Chairperson, Members of Parliament, South Africa's quest for peace and stability in the region and on the continent, to a large extent, drives the agenda of the Department of Defence. An important part of the quest is our adherence to international humanitarian law, particularly the law on armed conflict.
Whilst we are committed to resolving armed conflict through peaceful means, we must also be realistic and recognise that sometimes armed interaction might take place. That being the case, it becomes necessary to regulate the use of weapons so that human suffering would be limited as far as possible.
The Bill on the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects must be seen in this context.
We live in a world where, unfortunately, we have to use our technological and scientific knowledge to create weapons that maximise human suffering over and above anything that could be deemed necessary to defeat the force opposing us. We therefore have to place a limit on what human beings can use to fight one another. In war or armed conflict it is always the case that innocent civilians get caught in the crossfire. The innocent civilians I am referring to are, more often than not, women and children, the disabled and the elderly.
The civilian population affected by hostilities thus must be protected as far as humanly possible. We must therefore regulate the use of weapons that cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering. The Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to be eExcessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects seeks to implement the international humanitarian law principle that the right of parties to an armed conflict does not extend to them having an unlimited choice of methods or means of warfare.
South Africa has signed and ratified this convention. The convention identifies specific categories of conventional weapons and places prohibitions or restrictions on their use. The convention further provides that each state party should take all appropriate steps, including legislative and other measures, to prevent and suppress violations of this convention on any territory under its jurisdiction or control. South Africa is therefore obliged to promulgate enabling legislation.
The main object of this Bill is to place the necessary restrictions or prohibitions on specific categories of conventional weapons, thus fulfilling South Africa's obligation under the convention. The convention requires that the restrictions or prohibitions be placed on specifically identified categories of conventional weapons. The Bill ensures that a distinction is drawn between categories of conventional weapons that are prohibited and those that are restricted.
The following conventional weapons are prohibited: nondetectable fragments and blinding laser weapons.
Use of the following weapons is restricted: mines, booby-traps and devices, as well as incendiary weapons.
The Bill includes penal sanctions to discourage violations of the convention. Any contravention of the Bill will be punishable by either a fine or imprisonment, or both. So, chaps waiting there are ready for that because they keep prisoners.
The Bill also seeks to address transgressions by South Africans acting outside the borders of our country. South African citizens who contravene the provisions of the Bill outside our borders will be deemed to have acted on South African territory. The Bill was drawn up after consultation with both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the SA Police Service. The International Committee of the Red Cross was also consulted.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs will report annually to the Secretary- General of the UN on South Africa's compliance with the obligations of the convention. I place this Bill before this House for you to consider and approve. I thank you, Chairperson.