Key developments since 1999: Morocco has stated that it is complying
with the Mine Ban Treaty “de facto.” In February 2001, Moroccan
officials for the first time claimed that Morocco no longer uses or stockpiles
antipersonnel mines. Morocco and the Polisario have periodically traded
accusations of new mine use. Both parties have conducted mine clearance and
explosive ordnance disposal along the berms of Western Sahara. In April 2004,
the UN reported that since 1997 MINURSO has facilitated the discovery and
marking of 1,123 mines and UXO, and has participated in 750 disposal operations.
Morocco ratified CCW Amended Protocol II on 19 March 2002.
Mine Ban Policy
Morocco has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In June 2004, an official
repeated the government’s long-held view that it is supportive of the Mine
Ban Treaty, but it is not possible to join due to the ongoing security situation
in Western Sahara.[1] Morocco
voted in favor of the 1996 UN General Assembly Resolution urging states to
pursue vigorously an international agreement banning antipersonnel mines, but
has abstained on every subsequent UNGA resolution calling for universalization
of the Mine Ban Treaty, including UNGA Resolution 58/53 on 8 December 2003.
Morocco has taken an active interest in the Mine Ban Treaty. It participated
as an observer in the Ottawa Process leading to the treaty and has since
attended every annual Meeting of States Parties, as well as the intersessional
Standing Committee meetings in Geneva (except February 2004). Morocco has
participated in regional landmines meetings promoting the Mine Ban Treaty in
Tunisia (January 2002), and Mali (February 2001). In February 2001 and January
2002, Morocco stated that it is complying with the Mine Ban Treaty “de
facto.”[2]
Morocco is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It
ratified CCW Amended Protocol II on landmines on 19 March 2002 and attended the
Fifth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in November
2003. Morocco submitted a national annual report as required by Article 13 in
December 2003.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, and Use
In February 2001, Moroccan officials told Landmine Monitor that Morocco does
not use, produce, import, or stockpile antipersonnel mines. This was the first
time Morocco claimed that it no longer uses antipersonnel mines, and that it no
longer has stockpiles.[3] In
March 2001 and in January 2002, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs again stated
that Morocco does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel
mines.[4] Most recently, in
June 2004, a Moroccan official told Landmine Monitor that the country does not
use, manufacture, export, or import antipersonnel
mines.[5]
Since 2001, Landmine Monitor has sought, but never obtained, clarification on
whether Morocco has a policy prohibiting use of antipersonnel mines, or is
simply claiming not to have used in recent years. It is also seeking
clarification regarding the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, as
Morocco has never provided information regarding when it relinquished mine
stockpiles or whether stockpiles were purposefully destroyed or depleted through
use.[6]
Morocco acknowledges extensive use of mines in the past. In 1982, the Royal
Moroccan Army (RMA) erected a wall or berm to secure the northwest corner of
Western Sahara. It subsequently built 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
includes 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 numerous antitank and
antipersonnel landmines. 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.[7]
Since it started reporting in 1999, Landmine Monitor has not found any
independent evidence of any antipersonnel mine use by Morocco, and is unaware of
any reports from MINURSO regarding possible mine use. On several occasions, the
Polisario in Western Sahara has claimed that Morocco uses antipersonnel mines,
but Landmine Monitor did not find any allegations of mine use in 2003 or the
first six months of 2004.
During a period of high tensions in late 2000 and early 2001, Polisario and
Morocco accused each other of recent deployment of
mines.[8] On 6 December 2000,
the President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, Polisario’s
Secretary-General Mohamed Abdelaziz, made a formal complaint to the UN
Secretary-General that Morocco had violated the 1991 cease-fire by laying mines.
In January 2002, the Polisario Front claimed that Royal Moroccan Army troops
deployed in Western Sahara “refurbish and upgrade their minefields on a
daily basis,” but no independent actors including MINURSO, confirmed these
allegations.[9]
Landmine Problem and Mine Action
Morocco is not considered mine-affected, except for the territory it controls
in Western Sahara (see the separate Landmine Monitor report on Western Sahara).
Under bilateral military agreements signed by Morocco and Polisario in early
1999, both parties committed to cooperate with MINURSO in the exchange of
mine-related information, marking of mined areas, and clearance and destruction
of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the presence of MINURSO
observers.[10]
Between February and April 2004, MINURSO discovered and marked 82 landmines
and observed eleven collaborative disposal operations conducted by the Moroccan
Army and Polisario on both sides of the
berm.[11] Between October 2003
and January 2004, MINURSO discovered and marked 36 landmines and UXO on both
sides of the berm and monitored 257 disposal operations by the Moroccan
Army.[12] From May to October
2003, MINURSO discovered and marked 56 landmines and pieces of unexploded
ordnance (UXO) on both sides of the berm and monitored 31 disposal operations
carried out by Moroccan
army.[13]
According to an April 2004 United Nations report on Western Sahara, MINURSO
has facilitated the discovery and marking of 1,123 mines and UXO since 1997, and
it has participated in 750 disposal
operations.[14]
MINURSO installed an Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA)
database provided by the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining
in 2003.[15]
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
A Moroccan official interviewed by Landmine Monitor in June 2004 had not
heard of any mine casualties in 2003 or
2004.[16] No comprehensive
information is available on mine casualties in Morocco. Between March 2000 and
March 2001, Moroccan authorities registered 51 military casualties from
antivehicle mines and UXO explosions in Western Sahara; seven were killed, 19
were severely injured, and 25 slightly
injured.[17] Between 1991 and
1998, UN team sites west of the berm recorded almost 50 mine and UXO
incidents.[18]
Mine survivors are reportedly not treated differently from other persons with
disabilities. Moroccan officials state that, “In general, assistance to
the handicapped and their insertion into the socio-economic fabric constitutes
one of the principal priorities of the Moroccan
government.”[19] There is
a Commission for the Disabled in Morocco and several national laws including
Dahir 1.92.30 of 10 September 1993 on the protection of persons with
disabilities and Prime Minister’s Decree 30.130.00 of 7 July 2000 on
employment of persons with disabilities in public
administrations.[20]
[1] Interview with Seham Lemrabet, Moroccan
Permanent Mission to UN in Geneva, Geneva, 25 June
2004. [2] Response to LM Questionnaire
by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001; “Regional Seminar on the
Ottawa Convention in North Africa: Final Report on Proceedings,” Tunis,
15-16 January 2002. [3] Meeting with
four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February
2001. [4] Response by Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001. “Le Maroc ne possede pas de stock de
mines antipersonnel.” Moroccan officials repeated that the country does
not use and has no stock of antipersonnel mines at the Regional Seminar on the
Ottawa Convention in North Africa, Tunis, 15-16 January 2002.
[5] Interview with Seham Lemrabet,
Permanent Mission of Morocco to the UN in Geneva, 25 June
2004. [6] Interview with Abderrahim
Bendaoud, Chief of the Security and Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Tunis, 15 January 2002; Response by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9
March 2001; meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 28 February
2001. [7] MINURSO, “Western
Sahara: Updated Mine Situation,” February
1998. [8] Response by Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001; Review by LM of records kept at MINURSO
Headquarters, Laayoune, January
2001. [9] Telephone interview with
Emhamed Khadad, Polisario Coordinator, MINURSO, 23 January
2002. [10] Report of the UN
Secretary-General on the Situation Concerning Western Sahara, S/1999/307,
Paragraph 13, 22 March 1999. [11]
Report of the UN Sec-Gen on Western Sahara, S/2004/325, 23 April 2004, p.
3. [12] Report of the UN Sec-Gen on
Western Sahara, S/2004/39, 19 January 2004 p.
3. [13] Report of the UN Sec-Gen on
Western Sahara, S/2003/1016, 16 October 2003, p.
3. [14] Report of the UN Sec-Gen on
Western Sahara, S/2004/325, 23 April 2004, p.
3. [15] Report of the UN Sec-Gen on
Western Sahara, S/2004/39, 19 January 2004 p.
3. [16] Interview with Seham Lemrabet,
Permanent Mission of Morocco, 25 June
2004. [17] Response by Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001. [18]
MINURSO, “Western Sahara: Updated Mine Situation,” February
1998. [19] Response by Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 9 March 2001. [20]
Ibid.