Key developments since May 2002: In 2002,
721 kilometers of road along Lake Kariba were cleared to open up the area for a
US$50 million World Bank development project. A level one survey was carried
out in Western Province in November 2002. Zambia will destroy some of the 6,691
antipersonnel mines initially designated to be retained for training.
Mine Ban Policy
Zambia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 12 December
1997 and deposited its instrument of ratification on 23 February 2001. The
treaty entered into force for Zambia on 1 August 2001. In May 2002, Zambia
reported that the Legislative Drafting Department of the Attorney General's
Chambers was in the process of incorporating the Mine Ban Treaty into domestic
law.[1] At the Fourth Meeting of
States Parties in September 2002, the Zambia delegation said the process
“is expected to be concluded by the end of this year or early next
year.”[2] In January
2003, in his opening address to the Zambian Parliament, President Levy Mwanawasa
urged parliamentarians to address the issue of landmines in
Zambia.[3] Landmine Monitor is
unaware of further action.
Zambia’s submitted its initial Article 7 report on 31 August 2001,
covering the period from 1 April to 31 August 2001. As of July 2003, Zambia had
not provided its two annual updates, due on 30 April of each year. At the
Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Zambia said that the failure to carry out a
national mine impact survey had resulted in “difficulties in completing
some parts of the Article 7 update
report.”[4]
Also at the Fourth Meeting, Ambassador B.M. Bowa noted Zambia’s
support “for the total implementation of the Ottawa Convention,” and
cited “the finalization of a Mine Action Center and the fact that Zambia
now has a small number of humanitarian deminers” as a concrete
demonstration of that
support.[5] Zambia participated
in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003.
Zambia voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 on 22 November
2002, calling for the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty.
Production, Transfer and Stockpiling
Zambia has not produced or exported antipersonnel
mines. In its August 2001 Article 7 report, Zambia reported that it had a total
of 6,691 antipersonnel mines in its stockpile, and intended to retain all of
them for training purposes.[6]
The ICBL raised questions about the need to retain such a
number.[7] At the May 2003
Stockpile Destruction Standing Committee meeting, Zambia stated that a decision
had been made to destroy some of the stockpile of retained mines, but no numbers
were provided.[8]
Landmine Problem and Survey
There are no well-defined minefields in
Zambia.[9] According to the
Ministry of Home Affairs, Zambia has a landmine problem in six of its nine
provinces on the borders with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola and
Namibia.[10] At the Fourth
Meeting of States Parties, the Zambia delegation stated, “The areas most
affected are those along our border and former freedom fighters camps and we
suspect there could be some mines around some of our many refugee camps....
[L]arge areas of potential productive land in affected areas have been
inaccessible areas for over 30 years. In these areas, many infrastructures and
essential services such as roads, schools, health center, airstrips, etc, are no
longer in use due to fear of the presence of landmines. Indeed, it was only
recently that a consultant with a World Bank-funded development project was
killed by a landmine. That project has since
stalled.”[11]
In a document issued in July 2002, the government stated that the landmine
problem is particularly acute in southern Zambia’s Gwembe Valley, where
some sections of the lakeshore and the Bottom Road are contaminated with
landmines. Other affected areas include: Lower Zambezi and Siampondo in Kalomo,
Southern Province; Sinjembela area, Lyangati and Mangango, Western Province;
Nyimba and Petauke districts, Eastern Province; Chikumbi, Serenje, Mkushi and
Mboroma, Central Province; and Kavalamanja in Luangwa, Lusaka
Province.[12]
In July 2002, President Mwanawasa appealed to Namibia for help with the
landmine problem in its Western Province from which SWAPO freedom fighters had
operated.[13] In response, a
team from the Zambian Mine Action Center (ZMAC) was joined by their Namibian
counterparts to help establish the scale of the landmine problem in the Western
Province. A level one survey was carried out at the end of
November.[14] A national
survey is anticipated to follow, to be funded by the United States and
Zambia.[15]
Mine Action Coordination
In 1999, Zambia established a National Task Force
on the Anti-Personnel Mine Convention to act as the “nucleus organ”
for the full implementation of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[16] On its
recommendation, Zambia established a Zambian Mine Action Center (ZMAC) in August
2001, to set priorities for and coordinate mine action in the
country.[17] In 2001, the US
government supported a capacity building program for ZMAC, through the
commercial company RONCO, in both operation and management of a national
humanitarian demining
program.[18]
In July 2002, the government stated that it needed more “support from
the international community in areas of more training, technical assistance and
equipment to improve the Zambia Mine Action Center
(ZMAC).”[19] It also
stated it planned to “develop a strategic integrated national mine action
plan” to clear mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) to support the
socio-economic development of the country. To achieve this goal it outlined the
following objectives: develop a sustainable management and organizational
structure through ZMAC, develop survey capacity (impact survey), develop and
maintain community-based mine risk education programs, develop mine and UXO
clearance capacity, develop quality assurance and quality control capacity,
develop a landmine survivor assistance program, and develop the Information
Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) to assist in planning and priority
setting.[20]
Mine Clearance, Risk Education, and Funding
Zambia began clearance operations in May
2002.[21] In 2002, 721
kilometers along the Bottom and Nkandanzovu Roads along the Lake Kariba were
cleared to open up the area for a US$50 million World Bank project known as the
Tonga-Gwembe Development Project. The number and types of mines cleared have not
been declared yet as a verification report has not yet been made public. The
project was funded by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the
Zambian government. According to the Development’s Project Manager,
“The certification of the completion of the de-mining of the Bottom Roads
was according to UNMAS standard as applied by
RONCO.”[22]
There have not been any sustained or organized mine risk education (MRE)
programs in Zambia. Army and Ministry of Home Affairs officials give impromptu
MRE when carrying out mine clearance in an
area.[23]
In July 2003, the Japanese NGO Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) received
about $69,000 from the Japanese government for a mine risk education project at
the Maheba refugee camp to benefit people awaiting repatriation to Angola. The
project is based on a survey on landmine awareness among refugees conducted by
AAR in Maheba which revealed that most refugees had no knowledge of landmines or
the signs of landmine presence, and did not know what precautions to take in
mined areas.[24]
In its fiscal year 2002, the United States reports mine action funding for
Zambia in the amount of $1,008,000. These funds supported staff management,
survey and database management, mine clearance operations, medical support, and
mine risk education conducted by US military
personnel.[25]
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
In November 2002, a boy was injured by an
antipersonnel mine in Kaongamesa Village in Western
Province.[26] In 2001, no
reports of landmine casualties were
found.[27] Since 1980, there
have been at least 200 landmine casualties, although the number could be higher
as hospitals do not keep specific records on mine
casualties.[28]
The public health service does not distinguish between landmine/UXO survivors
and other persons with disabilities and the needs of landmine survivors are
addressed within the existing public health care infrastructure. There are
physical rehabilitation and socioeconomic reintegration programs for persons
with disabilities, including the Chipata Community Based Rehabilitation Program,
the Livingstone Community Based Rehabilitation Program, and the Solwezi
Community Based Rehabilitation
Program.[29]
In February 2003, Zambia made a presentation to the intersessional Standing
Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration, and reported
that although the Zambian Mine Action Center has no program for mine survivor
assistance, facilities are available through the Cheshire
Home[30] which operates in the
Solwezi District, Kasama and in Lusaka Province, the Ministry of Community
Development and Social Services, and the Association of the Blind and Handicap.
However, the Ministry of Development and Social Services reportedly does not
have sufficient funds to address the needs of mine survivors and other persons
with disabilities. The University Teaching Hospital provides prosthetics at a
low cost, while the Zambia-Italian Orthopedic Hospital offers higher-cost
prostheses.[31]
[1] “Presentation on the Present
Status of Ratification and Implementation of IHL Treaties and Conventions in
Zambia,” made to the ICRC-hosted Southern African Regional Seminar on
International Humanitarian Law, Pretoria, South Africa, 21-23 May
2002. [2] Statement delivered by
Ambassador Bonaventure M. Bowa, to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva,
17 September 2002. [3] “President
Levy P. Mwanawasa’s Speech the Zambian Parliament,” Times of Zambia,
18 January 2003. [4] Statement delivered
by Ambassador Bonaventure M. Bowa, to the Fourth Meeting of States Parties,
Geneva, 17 September 2002. [5]
Ibid. [6] Article 7 Report, Forms B and
D, submitted on 31 August 2001. [7] ICBL
intervention to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 6
February 2003. [8] Oral remarks to
Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, Geneva, 15 May 2003 (Landmine
Monitor/HRW notes). [9] Statement to the
Fourth Meeting of States Parties, 17 September
2002. [10] United Nations Mine Action
Service, “Mine Action Assessment Mission Report, Zambia,” 29 May-7
June 2000, p. 7. [11] Statement to the
Fourth Meeting of States Parties, 17 September
2002. [12] "Zambia Landmine Problem," 25
July 2002. Document issued by the Government of
Zambia. [13] Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 529. [14] Interview with Mr.
Mark Singongi, Coordinator, Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Landmines, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 5 December
2002. [15] Statement made by Dan Mozena,
Charge d’Affairs, US Embassy in Lusaka, reported in Times of Zambia, 18
November 2002. [16] For details of the
National Task Force's function and mandate, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p.
174. [17] Statement by Prof. Mwelwa C.
Musambachime, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Zambia
to the United Nations, New York, 21 November
2001. [18]
Ibid. [19] Government of Zambia
document, “Zambia Landmine Problem,” 25 July 2002.
[20]
Ibid. [21] Email from US State
Department Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, 11 July
2002. [22] Interview with Mrs. D.N.H
Kaluwa, Tonga-Gwembe Valley Development Project Manager, Siavonga, 23 January
2003. [23] UNMAS, “Mine Action
Assessment Mission Report, Zambia,” 29 May-7 June 2000, p.
12. [24] “Japan Donates to
Maheba,” The Times of Zambia, distributed via COMTEX News, 11 April
2003. [25] US Department of State,
“To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September
2002. [26] Interview with Mark Singongi,
Coordinator, Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Landmines, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 5 December 2002. [27] Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 530. [28] US
Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” September 2002,
p. 24. [29] Landmine Monitor Report
2002, p. 530. [30] See also ICBL
Portfolio of Landmine Victim Assistance Programs, September 2002, available at
www.landminevap.org. [31]
Zambia, Presentation to the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and
Socio-Economic Reintegration, Geneva, 4 February 2003.