Fields of death: only days before her death, Princess Diana pleaded for an end to the use of land mines - includes related information

Current Events, Sept 26, 1997

OSLO, Norway--Only ten days before her life was tragically taken in an auto accident, Princess Diana toured the war-torn nation of Bosnia.

The princess was not on a pleasure trip, but on a mission to draw world attention to the human tragedy caused by exploding land mines. On more than one occasion, Diana wept openly after meeting children who had lost arms, legs, or eyesight to land-mine explosions.

On September 1, a little more than a day after Diana died, delegates from 100 nations convened in Oslo, Norway, for a conference on land mines. As the meeting opened, the delegates stood for a moment of silence, honoring Diana for her determination to achieve the goal of ending the manufacture and use of land mines.

"We shall spare no effort at this conference to achieve the goals [Princess Diana] had set for herself," said Norway's foreign minister, Bjoern Tore Godal.

110 Million fond Mines

The problem is immense. There are now an estimated 110 million land mines in 71 countries.

Mines are widely used in wars because they are cheap to make (about $3 per mine) and very effective. Machines can plant up to 1,000 land mines in about a minute. They remain hidden, buried in the ground, until touched or stepped on. For armies, a minefield can be a very effective way to stop enemy troops.

One Cambodian general calls the land mine "the most excellent of soldiers, for it is ever courageous, never sleeps, never misses."

Most land mines are made of metal. But some newer ones are mainly plastic. When touched, these terror weapons propel themselves to chest height, then explode. Many are now designed not to kill, but to maim, inflicting painful, disfiguring wounds.

Although land mines are easy to plant, they are very difficult to remove. Often they are left where they were planted after the armies depart and the war has ended.

Once laid, a land mine can remain active for as long as 50 years. In just one district of Vietnam, 300 children have died, 42 have lost one or more limbs, and 16 have been blinded as a result of land mines laid during the Vietnam War (1963-1975).

Civilians, Not Soldiers

Over 80 percent of the 26,000 deaths and maimings from land mines around the world do not happen to soldiers but to civilians who have stepped on land mines.

Signs posted warning people about mines often don't work for farmers and children who can't read. Land mines are particularly attractive to children, who are naturally curious about anything they find in the ground.

Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia have suffered 85 percent of the world's land-mine casualties. In Cambodia, 40,000 people are amputees because of mines. In Afghanistan, 20 to 25 people are injured or killed by land mines every day. Angola alone has 10 million land mines.

The United Nations has spent millions trying to remove many of these land mines. But land-mine removal is very expensive. It can take a skilled expert a whole day just to remove a few mines.

"Imagine standing barefoot in a room with broken glass on the floor," said George Focsaneanu, a U.N. land-mine expert, about the difficulty of removing land mines. "Someone turns the lights out and tells you to start walking.

The Only Solution

The only solution, say many world leaders, is a treaty banning the manufacture and use of land mines. This goal now has the backing of many top military officers, including Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the commander who led allied forces to victory in the Persian Gulf War (1991).

At the time CE went to press, the outcome of the Oslo conference was not known. But, it was hoped, the untimely death of Princess Diana may have spurred the leaders to ban land mines--Diana's number one goal before her death.

The main types of land mines are (1) antipersonnel mines, (2) antitank mines, (3) chemical mines, (4) controlled mines, and (5) nuclear mines.

* Antipersonnel mines make up the vast majority of land mines now in the ground. They are used to kill or maim soldiers. Most have a pressure-sensitive fuse that can be set off even by the weight of a small child. Antipersonnel mines called booby traps explode when they are moved. In the Afghan War (1980-89), the Soviets dropped hundreds of thousands of brightly-colored "butterfly" mines that attracted children and blew up when lifted.

Other Types of Mines

* Antitank mines are much larger than antipersonnel mines. They explode when a weight in excess of 300 pounds moves over them.

* Chemical mines release a poison gas when triggered.

* Controlled mines are exploded by remote control when enemy forces approach the mines.

* Nuclear mines are small nuclear devices used to blow up large objects such as bridges or mountain passes.

DOING MORE

Mines have a long and bloody history in human warfare. Students might research this history and report back to the class.

RELATED ARTICLE: Sidelights

* Land mines have been used in wars for more than 200 years. They got their name from the practice of digging underground tunnels under enemy fortifications. These mines, as the tunnels were called, were then filled with gunpowder and exploded, taking out the fortification