How the U.S. Can Better Address Landmines and Cluster Munitions | USCBL-CMC Event

Landmines and cluster munitions are among the most deadly weapons for civilians around the world. Despite international efforts to eradicate landmines and cluster munitions, they kill and injure civilians year after year, roughly half being children.As the world’s leading military power, the United States has an important role to play in these efforts. While the U.S. government has taken some steps to limit the use of landmines, it has not ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. And, its decision last year to waive congressional restrictions to transfer cluster munitions internationally is now undermining the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In this panel, survivors, advocates, and policy experts will speak about the human consequences of using landmines and cluster munitions, discuss U.S. landmines and cluster munitions policy, and provide recommendations to the U.S. government in the new Congress and Administration.

Speaker Bios:
Mary Wareham is the deputy director of the Crisis, Conflict and Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, where she manages the division’s Arms Program, working to advance humanitarian disarmament and enhance protections for civilians from various weapons. Mary coordinated the Stop Killer Robots campaign from its inception in 2012 until March 2021.She contributed to the adoption of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. She assisted Jody Williams in coordinating the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize together with Williams and established and coordinated the Landmine Monitor research initiative to verify implementation of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.

Lee Po Cha, MBA, became IRCO's Executive Director in April 2015. He has served IRCO since 1981 in a multitude of leadership roles, most recently as Associate Director and Director of IRCO's Pacific Islander & Asian Family Center, which he helped found in 1994. A former refugee from Laos, Lee came to Oregon in 1978 and received his MBA from Marylhurst University. As a Hmong American, he embodies the vision of IRCO as an organization committed to helping each immigrant and refugee family achieve their full potential in their new home.

Dr. Larry Schwab graduated from the WVU School of Medicine in 1966 and Larry Schwab was drafted during his medical internship to serve as a medical officer in Vietnam. Schwab returned to Vietnam in the 1990s to provide medical treatment and advice, and he became active in the international movement to ban land mines. He co-founded the the West Virginia Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster bombs as well as student organization PSALM, Proud Students Against Landmines

Antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions are among the deadliest weapons for civilians around the world. Despite international efforts to eradicate antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions, they kill and injure civilians year after year, roughly half being children. In this panel, survivors, advocates, and policy experts will speak about the human consequences of using antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions, discuss U.S. landmine and cluster munition policy, and provide recommendations for the U.S. government.