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Briefing by the Minister of Defence, Mr Charles Nqakula on the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference OSLO, Norway, December 2-4, 2008
CHARLES NQAKULA, MP MINISTER OF DEFENCE
South Africa was among 111 countries that, this week, attended the signing ceremony of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, held in Oslo, Norway. Ninety-Four of the participating countries had signed the protocol by the end of the signing ceremony. It is anticipated that more countries will sign the treaty as time goes by.
The treaty’s main aim is to prohibit the manufacture and use of cluster munitions. It exhorts the nations of the world to destroy, within eight years of the entering into force of the convention, all cluster bombs in the possession of the signing countries and that such munitions must not be used or distributed in any way until they have been destroyed. It also prescribes assistance to cluster bomb victims, including their families and communities, by providing medical care, rehabilitation, and by giving psychological and financial support. It also calls for international support and assistance, by asking all countries that are able to do so to help those states that are affected by cluster munitions with the clearance of such bombs, risk education for nationals, victim assistance and stockpile destruction.
South Africa has a small number of cluster munitions that are outdated and due for destruction. We do not use cluster munitions, nor do we manufacture or sell such products. Of course, this country is registered among 78 states internationally that possess cluster bomb stockpiles. We count among 34 countries that have produced or still produce cluster munitions.
Countries on the African Continent that have been affected by cluster bombs include Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria and Sudan are among 14 countries in the world that have used cluster bombs.
South Africa is a signatory to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. The country has given support to Mozambique, the DRC, Sudan, Angola, Lesotho and Afghanistan in their landmines clearance projects. The South African National Defence Force further gave training to Angolan counterparts in de-mining.
South Africa is committed to make her expertise available to countries that require assistance in the clearance of landmines.
The signing of the convention was the culmination of a long road where Norway had been the lead country. What became known as the Oslo Process started with an official launch in that city, in February last year. After a series of international meetings, the Convention on Cluster Munitions was adopted in Dublin, Ireland, on May 30 this year.
South Africa was among 42 countries that participated in the Oslo Process since its launch and adopted the Oslo Declaration. Shortly after the first regional conference on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, some African countries, including South Africa, met in Kampala, Uganda, to discuss the implications for the continent of the treaty and to find common ground en route to the signing of the convention.
The protocol will be piloted for ratification through the South African parliament.
We wish to commend those South African organs of civil society, especially the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and The Ceasefire Campaign for the role they played in the international campaign to ban cluster bombs. Their representatives attended the signing ceremony.
Up-date on Burundi
Yesterday there was Summit of the Regional Initiative. The matter of Burundi is led by what is called Regional Initiative which is chaired by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda his Deputy is the President of Tanzania, President Kikwete and of course South Africa is the Facilitation country. We decided two years ago on a ceasefire relevant to that matter to try to bring into the fore the only remaining political body which is still not participating in the economic, political and social circumstances of Burundi which is the Palipehutu –FNL.
Earlier this year a decision was taken by the Regional Initiative but the mandate we were given to facilitate this process has end on the 31st of December so we are trying to complete this programme by the 31st of December 2008. Apart from that the South African Defence Force which is the African Union Special Task Force which is deployed there for purposes of finalising the disarmament, demobilisation and re-integration process of the Pali-Pehutu particularly the combatants has to leave Burundi by the end of January 2009. This is the time-frame that we have been given by the South African Government.
So a month ago the Regional initiative had a meeting in Uganda where it was decided that some movement needs to happen on four outstanding issues. Those questions were:
- In terms of the Constitution of Burundi no organisation can use the name that has the potential to divide that country. No ethnic names therefore are allowed in terms of the Constitution of that country. But Pali-Pehutu means the ‘Party for the Liberation of Hutu People’. And quite clearly if you have a party like that you rub the Tutsis the wrong way. It’s divisive! It creates conditions for conflict between Hutus and Tutsis. So the Pali-pehutu were told that there have to register as a political party under a new name.
- Secondly they were told to take their combatants through the disarmament, demobilisation and re-integration process. In other words their combatants needed to go to what is called ‘Assembly Areas.
- Thirdly, the Government was told that they needed to create spaces for the leadership of the Pali-pehutu FNL in structures of the state. Of course in terms of the Constitution of that country the Pali-pehutu FNL cannot be appointed into Cabinet positions but they can be appointed into senior positions in public service including para-statals and representation via the diplomatic corps to various countries that the Burundi government would determine.
- The last point was that the Government needed to release all the political and war prisoners.
Now the Summit yesterday was looking at all of these matters to determine how far we have gone to meet the deadline of the 31 of December 2008, and there was an agreement that certain things need to happen and to happen speedily. We are in the process of putting up tents that are going to be part of the ‘Assembly Areas’. I am going there tomorrow (06 December 2008) to ensure that this work is quickly completed. It will be completed because some of the things that have to be done are quite easy and we are certain that by the 31st of December we will complete that process.
Off course there are many other things that need to be done with regard to the consolidation of peace in Burundi. Those matters will be discussed by the region, the African Union and the United Nations is also involved with that to see what can be done. The UN has established what is called the Peace Building Commission and the first countries that will benefit from this Commission were identified as Sierra Leone and Burundi. But because of the circumstances of Burundi the Commission started there and will be going to Sierra Leone as well. There is a meeting of the Security Council on the 11th of December 2008. We will be going there in order for us to give a report, the final report this year of how far we have gone with that process. And of course to design a programme with the Peace Building Commission indicating what areas Burundi needs to be assisted in so that this particular project can indeed be rooted in the soil of that country, given among other things that they are going to their second democratic elections in two years time.
We are hopeful that all sides are going to be contributing towards the finalisation of this programme.
Question and answer session.
Questions: How safe are the limited stocks that South Africa has and where and when will they be destroyed?
How confident are you that all the parties in Burundi are committed to the peace process and what measures are in place to ensure that this succeeds?
Answer: On the matter of the limited stock we have of the munitions, South Africans need not to be worried firstly because they are outdated and secondly we have them under very controlled circumstances. We are working out a programme of destroying them. It’s not going to be long before this is done. In Oslo we did indicate that the stocks were due for destruction and that will happen as soon as possible.
On the matter of Burundi it is true that there have been many ups and downs with regards to the finalisation of the project in search of durable peace in that country. Both sides have, now and again, not delivered in terms of promises and protocols that they signed between themselves. We had the leadership of Pali-pehutu in South Africa since Tuesday. We had discussions with them and in the end they went back to endorse the programme that I have indicated. We believe that they are going to deliver. Already some of the things that needed to be done have been done and I am visiting the Assembly Areas tomorrow to ensure that we get their combatants to come. There is no way in which they are now going to pull out of this process because there is no alternative unfortunately with regards to what needs to be done in Burundi.
We believe that both are committed. The Summit yesterday was quite firm on those matters.
The other matters that we need to pay attention to relate to concept of politics in other words levelling the political field for participation across the board by everybody in the forthcoming elections. We need to create conditions where those who were displaced and particularly those who were combatants to be drawn into those processes including the economic and political life of that country. Among others therefore we have been discussing with many of the representatives of the international community on what to do to create those conditions. There are some suggestions that have been made. But the issue of the ceasefire agreement and the completion of that is essential to all of the things that need to be done
Question: You mentioned the urgent need for political and war prisoners to be released, do you know how many prisoners? Secondly how confident are you that a solution would have been found by year end?
Answer: I don’t have the figures now relating to political and war prisoners. But there is a Commission that was appointed comprised of the representatives of government and Pali- pehutu FNL and of course we are also represented as the Facilitation to continue working on the list. The reason they were not released the time we thought they would be released is that the government made an argument which was understandable that when they released those people they needed to release them into something and the Assembly Areas had not been put up at the time. The decision by the Summit yesterday was that those who would be released would of course be in two groups. Some of them are combatants and would go back to Assembly Areas and some are activists and don’t carry weapons and those would be allowed to go home.
So we believe we are on track and we will complete this work. But I’m not suggesting that when the 31st of December comes everything will come to a stop, we shall have made significant gains and I am sure the mop up operation will be next year but the SANDF must have left that country by the end of January 2009.
Question: Would you rule out the possibility of a conflict resuming in Burundi and how has the conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo affected Burundi?
Answer: It is unfortunate that developments in the DRC particularly in the eastern part of that country have had a negative impact across the Great Lakes region. Many countries are affected by that conflict there and of course Burundi is one of those countries affected. To a large extent many combatants of the Pali-pehutu were, in the past based in that area and they continue to live there. However there is a desire on the part of the leadership of the Pali-pehutu FNL to renegotiate a process to find peace in that country. Now the Pali-pehutu, after the signing of the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement in 2006 said they would no longer go back to war. Of course there been eruptions here and there. Since they signed the second agreement there have not been any attacks. We believe this time around that everybody is negotiating in good faith and that indeed this programme is going to be finalised as planned and in accordance with the endorsement by the Summit yesterday.
Question: Could you elaborate on the ‘Assembly Sites’ you will be visiting and where will they be.
Answer: The Assembly sites were agreed upon by what is called Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism and representatives from all the stakeholders and the Facilitation and the UN and everybody agreed. There is an area in Burundi agreed upon by everybody and identified as a site where people would be put together. There are other areas where people have been put in Burundi including a pre-Assembly area. We are going to be pulling those people out of the pre-Assembly area into the main camp. We are preparing to absorb as many as 10 000 people into that area depending on how many members the Pali-pehutu FNL has.
Question: Those countries not signing the Convention are they not undermining its value?
Answer: There is going to be a lot of interaction with many countries particularly those that have not signed. There have been many examples where countries would not agree on a particular protocol but what happens is that these things stigmatise countries where it is known that one is producing cluster bombs and these bombs are being used in conflict situations. It does stigmatise these countries and we believe that civil society on this question played a huge role across the world and in those countries that did not sign the civil society will step up their campaigns which will embarrass those governments. We have seen gory details of what these munitions do to humans.
In fact one of the countries that did not sign was Afghanistan but the authorities in that country sent a word, while we were in Oslo, that their representative should sign. It was quite exciting that even at that late moment countries and government would act in that fashion. We expect many countries to sign influenced by activism inside those countries.
Question: What is the rate of success in countries where we have assisted?
Answer: You will be surprised by what we have done. In Mozambique for instance we have cleared large areas affected by the munitions but there is still some work to do in countries like Angola. In the DRC we are still tracing areas where these landmines might be located. The problem with munitions is that you don’t know how wide spread they are in any given country so you need to comb large tracks of land to find these bombs. But fortunately we have expertise in all of this and we are willing to assist countries that do require that assistance.
Questions: What would happen if some South African experts would go to those countries that would not have ratified to work in such countries? How do you ensure this does not happen?
Answer: Already there is a law in SA that prevents people from participating in conflict areas because that is what they would be doing. They would be taking their expertise to those areas and it is illegal in terms of our laws.
Issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria, 0001
05 December 2008.
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