On June the 5^{th, 2001} and in Bouqata’, a Syrian village inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, deadly Israeli mines killed another Syrian citizen, Fares Hamoud Al-Ghottani, a Syrian freedom fighter in his seventies; he joins the hundreds of the Syrians who were martyred in defense of their HOMEland, Syria. Since June 1967, the Israeli occupation troops minelayers have killed many of them.

According to a report by Samir Mizid Abo Saleh, issued recently by SANA, since 1967, 17 Syrian martyrs from the Golan Heights citizens have died; their tombs stand today as evidence of the Israeli violation of all international laws including the UN ones, Geneva Conventions, and Mine Dismantling related laws and conventions. The youngest of the martyrs was Yassimin Abo Jabal, a three-year-old child while Sheikh Ghottani was the oldest.

Yassimin Abo Jabal left her house with her 5-year old brother, Emir Abo Jabal on Mothers Day, as to collect flowers; danger was looming over because they were to threaten the so-called Israeli security. In pieces, and shattered tiny parts, both children were brought HOME when an Israeli land mine, in few meters distance from their house in Majdal Shams, exploded. Another example of the Israeli minelayers killing of children was at Ein Qiniah Village, almost a 10-year old two boys, Salim Zaidan and Hassan Omran, went for a stroll in the fields near their village, where the Israeli mines threw their bodies in pieces to the sky of the Golan Heights; they, however, would ever remain illuminating the star of the Syrian Heights decorated with the flag of their HOMEland, Syria.

At Msaa’da Village, Salha Abo Saa’da, a 60-year old mother, went to collect some vegetables from the fertile Golan Heights soil, few meters away from where she lived, she stepped on an Israeli-made and laid land mine; small pieces in bags she was put in! This was another Israeli message for death, the same message addressed by the Israelis to a three-year old boy, Bassam Yahyia Masou’d when he trod an Israeli land mine in his village.

In addition to the said 17 martyrs, the number of the Syrians in the Golan Heights who were injured, paralyzed or disfigured by the Israeli mines reached to more than 89 causalities

Since the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights in 1967, the number of the occupation victims has been on the increase; contrary to the Israeli sinister bids as to uproot them from their HOMEland, as it did through earlier massacres in Deir Yassin and Kafr Qassem in Palestine, the more of martyrs to fertilize the soil of the Golan, the more of love and commitment to the land of the ancestors and roots.

The United Nations General Assembly issued resolution 51/45 S of 10 December 1996 urging all States to pursue vigorously an effective, legally-binding international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines, aiming at prohibiting, restricting or suspending the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

The world at large stressed the role of public conscience in furthering the principles of humanity as evidenced by the call for a total ban of anti-personnel mines and recognizing the efforts to that end undertaken by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and numerous other non-governmental organizations around the world.

With this in mind, it is also very necessary to recall the Ottawa Declaration of 5 October 1996 and the Brussels Declaration of 27 June 1997 urging the international community to negotiate an international and legally binding agreement prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines, emphasizing the desirability of attracting the adherence of all States to this Convention, and determined to work strenuously towards the promotion of its universalization in all relevant fora including repeated review conferences of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have indiscriminate Effects.

On September 18th, 1997, the convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction was signed.

The world was determined through this Convention to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly innocent and defenseless civilians and especially children, believing it “necessary to do their utmost to contribute in an efficient and coordinated manner to face the challenge of removing anti-personnel mines placed throughout the world, and to assure their destruction.

Furthermore, the signatories pledged to do their utmost in providing assistance for the care and rehabilitation, including the social and economic reintegration of mine victims, recognizing that a total ban of anti-personnel mines would also be an important confidence-building measure,”

The Convention in its Article 1 , General obligations states that

1. Each State Party undertakes never under any

circumstances:

a) To use anti-personnel mines;

b) To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile,

retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines;

c) To assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone

to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

2. Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure

the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

Furthermore, Article 4 of the said internationally recognized Convention, of unlimited duration, stipulates the destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines, each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or possesses, or that are under its jurisdiction or control, as soon as possible but not later than four years after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party.

Considering the outlawed nature of Israel since its creation, the question arises on whether Israel is willing to implement its articles, to undertake, as Article 5 provided for, to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control. isn’t the time ripe now for Israel as to identify all areas under control in which anti-personnel mines are known or suspected to be emplaced and to ensure that all anti-personnel mines in mined areas in the Golan Heights, and those it left behind prior to its forced withdrawal from South Lebanon are perimeter-marked, monitored and protected by fencing or other means.

In accordance with this convention Israel has to ensure the “effective exclusion of civilians, until all anti-personnel mines contained therein have been destroyed.”

As to save the more of civilian causalities in the Golan and elsewhere Israel has an obligation under demining international laws and conventions to provide assistance for the destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines and to undertake to provide information to the database on mine clearance established within the United Nations system, especially information concerning various means and technologies of mine clearance, and lists of experts, expert agencies or national points of contact on mine clearance.

The need is urgent for activating the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining to develop and maintain an Information Management System for Mine Action. Indeed Action Programs are needed as to display the full spectrum of information required to support mine action activities. This includes information gathered during the three levels of survey, and incorporates in particular, the capability to process data on the impact of mine contamination, as well as mine awareness and victim assistance related data. Field modules will be made available upon request to existing or new programs, along with training procedures for the use of the system.

The development of the Information Processing Module and the Information Dissemination Module to be used at UN Headquarters is the second stage of the project. Upon completion, a network would be established linking other UN and external databases to form a comprehensive information management system, upon which strategic planning and management of mine action can be based.

This very utopian dream, considering the ongoing Israeli government policy of persistent escalations, threats, ultimatums, and aggressions, needs sound minds and human hearts to get translated into reality on the ground in a region, which Syria has ever been calling to free from all destruction and killing means. The call echoed by late president in 1987 as to make of the Mediterranean a lake for peace away from ships of destruction and warplanes was recently reechoed by president Bashar Assad in his visit to France as to free this very region from means of destruction and killing.

By:

Mohammad Abdo Al-Ibrahim

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