Morocco has not signed
the Mine Ban Treaty. Morocco attended the treaty preparatory conferences, the
Oslo treaty negotiations, and the Ottawa treaty signing ceremony, but only as an
observer in each case. It did not endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration
in June 1997. Morocco voted in favor of the 1996 UN General Assembly
Resolution urging states to pursue vigorously an international agreement banning
antipersonnel mines (passed 156-0, with 10 abstentions), but it was one of just
eighteen countries which abstained from voting on the 1997 UNGA Resolution
inviting all states to sign the Mine Ban Treaty; and one of nineteen countries
which abstained from voting on the 1998 UNGA resolution welcoming new
signatories to the treaty and urging its full implementation.
Morocco is not a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons.
It is a member of the Conference on Disarmament, but has not been a noted
supporter of efforts to negotiate a mine transfer ban in that forum.
Production, Transfer and Stockpiling
Morocco does not produce antipersonnel mines, and
is not know to have exported mines. Morocco has imported numerous types of
mines. According to an Italian research institute, during a three year period
from 1976 to 1978, Morocco imported a total of $6.5 million worth of VS-50
antipersonnel and VS-1.6 antitank mines from the Italian company
Valsella.[1] Morocco is also
known to have mines of Spanish, Russian, French, and U.S.
origin.[2] There is, at
present, no concrete information on the number and types of mines Morocco
retains in its stock.
Use
Morocco has an estimated 200,000 landmines on its
territory, the majority of which are concentrated in southern Morocco and
Western Sahara.[3] (See also the
special report on Western Sahara). Moroccan mine use has been concentrated in
the disputed Western Sahara, of which Morocco currently controls over
seventy-five percent. The battle for Western Sahara began in 1976 after the
departure of Spanish colonial forces, Morocco laid claim to the territory but
had to battle Mauritania and the Western Sahara independence movement Frente
Polisario, the Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro. In
1979, Mauritania exited the conflict and Morocco soon annexed most of the former
Mauritanian claim in the south of the Territory. During the 1980's, Morocco's
strategy was to slowly consolidate its control over the territory. This
strategy relied heavily on landmines. A UN brokered cease-fire and plan for a
referendum on integration into Morocco or independence for the Territory came
into effect in 1991. The planned referendum has experienced endless delays over
the past eight years.
In 1982, the Royal Moroccan Army completed the first defensive wall, or berm,
to secure the northwest corner of Western Sahara. The RMA completed constructed
on subsequent defensive berms in 1984, 1985 and 1987. In all, six berms were
built, four in the north of the territory and two further south. The current
dividing line between Morocco and Polisario held territories is made up of part
of berms four and five and all of berm six in the southern sector of the
territory. The berms are made of earth piled two to three meters high and
reinforced with security measures including extensive use of antitank and
antipersonnel landmines.
Although not willing to give specifics about the mining of the berms, the RMA
has told the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) that it
mined "all approaches to their positions on the flanks and the rear in addition
to minefields laid in front of their
positions."[4] An unnamed RMA
officer informed MINURSO, the UN mission to oversee the Western Sahara
cease-fire and referendum process, that between one and two million mines were
used to reinforce the berms.[5]
Antitank minefields extend one hundred meters to the east of the berms towards
the Polisario positions with antipersonnel minefields closer to the berm
itself.[6] The UN assumes five
to ten kilometers in front and to the rear of the berm to be dangerous and
enforces a five kilometer buffer zone where no military or civilian personnel
are allowed to the east of the
berm.[7] Portions of the other
berms that now stand within Moroccan held territory are suspected to still be
mined by MINURSO personnel.[8]
In addition to the berm minefields, mines were used extensively by all three
of the warring factions during the fifteen years of war. UN reports state that
the RMA has lifted or reported to MINURSO most "useless" minefields and
"sometimes basically marked"
them.[9] There have been claims
by Moroccan researchers that mines do not pose a threat in the Moroccan held
territory because the RMA has all the necessary
maps.[10] However, MINURSO Team
Site personnel report that the RMA is not aware of all minefields and that
accidents do take place.[11] In
fact, old Polisario minefields in Moroccan held territory continue to cause
accidents especially in the south of the Territory where the RMA Awserd
commander reported eleven mine accidents among RMA troops in a seven month
period in 1997.[12]
A list of mines found in all of the Western Sahara is contained in the
Landmine Monitor special report on Western Sahara.
Mine Awareness
In addition to demining and UXO clearance, the SDU
also worked in organizing the MINURSO Mine Action Cell (MAC) in Layounne and
providing mine awareness to MINURSO personnel and
visitors.[13] As part of the
SDU mine awareness a booklet was produced with advice on avoiding danger, what
to do in a mined area, what to do in case of an accident and illustrations and
descriptions of mines found in Western
Sahara.[14] UNHCR expressed a
desire to establish a mine awareness program for returning refugees, but no
updates are available.[15]
Norwegian People’s Aid has also implemented a mine awareness program in
Western Sahara (see Western Sahara for more detail). After the departure of the
SDU, two Pakistani engineers assigned to MINURSO were tasked with the MAC duties
until they were to be repatriated by the beginning of
February.[16]
Mine Clearance
To date, there have been limited efforts to survey
mark and clear mines and UXO in the Moroccan territory. The RMA is reported to
have lifted some of its minefields to the west of the berm, but there are no
details on the number of mines or area
cleared.[17] MINURSO Team Site
reports also note that RMA forces would conduct clearance in areas where mine
accidents have taken place.[18]
In March 1999, the Moroccan government agreed to a proposal from the MINURSO
Force Commander to begin mine removal in the Moroccan held
territory.[19] The agreement
provides for “the exchange of information about all previously identified
mines and unexploded ordnance in the areas west and north of the defensive
sand-wall (berm) and their step-by-step destruction by the Royal Moroccan Army,
as well as about any incidents involving mines and unexploded
ordnance.”[20]
In late 1997 and early 1998, the United Nations approached Sweden for a
demining capacity for the MINURSO mission and to address needs of UNHCR. UNHCR
requests did not extend to the west of the berm as UNHCR had not yet received
formal recognition from the Moroccan government and had conducted no
reconnaissance in the area. The Swedish Demining Unit (SDU) arrived in Layounne
in May 1998. The Unit was operational for only half of the five months it was
in the territory, due to concerns by the Moroccan authorities about the import
of essential equipment, which was resolved with signing of the Second Military
Agreement (MA2) between MINURSO and the Moroccan
authorities.[21] Only two of the
six dogs brought by the Swedes became operational during deployment.
West of the berm, the SDU worked in and around MINURSO Team Sites in Smara,
Dakhla, Mahbas, Tichla, Awsard, Guelta Zenmour, and Bir
Gandouz.[22] The Unit also
worked on the proposed Team Site area at Haouza. Of the 534 UXOs and two
antitank mines the SDU destroyed in the field, ten UXOs were found and destroyed
at two of the Team Sites where the Unit worked west of the
berm.[23] The remainder of the
items were found and destroyed in Polisario held territory. The Unit did not
report any antipersonnel mines during its filed operations. Because of the
short period of operation, The SDU did not complete work its work west of the
berm related to the proposed Haouze Team Site and some other tasks to be
identified by MINURSO. In its final report, the SDU noted that of the tasks it
was assigned for the entire territory, there remains four months work for an EOD
team and the need for a permanent EOD capacity for the life of the UN mission.
Western Sahara has been identified by the UN Mine Action Service as a
priority for Level 1 Survey to identify contaminated areas and associated
socio-economic impact to determine demining and victim assistance priorities and
resource needs. While UNMAS notes that a survey is required, it adds that the
current political situation creates difficulties in the execution of such a
survey.[24]
Landmine Casualties
Very little information is available about the
extent of mine accidents, number of victims and access to medical and
rehabilitation services in the Moroccan held portion of Western Sahara. As
already noted, eleven accidents were reported by the RMA Awserd Commander in a
seven month period in 1997. The UN Team Sites record mine accidents they are
aware of in their individual sectors. From the beginning of the mission in 1991
until July 1998, the Team Sites west of the berm recorded almost fifty mine or
UXO incidents.[25] A notable
accident happened in 1996 during the Paris-Dakar Rally. During stage five of
the 1996 Rally, a vehicle hit an explosive device near to Smara killing the
driver and injuring two
others.[26] However, according
to Moroccan authorities, it was not a mine that caused the
accident.[27]
[1]Francesco Terreri.
Produzione Commercio ed Uso Delle Mine Terrestri, il Ruolo dell'Italia.
Forum on the Problems of Peace and War. Comune di Firenze. October 1996.
[2]U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: The Global Problem with Uncleared Landmines, 1993, p.
126.
[3]U.S. Department of State,
Hidden Killers: The Global Landmine Crisis, 1998, p. A-2.
[4]MINURSO, "Western Sahara:
Updated Mine Situation, February 1998.
[7]MINURSO, "Western Sahara:
Updated Mine Situation,” February 1998; Discussions with MINURSO Team Site
Members in Team Sites east of the berm. February 1999.
[10]Association de soutien
à un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara
Occidental (ARSO). "There is no mine Problem in Morocco," Western Sahara Weekly
News, Week 07 14.-20.02.1999. See www.arso.org.
[14]MINURSO/SDU, "Mine
Awareness Aide- Memoire Western Sahara." Mid-1998.
[15]United Nations,
Country Report: Western Sahara, at
http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/country/westerns.htm.
[16]United Nations Secretary
General, " Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation Concerning Western
Sahara." Paragraph 7. S/1999/88. United Nations: New York. January 28,
1999.
[19]United Nations Secretary
General, "Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation concerning Western
Sahara." Paragraph 13. S/1999/307. United Nations: New York. March 22, 1999.
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