New Zealand’s
Minister of Youth Affairs and Associate Minister of Women’s Affairs, the
Honourable Deborah Morris, signed the Mine Ban Treaty in Ottawa, Canada on 3
December 1997. In a statement to the signing conference, she noted,“In a
sense landmines is not just a matter of foreign policy or defense: it is a youth
issue and a women’s
issue.”[1]
One year after New Zealand signed the ban treaty, its ratification and
implementing legislation --the “Antipersonnel Mines Prohibition
Bill”-- completed its progress through Parliament. The legislation
(referred to hereafter as the Act) was given the Royal Assent on 8 December 1998
and came into force the following day. New Zealand deposited its instrument of
ratification at the United Nations in New York on 27 January 1999, the
sixty-fourth nation to do so.
New Zealand first spoke in support of a total and immediate ban on
antipersonnel landmines during the September 1995 Vienna session of the
Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Review Conference. On 22 April 1996,
at the Geneva opening of the final session of the CCW Review, New Zealand
unilaterally renounced the operational use of antipersonnel mines through a
joint statement by the Minister of Defence and the Minister for Disarmament and
Arms Control.[2] This decision
to renounce antipersonnel landmines came after three years of campaigning by
non-governmental organizations under the umbrella of the New Zealand Campaign
Against Landmines (CALM). Upon ratifying the ban treaty New Zealand’s
Disarmament and Arms Control Minister, Don McKinnon, acknowledged the role of
NGOs in making the ban a reality: "This has been a unique international
movement. New Zealanders have played a significant role internationally in
efforts to negotiate a ban on antipersonnel mines. They have been supported
back home by the New Zealand Campaign Against Landmines (CALM) and many other
groups."[3]
During the parliamentary debate on the ratification and implementation
legislation, McKinnon explained the policy change this way: "New Zealand has
already declared that we do not need antipersonnel landmines. Our forces have
not used them since the Korean War, and we hold no stocks of these weapons. In
1996 the Government announced a moratorium on the use of landmines, which
resulted in our Defence Force unilaterally renouncing the use of landmines as a
weapon of war. By signing the Ottawa treaty, the Government made it clear that
we will explore all avenues for achieving a complete global ban, and that is
what this Bill seeks to
do."[4]
New Zealand attended the early meetings of pro-ban governments during the
close of the CCW Review in 1996 and from then on participated in the Core Group
of countries driving the Ottawa Process. It signed the Brussels Declaration,
actively supported the key General Assembly resolutions and in the lead-up to
the December signing ceremonies, New Zealand encouraged as many countries as
possible to sign the ban
treaty.[5]
New Zealand is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, and
ratified the amended Landmines Protocol on 8 January 1998. It is also one of
the more recent members of the Conference on Disarmament. New Zealand's strong
preference is to promote the Mine Ban Treaty, not lesser measures through the CD
because “New Zealand believes that the best way to push forward is to
continue to extend the Ottawa membership, not to develop new instruments that
run the risk of diluting support for all mine control and elimination
measures.”[6]
Antipersonnel Mines Prohibition Act
The prohibitions in the domestic ban bill apply anywhere in New Zealand
territory and in Tokelau, a dependent territory administered by New
Zealand.[7] Engaging in
prohibited activity is made an offense at domestic law, punishable by
imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or a fine not exceeding
N.Z.$500,000 (approximately U.S.$250,000). Antitank mines, antihandling devices
and Claymore mines are not covered. Claymore mines are considered to be
command-detonated devices and hence excluded from the Act. The rigging of
Claymores so as to detonate by tripwire is a technique no longer taught or
practiced by the New Zealand Defence
Force.[8]
The Act contains a provision which allows a member of the armed forces "in
the course of his or her duties, to participate in operations, exercises, or
other military activities with armed forces of a state not a party to the
Convention that engage in conduct prohibited by Section 7 (1), if that
participation does not amount to active assistance in the prohibited
conduct."[9]
The Act does not contain provisions with regard to international cooperation
and assistance in areas such as demining, assisting mine victims, developing
mine awareness programmes and sharing information on the means and technologies
of mine clearance. They are considered as executive or administrative matters
and not necessary to be included in
legislation.[10]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use
New Zealand has never produced or exported
antipersonnel landmines.[11] In
the past, New Zealand imported mines. U.S. Army records show that New Zealand
imported 5,634 M18A1 Claymore mines from the United States from 1969-1988, with
the most recent shipments of 3,096 mines in 1983 and 852 mines in
1988.[12] Another official U.S.
government source indicates that the U.S. shipped 6,486 antipersonnel mines to
New Zealand, including 4,800 mines in the period 1983-1992 but there is no
breakdown of each year or mine
type.[13] Under the new
Antipersonnel Mines Prohibition Act, antipersonnel mines are prohibited outright
in New Zealand and will fall within the ambit of the Customs and Excise Act
1996, allowing the New Zealand Customs Service to exercise import and export
controls from the time antipersonnel mines enter New Zealand territorial
waters.[14]
Rather than sell or transfer, New Zealand destroyed its small stockpile of
antipersonnel and antitank landmines when the “de facto” ban was
declared in 1996 and now there are no antipersonnel or antitank landmines
belonging to the Army.[15] New
Zealand retains a small stockpile of command-detonated Claymore mines.
New Zealand’s military has a history of mine use in conflicts dating
from World War Two to Korea, but since 1996, operational use of antipersonnel
mines has been banned. The Prohibition Act allows the presence and use of
antipersonnel mines only as per the conditions of the Mine Ban Treaty regarding
training and specifies that the Minister in charge may authorize use
antipersonnel mines for this purpose. The Minister must specify, by notice in
the official legislation journal (The Gazette), the number of
antipersonnel mines determined to be the number absolutely necessary for the
allowed purposes.[16] According
to the government, however, the New Zealand Army does even not hold live mines
for training purposes at the moment: "No live APMs are retained for operational
or training purposes.... All mines being retained are either practice or inert
and contain no
explosives."[17]
Mine Action Funding
New Zealand’s involvement in humanitarian
mine action dates back to the end of the Cold War when it sent military
personnel to assist the United Nations in establishing an indigenous mine action
program in Afghanistan. Since then, New Zealand has assisted the United Nations
in mine action in countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Croatia, Laos, Mozambique and Namibia, and for the last few years has
seconded two personnel to UN Headquarters in New York to assist in the
management of these mine action
programs.[1818] The assistance
provided by New Zealand Defence Force personnel has included training, mine
clearance and destruction, logistics support, planning demining operations and
survey operations. New Zealand’s contribution to mine action is a matter
of considerable pride for the government and its citizens.
New Zealand’s in-kind commitments are supplemented by funding which,
since 1992, totals N.Z. $2,793,000 (approximately U.S.
$1,710,000).[19] Recipients
include governmental programs such as the Angolan National Demining Program
(INAROE) and the Lao UXO program; the UN Trust Fund for Mine Clearance; UN
agencies and headquarters; the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC); and schools
conducting training and research into demining, prosthetics, rehabilitation and
mine detection. For example, the New Zealand branch of the Cambodia Trust
(Aotearoa-New Zealand) has received N.Z.$200,000 over a four year period
(approximately U.S. $120,000) which has gone toward supporting the Cambodia
School of Prosthetics and Orthotics. The New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok has made
two small grants to the School for the purchase of equipment. Rehab Craft
Cambodia, a rehabilitation programme for disabled in Cambodia, has been assisted
in part by Government subsidies.
New Zealand is completely clear of minefields and unexploded ordnance. There
have been New Zealand civilian, military and peacekeeping casualties from
landmines but no detailed data is available on these individuals. One recent
case involved a New Zealand nurse, Maggie Bryson, who was injured when the
vehicle she was traveling in hit an antitank mine in Kosovo, killing an ICRC
doctor and injuring two
others.[20]
[1]Statement by the New
Zealand Head of Delegation, Honourable Deborah Morris, Minister of Youth Affairs
at the Signing Ceremony, Ottawa, 3 December 1997.
[2]Antipersonnel Mines
Prohibition Bill, Explanatory Note, November 1998.
[3]“NZ Ratifies
Antipersonnel Mines Ban,” Media Statement by Minister of Disarmament and
Arms Control, 28 January 1999.
[4]Rt Hon. Don McKinnon,
Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, Second Reading debate on the
Antipersonnel Mines Prohibition Bill, 30 June 1998.
[5]Hon. Simon Upton, Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor of CALM,
17 November 1998.
[6]Grahame Morton, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Email Correspondence with LM Researcher, 16
February 1999
[10]Antipersonnel Mines
Prohibition Bill - Report from the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee,
14 September 1998.
[11]Brigadier C W Lilley,
Deputy Chief of General Staff, NZ Defence Force, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor
CALM, 23 February 1999.
[12]U.S. Army, Armament,
Munitions, and Chemical Command (USAMCCOM), Letter to Human Rights Watch, 25
August 1993, and attached statistical tables.
[13]Letter from Valerie
Belon, Demining Action Officer, US Dept. of State, to Human Rights Watch, 29
March 1994, and attached table from the Defense Security Assistance Agency, "US
Landmine Sales by Country."
[14]Hon Simon Upton, Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor of CALM,
17 November 1998.
[15]Interview with Captain
Martin Donoghue, 6 October 1998.
[17]Brigadier C. W. Lilley,
Deputy Chief of General Staff, NZ Defence Force, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor
CALM, 23 February 1999.
[18]Hon Simon Upton, Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor of CALM,
17 November 1998.
[19]Hon Simon Upton, Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Letter to Neil Mander, Convenor of CALM,
17 November 1998. Note: all conversions from NZ dollars to US dollars have been
calculated on an average exchange rate for the year concerned (1994-1999) and
NZ$1 = US$0.58 for 1992-1993. Source: Exchange rate records kept by Neil
Mander.
[20]“Red Cross Doctor
Dies in Kosovo Blast”, Reuters Pristina, 30 September 1998.
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