A Footstep Away From Death

“Sometimes I dream that I have two legs again. . . . Years ago, when I was very small, I went to play with my friends close to my house. All of a sudden ‘BOOM’. . . The whole of my right leg was blown off.”—Song Kosal, 12, Cambodia.

Each day, on the average, some 70 people are maimed or killed by land mines. Most victims are not soldiers. Instead, they are civilians—men tending cattle, women getting water, and children playing. For example, eight-year-old Rukia, featured on our cover, was maimed by a mine that killed her three brothers and her aunt.

A land mine can remain active for more than 50 years after it is planted. Thus, “it is the only weapon in existence which kills more people after a conflict ends than while it is fought,” notes The Defense Monitor. No one knows how many land mines are planted worldwide. It is not uncommon to hear estimates of at least 60 million. True, many land mines are being removed. As recently as 1997, however, the United Nations reported that “for every mine cleared, 20 are laid. In 1994, approximately 100,000 were removed, while an additional 2 million were planted.”

Why are land mines the weapon of choice for many modern-day warlords? What are the economic and social costs? How are survivors affected? Will our planet ever be free of land mines?

Land Mines—Weighing the Cost

On December 26, 1993, six-year-old Augusto was strolling through an open field near Luanda, the capital of Angola. Suddenly he noticed a shiny object on the ground. Intrigued, he decided to pick it up. His next movement set off a land mine.

As a result of the blast, Augusto had to have his right foot amputated. Now 12 years old, he is confined to a wheelchair much of the time, and he is blind.

AUGUSTO was maimed by an antipersonnel land mine, so named because its prime target is people rather than tanks or other military vehicles. It is estimated that to date, more than 350 types of antipersonnel land mines have been manufactured in at least 50 countries. Many of these are designed to wound, not kill. Why? Because injured soldiers need assistance, and a soldier maimed by a land mine will slow down military operations—just what the enemy wants. Furthermore, the desperate cries of a wounded combatant can strike terror into the heart of his comrades. Hence, land mines are usually considered most effective when the victims survive—even if just barely.

As noted in the preceding article, however, most victims of land-mine explosions are civilians, not soldiers. This is not always accidental. According to the book Landmines—A Deadly Legacy, some explosives are “aimed deliberately at civilians in order to empty territory, destroy food sources, create refugee flows, or simply spread terror.”

To cite one example, in a Cambodian conflict, mines were placed around the perimeters of enemy villages, and then these villages were bombarded with artillery fire. Attempting to escape, civilians fled straight into the minefields. Meanwhile, in an effort to force the government to the bargaining table, members of the Khmer Rouge placed mines in rice paddies, striking fear into the hearts of farmers and virtually halting agriculture.

What happened in Somalia in 1988 was perhaps even more heinous. When Hargeysa was bombed, residents were forced to flee. Soldiers then planted land mines in the abandoned homes. When the fighting ended, the refugees returned, only to be maimed or killed by hidden explosives.

But land mines threaten more than life and limb. Consider some other effects of these sinister weapons.

Economic and Social Cost

Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, notes: “The presence—or even the fear of the presence—of a single landmine can prevent the cultivation of an entire field, rob a whole village of its livelihood, place yet another obstacle on a country’s road to reconstruction and development.” Thus, in Afghanistan and Cambodia, about 35 percent more land could be cultivated if farmers did not fear to tread on the soil. Some take the risk. “I’m terrified of mines,” says a Cambodian farmer. “But if I don’t go out to cut grass and bamboo, we won’t survive.”

Often, survivors of land-mine explosions face a crushing financial burden. For example, in a developing country, a child who loses a leg at ten years of age may need up to 15 artificial limbs during his or her lifetime, each of which will cost, on the average, $125. Granted, that may not sound too expensive to some. But for most of the population of Angola, $125 represents more than three months’ wages!

Consider also the agonizing social cost. Citizens in one Asian land, for instance, avoid socializing with amputees for fear of being contaminated by “bad luck.” Marriage might be just an elusive dream for an amputee. “I don’t plan to marry,” laments an Angolan man whose leg had to be amputated after he was injured in a land-mine explosion. “A woman wants a man who can work.”

Understandably, many victims suffer feelings of low self-worth. “I can no longer feed my family,” says a Cambodian man, “and this makes me ashamed.” Sometimes such feelings can be even more debilitating than the loss of a limb. “I believe that the greatest damage I experienced was emotional,” says Artur, a victim in Mozambique. “Many times I would become irritated simply because someone looked my way. I thought that no one had any respect for me anymore and that I would never again have a normal life.”a

What About Demining?

In recent years intensive efforts have been put forth to encourage nations to ban the use of land mines. In addition, some governments have begun the dangerous task of removing those mines that have been planted. But several obstacles stand in the way. One has to do with time. Demining is painfully slow. In fact, deminers estimate that, on the average, it takes a hundred times longer to clear a mine than to plant one. Another obstacle is expense. A single mine costs between $3 and $15, but to remove one can cost up to $1,000.

Thus, total demining seems virtually impossible. To clear all the mines in Cambodia, for example, would require that everyone in that country devote his entire income to this task for the next several years. It is estimated that even if the finances were available, removing all the mines there would take a century. The worldwide picture is even more dismal. It is estimated that using current technology, demining the planet would cost $33 billion and take more than a thousand years!

Granted, innovative techniques for clearing mines have been proposed—from the use of fruit flies that are genetically manipulated to detect explosives to the use of giant radio-controlled vehicles that would demine five acres [2 ha] per hour. It may be some time, though, before such techniques can be used on a large scale, and they will likely be available only to the richest countries.

In most places, therefore, demining is accomplished the old-fashioned way. A man crawls on his belly probing the soil ahead with a stick, inch by inch, clearing 200 [20] to 500 [50] square feet a day. Dangerous? Yes! For every 5,000 mines cleared, one deminer is killed and two are injured.

Efforts to Unite Against Land Mines

In December 1997, representatives from a number of countries signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa treaty. “This is an achievement without precedent or parallel in either international disarmament or international humanitarian law,” says Jean Chrétien, prime minister of Canada.b Still, nearly 60 countries—including some of the world’s greatest land-mine manufacturers—have not yet signed the treaty.

Will the Ottawa treaty succeed in eliminating the scourge of land mines? Perhaps to some extent. But many are skeptical. “Even if all the countries of the world would adhere to the proceedings of Ottawa,” points out Claude Simonnot, a codirector of Handicap International, in France, “that would be only one step in the direction of freeing the planet from all danger of mines.” Why? “Millions of mines remain buried in the soil, patiently waiting for future victims,” Simonnot says.

Military historian John Keegan brings up another factor. Warfare, he says, “reaches into the most secret places of the human heart, . . . where pride reigns, where emotion is paramount, where instinct is king.” Treaties cannot reverse such deeply entrenched human traits as hatred and greed. But does this mean that humans will forever be helpless victims of land mines?

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 6]

Making Money Twice?

A basic principle of business is that companies are liable when their products cause harm. Thus, Lou McGrath, of the Mines Advisory Group, argues that companies that have profited from manufacturing land mines should be obliged to pay reparations. Ironically, though, many of the manufacturers have been the very ones to profit from demining. For example, a former mine producer from Germany reportedly got a $100-million demining contract in Kuwait. And in Mozambique a $7.5-million contract for clearing priority roads went to a consortium of three companies—two of which had developed mines.

Some feel that it is grossly immoral for the companies that manufacture land mines to be the ones to make money clearing them. In a sense, they claim, land-mine developers are making money twice. Be that as it may, both the manufacturing and the disarming of land mines continue to be thriving businesses.

[Diagram on page 5]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Average number of land mines per square mile [2.5 sq km] in the nine most densely mined countries

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA 152

CAMBODIA 143

CROATIA 137

EGYPT 60

IRAQ 59

AFGHANISTAN 40

ANGOLA 31

IRAN 25

RWANDA 25

[Credit Line]

Source: United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs, 1996

[Pictures on page 7]

In Cambodia, graphic posters and signs warn of land mines

For every 5,000 mines cleared, one deminer is killed and two are injured

[Credit Lines]

Background: © ICRC/Paul Grabhorn

© ICRC/Till Mayer

© ICRC/Philippe Dutoit

An Earth Free of Land Mines

WHO can solve the problem of land mines? As we have seen, human efforts cannot root out hatred, bigotry, and greed. Students of the Bible, however, realize that the Creator can bring a lasting solution. But how will he do so?

Establishing a Peaceful Society

Wars are fought by people, not by weapons. If we want to see peace, therefore, the hatred that divides mankind into racial, tribal, and national groups must be done away with. God promises to do this by means of his Kingdom, for which millions throughout the world have been taught to pray.—Matthew 6:9, 10.

The Bible speaks of Jehovah as “the God who gives peace.” (Romans 15:33) The peace that God offers is not based upon bans and treaties, nor is it founded upon fear of reprisals from a well-armed enemy nation. On the contrary, God-given peace involves changes in the way people think and in the attitudes that they hold toward fellow humans.

Jehovah God will educate meek ones in his ways of peace. (Psalm 25:9) His Word, the Bible, promises a time when all those alive “will be persons taught by Jehovah, and the peace of your sons will be abundant.” (Isaiah 54:13) To an extent, this is already taking place. Worldwide, Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for promoting peace among people of even the most diverse backgrounds. People who are taught the lofty principles of the Bible strive to live in unity regardless of issues that would otherwise divide them. Bible education changes their entire outlook from one of hatred to one of love.—John 13:34, 35; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Besides education, the need for global collaboration has long been regarded as a key element in the elimination of weapons. For example, the International Committee of the Red Cross recommends that the international community unitedly promote preventative and curative measures in dealing with the threat of land mines.

Jehovah promises to do far more. The prophet Daniel foretold: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. . . . It will crush and put an end to all these [existing] kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”—Daniel 2:44.

God’s Kingdom will accomplish what man cannot. For example, prophetically Psalm 46:9 says: “He [Jehovah] is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces; the wagons he burns in the fire.” God’s Kingdom will bring about a climate wherein man can truly enjoy peace with his Creator and with his fellowman.—Isaiah 2:4; Zephaniah 3:9; Revelation 21:3, 4; 22:2.

Augusto, mentioned in the introduction to the preceding article, finds comfort in this Bible message. His parents, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, are helping him to put faith in the marvelous promises of the Bible. (Mark 3:1-5) Of course, at present he must endure the painful effects of the land-mine explosion that maimed him. Nevertheless, Augusto looks forward to the day when God’s promise of a paradise earth will be a reality. “At that time,” foretold the prophet Isaiah, “the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and . . . the lame one will climb up just as a stag does.”—Isaiah 35:5, 6.

In that coming Paradise, land mines will no more pose a threat to life and limb. Instead, people living in all corners of the globe will reside in security. The prophet Micah described it this way: “They will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble; for the very mouth of Jehovah of armies has spoken it.”—Micah 4:4.

Would you like to learn more about God’s promises as set forth in his Word, the Bible? Contact Jehovah’s Witnesses locally, or write to the appropriate address listed on page 5 of this magazine.

[Picture on page 8, 9]

Under God’s Kingdom, land mines will no longer pose a threat