Anti-personnel mines killed nearly 1700 Colombians since 1990. More
than 5,700 were seriously injured, Colombian vice-President Francisco
Santos said Monday.
Santos, present in Geneva at a landmine conference, reiterated that nearly one in ten landmine victims in Colombia are children.
The vice-President blamed guerrillagroups like the FARC and ELN for using the majority of landmines in Colombia.
Santos asked the international community for more help to get rid of the landmines that are waiting to make new victims in Colombia. “We need the international cooperation with humanitarian demining activities, the programs to rehabilitate victims, prevention and the training of personnel that is equipped to remove mines,” the vice-President said
The VP said he planned to “show to the world the
disastrous effects of anti-personnel mines” in his country when it
hosts a conference to review the 1999 Ottawa treaty that bans the use of landmines from November 30 to December 4.
