Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi calls for a ban on mine use in Myanmar/Burma.
In recent years, Myanmar/Burma is the only country where there has been confirmed, regular use of antipersonnel mines by government forces.
During an ICBL mission to the country Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, said that all combatants within the country should end use of antipersonnel mines. She called on both the formal military forces, known in Burmese by its acronym, the Tat Ma Daw, as well as combatants in ethnic militias, to “cease the way of mines”
Aung San Suu Kyi endorsed the Mine Ban Treaty when it was adopted in 1997 (in a message to the ICBL on the occasion of its Noble Peace Prize concert). She has promoted the landmine ban on several occasions and in December 2010 added her name to the list of 15 other Nobel Peace Laureates who signed a letter to President Obama calling on the United States to ban landmines.
Co-Laureate Jody Williams stated today, “We are all thrilled that Aung San Suu Kyi continues speaking out in support of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Her call for all fighting forces in Burma to end the use of landmines is particularly important as the country is the only one where mine use has continued unabated since the treaty was signed.”
Aung San Suu Kyi has stated in her recent message on the mine ban that, “Ethnic armed groups, if they carry arms in order to protect their own people and the areas where they live, should not use landmines in their engagement in military operations. Likewise, the Tat Ma Daw should also not be engaged in using landmines if they really want to protect the lives of the ethnic people of the country.”
She urged all combatants, “to start to ban landmines in their operations without waiting for their opponent to start to do it.”
Aung San Suu Kyi’s full video statement, [in Burmese, in mp4 format, also suitable for mobile phones.]
Audio only of Aung San Suu Kyi’s statement [in Burmese].