wfn.org | NCCCUSA, CWS on Landmines, Cluster Bombs

[CAROL.FOUKE@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252
Web: www.ncccusa.org; E-mail: news@ncccusa.org
12/5/2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC, CWS CALL ON U.S. TO BAN LANDMINES AND CLUSTER BOMBS

December 5, 2000, NEW YORK CITY -- This week, the National Council of
Churches and its service and witness ministry, Church World Service, are
calling on President Clinton to join the Mine Ban Treaty in recognition of
the third anniversary of the Treaty’s signing, December 3rd and 4th. 
Simultaneous with this, the NCC and CWS are joining with other faith-based,
human rights, and development organizations in calling for a ban on another
indiscriminate weapon—cluster bombs.

"It is time for the U.S. to take decisive action in accordance with
accession to the Mine Ban Treaty," wrote Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Director of
the Washington Office of the National Council of Churches and Church World
Service, in a letter to President Clinton dated December 4th.  Church World
Service landmine petitions with more than 4,500 new signatures from 35
states accompanied the letter to the President.  This is in addition to the
more than 60,000 signatures that Church World Service has already delivered
to President Clinton while in office.

Brenda Girton-Mitchell urged for the Clinton administration to accelerate
its efforts to become a member of the Treaty in four ways:  announcing a ban
on the production of landmines, committing to a no-use policy in joint
operations, adhering to promises to find alternatives, and abandoning
efforts to develop a mixed system which would include anti-personnel
landmines.

In a separate but related effort, the Rev. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of
the National Council of Churches, and the Rev. John McCullough, Executive
Director of Church World Service, are calling for a moratorium on the
manufacture, sale and transfer of cluster bombs. "A cluster bomb cannot even
be considered a ‘weapon of war’ because its victims, like those affected by
landmines, are not confined to the battlefield," said the Rev. Bob Edgar. 
"Cluster bombs are yet another indiscriminate weapon that continue to
inflict damage long after a conflict has subsided, just when people are
beginning to rebuild their lives.  The moral outrage generated by cluster
bombs is just beginning to take shape and must be as contagious as the moral
outrage generated by the landmines campaign."

"The senseless use of landmines and cluster bombs turns fertile land into
killing fields," noted the Rev. John McCullough.  "The U.S. and other
military forces around the world must rethink their use of both of these
weapons.  It has been our partners in over eighty countries around the world
who have helped to educate us as to our country’s own culpability in
creating this scourge.  Some projections put the dud rate at 30% for cluster
bombs. This would mean that as many as 1,000,000 unexploded ordnance dropped
by the U.S. during the Gulf War still haunt the daily lives of Iraqis and
Kuwaitis; as many as 90,000 may still be active in Serbia and Kosova."

The "Call For A Moratorium on Cluster Bomb Use, Manufacture, Sale and
Transfer" was initiated by Mennonite Central Committee.  Signatories to the
statement include an initial list of 37 organizations from the U.S.,
Australia, Canada, Egypt, Italy, Laos, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. 
Among the 18 US signatories are the Friends Committee on National
Legislation, Human Rights Watch, and Veterans for Peace.  The Call for a
Moratorium remains open for signature and will be released at the meeting on
the Convention on Conventional Arms in Geneva, Switzerland, December
11-13th.

Church World Service is a longstanding member of the U.S. Campaign To Ban
Landmines, a coalition of over 400 medical, religious, human rights,
veteran, peace, and other organizations.  The USCBL will be hosting the
International Campaign To Ban Landmines 2001 General Meeting in Washington,
D.C, March 6-11, 2001.  The NCC and CWS are encouraging its member
communions to attend the conference, lobby day and other public events
during this time.

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