Key developments
since March 1999: The treaty entered into force for Lesotho on 1 June
1999. Lesotho has not yet submitted its Article 7 transparency report, due by
27 November 1999. Officials confirmed that the LDF does not even keep landmines
for training purposes.
Mine Ban Policy
The Kingdom of Lesotho signed the Mine Ban Treaty
on 4 December 1997 and ratified on 2 December 1998. The treaty entered into
force for Lesotho on 1 June 1999. It is not known to have passed any domestic
implementing legislation. While Lesotho has not yet submitted its Article 7
transparency report, due by 27 November 1999, it is aware of this obligation and
intends to submit the report prior to the Second Meeting of State
Parties.[1]
Lesotho attended the First Meeting of State Parties (FMSP) in Maputo in May
1999 with a delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thomas Thabane. In a
statement to the plenary, Minister Thabane referred to continued use of
antipersonnel mines in the region and said, “Let us therefore use this
occasion not only to celebrate, but to rededicate ourselves to the commitments
and objectives of the Ottawa Process. For us in Southern Africa, let us commit
ourselves to the goal of making our region a mine free zone. This is an
achievable goal, but it requires sustained efforts from
everyone.”[2] He went on
to call on “all those governments which have publicly stated their support
for an immediate and total ban, to match their words with actions by ratifying
the Convention.”[3]
Lesotho has not participated in any intersessional meetings of the Mine Ban
Treaty in Geneva. Lesotho was absent from the vote on UN General Assembly
Resolution 54/54B calling for universalization of the treaty. Previously
Lesotho supported pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996 and 1998. Lesotho is not
party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. It is not a member of the
Conference on Disarmament.
The Lesotho Red Cross is an active member of a network of anti-landmine
campaigns in southern Africa.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
At the FMSP, Minister Thabane stated that
“Lesotho does not use, buy or manufacture landmines, neither do we have
any stockpiles of
mines.”[4]
During the chaos that resulted in the South African-led SADC intervention in
September 1998, rebel soldiers of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) claimed that
they held landmines.[5] A
journalist, Sechaba Ka’Nkosi, viewed three of the reported rebel hideouts
in the mountains but was not allowed to see the weapons. While he could not
confirm the claim, he told Landmine Monitor that at the time he found it
convincing.[6] An LDF
representative told Landmine Monitor that the Lesotho government was
investigating the veracity of these allegations, hence the delay in delivering
the Article 7 report.[7] But in a
written response to Landmine Monitor, Lesotho stated that:
Incidences [sic] referred to regarding the disturbances in 1998 as described
by a purported LDF member have no basis. The Lesotho Defence Force does not, and
has never at anytime kept stock of landmines. What may have been stolen at the
time were mere hand-grenades. LDF does not even keep any landmines for training
purposes.[8]
Mine Action
A number of antitank mine incidents resulted in
four deaths and eleven injuries in the early 1980s when the Lesotho Liberation
Army (LLA) was active with the support of the (then) South African
government.[9] Lesotho told
Landmine Monitor, “Indeed there were victims of limpet mines in the
1980s, but they were as a result of LLA operations launched outside Lesotho.
Such weapons belonged to the
LLA.”[10]
Today there are no reports of uncleared mines in
Lesotho.[11] Lesotho’s
Foreign Minister told the FMSP that they are “keenly aware that this
scourge does not respect borders and it may not be long before it catches up
with us.”[12] The
government has not adopted national legislation for persons with
disabilities.
[1] Interview with Caleb Sello, Lesotho
Defence Force, 13 March 2000. This was confirmed by Lesotho in its written
statement. Fax from L. Mosala, Foreign Affairs, Lesotho to Noel Stott, South
African/International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Ref. FR/UN/21, 7 July 2000, p.
1. [2] Statement by Thomas Thabane,
Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, to the First Meeting of the States
Parties to the Ottawa Convention, 3-7 May 1999, pp.
3-4. [3] Ibid., p.
4. [4] Ibid., p.
3. [5] “The rebels claim to have
about 2,000 AK-47 rifles, limpet mines and landmines, rocket-propelled grenades,
small-calibre rocket launchers, bombs, mortars and anti-aircraft
launchers.” See Sechaba Ka’Nkosi, “Inside the Camps of the
Lesotho Rebels,” Electronic Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg), 2 October
1998. [6] Telephone interview with Sechaba
Ka’Nkosi, 7 March 2000. [7]
Confidential interview with a representative of the Lesotho Defence Force, 13
March 2000. [8] Statement by Lesotho to
Landmine Monitor, 7 July 2000, p. 1. [9]
See African Contemporary Record, 1981 – 1982, (London: African Publishing
Company, 1981); “An Enemy Again,” Lesotho Weekly, 3 December 1982;
“Landmine Victim Dies,” Rand Daily Mail (South Africa), 7 December
1982; and M. Morris & T. Combrinck, Use of Explosive Devices in Sabotage and
Terrorism in South Africa 1981 – 1986 (Cape Town: Terrorism Research
Centre, 1986). [10] Statement by Lesotho
to Landmine Monitor, 7 July 2000, p.
2. [11]
Ibid. [12] Statement by Foreign Minister
Thabane to the FMSP, 3-7 May 1999, p. 3.