LM Report 2001

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LESOTHO

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.

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