African Security Review, Vol 13 No 3

EDITORIAL LANDMINES: IS THE END IN SIGHT? Uncleared anti-personal mines do not respect a of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, peace agreement or ceasefire. They continue to Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, kill, months or years after a truce had been Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, called between the warring parties. In 1997 Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia there was an estimated 50 million landmines (including Somaliland), Sudan, Swaziland, scattered throughout Africa, twenty million in Syria, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia Southern Africa alone. Estimates suggest that and Zimbabwe and that landmine casualties 250,000 people have died or been injured continue to be reported in most of them. because of landmines in Africa in the past 35 Although progress is being made, it does years. not seem to be moving fast enough. The ques- Recently the Second Continental Confe- tion is: what catalyst is needed to fast track the rence of African Experts on Landmines, held clearing of the mines? Financial assistance and on 15-17 September 2004 in Addis Ababa, took dedicated management of the mine clearance stock of how much has been achieved and, how process could be the answer, as most affected much needs to be accomplished in the future. countries have weak economies and high In this edition of the African Security Review poverty levels, and therefore cannot afford the Noel Stott “reflects on the importance of cost of mine clearing. Financial assistance engaging with armed non-state actors (ANSAs) should not only end with the clearing of in order to truly universalise the Anti- mines but should also assist victims that are Personnel Mine Ban Convention and to estab- maimed by landmines. lish the non-use of anti-personnel landmines as A substantial amount of land is rendered the international standard. It outlines one of unusable and unsafe for occupation by com- the most innovative civil society mechanisms munities due to the prevalence of APM’s, and created to do this and argues that it is the similarly land contaminated by APM’s cannot responsibility of both civil society and govern- be used for agricultural purposes. ments to engage with ANSAs, with the aim of Small arms and light weapons (SALW) – facilitating global co-operation to stop all use which includes APM – have been, and contin- of anti-personnel mines.” ue to be, easily accessible and available Based on the on the results of the Second throughout Africa. This has assisted in fuelling Conference, there seems to be progress being the continued conflicts and wars that rage made in dealing with APM challenge. A con- across the continent, within and between cern expressed, though, was that landmines states, increasing the number of displaced peo- and unexploded ordnance (UXO) affected ple, as well as resulting in gross human rights many countries in Africa and include: Algeria, abuses. Alhaji MS Bah’s article on “Micro- Angola, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic disarmament in West Africa”, explores this 2 African Security Review 13(3) • 2004 issue. Of the approximately 500 million illicit feat is due to a remarkable process of consulta- weapons in circulation worldwide, it is estimat- tion among key stakeholders in government, ed that 100 million of those are in sub-Saharan industry, academia and civil society, beginning Africa, with eight to ten million concentrated in the early 1990s, that redefined the role of the in the West African sub-region alone. The arti- South Africa arms industry. cle looks into the proliferation of illicit small The article calls attention to the emerging arms and light weapons in the West African partnership that now assures indigenous indus- sub-region and efforts by the regional tries will maintain ‘strategically essential tech- Economic Community of West African States nologies’ over the long term and provide (ECOWAS) to deal with the problem through considerable economic benefit to South Africa. the ECOWAS Declaration of a Moratorium on This reflects a process of change in which the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture members of a society overcame significant his- of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West torical and ideological obstacles to attain agree- Africa. The degree of compliance with the ment about key issues relating to their security, Moratorium by four ECOWAS member states, as well as overcoming the resentments of the namely, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and past in a deliberate series of collective choices Mali, is also explored. to shape a desirable future. Almost equally Closer to home, a positive side to the land- important is the fact that the South Africans mines discussion is that South Africa no longer rehabilitated an institution originally created to produces landmines. This country used to protect sectarian interests to serve the needs of export anti-personnel mines, but it is now the larger society. emerging as a leader in the field of mine clear- South Africa retains a number of anti-per- ance equipment and believes that it possesses sonnel mines for the training of its military per- leading de-mining technology and expertise as sonnel to deal with anti-personnel mine threats well as medical capability and experience to during peacekeeping operations, as well as for assist mine victims. Destruction of its stockpile the development of effective de-mining equip- of mines was completed by October 1998. ment, as provided for under Article 3 of the South Africa’s positive action ties in well Mine Ban Treaty. with the contribution by Dan Henk, Associate The challenge of landmines goes beyond Professor at the US Air War College, also in only being a threat to communities living in this edition, where he describes how the South areas affected. It is a developmental and socio- African defence industry has transformed since economic issue as it places limitations on the the apartheid era, and also survived the political much needed and contested resource in trauma of the 1990s. According to Henk, that Africa: land. Mpume Nyandu FEATURE ARMED NON-STATE ACTORS IN AFRICA AND THE BAN ON ANTI-PERSONNEL LANDMINES1 NOEL STOTT A truly universal ban on anti-personnel mines cannot be realized without engagement of armed non-state actors and armed groups operating outside state control, including rebels and national liberation movements. Events after 9/11 have complicated engagement with organizations that can be classified as ‘terrorists’. Yet, the use of anti-personnel landmines itself can be viewed as an act of terrorism and African leaders have, on various occasions, classified the use of landmines and the presence of unexploded ordnance as engendering insecurity and a serious imped- iment to development. The success of a total ban ultimately depends upon ensuring that armed non-state actors act in accordance with international humanitarian law. The Geneva Call Deed of Commitment for Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action (DoC) might be described as an alternative instrument to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and can serve an important and impartial channel of communication with non-state actors. Already 18 armed groups in Africa have signed the Geneva Call DoC. Introduction This article briefly reflects on the importance of engaging with ANSAs in order to truly The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, universalise the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti- Convention and to establish the non-use of Personnel Mines and on their Destruction anti-personnel landmines as the international (Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention) is an standard. It outlines one of the most innova- international agreement by states that have rat- tive civil society mechanisms created to do this ified or acceded to it. While states are not the and argues that it is the responsibility of both only entities that have made use of, or which civil society and governments to engage with continue to use, anti-personnel landmines, the ANSAs, with the aim of facilitating global co- Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention has no operation to stop all use of anti-personnel mechanism to allow for armed non-state actors mines. The article further contends that the (ANSAs) to adhere to its provisions. Common African Defence and Security Policy The aim of achieving a truly universal ban (CADSP) and the Protocol Relating to the on anti-personnel mines cannot, however, be Establishment of the Peace and Security realised without controlling the activities of Council of the African Union (AU) provide non-state actors and similar armed groups oper- useful contexts for such engagement with ating outside state control. The necessity to African ANSAs. engage ANSAs with the aim of securing their commitment to respect the highest standards of international humanitarian norms, such as Defining armed non-state actors that established by the convention, needs to be For the purposes of this article the neutral term recognised and encouraged. ‘armed non-state actors’ (ANSAs) is used to NOEL STOTT is a senior researcher in the Arms Management Programme at the ISS 6 African Security Review 13(3) • 2004 cover ‘rebels’, ‘guerrillas’, ‘separatists’, ‘national national law and the provisions of the Charters liberation movements’ and de facto governing of the AU, the United Nations (UN) as well as authorities. In other words, the term encom- the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ passes an enormous array of groups—groups Rights. This is in line with international with varying goals and objectives but who have jurisprudence, which affirms that the struggle some form of articulated political-economic for national liberation does not in itself consti- and social programmes and which operate pri- tute a terrorist act. marily within state borders. It is, however, While this convention does not define ‘ter- important to bear in mind that many ANSAs rorism’, it does spell out what a ‘terrorist act’ regularly move across state borders or operate is, namely: from other national territories, and often a.

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