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| UGC bans use of anti antipersonnel mines in Kashmir: ICBL | | | Early Times Reporter
Srinagar | Oct 18
United Jihad Council (UJC) of Kashmir has announced a ban on the use of antipersonnel mines in the trouble torn state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The announcement came at the end of a two-week mission to Kashmir by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) at Geneva and was the result of a year-long series of activities carried out in partnership with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a Srinagar-based ICBL member.
The UJC includes 13 armed Kashmiri groups. Five other non-Kashmiri groups have 'observer' status, and UJC directives are binding upon them.
"The UJC's pledge is yet another sign of the growing acceptance of the norm which prohibits antipersonnel mines because of their indiscriminate nature," Sylvie Brigot, ICBL Executive Director, told News Agency of Kashmir.
"We now encourage both India and Pakistan to consider a moratorium on new mine use and to launch comprehensive mine clearance programs" Brigot added. Most mines in Kashmir are situated near the Line of Control between the Indian and Pakistani administered areas.
In November 2006, the ICBL conducted its first mission to Indian administered Kashmir at the invitation of the JKCCS. Throughout the following year, JKCCS and the ICBL continued to lobby and seek public statements of support for a mine ban from key political parties and opinion makers.
In their declaration, the UJC stated that use of antipersonnel mines is equivalent to blind terror and that use of antipersonnel mines is prohibited under Islam. UJC members are thought to have made only limited use of antipersonnel mines in the past.
In recent years, some of the members, particularly Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e- Toiba, have used command-detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs), some of which have caused civilian deaths and injuries. The UJC has stated it may continue to use command-detonated IEDs against military targets, but has banned use, production or trade of victim-activated mines as prohibited under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. |
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