Human Rights In Minefields

Este libro reúne los relatos de 16 investigadores activistas del Sur Global sobre diferentes temas de derechos humanos en sus respectivos países. Son el resultado del primer taller de investigación-acción que llevó a cabo Dejusticia.

Recounts and evaluates the worldwide effort to ban landmines.

10. The future of Landmines

Momentum for a ban

Against all odds, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines helped to enact a global treaty banning antipersonnel mines in 1997. For that achievement it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In this volume, Leon Sigal shows how a handful of NGOs with almost no mass base got more than 100 countries to outlaw a weapon that their armies had long used. It is a story of intrigue and misperception, of clashing norms and interests, of contentious bureaucratic and domestic politics. It is also a story of effective leadership, of sustained commitment to a cause, of alliances between campaigners and government officials, of a US senator who championed the ban, and of the skilful use of the news media. Despite this monumental effort, the campaign failed to get the United States to sign the treaty. Drawing on extensive internal documents and interviews with US officials and ban campaigners, Sigal tells the story of the in-fighting inside the Clinton administration, in the Pentagon, and within the ban campaign itself that led to this major setback for an otherwise unprecedented, successful global effort. Negotiating Minefields will be of interest to students and scholars of military and strategic studies and politics and international relations.

Against all odds, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines helped to enact a global treaty banning antipersonnel mines in 1997. For that achievement it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In this volume, Leon Sigal shows how a handful of NGOs with almost no mass base got more than 100 countries to outlaw a weapon that their armies had long used. It is a story of intrigue and misperception, of clashing norms and interests, of contentious bureaucratic and domestic politics. It is also a story of effective leadership, of sustained commitment to a cause, of alliances between campaigners and government officials, of a US senator who championed the ban, and of the skilful use of the news media. Despite this monumental effort, the campaign failed to get the United States to sign the treaty. Drawing on extensive internal documents and interviews with US officials and ban campaigners, Sigal tells the story of the in-fighting inside the Clinton administration, in the Pentagon, and within the ban campaign itself that led to this major setback for an otherwise unprecedented, successful global effort. Negotiating Minefields will be of interest to students and scholars of military and strategic studies and politics and international relations.

Thousands of people around the world are maimed and killed by landmines and unexploded ammunition every year. International law classifies landmines as 'evil in themselves', but minefields are expressions of 'political minefields' that create them and allow them to persist. In this travelogue through Iraq, Laos, Cambodia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and New York City, we follow Matthew Bolton's quest for solutions to the landmine crisis and emerging autonomous weapons. Throughout his journey we meet deminers, paramilitaries, journalists, mercenaries, diplomats, aid workers, and campaigners working in and around the minefields. It is a must-read for those working to alleviate the devastation of war.