Landmines Essay examples -- Research Paper Violence Papers

Landmines On a beautiful, sunny morning in November 1994, an 11-year-old girl set out in search of firewood. Her grandmother had awakened her, warning that if she returned empty handed, there would be no food that day. Pausing under a shady tree, Amelia looked up and wondered if there was any way she could reach all those branches. Testing the possibility, she jumped. She missed the branches, but when she landed, there was a loud crack, like a lightning bolt. Amelia was immediately thrown back up into the air. She tumbled to the ground and passed out. It is very hard for Amelia to remember when she regained consciousness. People can usually remember the first face they see, but Amelia would never see again. She remembers feeling wet, drenched in her own blood, and hearing the voice of her grandmother -- praying between sobs. Most of all, she remembers the excruciating pain. Amelia lost her left leg, most of the fingers of her left hand and her eyesight. The account goes on to speak of her drive to live, but she cannot help wondering what is to become of her in a society that survives on physical labor. Despite her strong will, she knows she will always be a burden to her family, someone who eats but does not work. Amelia fell victim to an anti-personnel landmine, a silent killer hidden in the grass [1]. Amelia is by no means alone. Every month over 2,000 people are killed or maimed by mine explosions [2]. Most are civilians killed or injured long after hostilities have come to an end. The toll comes not only in human life, however. Also crippled by widespread use of landmines are the fragile economies of war-torn nations. The devastation continues for decades, long after all the battles have ended and all the soldiers h... ...pidemic of Landmine Injuries. (Geneva: ICRC, 1995). 5. Jody Williams. Landmines and Measures to Eliminate Them. (Geneva: ICRC, 1995). 6. International Committee of the Red Cross. Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross for the Review Conference of the 1980 United Nations Convention on Prohibition or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects. (Geneva: ICRC, 1995). 7. Louise Doswald-Beck, Peter Herby, Johanne Dorais Slakmon. Basic Facts: The Human Cost of Landmines. (Geneva: ICRC, 1995). 8. Physicians for Human Rights. Landmines: A Deadly Legacy. (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1993). 9. United States Department of State. Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines. (Washington DC: Department of State Publications, 1993).