The
Kingdom of Lesotho signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it
on 2 December 1998. The treaty entered into force for Lesotho on 1 June 1999.
Lesotho has not passed domestic implementing legislation, as the Internal
Security Act of 1984 is deemed adequate at this stage.
Lesotho submitted its
first Article 7 transparency report on 17 August 2000. It had been due on 27
November 1999. The report is five sentences long and does not make use of the
standard reporting format. It states, “Lesotho is one of the lucky
countries that has not been affected by the scourge of landmines. Lesotho does
not use, buy or manufacture landmines, neither does she have stockpiles of
mines.” The report also states that Lesotho believes landmines
“fall within the category of weapons prohibited by international customary
humanitarian law....”[1]
Lesotho's second report was due on 30 April 2001 and is presently being
prepared.[2]
For logistical
reasons, Lesotho did not participate in the Second Meeting of States Parties to
the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000. Logistical complications also prevented
Lesotho from attending the Seminar on the Universalization and Implementation of
the Mine Ban Treaty in Africa, held on 15-16 February 2001 in Bamako,
Mali.[3]
However, Lesotho voted
in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution supporting the Mine
Ban Treaty, and participated in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing
Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. This participation is seen as
an indication of its ongoing contribution to eradicating antipersonnel landmines
internationally and its interest in the full implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty. [4]
At the
December 2000 meeting of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction,
Lesotho issued a statement saying, “The Lesotho Defence Force does not and
has never at any time kept stock of landmines. It does not even keep any even
for purposes of
training.”[5]
Lesotho is
not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
The Lesotho Red Cross
is an active member of the network of anti-landmine campaigns in southern
Africa.
There are no reports of uncleared mines in
Lesotho.[6] Discrimination
against physically disabled persons in employment, education, or provision of
other government services is unlawful according to Lesotho's Constitution.
Sectoral laws protect the rights of the disabled and both government and
Churches assist in meeting the needs of the disabled.
[1] Article 7 report, submitted
17 August 2000. (No indication is given of what period is
covered).
[2] Personal
Communication to Landmine Monitor, Geneva, 11 May
2001.
[3]
Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Lesotho, Statement to the
Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 7 December
2000.
[6] Statement by Lesotho
to Landmine Monitor, 7 July 2000.