Tunisia signed the
Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. Ratification legislation, Law No. 98-78,
was passed on 27 October 1998, and published in the official journal of Tunis on
2 November 1998,[1] but Tunisia
has, for unknown reasons, not yet officially deposited its instrument of
ratification with the United Nations. It is unclear if Law No. 98-78 will also
serve as implementation legislation.
Tunisia attended the treaty preparatory meetings and the Oslo negotiations,
but only as an observer in each case, and did not endorse the pro-treaty
Brussels Declaration in June 1997. Thus, many did not expect Tunisia to sign the
treaty. However, Tunisia had voted for the 1996 UN General Assembly Resolution
calling on states to pursue vigorously an international agreement banning
antipersonnel mines, and signaled a shift in its policy when it also voted for
the 1997 UNGA resolution supporting the December treaty signing. Subsequently
Tunisia voted for the 1998 UNGA resolution welcoming new signatories to the
treaty and urging its full implementation.
Tunisia is a state party to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons and
its original Protocol II on landmines, but it has not ratified the amended
Protocol II (1996).
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, and Use
Tunisia does not produce antipersonnel mines and is not known to have
exported AP mines. Tunisia has reportedly imported landmines from Italy,
France, Yugoslavia, and Great
Britain.[2] The U.S. shipped
250 M12 antitank mines to Tunisia in 1970; it has made no shipments of
antipersonnel mines.[3]
Tunisia is thought to have a large stock of mines at its disposal, but details
are not available. Following the Inter-Maghreb Seminar on Anti-Personnel
Landmines conference in Tunis on 25-26 January 1999, the Tunisian Defense
Ministry announced that it would begin destroying its stocks of mines, but it
has yet to take any steps toward doing so.
There is no evidence that Tunisia has used antipersonnel mines in recent
years in its ongoing conflict with Libya.
Landmine Problem
Tunisia has yet to conduct a comprehensive
assessment of its landmine problem. Nonetheless the regions of Tunisia which are
known to be infested with mines include areas near Kasserine, Sbitla, Sidi
Bouzid and Marit in west central Tunisia. In northern Tunisia, the regions of
Majz el Baz and Bount de Fez are also affected by
mines.[4] Most of the mine
were laid during World War II, though some have been planted more recently as
well. Mines have included those of British, French and US origin. Most of the
mined areas in Tunisia are barren, uninhabited places.
Mine Action
The Tunisian army claims to remove between 200 and
300 land mines annually.[5] In
most cases, the military is alerted to the existence of mined areas by people
living among them following landmine accidents. To date, however, no
comprehensive assessment of either the extent of Tunisia’s landmine
problems or the number of casualties that have occurred from mines has taken
place. The Tunisian army has begun marking zones likely to contain mines buried
in the ground where incidents have occurred. The army is also developing an
educational program which is expected to focus on the landmine problem in
northern Tunisia. The Arab Institute For Human Rights, a nongovernmental
organization based in Tunis, has plans to begin training instructors for a
program to educate the country’s civilian
population.[6]
About Us
Our Research Products