Elephants and Landmines

Warning! Adorable baby critter ahead! Last fall some of our Esteemed Readers were fascinated by this New York Times report about the deterioration of elephant society and the parallels and intersections with human rights concerns. So now I bring a more upbeat elephant story about a hospital in Thailand that fits pachyderms for prostheses after the animals are injured by landmines. CNN has video.

And here's a fun bit of street theater: place frisbees that resemble landmines where those picking them up will find an anti-landmine message on the reverse. Considering the number of times I've walked across a college campus and been nearly beaned by a wayward frisbee from a game of frisbee golf, I'd say it would be a great student outreach project. Where can we get some?

Victim-Activated Landmine Act

A question was raised at one of our non-virtual meetings regarding a new piece of legislation we are working on regarding the meaning of "victim-activated" landmine.  We have an answer!

The Victim-Activated Landmine Act of 2006 (S. 3768) would ensure that the U.S. government only procures command activated weapons as opposed to victim activated weapons. Command activated munitions are detonated by human decision through remote-controlled means, requiring a user to identify a target first in order to ensure that they are not a civilian or a friendly force.

More background here.  Multi-media stories of landmine survivors here.  Everything else you need to know at the International Campaign to Ban Landmines site.

Tags: Amnesty International, landmines