Anti-Vehicle Land Mines
The Australian Government is today being urged to join with other countries and ban the use, importation and stockpiling of anti-vehicle landmines. Anti-vehicle mines kill hundreds of civilians, aid workers, mine clearers and peacekeepers each year. They’re not covered by the same international conventions which ban anti-personell landmines. Today’s push comes as the Australian Network of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Uniting Church in Victoria release a report into the attitiudes of governments around the world towards a ban on anti-vehicle mines. Co-author of the report Dr Mark Zirnsak says anti-vehicle mines don’t discriminate between who they kill, so they should face the same bans as anti-personell mines. SAS Seargent Andrew Russell was killed by an anti-vehicle mine in Afghanistan in 2002, which was left over from the Soviet invasion twenty years ago. His widow Kylie Russell and the MP for Cowan Graham Edwards, who lost both legs to a landmine in Vietnam, spoke about their personal experiences.