Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it on 9 October 2001, and became a State Party on 1 April 2002. Algeria believes that existing national laws, including the penal code, are sufficient to deal with implementation and any violations of the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

Algeria submitted its eleventh Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in March 2013.[2]

Algeria participated actively in the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012, where it served as vice-president of the meeting and as co-chair of the Standing Committee on Victim Assistance and Socio-Economic Reintegration. Algeria also participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2013 where it provided an update on its clearance progress since receiving an extension on its Article 5 obligations.

Algeria is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, transfer, use, and stockpile destruction

Algeria has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines but did import and use them in the past. On 21 November 2005, Algeria completed the destruction of its stockpile of 150,050 antipersonnel mines.

In May 2010, Algeria wrote to the Monitor that no additional stockpiles of mines belonging to the armed forces had been discovered after completion of its stockpile destruction program.[3] Algeria’s previous Article 7 reports indicated small numbers of antipersonnel mines were discovered by citizens or security personnel each year.[4] However, Algeria has not reported any new seizures of antipersonnel mines since February 2010. From 2006 to early 2010, Algeria revealed that it had seized a total of 3,119 antipersonnel mines which had been harvested from existing mined areas and used for illegal purposes.[5] Algeria’s Article 7 report for 2010 included a table of the eight cases referred to the courts from December 2006 to February 2010 as a result of the seizure of the mines; it provides the outcome, the penalty, and the statute under which each case was tried.[6] Algeria previously informed the Monitor, “As subject matter of the criminal case, anti-personnel mines are confiscated for the benefit of the Public Treasury and delivered with a written report to the competent judicial police officers of the Gendarmerie Nationale to be ultimately destroyed.”[7]

Mines retained for training

Algeria did not report consumption of any mines retained during 2012, but stated that it “holds no more than 5,970 mines under article 3,” which was the same number that it has reported retaining in every year since December 2009.[8] Despite having a large clearance program, Algeria has not reported on the actual uses of its retained mines, a step agreed by States Parties in 2004.

Algeria initially decided to retain 15,030 antipersonnel mines upon the completion of the destruction of its stockpile. After consuming just 90 mines in training, it announced in late 2008 that it would reduce the number of mines retained to a level of 6,000.[9] A total of 8,940 mines were subsequently destroyed at events witnessed by the international community in December 2008 and March 2009.[10]

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Algeria has not made any statements in relation to the Convention on Cluster Munitions since December 2010, when an official said that the government’s policy on joining the ban convention had not changed.[1] Previously, in 2009, an Algerian official told the Monitor that “after a study conducted by different relevant authorities taking into consideration the internal situation in Algeria, its huge borders, and the regional situation, it was decided not to sign the convention at the present time.”[2]

Algeria has also expressed a preference for cluster munitions to be addressed within the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has not indicated if its policy will be reviewed following the failure in November 2011 of the CCW to adopt a protocol on cluster munitions.[3]

Algeria participated in several meetings of the Oslo Process, but did not attend the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 or the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[4] In September 2011, Wikileaks released a United States (US) Department of State cable showing that US officials met with Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2008 and “urged Algeria not to adopt any language that would interfere with cooperation efforts aimed at non-state parties.”[5]

Algeria last participated in an international meeting on cluster munitions in June 2010. It was invited to but did not attend the Fourth Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions held in Oslo, Norway in September 2012. It did not participate in an African regional meeting on the convention’s universalization in Lomé, Togo in May 2013.

Algeria is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Algeria is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions. It is thought to have a stockpile of cluster munitions. Jane’s Information Group notes that KMG-U dispensers that deploy submunitions are in service for aircraft of the Algerian Air Force.[6] Also according to Jane’s, it possesses Grad 122mm, Uragan 220mm, and Smerch 300mm surface-to-surface rockets, but it is not known if these include versions with submunition payloads.[7]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Algeria is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) from World War II, the conflict to end French colonial occupation, and the insurgency of the 1990s. The precise extent of contamination is not known, although in June 2011 Algeria reported that known mined areas totaled some 13.56km² in the east and west of the country.[1]

Algeria has estimated that a total of 3,064,180 mines laid by the French colonial army in the late 1950s along Algeria’s eastern border with Tunisia and the western border with Morocco remained to be cleared.[2] Total contamination was estimated at some 10.88 million mines.[3] In a first clearance phase between 1963 and 1988, the army cleared 1,482km of mined areas along a total length of 2,531km, destroying in the process more than 7.8 million mines.[4] Between November 2004 and through the end of October 2010, Algeria reported that it had destroyed 508,554 mines at an average rate of some 7,200 per month.[5] Algeria subsequently reported that as of June 2011, 43 mined areas remained to be cleared in Algeria: 31 in the east totaling 6.2km², and 12 in the west totaling some 7.36km².[6]

The north of the country has been contaminated by an unknown number of homemade mines and explosive items laid by insurgent groups as well as a reported 15,709 antipersonnel mines laid by the Algerian Army around installations, particularly high-tension power lines.[7] In 2011, Algeria reported that all of the mines laid by the army had now been cleared.[8] Clearance of the last of the 15 minefields and the 15,709 antipersonnel mines laid was completed on 28 April 2011.[9]

Mines continue to be found outside known mined areas. As of the Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee Meetings in May 2013, Algeria reported that 379 “isolated” antipersonnel mines had been reported or found outside known or suspected mined areas, and a further 941 had been found “by accident.”[10]

In August 2011, Algeria noted that, in addition to the huge human suffering (see the Casualties and Victim Assistance section of the Algeria profile), mines have slowed the development of the contaminated regions, rendering broad swathes of agricultural and grazing land unusable; overburdened the health system; increased poverty as a result of disabilities caused by mine injuries; and destroyed flora and fauna as a result of poaching using mines recovered from the minefields. Damage has also been inflicted on certain protected heritage sites, such as the El Kala park (which is included in the Ramsar Convention list[11]), the Tiout oasis, and the Moghrar oasis; this includes a particular threat to protected animals such as wild deer in El Tarf and Souk Ahras and wild geese in Nâama.[12]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

It is not known to what extent Algeria is contaminated with ERW. It has not reported publicly on its destruction of ERW during demining operations. There is no evidence that Algeria is affected by cluster munition remnants.

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The Interministerial Committee on the Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, set up in 2003 by presidential decree, was made responsible for implementing a joint mine action project with UNDP. In addition, a steering committee was established to oversee the project, chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project, which was established at the end of 2006 with UNDP assistance, struggled to recover from the December 2007 bombing of the UN building in Algiers, which killed three UNDP mine action personnel, including the chief technical advisor. One of the outputs of the UNDP project was to be a strategic mine action plan, but this had not been drafted as of late July 2009.[13] Subsequently, UNDP support was nominally extended until the end of 2010.[14] In November 2010, Algeria reported that Action Plan 2010–2012 had been adopted.[15] Algeria has funded all of its mine clearance operations from its own resources.

Recent program evaluations

Apparently, no evaluation of UNDP support to mine action in Algeria has been conducted.

Land Release

All demining in Algeria is carried out by the army using manual clearance methods and their own standard operating procedures. As of mid-2011, army deminers were working in the east in 10 communes in El Tarf, nine in Souk Ahras, three in Guelma, and nine in Tébessa; in the west, clearance operations were being undertaken in Tlemcen and Nâama.[16]

Two suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) were released by the end of 2012 covering areas of 12km in the commune of El Tarf and covering 10km in the Mechroha commune in Souk Ahras. It was further estimated that 25 communes with SHAs remain: nine in El Tarf; seven in Souk Ahras; three in Guelma, and six in Tébessa.[17] In addition, the formerly mined area in Béchar that had been maintained as a “historical site” was released without finding any antipersonnel mines in May 2012.[18]

Mine clearance in 2012

Algeria reported that in the period from 27 November 2004–28 February 2013 it has cleared around 6425,772 hectares (over 64km²) of mined areas, destroying in the process 670,256 antipersonnel mines.[19]

Algeria’s Article 7 report submitted in April 2009 reported that Algeria was maintaining two mined areas as a “historical site” in the Challe minefields, one in the east and one in the west of the country. The size of both areas in Tébessa and Bechar provinces were small, totaling 3,000m² and 2,000m², respectively, and Algeria had declared that the areas are “duly protected and marked” as a legacy of the War of National Liberation.[20] The mined area in Tébessa was demined on 16–17 October 2011 with the clearance of 927 antipersonnel mines and the second area in Béchar was surveyed through sampling on 14–15 May 2012, during which no mines were found and it consequently was declared mine-free.[21]

Algeria’s revised deadline Extension Request had calculated that two units could continue clearance at a rate of 4.9km per month and that the three units then deployed in the field could clear approximately 168.84km of linear minefields per year.[22] It cautioned, however, that occasionally the deminers are called away for urgent mine clearance operations elsewhere in the country, which could impact on the ability to complete clearance in time.[23] It also noted that three mined areas in the northwest are particularly challenging to demine, one at Moghrar oasis, a second at Tiout, and the third close to the town of Ain Sefra along a length of 6km.[24]

In 2012, Algeria reported clearing a total of 582,406 hectares (5.82km²) of mined areas in seven locations across four provinces, destroying 83,066 antipersonnel mines.

Mined area clearance January 2012–March 2013[25]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted in 2011), Algeria is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2017.

In May 2009, Algeria had stated it would make all efforts to meet its 2012 deadline, although it noted that the context was “complex.”[26] In March 2011, however, Algeria submitted a request for a five-year extension to its Article 5 deadline.[27]

In June 2011 at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings, Algeria cited the main factors necessitating the request for an extension: the delay in initiating clearance operations (which were begun in November 2004), the choice of purely manual demining, and climatic conditions.[28] In August 2011, Algeria submitted a revised Extension Request, in which data on the problem and clearance to date was presented more clearly, although the extension period sought remained the same.[29] The request also noted the extent of contamination as a major factor in the need for an extension.[30]

Algeria has calculated that the three demining companies in the east can together release 168km of linear minefields per year, which means it would take six years from 2011 to complete the 887km of linear minefields remaining by the extended deadline of April 2017. It cautioned, however, that occasionally the deminers are called away for urgent mine clearance operations elsewhere in the country, which could impact on the ability to complete clearance in time.[31] It also noted that three mined areas in the northwest are particularly challenging to demine, one at Moghrar oasis, a second at Tiout, and the third close to the town of Ain Sefra along a length of 6km.[32]

The revised deadline Extension Request included a detailed plan of work for 2012–2017 containing annual milestones against which progress could be compared. By end of April 2013, Algeria projected that the following would be completed:

·         Tlemcen: operations would conclude in the Marset Ben M’hidi and Bab El-Assa communes, and commenced in the Maghnia commune.

·         Nâama: operations would have commenced in communes of Mechria, Nâama, and Ain Safra.

·         El-Taref: operations would conclude in El-Taref commune, and commenced in Zitouna commune.

·         Souk-Ahras: operations would conclude in the communes of Ouilène and Taoura, and would have commenced in the commune of Sidi Fredj.

·         Tébessa: operation would conclude in the commune of El Kouif, and would have commenced in the commune of Ain Zerga.[33]

At the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Algeria stated that it was respecting its duty to clear all mined areas, including those it had previously intended to preserve for historical purposes, and that it is on track to complete clearance by its extended deadline. In May 2013, Algeria further stated that clearance operations were proceeding according to the workplan set out in its Extension Request.[34]

Concerns expressed by the ICRC in May 2011[35] regarding the inadequate marking of mined areas stemming from Algeria’s concerns over the risks of theft of the explosives were addressed by Algeria in its revised Extension Request, where it was stated that: “In certain cases, the security situation has made it impossible to mark mined areas in a timely fashion. Algeria will mark these areas as soon as security conditions allow it.”[36] Algeria has yet to report to States Parties on progress in marking mined areas.

The Analyzing Group that reviewed Algeria’s Article 5 deadline Extension Request noted that Algeria had planned solely for the use of manual clearance in addressing its mined areas and encouraged Algeria to make full use of the entire range of technical and non-technical means to help reduce the amount of land needing clearance and to gain a better assessment of contaminated areas.[37] Algeria has not yet reported any progress in this area in using a wider range of techniques in the course of its clearance operations.

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Summary findings

·         A lack of a central data collection mechanisms on casualties and the needs of victims continued to prevent effective planning of victim assistance

·         Improvements in the accessibility of services by public authorities helped more registered victims receive health care and other needed benefits

·         An estimated third of all victims were unregistered and therefore excluded from receiving pensions and other benefits

Victim assistance commitments

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria is responsible for a significant number of survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Algeria has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Casualties Overview

In 2012, the Monitor identified 51 casualties from victim-activated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Algeria.[1] Slightly more than half (26) were military and security forces while the rest (25) were civilians. There were seven child casualties. The majority of casualties were male; there were at least eight female casualties,[2] four of these were children. It is likely that the total number of casualties was higher, since no annual casualty data has been provided by the Interministerial Committee on the Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty (Interministerial Committee) since 2008. Casualty data was gathered from media reports.[3]

The total of 51 casualties identified in 2012 constitutes an increase compared to the number of casualties identified in previous years (35 in 2011 and 33 in 2010). However, the lack of a central data collection mechanism and annual casualty rate fluctuations in recent years make it difficult to identify trends.[4]

The total number of mine casualties in Algeria is unknown. As of March 2011, there were 2,325 mine survivors, as well as 439 widows and 739 descendants of victims killed in mine incidents registered with the Ministry of the Mujahidin.[5] In October 2009, it was reported in the media that there had been at least 6,762 mine casualties since 1962 (3,236 killed; 3,526 injured).[6] The total of 6,848 reported by the Monitor represents this figure plus all casualties identified since October 2009. No information was available on casualties caused by ERW.

Victim Assistance

As of March 2011, there were 2,325 registered mine survivors in Algeria.[7] In October 2009, it was reported that there were at least 3,551 mine survivors in Algeria.[8]

Victim assistance in 2012

In 2012, local civil society organizations noticed improvements in the accessibility of services and renewed interest from public authorities to make services more accessible to persons with disabilities. In particular, improvements were noticed in the health sector and in access to benefits for mine/ERW survivors.[9] All registered victims, including survivors as well as the family members of those killed by mines, are entitled to benefits through the ministries of mujahidin, national solidarity, and health. These benefits include healthcare and pensions.[10] However, the estimated number of survivors remains significantly higher than the number of registered victims.[11]

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2012, the Interministerial Committee, in cooperation with local and international organizations involved in victim assistance, endorsed a new service directory based on information collected about available victim assistance services. As of the end of 2012, the directory was being translated into Arabic and was expected to be published and circulated during the second half of 2013.[12]

In 2012, Handicap International (HI) finalized the survivor identification process which had begun in 2009.[13] Throughout 2011, it had conducted survivor needs assessments in six wilayas (provinces) with the help of local NGOs. The gathered data was shared during a national seminar in April 2013 with survivors, disabled persons’ associations, and government authorities in order to assist in program planning, identifying priorities for mine action, and directing survivors more effectively to existing services. The data informed work to develop a new Victim Assistance Action Plan and in the implementation of economic integration micro-projects for mine/ERW victims and persons with disabilities.[14]

Victim assistance coordination[15]

The Interministerial Committee coordinates victim assistance in cooperation with the ministries of mujahidin and national solidarity.[16] In 2012, there were periodic victim assistance coordination meetings.[17] As of the end of 2012, Algeria had no national victim assistance plan. However, a plan based on the needs assessment coordinated by the Interministerial Committee and conducted by the Ministry of National Solidarity, Family and the Status of Women in partnership with HI was under development and was expected to be adopted in 2014.[18]

Algeria delivered a statement on victim assistance and socio-economic inclusion at the intersessional Standing Committee Meetings in May 2012 and another at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in December 2012. However, it provided little new data or updates on victim assistance activities.[19] Algeria did not provide information on victim assistance activities in Form J of its most recent Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[20]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

In 2012, survivors were included in nongovernmental coordination on victim assistance; in the design and implementation of awareness activities, inclusive education and economic inclusion projects; and in psychological support to survivors and their families.[21]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities in 2012[22]

Algerian authorities made efforts to improve access to health services.[23] In 2012, the public health service launched an internal review of the physical accessibility of their services. Furthermore, the government created a new electronic insurance card (“Chifa”) that was extended to include new categories of previously uninsured persons, such as persons with disabilities including mine/ERW survivors. This card allows beneficiaries to access health benefits for themselves and their family.[24]

To improve access to physical rehabilitation services, on 3 December 2012 the National Employee Social Insurance Fund (Caisse Nationale des Assurances Sociales des Travailleurs Salariés, CNAS) and the National Office for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities signed an agreement to include coverage of all orthopedic equipment within CNAS.[25]

HI expanded its programs for mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities with a focus on psychosocial support, economic inclusion, inclusive education, and access to the labor market for youth and women with disabilities. HI continued to provide training and supervision for psychologists working with victims and their families. It also set up economic inclusion micro-projects adapted to mine/ERW victims and other persons with disabilities. These micro-projects were informed by the needs assessment led by HI and financed by the Interministerial Committee and UNDP.[26]

To promote inclusive education, HI supported local associations in the development of services to educate children with disabilities, including mine/ERW victims, in 4 wilayas and to train teachers in inclusive education in 7 wilayas. HI also worked on making three pilot schools in three different wilayas accessible.

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of other state services. However, the government did not effectively enforce the law in 2012 and there was widespread social discrimination against persons with disabilities. Few government buildings were accessible to persons with disabilities.[27]

Algeria ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 4 December 2009.

The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria has estimated that more than 10 million landmines were laid along its eastern border with Tunisia and its western border with Morocco. All demining in Algeria is carried out by the army.[1]

Algeria’s revised Article 5 deadline extension request, submitted in August 2011, requested an extension for a further five years (until 1 April 2017) to clear all remaining known mined areas. The request, however, failed to include any reference to cost and funding needs for that period.[2] Algeria does not receive international support for its mine action program and it has never provided details of expenditure or cost estimates from its national or military budget for clearance operations or victim assistance.