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Anti-personnel landmines are victim-activated weapons that indiscriminately kill and maim civilians, soldiers, elderly people, women, children and animals. They can cause injury and death long after the end of hostilities. In Asia, Burma is currently second only to Afghanistan in the number of new landmine victims, surpassing even Cambodia. Contrary to trends in the rest of the world, the SPDC has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty and abstained from the 1999 UN General Assembly vote on the treaty. Of Burma’s 14 states and divisions, 9 of them are affected by landmines. Evidence suggests that in Karen State there is one landmine victim everyday. Civilians become landmine victims in two ways: when they are forced by the military to act as human minesweepers (see below); and when they accidentally step on mines planted in areas where civilians reside. More than 14 percent of mine victims in Burma stepped on landmines within half a kilometer from the center of their village.
In efforts to block supply routes for armed ethnic organizations, the SPDC plants mines on supply and escape routes used by villagers and refugees. Villages from which people have fled or have been forcibly relocated from are also mined to prevent the villagers from returning, as well as to block access to food, supplies and intelligence to opposition groups. Landmines have also been planted along streams, paths, roads and passes that are used by civilians, including those fleeing Burma. It is estimated that there is one civilian death for every two military casualties associated with landmines. (Source: Landmine Monitor report-2002.)...
