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]