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Morocco
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
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Mine Ban Treaty status |
Not a State Party |
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Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Voted in favor of Resolution 65/48 in December 2010, as in the previous six years |
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Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Attended as an observer the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in November–December 2010; provided a voluntary Article 7 report; announced that it has no stockpile of antipersonnel mines. |
Policy
The Kingdom of Morocco has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Officials have repeatedly stated that the dispute over Western Sahara is the only obstacle preventing Morocco from acceding.[1]
In its statement to the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November–December 2010, Morocco expressed its support for the humanitarian objectives of the treaty, and reiterated that it voluntarily implements the treaty’s provisions including by submitting Article 7 reports on a voluntary basis and by conducting activities such as demining, stockpile destruction, risk education, and victim assistance.[2] In a March 2011 letter to the Monitor, Morocco affirmed that it “applies de facto the Convention obligations and fully and unconditionally aligns itself with its principles and objectives, especially those of IHL [international humanitarian law].”[3] Morocco made a similar statement at the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2011 and in the explanation of its positive vote in October 2010 on the annual UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.[4]
Morocco submitted a voluntary annual Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report dated April 2011 covering the period 30 March 2010 to 30 March 2011. It has provided four previous voluntary reports.[5]
Morocco is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It submitted its annual report required by Article 13 of the protocol. Morocco is not party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Use, stockpiling, production, transfer, and retention
Morocco has acknowledged the use of mines in the past, most notably at the berms (defensive earthen walls) it built from 1982 to 1987 to secure the northwest corner of Western Sahara. There have been no confirmed instances of mine use since that time.[6]
In May 2009 Morocco replied in the negative to a Monitor questionnaire inquiry about whether Morocco reserves the right to use antipersonnel mines in the future.[7] Morocco also stated that it stopped using and stockpiling antipersonnel mines in 1987 and that it has never produced antipersonnel mines.[8] In June 2011 Morocco informed States Parties that it no longer has a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[9]
Morocco has said on several occasions that it has never exported antipersonnel mines and that it stopped importing them prior to entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty in March 1999.[10]
In June 2011 Morocco informed States Parties that it does not retain live mines, and it uses inert mines for training.[11] Previously, in May 2009, Morocco told States Parties that it still possessed antipersonnel mines that were used for training its army for participation in peacekeeping operations.[12] However, in its Article 7 report submitted in April 2009, Morocco reported that the mines used for training were “inert.”[13]
[1] Statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 June 2011; interview with Gen. Ben Elias, Royal Moroccan Army, and the two generals heading the second and third military zones, Agadir, 27 October 2008; interview with Nasser Bourita, Director, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 29 October 2008; and Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN, “Response to Questions from the Canadian NGO Mines Action Canada,” 18 May 2009.
[2] Statement of Morocco, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 29 November 2010.
[3] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Amb. Omar Hilale, Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in Geneva, 28 March 2011.
[4] Statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 25 May 2009; and fax from the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in New York, “Explanation of Vote on draft resolution A/C.1/64/L.53, 29 October 2009,” 9 November 2009. It also voted in favor of the final UNGA Resolution 64/56 on 2 December 2009.
[5] Previous reports were submitted in June 2010 for the period from April 2009 to April 2010, April 2009 for calendar year 2008, April 2008 for calendar year 2007, and August 2006 for the period from September 2005 to September 2006. Morocco has omitted Form B on stockpiled antipersonnel mines in all submissions. In May 2009 it told the Monitor that it does not include Form B because it has no stocks. Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN, “Response to Questions from the Canadian NGO Mines Action Canada,” 18 May 2009.
[6] The government of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro (Polisario) have periodically traded accusations of new mine use, but both have denied it. See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, p. 1,023.
[7] Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN, “Response to Questions from the Canadian NGO Mines Action Canada,” 18 May 2009.
[8] Ibid. It also said this in, statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 25 May 2009. In July 2006, Morocco told the Monitor that it stopped using antipersonnel mines at the time of the Western Sahara cease-fire in 1991, and that it no longer stockpiled antipersonnel mines, except for training purposes. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Morocco, July 2006.
[9] Statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 June 2011. Notes by the Monitor.
[10] For example, interview with the Moroccan delegation to the Eighth Meeting of States Parties, Dead Sea, 19 November 2007.
[11] Statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 20 June 2011. Notes by the Monitor.
[12] Statement of Morocco, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 25 May 2009. Morocco also said it only kept mines for training in 2006 and 2007. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Morocco, July 2006; and statement of Morocco, Addressing the Human Costs of Anti-personnel Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War, Seminar for States of the Maghreb, Tunis, Tunisia, 9–10 September 2007.
[13] Mine Ban Treaty Voluntary Article 7 Report, Form D, April 2009.
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