Landmines
- is an explosive device, concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near the device.
- are typically detonated automatically by way of pressure from the target stepping or driving on it, though other detonation mechanisms may be possible. The device may cause damage either by a direct blast or by fragments that are thrown by the blast.
Landmines
can be categorized as:
- APM- Anti Personnel Mine
- AVM- Anti Vehicle Mine
They can
either be command-detonated or triggered by a victim who steps on it.
The New
People's Army (NPA) continues to use command-detonated landmines in
its guerrilla attacks against the police and the military. Landmines
were widely used during World War II, and in succeeding conflicts
including the Vietnam War, Korean War, and the first Gulf War.
According
to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), almost all
armed forces in the world deployed the weapons until the 1990s. The
Nobel Peace Prize-winning campaign helped bring about the 1997 Ottawa
Treaty or the Mine
Ban Treaty, which significantly reduced
landmine use across the world.
1997
Ottawa Treaty (Mine
Ban Treaty)
The Ottawa
Treaty, the Anti-Personnel
Mine Ban Convention, or often simply referred
to as the Mine Ban Treaty,
but officially known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on
their Destruction, aims at eliminating anti-personnel
landmines (AP-mines) around the world.
The
Philippines ratified the treaty in February 2000, maintaining that it
never produced and exported anti-personnel mines. The Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) claims it does not use these weapons against
insurgents. But the NPA, the military arm of the Communist Party of
the Philippines (CPP), does.
Jose
Maria Sison, the founding chairman of the CPP, said that landmines
are necessary to deter security forces from encroaching on the
"territory of the people's democratic government" while the
armed conflict is ongoing.
"Landmines are a poor man's weapon. Aerial
bombing and artillery fire are weapons of those who oppress the
people," - Sison
The
Aquino government has criticized the NPA's continued use of this
device, saying it violates laws on landmines and international
humanitarian laws.
The
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which represents
the CPP and the NPA in the suspended peace negotiations with
government, belies the accusation.
"The use of command-detonated landmines by the
NPA does not violate the Ottawa Treaty and its protocol. In this
regard, the NDFP is well advised by an international legal advisory
team composed of prominent lawyers who are experts in international
law,“- Sison
The
National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which represents
the CPP and the NPA in the suspended peace negotiations with
government, belies the accusation.
"The use of command-detonated landmines by the
NPA does not violate the Ottawa Treaty and its protocol. In this
regard, the NDFP is well advised by an international legal advisory
team composed of prominent lawyers who are experts in international
law,“- Sison
Judge
Soliman Santos Jr, PCBL founding coordinator explained that
command-detonated landmines, which are not banned under the Ottawa
Treaty, can be regulated as "legitimate weapons of war."
They require the presence of a person to observe the landmine
position and detonate it to hit only legitimate targets.
Campaigners
against landmines pointed out that the munitions are not only deadly,
they also deprive rural communities of livelihood as lands become
unsafe for agricultural activities, settlement, and transit during or
after an armed conflict.
The ICBL
believes that the weapons still pose "a significant and lasting
threat" to civilian populations. "Peace agreements may be
signed, and hostilities may cease, but landmines and explosive
remnants of war (ERW) are an enduring legacy of conflict," the
ICBL stated in its 2012 report.
The NDFP
sticks to its 2005 proposal to have "an agreement of truce and
alliance on the basis of a general declaration of common intent to
realize full independence, democracy, and economic development
through national industrialization and land reform."
"If there is such an
agreement, the armed conflict ceases and there is no more need for
land mines, aerial bombs and artillery fire or any other kind of
weapon," Sison explained.
But the
government has already abandoned the old process which the communists
continue to uphold.
In a
statement, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos
Deles said:
"the government is currently developing a 'new
approach' for the negotiations as a sign of its continuing commitment
to deliver a peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in the country
after it has yet again reached an impasse."
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