伊甸基金會投入對美國之行動倡議

Eden Social Welfare Foundation in Taiwan join the March Action on US for campaigners

 

On March 10, 2011, Eden Social Welfare Foundation, a disability NGO and the only member of ICBL (International Campaign to Ban Landmines) in Taiwan, organized a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, the de facto American Embassy in Taipei) to urge the U.S. to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

2011年3月10日，在台灣為身心障礙者服務，同時也是國際反地雷組織(International Campaign to Ban Landmines, ICBL)於台灣唯一會員的伊甸基金會，安排了一場與美國在台協會(AIT, the de facto American Embassy in Taipei)的會面，為的是敦促美國加入禁雷公約(the Mine Ban Treaty)。

This is a global mobilization of the ICBL members and campaigners around the world to act in concert. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning, ICBL seized the occasion of the of the Mine Ban Treaty entry into force in 12^th anniversary to call on the United States to ban antipersonnel landmines immediately. Campaigners will meet with U.S. ambassador in their own countries. The number of countries up to date is 58 as campaigners are taking action.

這是ICBL動員全球的會員以及倡議者於世界各地共同行動。曾獲得諾貝爾和平獎的ICBL，趁著禁雷公約生效的12週年，呼籲美國立即停止使用人員殺傷性地雷。各國的倡議者將拜會駐自己國家的美國大使。目前已有58國的倡議者參與行動。

The AIT referred our request to Ms. Deanna Kim, the Political Section Officer of AIT. Ms. Kim is working on issues of human rights and has met other colleagues of Eden before. We therefore invited Ms. Kim to visit Eden’s sheltered coffee in Taipei and enjoyed bakery and drinks prepared by our staffs with disabilities. We had a nice one-hour meeting on mine-ban issues.

AIT由政治組的官員金玲女士(Ms. Deanna Kim)代表與我們會面，金女士投入於人權議題並曾與伊甸有過交流。因此，我們邀請金女士於伊甸在台北的庇護性咖啡屋會面，享用由伊甸身心障礙員工製做的餐飲。彼此對於反地雷的議題進行一小時良好的互動。

We introduced Eden’s work in mine ban campaign to Ms. Kim. We told her that Eden has been donating wheelchairs to landmine survivors and raising mine-ban awareness in Taiwan over 15 years. Eden has successfully pushed the Taiwanese government to implement “the Anti-personnel Landmine Regulations Act”, which requires the government to demine within seven years and the military has made significant progress on demining. There is one step away from making Taiwan to fully comply with the Ottawa treaty: to destroy stockpiles and to fully ban the use of landmines in any circumstance.

我們向金女士介紹伊甸在台灣超過15年的反地雷運動，如捐贈輪椅至雷傷生還者以及提升台灣的反地雷意識。並且伊甸成功地使政府通過” 殺傷性地雷管制條例”，要求政府必須在7年內排雷完成，而目前軍方在排雷已有重大的進展。但因為台灣並無規定銷毀儲存的地雷以及任何情況下不再使用地雷，使我們距離渥太華公約(即禁雷公約)仍有一步之遙。

We went on explaining that the ICBL has organized a global campaign to urge the US government to accede to Mine Ban Treaty. With a smile, Ms. Kim asked why the ICBL campaigners around the world “pick on us.” “Why not Russia, or China?” she asked.

我們說明這次行動是由於ICBL串聯全球的運動，敦促美國加入禁雷公約。金女士微笑反問為何ICBL對於美國但沒有對於俄羅斯或中國進行行動。

We told her that our colleagues around the world have been advocating mine-ban treaty in every country, including Russia and China. However, among the word’s super powers, US government is making the most significant progress, and we really hope that the US government can lead the trend of banning AP landmines among super powers. We also expressed that, since there is a close military link between Taiwan and the US, we hope that the U.S. would stop using and stockpiling anti-personnel landmines as a role model for Taiwanese Government. And we hope this change in US mine policy can have an influence on Chinese government’s mine policy and have a positive impact on cross-strait stability.

我們說明我們在世界各地的夥伴已經在各國進行禁雷公約的倡議，包括俄羅斯與中國。然而，做為世界強權國家之一的美國正面臨一個重大的進展，我們期望美國政府能引領強權國家禁用人員殺傷性地雷。並且，在台灣與美國軍事連結的密切關係下，美國禁用人員殺傷性地雷能成為台灣政府的借鏡。再者，我們希望在美國地雷政策的改變下，對於中國政府的地雷政策以及兩岸情勢穩定有正面的影響。

Ms. Kim replied that every government, including Taiwanese government, should make its own policy choice. She also expressed her strong disagreement on our speculation that the US government’s accession to the treaty would have an impact on Beijing’s policy making. However, she stated that the US is on the track to a total ban and is happy to lead the trend. From the humanitarian aspect, the US has stopped using the dumb mines, and is the leading donor in mine action. From diplomatic aspect, the US government has started to attend MSP. All these show positive trend towards our cause.

金女士回覆道，包括台灣在內的每個政府都應作出自己的政治選擇。她也表達反對的看法對於我們推測由美國政府加入公約來影響北京的政策制定。但是她表示美國在全面禁雷已上軌道，並樂意引領這趨勢。從人道主義方面來看，美國已停止使用舊式地雷(dumb mines)以及在反雷行動中成為主要的捐助國。從外交方面，美國政府已經開始參加公約締約國會議。這些對於我們的目標都展現正向的趨勢。

When being asked when the review of US landmine policy would accomplish, Ms. Kim said that there is no specific deadline. She said she doesn’t know what the obstacle is, but probably it’s the concern for national security. We shared with her our view that the mine policy in both Taiwan and the US are indeed very similar. Both countries do not use the landmines anymore but refuse to destroy stockpiles because of concern for national security. Therefore, the same argument we talked to our own military might apply to the US military: if eventually all these legacy landmines will be desolate and will have to be destroyed, why don’t we destroy now in exchange for great political gain? Ms. Kim felt this argument quite compelling. She also agreed that civil society’s action would make differences to the government; especially mine-ban campaign got strong support from the US Senate.

當問到美國地雷政策的檢視將完成與否，金女士表示目前沒有明確的時間點。她不清楚癥結點為何，但可能是考慮到國家安全因素。在我們分享意見中，台灣與美國的地雷政策實際上非常相近。兩邊都沒有使用地雷，但都因國家安全考量拒絕銷毀儲存。也因此，我們說服國軍的論點可同樣提供給美國軍方：如果這些留存的地雷終將面臨擱置與銷毀，我們何不現在就銷毀做為政治效益的交換。金女士認為這種說法值得讚賞。她也同意公民社會的行動會影響政府，特別是反地雷運動是獲得美國參議院的強力支持。

At the end of the meeting, we asked Ms. Kim to pass our message and ICBL materials to the Department of State, in Washington DC. (When we followed up with Ms. Kim few days later, she already passed the materials back to Department of State). In addition, since she is transferring very soon, she recommended the contacts of her substitutes (Political Military Officer and Human Right Officer) in AIT. At the end of the meeting, we presented Ms. Kim a copy of Landmine Monitor Report and the Chinese-version of Taiwan Landmine Monitor Report 2009. Before she left, she was shortly briefed by our passionate colleagues in our sheltered store about our vocational training and employment program for persons with disabilities, and she hoped to bring her friends to visit our sheltered coffee again!

在會談結束時，我們請金女士遞交我們的訊息以及ICBL的倡議資料到位於華盛頓特區的國務院(我們在幾天之後確認，她已遞交這些資料回國務院了)。此外，因她將面臨轉調，她推薦往後我們在AIT的聯絡對象(負責政治軍事以及人權議題的官員)。最後，我們提供給金女士新一期的全球地雷監督報告，以及中文版本的2009年台灣地雷監督報告。在她離開前，由我們庇護咖啡屋熱情的同工為她簡介伊甸為身心障礙者提供的職業訓練以及就業計畫，而她也希望往後能帶朋友再度光臨我們的庇護咖啡屋！