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Key developments since May 2001: In 2001, at least nine people were killed and 41 injured in reported mine/UXO incidents, a significant decrease from the previous year. The International Committee of the Red Cross initiated a new mine risk education project in Namibia in 2002. Namibia has not submitted its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, which was due by 28 August 1999.
Namibia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 21 September 1998. It entered into force on 1 March 1999. Although no formal national implementation legislation has been passed, as with all international treaties to which the country is party, it becomes part of national law under the provisions of the Namibian Constitution. Nambia is reportedly looking into the possibility of promulgating domestic legislation.
As of June 2002, Namibia had not yet submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report, due by 28 August 1999. Namibia did not participate in the Third Meeting of States Parties in Managua, Nicaragua, in September 2001, nor did it attend meetings of the intersessional Standing Committees in Geneva in January or May 2002. Namibia did, however, attend the seventh meeting of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Acting Committee on Landmines, held on 27-28 June 2002 in Luanda, Angola. The meeting was held simultaneously with the first SADC Conference of Demining Operators.[1]
Nambia cosponsored and voted in favor of the November 2001 UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
It not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW); it did not attend the third annual meeting of States Parties to Amended Protocol II nor the Second Review Conference of the CCW, both of which were held in Geneva in December 2001.
Namibia denies past production or export of antipersonnel mines.[2] In a letter to Landmine Monitor in July 2001, the Namibian government said that it had destroyed its stockpiled antipersonnel mines in 1998, except for those retained for training.[3]
In October 2001, Deputy Defense Minister Victor Simunja informed the National Assembly that the Mine Ban Treaty authorized countries to have in stock a limited number of landmines for training purposes. Minister Simunja noted that the Namibian Defence Force (NDF) was engaged in demining and detonation of antipersonnel mines laid by UNITA in the northeastern parts of the country, and said, “It will be senseless to commit troops in demining and mine disposal if they do not possess the necessary knowledge of the devices they are going to handle, hence the small quantity we have.”[4] No information on the numbers and types of mines destroyed or those retained has ever been disclosed.
Since it has not submitted an Article 7 Report or made statements at a meeting of States Parties or an intersessional meeting, Namibia has never officially informed the other Mine Ban Treaty States Parties about the status of its antipersonnel mine stockpile. The treaty mandated deadline for destruction of any stockpiled mines (other than those for training purposes) is 1 March 2003.
In 2000 and 2001, Landmine Monitor reported on mine use in Namibia by UNITA forces and Angolan government forces (FAA).[5] The U.S. State Department reported in November 2001 that UNITA and FAA forces had been laying mines since December 1999 in the Caprivi and Kavango regions of northeast Namibia, which endanger the rural population and affect farming and tourism.[6]
In last year’s report, Landmine Monitor also noted unsubstantiated allegations of use by Namibian forces, as well as concern that Nambian forces could have been “assisting” FAA troops in mine use in their pursuit of UNITA rebels. Such assistance could be a violation of Article 1 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[7] In a 23 July 2001 letter to Landmine Monitor, Namibia said, “Since the ratification of the [Mine Ban Treaty], the Namibian Defence Force has never used anti-personnel mines or assisted any other forces in the use thereof, both in its internal and international military operations.... The Government of the Republic of Namibia ... denies any use or assistance to use anti-personnel mines by its forces.”[8]
During this reporting period, since May 2001, there have been no serious allegations of use of antipersonnel mines by Namibian forces.[9] There were a small number of reports of use by Angolan and UNITA forces, but Landmine Monitor was unable to corroborate them. Since the April 2002 peace agreement in Angola, there have been no reports of use of antipersonnel mines in Namibia or Angola by any party.
A 1999 UN Mine Action Service assessment mission to the country concluded: “The landmine situation in Namibia constitutes neither a humanitarian emergency nor a major obstacle for development.”[10] In November 2001, the US government stated that landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) affect some 100,000 square kilometers of land, or about 12 percent of Namibian territory; however, the US also reported, “With the clearance of its ten known minefields and 410 electric pylons, Namibia continued its progress toward becoming a mine-safe country.”[11]
Upon completion of its work in Namibia in February 2001, the commercial demining firm RONCO declared all of Namibia free of mines, except the area of conflict on the Angola border in the Kavango Region.[12] In May 2002, the Director of the State Department's Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, Donald Paterno, observed that if not for the “intrusion” of mines laid by the Angolans in the northwest corner of the country, “Namibia would be mine safe.”[13]
A US-sponsored mine clearance program in Namibia ended in February 2001. The US has noted, “Overall, the establishment of Namibia’s demining program is complete.... Namibia now possesses a modern demining capability and a dedicated unit of 1,000 deminers.” [14] More than one million square meters of land has been cleared, and more than 5,000 mines and 1,300 UXO destroyed.[15] The project was completed without casualties to the deminers.
The US has been almost the sole donor to mine clearance in Namibia, providing nearly $9 million from 1994-2001. The US provided $40,000 in 2001 and allocated $65,000 for 2002 for mine action.[16] The US has said it will continue to fund “mine action activities as appropriate.”[17]
In July 2002, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa requested assistance from Namibia in Zambia’s demining process. “Any personnel, equipment or experience, which Namibia could share in that regard, would be greatly appreciated,” he said.[18]
In 2001, the US funded a $40,000 nationwide mine awareness program.[19] Local radio and television broadcast mine risk education messages in five local languages. In January 2001, a local mine awareness initiative by several local and foreign entities, including Western embassies, government departments, local NGOs and financial institutions, was launched under the theme “Namibia Against Landmines.” [20]
Humanitarian Force, a registered NGO in Namibia formerly known as Force XXI, conducted mine risk education classes in the Kavango region during January 2002, supported by the NDF, the Namibian Police's Explosives Division, and the US Embassy in Windhoek. They indicated that their effort reached “hundreds” and they are continuing their MRE activities.[21]
The International Committee of the Red Cross initiated a new mine risk education project in Namibia in 2002.[22] An assessment mission was conducted in the country to help the national Red Cross Society determine how to implement mine risk education programs.[23]
In 2001, at least nine people were killed and 41 injured in reported mine/UXO incidents.[24] The Namibian Police's (NAMPOL) Explosives Division, reported that between May 2001 and March 2002, one person was killed and 25 injured in ten antipersonnel mine and four UXO incidents.[25] A number of Namibian soldiers have been injured by mines while conducting military operations with FAA in Angola.
The number of new reported mine casualties has fallen significantly since 2000 when it was reported that 14 people had been killed and 126 injured in mine/UXO incidents.[26]
At the launch of an exhibition on landmines in August 2001, Foreign Affairs Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab stated that “just over 100 Namibians have died as a result of landmine explosions and a further 255 have sustained injuries since Independence.”[27]
The Windhoek Central State Hospital has a rehabilitation center that provides prostheses as well as physiotherapy services and psychological support for war victims. The government has adopted a Community Based Rehabilitation approach to support the rehabilitation and reintegration of persons with disabilities. A lack of resources prevents the establishment of specific programs for mine survivors. Landmine survivors receive assistance, in the form of monthly pension payments from the Ministry of Health and Social Services.[28]
In 2001, the ICRC organized surgical training seminars for health professionals from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense. Sufficient medicines and surgical supplies were donated to five hospitals in the Kavango regions to treat 300 war-wounded patients. In the Rundu central hospital 88 war-wounded were treated between March and September 2001, which included 35 amputees. On 25 October 2001, the ICRC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health on a prosthetic/orthotic program which was to start in January 2002.[29]
The National Assembly adopted the National Policy on Disabilities in April 1997; however, the implementation of the policy is still lacking.[30] The Ministry of Lands, Resettlement, and Rehabilitation is primarily responsible for the coordination of disability matters, and implementation of the National Policy on Disabilities. Within the Ministry, the main function of the Rehabilitation Division is “to facilitate increased access to services by people with disabilities so as to enhance their integration into the larger community and improve their dignity and social well-being.”[31]
On 1 March 2001, the National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia met with the Prime Minister to lobby for the establishment of a Disability Desk within the Prime Minister’s office to advice on issues relating to people with disabilities. On 24 September 2001, the Disability Advisory Office started operations.[32]
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[1] “SADC experts defend enlargement of campaign against landmines,” ANGOP, Luanda, 29 June 2002.
[2] Questions regarding PMD-6 mines either being assembled or produced in Namibia have yet to be resolved. See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 121; Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 81; Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 65-66.
[3] Letter from Gerhard Theron, Charge d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Namibia to the United Nations, New York, to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 23 July 2001. See also, Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 121-122.
[4] “NDF Allowed Limited Number of Landmines,” GRN News, 26 October 2001.
[5] Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 81-83; Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 123-124.
[6] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 10.
[7] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 124-125.
[8] Letter from Gerhard Theron, Charge d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Namibia to the United Nations, New York, to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 23 July 2001. See also, “Army not breaking landmine treaty,” IRIN, 9 January 2001, citing MOD spokesman Frans Nghitila.
[9] Landmine Monitor is only aware of one allegation, that on 5 October 2001, three NDF soldiers placed a mine in the house of a Kavango resident. This was denied by the NDF army commander and the Namibian Deputy Defense Minister.
[10] UNMAS, “Joint Assessment Mission Report: Namibia,” 6 April 2000, p. 3.
[11] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 10.
[12] http://www.roncoconsulting.com/demining_activities/namibia.html.
[13] Charles Cobb, "Mozambique Leads the World - in Clearing Land Mines,” allAfrica.com, 27 May 2002, at: http://allafrica.com/stories/200205270904.html.
[14] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 10.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.; also, US Department of State, Fact Sheet, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5 April 2002. For details on past mine action funding and other support, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 126.
[17] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 10.
[18] “Zambia Appeals for De-mining Assistance,” GRN News, 5 July 2002.
[19] U.S. Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 10.
[20] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 128.
[21] Telephone Interview with Ralph William Haynes, President, Humanitarian Force, Namibia, 3 July 2002.
[22] ICRC Contribution to Landmine Monitor, ICRC, Geneva, 1 June 2002.
[23] ICRC website, see:
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList74/29BB6AB9412203E6C1256B66005F821E.
[24] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 129; see also National Society for Human Rights, “Three women lose legs in three landmine incidents,” Press Release, 28 September 2001; and National Society for Human Rights, “Gunmen kill young woman, plant mines in Kavango,” Press Release, 12 December 2001.
[25] Letter from Col. J. T. Theyse, Office of the Chief Inspector of Explosives, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ausspannplatz, Namibia to the Executive Director, National Society for Human Rights, 20 May 2002.
[26] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 129.
[27] Absalom Shigedha, “Landmines claim 100 since 1990,” The Namibian, 24 August 2001, accessed at http://www.namibian.com.na/2001/August/news/01C47B368.html; for more details on prior years see also Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 128-129.
[28] Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 130.
[29] ICRC Special Report, Mine Action 2001, ICRC, Geneva, p. 19.
[30] “OPM’s Disability Advisory Office Sets Objectives,” accessed at
http://www.grnnet.gov.na/News/Archive/2002/February/Week3/opm_rpt.htm (11 July 2002).
[31] http://www.op.gov.na/Decade_peace/lands.htm (accessed 11 July 2002).
[32] “OPM’s Disability Advisory Office Sets Objectives,” accessed at
http://www.grnnet.gov.na/News/Archive/2002/February/Week3/opm_rpt.htm (11 July 2002).
