference on landmines. As with previous conferences, not enough
assistance. This was something that required focus through the eyes of
survivors were invited, and again, we had a small voice. The LSN had
survivors themselves. The challenge was to communicate effectively sur-
pushed consultants and conference organizers to include victims and dis-
vivors' needs without offending the incredibly committed and hard-
ability support issues in panel discussions, and urged that disabled persons
working conference planners.
and rehabilitation specialists be invited to speak, including Farida
LSN organized a dinner for the disabled gathered in Maputo. It was a
Gulamo from Mozambique and Abraham Gebreyesus from Eritrea.
wonderful opportunity for survivors from across the world to relax and talk
During the conference, Ken Rutherford arranged a small press conference
openly. How should survivors play an active role? What were our own
with Gebreyesus and Mozambican survivor Luis Wamuce, who posed the
goals? It came out during the dinner that there was a frustration with the
question to the government participants: 'What are you doing to help the
portrayals of victims in the international campaign. Survivors were shown
victims?"
almost exclusively as 'victims', many photographed only in their worst
African delegates quoted statistics on landmines and the casualties, but
moments of pain and anguish. By showing the horrible effects, the media
there was little indication that they understood or had much contact with
had assigned to mine victims an aura of tragedy and helplessness. Yet most
the real people behind the numbers. To put a face on the issue, Rutherford,
of the survivors didn't see their own lives as over after a landmine explo-
Wamuce, and Gebreyesus told their stories and pushed for social and
sion. Most felt lucky to have survived. It was clear at that special dinner in
economic support of mine victims and their families. Wamuce, a secretary
Maputo that the survivors who gathered to eat and talk were some of the
for the Association for Disabled People of Mozambique (ADEMO), urged the
strongest and most motivated people we had ever met. It was in Maputo
OAU 'to adopt and implement victim assistance policies so that landmine
that survivors started to address more pointedly the campaign language
survivors can be more easily reintegrated back into society.' The LSN
that often depicted the disabled as helpless victims. LSN was determined to
succeeded in having mine victim assistance included in the OAU final dec-
add images of strength, empowerment, and survival. Extraordinary strength
laration and action agenda. In addition, the LSN called for co-ordination of
is required to overcome disfiguring injury and sometimes ostracism.
data collection and development of a comprehensive database on assis-
Somehow, that message needed to come out, as well as a realistic portrayal
tance for survivors. These recommendations were incorporated in the final
of the human suffering. We would now work toward empowerment.
OAU conference proceedings. One of the wonderful benefits of arranging
for Abraham Gebreyesus to attend the OAU conference was that he was
introduced to Lieutenant General D.P. Knobel, who assured him that
RAISING THE PROFILE OF SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE IN THE ICBL
South Africa could arrange a corneal transplant operation that Abraham
Throughout 1996-7, the ICBL issued periodic statements on the status of
had been waiting for since he was 11 years old when a landmine accident
the campaign, dealing primarily with the platforms it currently supported.
caused blindness and the loss of his right hand.²
Survivors began to push for stronger language on the need for effective
victim assistance. At the very least, we argued, the issue deserved its own
Diana, Princess of Wales
bullet, instead of being lumped in as an inconspicuous clause together with
Perhaps the greatest contribution to the issue of victim assistance came
the issue of demining efforts. During strategy sessions the response was usu-
from Diana, Princess of Wales. In January 1997, Diana had visited Angola
ally supportive, but there still was no initiative by the ICBL as a whole to
as a guest of the British Red Cross and HALO Trust, a British NGO working
advocate for the rights of the victims. Instead, most members were over-
to clear landmines. Photographic images of her walking through minefields
whelmingly concerned with the ban and with building support for that.
and meeting with landmine-disabled persons were beamed around the
Some in the campaign leadership felt that the LSN was being counter-
world. During her visit. she called on her own country to ban landmines.
110
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
111
At the time, the British position was similar to that of the United States—
Mine action programs support the reconstruction and development
unwilling to give up these weapons and wishing to develop new types of
of the community and aim at rebuilding the socio-economic and
mines. Diana's remarks in the minefields of Angola put her at odds with
cultural infrastructure.
Britain's Tory government. Many back home criticized her 'political' state-
Empowerment and training of the community to carry out all
ments, while most of the world applauded her courage and honesty.
aspects of mine action programs are the ultimate goal.
Without a doubt, the Princess of Wales, more than any other individual,
Mine-affected people have a right to participate in political and eco-
caused global awareness of the devastation caused by landmines to sky-
nomic decision-making, to shape their own lives, and to have their
rocket. Her willingness to use her celebrity as a lightning rod for the issue
dignity restored.
was an invaluable service to the International Campaign to Ban
Landmines. Wherever she went, cameras followed, sending pictures of the
Brussels Conference
Princess in minefields to living rooms throughout the world.
Later that same month, a conference in Brussels, Belgium, reviewed the
In an effort to encourage the Princess's work on landmines, the LSN and
draft treaty and lined up those countries willing to be counted as ban sup-
the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a demining organization, co-hosted a
porters. Just before the opening of the conference, the LSN and other sym-
seminar at the Royal Geographical Society in London, entitled
pathetic NGOs, such as Medico International, Jesuit Refugee Service, and
'Responding to Landmines'. Rae McGrath, MAG's founder, had invited the
Handicap International, discovered that there was not one word on victim
Princess to deliver the keynote address. Kensington Palace agreed, with the
assistance in the first draft of the treaty. It was a devastating discovery.
understanding that the seminar was geared to address the practical needs of
Time was getting short, and a serious push was needed to lobby the gov-
those working or living in minefields, including demining and victim assis-
ernment delegates. There were only a dozen survivors present in Brussels,
tance. It was at the Royal Geographical Society on 12 June that the
and all 12 prepared a joint statement emphasizing the need to include lan-
Princess delivered her first major speech on landmines, describing with
guage on victim assistance: 'We ask you to re-read the current draft of the
emotion her reaction to what she saw firsthand in Angola: 'I am not a
treaty and consider how it appears to us landmine survivors. There is vir-
political figure. I'd like to reiterate now, my intentions are humanitarian.
tually nothing in it to urge governments to take responsibility for the vic-
That is why I felt drawn to this human tragedy.'
tims. Yet people are bleeding and dying even as we speak. To this day, the
real needs of mine-affected communities are not being addressed. Survivors
With the Princess's involvement, the media was hooked. Landmines
and the human suffering they caused were now in the headlines. Diana
remain an afterthought. Their numbers grow each day, but without your
understood her contribution to the cause. She realized better than anyone
help they have little hope of ever receiving proper medical attention or
rehabilitation.' The reaction from delegates and the International
that the media would closely follow any move she made. Why not take
Committee of the Red Cross was positive. Several governments, particu-
them to mine-infested countries! Thus, by the summer of 1997, it seemed
that landmine survivors had found a compassionate spokesperson for their
larly South Africa, responded by indicating they would not support a treaty
without provisions for the survivors.
cause and an ally to help alleviate their suffering.
Although most campaigners were enthusiastic, one of the ICBL steering
committee members expressed dismay that the LSN had 'surprised' him with
Bad Honnef Conference
its statement and suggested that, in the future, the LSN would be better
Also in June 1997, members of the German Campaign to Ban Landmines
advised to consult first with the treaty committee, which had been work-
arranged a workshop in Bad Honnef, Germany, to develop guidelines for
ing for months on the draft. Others in the campaign were also not sup-
integrated mine action programs from a development point of view. Again,
portive of adding victim assistance to the mix. The LSN had to identify its
the focus of Medico International, Jesuit Refugee Service, Miseoror, the
allies in the campaign and determine what chance victim assistance had to
LSN, and other international organizations was to draft a set of guidelines
be included in the treaty. It did not look promising, since the priority for
for people seeking to help mine-affected communities and the growing
most organizations was simply to achieve a global ban as soon as possible.
number of victims. The Bad Honnef guidelines emphasized community
At the eleventh hour, victim assistance would complicate the negotiations.
and development. Among them were:
Furthermore, wealthier 'donor' countries would be wary of any language
oblige nut their money in the 'tin cup' of poorer mine-
112
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
113
The LSN decided to turn international law to its advantage by enlisting
Susan Walker of Handicap International was working to build pressure on
the services of the Washington-based law firm of Arnold & Porter, who
governments to get victim assistance into the treaty. She took the lead to
agreed to work pro bono to research legal precedents and draw up a memo
ensure that the ICBL platform included some of our proposed draft language
regarding mine victim assistance proposals that could be included in the
on victim assistance. The ICRC was also very supportive. Language worked
treaty. The LSN discussed its initiative with the Canadians, and Axworthy's
its way into the draft and was ready for debate, though the LSN was not
office offered support by faxing a list of core group contact information so
allowed to sit in on any negotiating sessions. Instead, survivors had to
the LSN could approach other countries directly. Again, this independent
lobby the delegates individually between sessions and after hours. We met
initiative was not well received by some in the campaign leadership. The
with the Germans, the Norwegians, the Americans, the Austrians, the
LSN was accused of pursuing its own agenda rather than that of the cam-
ICRC, the ICBL-in fact, with anyone who had time and was willing to speak
paign. Nevertheless, we persisted, and throughout the summer, Arnold &
with us about victim assistance.
Porter's attorneys, led by Anthony O'Donnell, searched for precedents and
Thankfully, Ambassador Selebi was sympathetic to the inclusion of vic-
ways to legitimize the inclusion of victim assistance language in the treaty.
tim assistance on the agenda. With the encouragement of Canadian Foreign
Affairs officials Jill Sinclair and Bob Lawson, the LSN had circulated its
memo by Arnold & Porter to the core group of countries working on treaty
A VISIT TO BOSNIA
proposals. Even though the draft treaty did not impose on states direct obli-
Meanwhile, the LSN was busy planning a secret trip to Bosnia with Diana,
gations to assist civilian victims, it did require states to ban and destroy
Princess of Wales. In late July 1997, the LSN's co-founders visited
landmines because they were recognized as endangering civilian popula-
Kensington Palace to brief the Princess on its mission to survey the rehabil-
tions. The LSN hoped the inclusion of mine victim assistance language
itative needs of Bosnia's landmine victims. Diana had repeatedly offered her
'would require states to accept certain affirmative duties toward individuals.'
help to the LSN and immediately picked up on the idea of survivors helping
The LSN argued there were substantial reasons to include humanitarian
survivors. She wanted to join us in Bosnia. That summer afternoon, drink-
relief in the ban treaty. First, the primary purpose of the treaty is to protect
ing tea in Diana's plush living-room, we started to brainstorm her three-day
individuals from the type of excessive and unnecessary injury landmines
visit to Bosnia. The Princess's overriding interest was to meet privately with
inflict. The inclusion of language relating to victim assistance furthers the
the survivors and their families. She did not want to discuss policy, meet
purpose of the treaty by protecting individuals from the long-term injuries
government officials, or detonate another mine, as she had done in Angola.
that landmines cause. In other words, landmine victim assistance programs
She insisted on direct contact with those who had suffered.
were necessary to prevent mine victims' permanent inability to function,
In Bosnia, her impact on the survivors was spectacular. She listened
work, or otherwise participate as productive members of society. Thus, the
attentively to their gut-wrenching stories, holding their hands and stroking
inclusion of mine victim assistance was necessary for the Convention to
their scarred limbs. She resolved to do more for them in the future. It was
provide a complete response by the international community to the dan-
to be her last public act of charity. When Diana lost her life in a car acci-
gers posed by landmines.
dent in Paris on 31 August landmine survivors lost a true and irreplaceable
Second, the inclusion of victim assistance provisions within the
friend and ally.
Convention is consistent with international humanitarian law. The
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the 1977 Protocols
Additional to the Geneva Conventions constitute the framework within
OSLO CONFERENCE
which humanitarian law pertaining to the protection of civilians, combat-
Only days after Princess Diana's death, the Oslo conference commenced to
ants, and prisoners of war has developed. Although these provisions pri-
negotiate the final treaty draft to be signed in Ottawa in December. The
marily restrict what states can do within the context of war, they also
conference chair, Ambassador Jacob Selebi, from South Africa, was seen as
require states to accept certain affirmative obligations towards individuals.
a potential ally. He had, however, set a disciplined agenda within the first
Finally, many international instruments refer to assistance or compen-
three days of the conference. With each passing day, it would be increas-
sation to victims as a humanitarian duty of states. More significantly, a
ingly difficult to add new items or proposed language to the table. In Oslo,
strong argument can be made that states are legally obligated to assist or
114
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
115
compensate mine victims. The use of mines violates two basic principles of
By the time of the signing ceremony in Ottawa, there had been a signif-
international humanitarian law. Landmines scattered over large areas likely
icant change in the role victim assistance played in the campaign. The
to be used by civilians during or after a conflict do not distinguish between
catch-phrase 'victim assistance' had become one of the three main pillars
military and civilian targets. This violates the principle of discrimination,
of the campaign. In Ottawa, there were several panels on the issue,
which holds that weapons must be able to discriminate between civilian
including 'Addressing Psycho-Social Reintegration for Mine Victims'.
and military targets. Landmine injuries also inflict much more severe
Mine-disabled persons were now an official and welcome part of the
injuries than other conventional weapons and often result in excessive
discussion.
injury or suffering to civilians. This violates the principle that prohibits
Landmine survivors believe they have won a battle, but the war is not
attacks that produce unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury'.
over. It's time to give the treaty legs, so to speak. Though the treaty only
Violations of humanitarian law trigger a duty to compensate or assist
'urges' victim assistance, we believe justice demands that more be done for
victims of those violations. Therefore, the unlawful use of landmines
the survivors and their families. New battles on the horizon include how to
generates a legal obligation to assist mine victims.
raise significant funding to support rehabilitation programs and how best to
In the end, victim assistance made it into the landmine treaty due to
spend money on community-based programs to help survivors heal and
the efforts of many people, but full credit must be given to the landmine
recover from trauma.
survivors around the world. In the keynote address at the opening plenary
There are still mixed signals coming from various signatory govern-
for the Mine Action Forum at the Ottawa conference, the Canadian
ments. For example, more than 100 foreign ministries failed to respond to
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, stated that one of the lessons
a letter the LSN distributed asking governments to describe their intentions
to be learned from the Ottawa Process was that international public opin-
to promote victim assistance. The letter, signed by more than 20 organiza-
ion will not tolerate 'weapons that cause massive civilian casualties'. In
tions, urged governments 'to commit significant resources to help rehabil-
other words, the large and growing number of landmine victims caused the
itate the growing numbers of mine victims worldwide'. To this end, the LSN
ban dream to become reality.
issued a challenge to governments: 'For every three dollars pledged for
The Ottawa Convention is the first international arms control agree-
demining, at least one additional dollar should be directed toward rehabil-
ment that addresses the humanitarian needs of the victims of a particular
itation and assistance for landmine victims.'
weapon system. On victim assistance, it states in the Preamble that signa-
As of mid-1998, fewer than 10 governments had responded to the LSN
tory states wish 'to do their utmost in providing assistance for the care and
query on victim assistance programs. Though Canada immediately
rehabilitation, including the social and economic reintegration of mine
pledged $100 million to support mine action, including support for mine
victims'. Article 6 of the treaty elaborates on this issue:
victims, there are questions about how the money will be spent and how
much will end up helping mine victims. Norway pledged $100 million
3: Each State Party in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the
care and rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration, of mine
over five years to support mine clearance and victim assistance, but some
fear that victim assistance could be reduced to a simple donation to the
victims and for mine awareness programs. Such assistance may be pro-
vided, inter alia, through the United Nations system, international,
Red Cross and will not address the range of survivors' needs for rehabili-
regional or national organizations or institutions, non-governmental orga-
tation and social and economic integration. The British government also
nizations or institutions, the ICRC, national Red Cross and Red Crescent
pledged to give money towards victim assistance and mine clearance.
societies and their International Federation, non-governmental organiza-
When asked, government officials could not say when or where the sup-
tion, or on a bilateral basis.
port would be given. Though the treaty calls for reporting and tracking
progress on mine clearance, there was no mention of creating a similar
7: States Parties may request the United Nations, regional organizations,
mechanism for tracking rehabilitation services. The LSN will continue to
other States Parties or other competent intergovernmental or non-
monitor governments and ask for concrete victim assistance. We plan on
governmental fora to assist its authorities in the elaboration of a national de-
developing a report card to evaluate each signatory's true commitment to
mining program to determine, inter alia:
assistance to mine victims
comprehensive survivor assistance.
116
THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A BAN
WHITE/RUTHERFORD: THE ROLE OF THE LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
117
ICBL GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
in size. To the contrary, we long for the day when there are no more land-
The ICBL held a meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, in February 1998 to
mine casualties and no man, woman, or child will experience that terrible
restructure the Nobel Prize-winning coalition and chart out future strategy
pain of losing a limb, eyesight, or life to this inhumane weapon. For the
and actions. The Landmine Survivors Network and other organizations
present, we want to see increased resources dedicated to rehabilitate the
were added to the steering committee. At the meeting, the LSN pushed for
thousands of innocent and often impoverished mine victims around the
the creation of the first global task force on survivor assistance. Survivors
world. It won't be easy, as the world's attention focuses elsewhere and the
media spotlight turns to new issues.
are now heading up this new effort on behalf of the ICBL.
In preparation for the Frankfurt meeting, the LSN drafted a short list of
The challenges for effective victim assistance include: lack of reliable
'victim assistance goals' and solicited feedback from a selection of NGOs
data, and information-gathering exercises that leave most survivors empty-
interested in working on victim assistance. The key organizations to offer
handed; limited information-sharing and collaboration among service
input included Handicap International, Jesuit Refugee Service-Cambodia,
providers and local disability groups; and too much attention focused on
Physicians for Human Rights, and the Kenyan Campaign to Ban
'limbs only' (prosthetics) relative to the attention paid to the psychosocial
impact of landmine injury and the survivors' needs for social and economic
Landmines. The LSN redrafted its goals and proposed them to the confer-
integration.
ence. The following goals were adopted by the ICBL:
For the hundreds of thousands of landmine disabled, healing will begin
1. The ICBL will press governments to commit $3 billion over the next
when the weapon that disfigured our bodies and took away the innocence
10 years to support victim assistance, including social and economic
of daily life is banned and proper rehabilitation services become available
reintegration.
worldwide. Our scars bear witness to the cruelty and inhumanity of anti-
2. The ICBL will press governments to support a whole range of land-
personnel mines. But survivors worldwide believe this weapon can be
mine victim assistance activities: acute care, supply of prosthetics
stopped and that it is within the international community's grasp to help
and wheelchairs, physical therapy, psychosocial support, data-gath-
turn victims into survivors who rightfully take their place as valued mem-
ering, landmine awareness, social reintegration, land tenure, and
bers of their communities. No one can make the journey alone. We are
legal and employment services.
joining together to demand action and drawing strength from each other,
3. The ICBL and national campaigns will promote sharing of landmine
and from humanitarian organizations, and from the states committed to
victim information and assistance strategies among members and
implementing all aspects of the Ottawa Convention. Survivors worldwide
other groups to effect the best possible rehabilitation outcomes for
will monitor the progress closely.
mine victims.
4. The ICBL will promote and involve landmine victims and landmine-
NOTES
infested communities in the planning and implementation of mine
assistance programs.
1. Ken Rutherford's rehabilitation has cost nearly $400,000 in less than four
years; Jerry White's rehabilitation costs come to roughly $400,000 in the 14
Victim assistance is now an established pillar of the ICBL. The treaty lan-
years since his accident.
guage, coupled with the goals established by the ICBL in Frankfurt, mean we
2. Abraham was examined by a specialist and in August 1997 returned to
have much work to do to ensure that survivors and their families receive
Johannesburg to undergo surgery. He has regained sight in his right eye and was
the attention, care, and compassion they deserve.
fitted with a prosthesis on his right arm. The LSN wants to recognize the com-
bined efforts that accomplished this act of healing: the South African Surgeon
CONCLUSION
General, Christian Outreach (a British organization), and the fund-raising
efforts (swim- and bike-a-thons) of Rae McGrath (founder of the UK-based
Landmine survivors worldwide commend Canada for its leadership to make
Mines Advisory Group) to raise money for the operation. When Abraham
our dream for a treaty become reality. We also commend our allies in the
arrived in Oslo, Norway, for the September 1997 ban treaty negotiations, the
ICBL and Red Cross who have helped to move this issue so far and fast.
LSN nominated him to receive the 1997 Reebok Human Rights Prize, which he
Unlike most organizations, the LSN does not want its constituency to grow
was awarded at a ceremony in New York City in March 1998.
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a publication.
Publications have not been scanned in their entirety for the purpose
of digitization. To see the full publication please search online or
visit the Clinton Presidential Library's Research Room.
Landmine Survivor Network Brochure
80
EN
Chris Moon lost his leg and an arm while working with a humanitarian mine-clearance team
in Africa. His was the ultimate donation. But he keeps giving. In April 1997. Chris ran 150 miles
LANDMINE
across the African desert to raise $150,000 to make artificial limbs for amputees in Vietnam.
SURVIVORS
NETWORK
Now Chris wonders what you are prepared to do.
LN
LANDMINE
SURVIVORS
NETWORK
LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
MISSION
The first and only international organization created by and for survivors, LSN has a two-pronged mission:
(1) To link survivors and other amputees in mine-affected countries to a range of rehabilitative services,
provide peer counseling and direct assistance, and promote social and economic reintegration.
(2) To protect future generations from the scourge of landmines by advocating that governments ban and
destroy antipersonnel mines and offer relief to wounded populations.
BACKGROUND
LSN was founded by two American landmine survivors and registered in 1997 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3)
charitable organization based in Washington, DC. Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan is LSN's international
patron. Today, there are tens of millions of landmines buried in over 65 countries. Hundreds of thousands of
people around the globe live with shattered limbs and lives, and the number grows each day.
OVERSEAS NETWORK DEVELOPMENT
LSN employs local landmine survivors and amputees as "outreach workers" trained to educate and help
others who have experienced limb loss. LSN headquarters provides funding, guidance, training and
educational materials for each country network. Effective assistance to mine victims must include an
integrated program that takes into account the whole person and their community. Replacing a missing limb
with an artificial one is important, but, by itself, a prosthesis is no cure-all. Follow-on care is needed to
ensure full recovery. LSN has amputee support networks under development in Bosnia, Jordan, Eritrea,
Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Core activities of each network include:
Peer Support for All Amputees: LSN arranges hospital and home visits to assess needs, offer
psychological and social support, and educate families about the effects of limb loss.
Survivor Interviews: Trained outreach workers help LSN assess living conditions and needs for
rehabilitation. Interviews with an empathetic listener have therapeutic and other health benefits.
Rehabilitation Services Directory: LSN identifies government and non-governmental support
services available and maintains an up-to-date directory of contact information.
Referrals: LSN performs an important social work role in mine-affected communities, linking and
referring individual survivors to existing services.
Direct Assistance: When no help or services are available, LSN intervenes to provide the help and
material support needed for recovery.
Resource Library: Educational materials available for use by survivors, their families and medical
personnel to address a range of issues related to limb loss and rehabilitation.
Advocacy: LSN works closely with local organizations and governments to protect the rights of all
persons with disabilities and promote equal access to services, including education and employment.
GLOBAL ADVOCACY
Since 1995, LSN has played a lead role in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), co-recipient
of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. LSN serves on the Coordinating Committee of the ICBL and chairs the
Working Group on Victim Assistance. The main objectives of LSN advocacy are to increase awareness about
the landmine problem and the need for comprehensive victim assistance; encourage governments to sign and
implement the Mine Ban Treaty; raise awareness about the needs and rights of mine victims; disseminate
information to improve access to services and help amputees and caregivers better understand and cope with
limb loss; and promote information sharing among service providers, governments and disability groups.
For more information, please visit LSN's website: www.landminesurvivors.org
LN
LANDMINE
SURVIVORS
NETWORK
THE FOUNDERS
Ken Rutherford and Jerry White founded the Landmine Survivors Network
(LSN) in September 1995 at the United Nations Review Conference on landmines in
Vienna--the first gathering in fifteen years dedicated to strengthening controls on
weapons considered "excessively injurious" and to have "indiscriminate effects." It was
in Vienna that White and Rutherford recognized the power of the personal testimonies
of mine victims from all walks of life. Those who have experienced firsthand the pain
caused by landmines are naturally suited to communicate the terrible toll these weapons
exact on human life. Excerpts of White and Rutherford's statements before the 1995
U.N. conference are included here.
Since losing his right leg and part of his left foot to a landmine in Somalia, Mr.
Rutherford has undergone eleven operations, including recent surgery to amputate his
lower left leg.
Ken Rutherford
In December 1993, I was working as a training officer for the International Rescue
Committee in Somalia, where my job was to help Somalis apply for loans so they could
rebuild their country. My project was funded by U.S.A.I.D. On December 16, as I was
inspecting a program site near the border with Ethiopia, my car hit a landmine. I
suddenly became something rare for an American--a landmine victim. It was to change
my life forever.
After the explosion, I first remember seeing a foot lying on the floorboard of the car.
I remember thinking: "Is it mine?" It was. It was my right foot. I remember that I kept
trying to put it back on, but it kept falling off. Then I looked at my left foot. The top
part was ripped off and I could see bones going to my toes, one of which was missing.
I dragged myself out of the car and called for help on my radio. It seemed like a
lifetime before help arrived. While I was waiting, I prayed to God. I was also spitting up
blood, so I thought that I might have internal injuries that could be fatal. I asked God
that if I lived, I would like to marry Kim, my fiancé of two months, and raise a family.
In the evacuation plane from Somalia to Nairobi, a Belgian doctor and an American
nurse gave me blood from their bodies to mine.
I am here today because of the resources I had at my disposal. I had a radio to call for
help and airplanes to evacuate me. Most landmine victims are not so lucky. The U.N.
estimates that the average lifetime care of a landmine victim costs from $5,000 to
$7,000. My medical costs have already exceeded a quarter of a million dollars.
700 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, #950, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
PHONE: 202.661.3537 FAX: 202.661.3529
e-mail: [email protected] website: www.landminesurvivors.org
Mr. White's injury in a minefield in Israel belies the arguments of those who believe
the mine problem can be solved by better signs and fences. Mr. White spent five
months in a hospital in Tel Aviv, where he underwent five operations and learned to
walk with a prosthesis.
Jerry White
I was only four years old when Syrian soldiers, retreating during the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, laid Soviet-supplied mines in the Golan Heights. The soldiers no
doubt hoped the mines would maim or kill Israeli troops. Instead, my mine waited
silently in the ground for nearly seventeen years until it exploded under my foot and
blew off my right leg.
I was twenty years old. I had taken time from my university studies in the United
States to explore the Middle East. I wasn't a soldier. I was armed with only a backpack
and an Arabic and Hebrew dictionary. Two friends and I had decided to explore
northern Israel on a hiking trip. We were looking for a place to camp and had no idea
that we had entered a minefield. There was no fence and no sign to keep us out. The
next morning, on a beautiful spring day, I stepped on a mine. I can still remember the
deafening blast and the smell of blood, burnt flesh and metal. Only when my friends
rolled me over did they see the extent of my wounds. The explosion had ripped off my
right foot, shrapnel had lacerated my skin, and my left leg was open and raw--with a
bone sticking out of my calf. We screamed for help but it seemed that no one but God
could hear. Either I would bleed to death, or my friends would have to carry me out of
the minefield. Luckily we made it out without further loss.
All the talk about fencing and marking minefields is a distraction from the real
challenge: to stop the proliferation of landmines. I was injured in a country that takes
pride in how well it has fenced and marked its minefields. But even in a small,
security-conscious state like Israel, fences break down, signs fade, fall, or are stolen,
and mines shift with changes in weather and soil erosion.
July 25, 1997
Withdrawal/Redaction Marker
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. paper
re: personal survivor stories (4 pages)
n.d.
b(6)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20040
FOLDER TITLE:
Landmines: Landmine Survivors Network
2013-0534-S
rc1611
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act- - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
LN
LANDMINE
SURVIVORS
NETWORK
LANDMINE FACT SHEET
Landmine Survivors Network
Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) is the first international organization created by
landmine survivors for landmine survivors. The Network's goal is to facilitate among
mine victims the comprehensive rehabilitation they need to become accepted and
productive members of their communities. LSN was founded by two American landmine
survivors, Ken Rutherford and Jerry White, in order to help the thousands of victims of
landmines who live in more than 60 countries now infested with millions of mines.
Based in Washington DC and established as a nonprofit international organization in
1997, LSN works to help mine victims and their families recover through an integrated
program of peer counseling, sports, and social and economic reintegration. LSN strives to
protect future generations from the scourge of landmines.
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
LSN is one of 15 organizations serving on the Steering Committee of the International
Campaign to Ban Landmines. The ICBL works toward an international ban on the use,
production, stockpiling, and sale, transfer, or export of antipersonnel landmines; the
signing, ratification, implementation, and monitoring of the mine ban treaty; increased
resources for humanitarian demining, mine awareness programs, and survivor assistance.
The ICBL represents over 1,100 human rights, demining, humanitarian, children's,
veterans', medical, development, arms control, religious, environmental, and women's
groups in over 60 countries, who work locally, nationally, regionally, and internationally
to ban antipersonnel landmines. In 1997, the ICBL and its coordinator, Jody Williams,
received the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Mine Ban Treaty
The Mine Ban Treaty is formally referred to as the Convention on the Prohibition of the
Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and On Their
Destruction. The Treaty is also known as the Ottawa Convention after being signed by
over 100 countries in Ottawa, Canada in December 1997. The Treaty was ratified in
September 1997 after the required 40 ratifications were reached, faster than any treaty in
history. On March 1, 1999 the Treaty becomes binding international law for the first 40
ratifiers. Entry into force will occur for others six months after their individual dates of
ratification. The Treaty requires destruction of stockpiled mines in four years, and
destruction of mines already in the ground within ten years. The Treaty's provisions for
providing assistance to landmine victims and increasing mine awareness also take effect.
As of February 25, 1999, there are 134 signatories to the treaty and 65 ratifications.
700 THIRTEENTH STREET, NW, #950, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
PHONE: 202.661.3537 FAX: 202.661.3529
e-mail: [email protected] website: www.landminesurvivors.org
Landmines
There are two categories of landmines: antipersonnel (AP) and antitank or anti-vehicle
(AT): An anti-personnel (AP) landmine is, "A mine designed to be exploded by the
presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or
more persons." (Mine Ban Treaty definition). An anti-tank (AT) landmine is a device
designed to detonate by more than 100 kilograms of pressure. AT mines cannot
distinguish between a tank and tractor.
There are different types of AP mines according to the types of injuries they inflict:
Blast mines are usually hand-laid on or under the ground or scattered from the air. The
explosive force of the mine causes foot, leg, and groin injuries and secondary infections
usually result in amputation. Fragmentation mines are usually laid on or under the
ground and are activated by tripwire or other means. When detonated the explosion
projects hundreds of fragments at ballistic speed of up to 50 meters resulting in
fragmentation wounds. Some fragmentation mines lift above the ground (about 1 to 1.5
meters) before detonating, resulting in upper body injuries or even decapitation.
Number of Mines
Over 400 million landmines have been deployed since the beginning of World War Two -
of which 65 million have been laid in the past 15 years. Between 80-119 million lie in
wait in approximately 70 countries and a further 100 million are stockpiled ready for use.
Each year between 5 and 10 million new mines are produced. The average cost per
landmine is between US$3.00 and $30.00.
Mine Clearance
Humanitarian deminers use a toolbox of devices to clear mines: a sensitive metal detector
to detect mines with metallic content, vegetation cutters to clear the terrain, a metal
prodder to hand probe the ground every square inch, and sometimes dogs to locate the
scent of the mines explosive. It is dangerous, time-consuming and costly work.
Sometimes heavy equipment, such as flails and rollers are used to limited success.
Demining technology has not caught up with the advances in mine manufacturing
technology but a number of processes are now being developed, including the use of
ground penetrating radar and passive infrared detection. Such methods may still be many
years away from reliable application in the rice paddies of Cambodia, mountains of
Afghanistan and dense vegetation of Mozambique. The main question is whether high-
tech solutions will ultimately be cheap and accessible to help those who truly need it: the
rural poor of the world's developing countries.
Mine Victims
There are over 300,000 landmine survivors world-wide. Every 20 minutes, someone is
killed or maimed by a landmine. Landmines continue to claim over 500 victims a week,
26,000 people a year. Three-dollar antipersonnel landmines have killed more people than
all the Cold War weapons of mass destruction combined. In Cambodia alone, some
40,000 people, or one person in 250, have lost limbs to mines. Landmines killed no fewer
than 85 UN Peacekeepers in Bosnia. There were 33 US landmine casualties in the Gulf
War, and 64,000 US landmine casualties during the Vietnam and Korean wars.
Bill of Rights for Landmine Survivors
Presented by Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
Amman, July 11, 1998
Consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Based on the collective wisdom of world religions;
In conformance with U.N. Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for
Persons with Disabilities;
Recognizing that hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children injured by mines
urgently need care and support to resume productive lives;
Believing that landmine survivors should share the same rights and protections that
should be enjoyed by all persons, Landmine Survivors Network advocates:
1. The right to select qualified health practitioners, voice concerns about quality of care,
and seek redress if services or products do not meet high-quality standards.
2. The right to comprehensive rehabilitation and access to reliable information on the
physical, psychological, social, and economic aspects of recovery.
3. The right of families of mine victims to necessary relief and support services.
4. The right to employment commensurate with capabilities and qualifications.
5. The right to obtain such aids, equipment and materials that assist in education,
training, movement, and transportation.
6. The right to an environment that allows freedom of movement and transportation in a
safe and secure manner.
7. The right to education commensurate with ability.
8. The right of survivors to participate freely and equally in their societies.
9. The right to peer support, recreation and vocational resources to promote social and
economic integration.
10. The right of survivors to participate fully in all decisions concerning their health and
well-being.
1
LN
JERRY WHITE
202.661.3537
LANDMINE
SURVIVORS
NETWORK
700 THIRTEENTH ST., NW, # 950, WASHINGTON, DC 20005
Fax: 202.661.3529 / e-mail: [email protected]