Policy

The Republic of Zambia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 12 December 1997 and ratified it on 23 February 2001, becoming a State Party on 1 August 2001. Zambia enacted comprehensive domestic implementation legislation on 12 December 2003, which includes penal sanctions.[1]

At the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2008, Zambia reported that its national legislation directly covers matters of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1 and 2.[2] It stated that it joins others in calling for a common understanding that any mine that can be set off unintentionally by a person, thereby functioning as an antipersonnel mine, is banned, including antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or sensitive anti-handling devices. It also stated its understanding that transit of antipersonnel mines is prohibited, and that participation in joint military operations must be in adherence with the convention.[3]

Zambia submitted its ninth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2011, which covers calendar year 2010.[4] The submission consisted of a cover sheet that marked every form as “unchanged” or “not applicable” since a specified reporting period.[5]

Zambia attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, where it proposed the creation of a new Standing Committee on Cooperation and Assistance. Zambia also attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2011 and served as co-rapporteur of the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies.

Zambia is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. 

Production, Transfer, Stockpile Destruction, and Retained Mines

Zambia has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines. Zambia completed the destruction of a stockpile of 3,345 antipersonnel mines in October 2004.[6]

Zambia’s 2011 Article 7 report notes that all the information on its mines retained for training remains unchanged since the 2009 report.[7]  It retains 2,120 mines: 100 ALPHER-120 (China); 100 AUPS-24 (Italy); 100 POMZ-2 (Russia); 200 MAUS (Russia); 230 T69 (China); 383 T59 (Russia); 702 T58 (China); 100 T. VARS-40 (Italy); and 205 T. VARS-50 (Italy).[8] Zambia has not reported on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines in recent years.

Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Zambia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 12 August 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered entry into force of the convention on 1 August 2010.

In May 2012, Zambia stated that its Cabinet is considering draft legislation to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions and said “we are confident that the Convention will be domesticated very soon.”[1] Zambia submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 21 January 2011.[2] It provided an annual updated report on 30 April 2012.[3]

Zambia played an influential leadership role during the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the hosting of an African regional conference in Livingstone  from March to April 2008 that helped generate broad and united support from many African states for a comprehensive convention.[4]

Zambia has continued to play an active role in work relating to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011 and the first half of 2012. Zambia attended the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon, where it was made co-coordinator on the General Status and Operation of the Convention together with the Holy See. Zambia attended the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2011 and April 2012.

Zambia assisted Ghana with the organizing of the Accra Regional Conference on the Universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Ghana on 28-30 May 2012 and it endorsed the Accra Universalization Action Plan issued by the conference. During the conference, Zambia expressed its hope that Sub-Saharan Africa will become the first region in the world to achieve full universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and appealed to all states that have yet to ratify or accede to the convention to do so as soon as possible.[5]

Interpretive issues

Zambia has expressed its views on some important matters related to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. In May 2008, during the convention’s negotiations, Zambia expressed concern about the proposed article on “interoperability” (joint military operations with states not party) and stated that it understood that the provisions for interoperability in Article 21 did not provide a loophole for States Parties to allow the transit or indefinite stockpiling of cluster munitions in their territories.[6] In April 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Zambia does not believe that States Parties to the convention should “in any way assist the use [or] transfer of cluster bombs within or without their territories in the name of joint operations.”[7] In 2009, the Zambian Anti-Personnel Mine Action Centre’s (ZMAC’s) director stated that Zambia believed that the prohibition on assistance prohibits investment in the production of cluster munitions.[8]

Zambia is a party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Zambia is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but it participated in the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2011 as an observer. During the negotiations of the chair’s draft text, Zambia was part of a group of states opposed to the adoption of a protocol permitting continued use of cluster munitions.

On the final day of the conference, Zambia joined 50 other states in a joint statement declaring that the chair’s draft text does not fully address the fundamental concerns and is unacceptable from a humanitarian standpoint, and therefore does not command consensus.[9]

The Review Conference ended without reaching agreement on the draft protocol and with no official proposals to continue negotiations in 2012, thus marking the end of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Zambia has reported that it “has never produced cluster munitions” and “has no production facilities for cluster munitions,” and confirmed it “does not stockpile cluster munitions” including for training or research.[10] Zambia has also stated that it has not transferred cluster munitions.[11]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

The Republic of Zambia was suspected to be contaminated with mines as a result of non-state armed groups from neighboring countries having used Zambia as a haven in the 1970s and 1980s.[1]A nationwide survey completed by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) in September 2009 found no mined areas containing antipersonnel mines; as a result, Zambia declared at the Second Review Conference it was in full compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (see Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty section below).[2]

Cluster munition remnants

The NPA survey found two areas containing cluster munition remnants in Zambia’s North-Western and Western provinces.[3] In June 2010, the Zambian army, with the assistance of NPA, completed clearance of both areas, covering a total of 484,000m², destroying 22 CB-470 Alpha submunitions in the process.[4]

Other explosive remnants of war

Other areas are confirmed or suspected to contain explosive remnants of war (ERW), including both abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO) and unexploded ordnance. The NPA survey confirmed three hazardous areas in Lyamunene village, Shangombo district, with a population of 120 people; the area is on bush land and said to have been marked.

A further 15 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) believed to contain ERW were identified in Luapula, Lusaka, Southern, and Western provinces, impacting 15 communities in seven districts. These SHAs have not been marked because community members were unable to indicate the perimeters of the suspected contamination.[5]An additional SHA believed to contain AXO in Sioma Ngwezi National Park, the home to more than 3,000 elephants and several endangered species and where the Patriotic Front once had a base, was not accessible to the survey due to the absence of roads in the park, thick vegetation, heavy rainfall, and general restrictions on people entering the park. After the rainy season the survey team entered the area with Zambian wildlife rangers and completed the survey.[6]  

The areas have been recorded in the national database at the Zambia Mine Action Centre (ZMAC).[7] Subsequent survey of 12 of the 15 SHAs canceled nine of them (see Survey in 2010 section below) and the other six were cleared by 31 May 2010.[8]

In 2010, ZMAC received one report of ERW (60mm mortar bomb) discovered by women collecting firewood in Luangwa district and one new report of a suspected mine. The mine turned out to be a tin can. As of 30 April 2011 there were four new reports of three hand grenades, one suspected rocket, and an unknown number of munitions fired from canons. All the reports were investigated and any items found were destroyed. ZMAC expects a residual ERW problem to continue into the foreseeable future.[9]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Mine action in Zambia is managed by the National Committee on Anti-Personnel Landmines (NCAL), with ZMAC playing an important coordination role.[10]The director of ZMAC represents Zambia at international fora and mobilizes resources at both the national and international level.

Zambia maintains a residual demining/explosive ordnance disposal capacity through the army and the Police Service.[11]

Land Release

The nationwide survey in 2009 did not identify any areas containing antipersonnel mines. As a result, previously suspected regions were canceled through non-technical survey. The survey found that the Zambian army had already cleared all known mined areas and some ERW.[12]

Survey in 2010

As a result of the NPA survey conducted between August 2008 and June 2009 across seven (Central, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, North-Western, Southern, and Western) of Zambia’s nine provinces, 4.65km² of SHAs impacting farming, grazing, and housing was canceled. In addition, NPA verified 37km of road and destroyed a total of 1,449 ERW.[13] The survey identified 15 SHAs, of which incidents were reported in eight. Of the 15 SHAs, nine were canceled and the remaining six SHAs were cleared by 31 May 2010 of 22 unexploded submunitions and 1,427 other ERW. No mined areas were found.[14]

In addition, after June 2010, a previously inaccessible SHA in Sioma Ngwezi National Park was surveyed with assistance from the Zambia Wildlife Authority and the surrounding communities. Non-technical survey found no evidence of contamination and the SHA was canceled.[15] 

Clearance in 2010

In 2010, the Zambian army cleared 376,000m² of area containing cluster munition remnants, destroying four unexploded submunitions in the process.[16]

In 2010, ZMAC destroyed one 60mm mortar bomb found in Luangwa district and, by 30 April 2011, destroyed three hand grenades, one suspected rocket, and an unknown number of other artillery-fired munitions.[17]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

At the Second Review Conference in Cartagena in December 2009, Zambia announced it was fully compliant with Article 5, more than 20 months ahead of its deadline of 1 August 2011. Also in Cartagena, Zambia said that even though it was not mine-affected, ERW contamination was still a major concern and, as a result, RE activities would continue.[18]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Zambia was required to complete clearance of all areas affected by cluster munition remnants under its jurisdiction or control by 1 August 2020. As noted above, Zambia conducted a baseline survey to identify the affected areas. In June 2010 the Zambian army, with assistance from NPA, completed clearance of both contaminated areas.[19]

 Other Risk Reduction Measures

ZMAC has continued to conduct RE in communities near international borders considered to be most at risk of injury due to the presence of ERW. In 2010, this included the districts of Sesheke, Kalomo, Katete, Petauke, and Luangwa.[20]

ZMAC coordinates RE training for refugees from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Meheba (Solwezi), Kala (Kawambwa), Mwange (Mporokoso), and Mayukwayukwa (Kaoma) refugee camps through a tripartite agreement between the government of the Republic of Zambia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the DRC and UNHCR in Angola. RE is provided by “volunteer communicators.” At the end of 2010, there were 20 volunteers in the four refugee camps.[21]

In 2009, Zambia announced completion of its Article 5 mine clearance obligation,[1] however in 2010 Zambia remained affected by cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war. Clearance of cluster munition remnants was completed in June 2010.[2]

In 2010, Norway was Zambia’s sole international mine action donor, contributing NOK2 million (US$330,846) towards clearance activities via Norwegian People’s Aid.[3] This represented an increase of 4% compared to 2009.

Between 2005 and 2009 Canada, Norway, and Sweden also contributed to mine action in Zambia.[4]

Zambia did not report any contributions to its mine action program in 2010. Zambia contributed a total of $1,368,504 towards its mine action program from 2006–2010, which was slightly less than international contributions to mine action totaling $1,651,470 over the same period.

Summary of contributions: 2006–2010[5]

N/R = Not reported