BWA General Council Resolution 1997.3

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance meeting in Vancouver, Canada, July 3-9, 1997,

NOTES with horror that currently in excess of 100 million anti-personnel land mines are deployed in more than 70 countries, with a further 100 million stockpiled by governments;

EXPRESSES profound dismay that for every land mine removed, 25 are newly placed;

REGRETS the consequences of their deployment, including a reported 800 deaths and 1,200 maimings each month;

DEPLORES the fact that in a world of poverty and need, while it costs only $3 to deploy a land mine, $1000 is required to eliminate one so that removing those already positioned will probably require hundreds of years and billions of dollars;

BELIEVES that the deployment of land mines represents a particularly vicious aspect of warfare, first because the principal victims are innocent civilians of all ages, and secondly because their legacy causes destruction and misery long after conflicts have come to an end;

AFFIRMS actions by more than 60 national governments which have agreed to ban land mines;

URGES those which have not done so to implement a total ban on the manufacture, sale stockpiling and use of land mines;

ENCOURAGES the member unions and conventions of the Baptist World Alliance and their local churches to investigate whether their respective governments have agreed to ban the production and use of land mines and if necessary to secure their commitment to join the community of nations pursuing the elimination of this scourge.

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Lotz, Denton, editor. Baptist World Alliance 1997 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1997.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Denton Lotz, ed., Baptist World Alliance 1997 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1997), p. 128.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 1997.3 Landmines; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 1997.3).