Key developments since May 2004: In December 2004, Morocco for the
first time voted in favor of the annual UN General Assembly resolution
supporting universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. At
the First Review Conference, Morocco asserted that it de facto implements
all of the treaty’s provisions. It acknowledged that it has a stockpile
of antipersonnel mines used only for training purposes. From April 2004 to
April 2005, 354 mines and items of unexploded ordnance were discovered and
marked, and 30 explosive ordnance disposal operations were conducted on both
sides of the barrier dividing Morocco and Western Sahara.
Mine Ban Policy
The Kingdom of Morocco has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. At the First
Review Conference, Morocco’s head of delegation said that adherence to the
treaty “is a strategic objective, the achievement of this objective is
temporarily postponed for one and unique reason, namely the security imperative
of its southern provinces. This provisional impediment to Morocco’s
adherence will disappear as soon as a final settlement is reached to the
artificial conflict imposed to my country.” He further declared that
“although not a State Party to the Convention, Morocco implements, de
facto, all its provisions. Moreover, it continues to encourage the
international efforts for a total ban on these lethal
weapons....”[1]
On 3 December 2004, Morocco voted in favor of the UN General Assembly
Resolution 59/84, calling for universalization and full implementation of the
Mine Ban Treaty. This marked the first time it has supported the annual
pro-treaty UNGA resolution; it had abstained on all previous votes since 1997.
Morocco stated, “This new position highlights my country’s full
support to the humanitarian principles and founding objectives of this legal
instrument.”[2]
Morocco attended the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in
Nairobi in November-December 2004, with a delegation headed by its permanent
representative to the UN in Geneva. Morocco stated that its participation
“reflects the importance it accords to the Ottawa Convention [and]
underscores Morocco’s...political will to contribute to the universal
momentum for the elimination of antipersonnel mines.... The Ottawa
Convention...has become a cornerstone in the legal disarmament field and a
landmark in the international humanitarian
law.”[3] Morocco also attended
the treaty’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in June 2004 and June 2005.
In September 2005, Morocco told Landmine Monitor that its decision to stop
using antipersonnel mines was irrefutable proof of its commitment to the spirit
and humanitarian values of the Mine Ban Treaty and its commitment to contribute
to the universal effort to eliminate the
weapon.[4]
Morocco is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended
Protocol II on landmines. It submitted its first annual national report
required by Article 13 in November 2003 and submitted a summary sheet indicating
no changes in November 2004. Morocco attended the Sixth Meeting of States
Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in November 2004.
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use
At the First Review Conference, Morocco again asserted that it never produced
or exported antipersonnel mines, and “did not import or use them, well
before the conclusion of this
Convention.”[5] In a September
2005 letter to Landmine Monitor, Morocco reiterated that it stopped importing
mines prior to entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty (March 1999), and stated
that it stopped using them at the time of the Western Sahara cease-fire in
1991.[6] It appears, however, that
Morocco does not have a formal policy or law prohibiting future use and transfer
of antipersonnel mines.[7]
Regarding stockpiles, Morocco said at the First Review Conference, “The
reduced stockpile of mines that currently exists in Morocco is used for
instruction, training and demining; thus contributing to the success of the
Moroccan forces’ mission in the different UN Peacekeeping
Operations.”[8] In September
2005, Morocco again said that it only has stockpiled mines for training sappers
in demining techniques.[9] Morocco
previously stated in 2001 and 2002 that it had no stockpile of antipersonnel
mines.[10]
Morocco acknowledges extensive use of mines in the past, most notably in the
earthen berms (walls) it built from 1982 to 1987 to secure the northwest corner
of Western Sahara. Since it starting reporting in 1999, Landmine Monitor has
not found any independent evidence of antipersonnel mine use by Moroccan forces.
The Polisario in Western Sahara have alleged Moroccan use several times, but
there were no such allegations in 2004 or 2005.
Mine Action
Morocco is not considered mine-affected, except for the territory it controls
in Western Sahara.[11] There is no
formal mine action program in Morocco. However, under a 1999 bilateral military
agreement with Polisario, it cooperates with the UN Mission for the Referendum
in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in the exchange of mine-related information, marking
of mined areas, and the clearance and destruction of mines and unexploded
ordnance (UXO).[12]
MINURSO carries out joint military operations, with the Royal Moroccan Army
on the Moroccan side of the berms, and with Polisario forces on the other side
of the berms; when mines and UXO are discovered they are marked by MINURSO,
which then monitors their destruction in explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)
operations.
From April 2004 to April 2005, MINURSO, in cooperation with the Royal
Moroccan Army and Polisario, discovered and marked a total of 354 pieces of
mines and UXO, and 30 EOD operations by the RMA and Polisario were
monitored.[13] The data reported
does not indicate what quantities were found and destroyed on each side of the
berm.
MINURSO is based in Laayoune, in Western Sahara, and uses the Information
Management System for Mine Action
(IMSMA).[14]
Landmine Casualties
In 2004, Moroccan officials interviewed by Landmine Monitor were not aware of
any new mine casualties.[15] No
mine casualties were reported in 2003.
On 5 August 2004, one Palestinian was killed and four Moroccans and
Palestinians were injured when they tried to cross a minefield on the
Greek-Turkish border.[16]
No comprehensive information is available on mine casualties in Morocco and
the total number is not known. Between March 2000 and March 2001, Moroccan
authorities registered 51 military mine/UXO casualties (seven killed and 44
injured) in Western Sahara.[17]
Survivor Assistance and Disability Policy and Practice
Mine survivors are reportedly not treated differently from other persons with
disabilities, and assistance and their reintegration is a priority of the
Moroccan government.[18] In early
2005, the Moroccan authorities and a local NGO assisted with the medical and
physical rehabilitation of a Saharawi girl injured in a mine incident in Western
Sahara in 2004.[19]
Handicap International (HI) supports Moroccan disability organizations, NGOs
and government institutions with technical advice, training (including for
orthopedic technicians) and networking to promote the full integration of people
with disabilities. HI also plans to stimulate the exchange of reintegration
experiences between Algeria, Tunisia and
Morocco.[20]
In September 2004, the Secretary of State for Family, Childhood and Disabled
People (Secrétariat de l’Etat Chargé de la Famille, de
l’Enfance et des Personnes Handicapées), with the technical advice
of the Research Center for the Study and Documentation of the Health Economy
(Centre de Recherche, d'Etude et de Documentation en Economie de la
Santé, CREDES) and HI, launched a disability census in Morocco. The
census concluded that about five percent of the population has a disability.
The survey found that only 12 percent of people with disabilities receive social
welfare, only 32 percent of disabled children aged between four and 15 years
went to school, and 55 percent of disabled people between 15 and 60 years were
unemployed or incapable of working. The census will lead to the creation of a
new national action plan in
2006.[21]
The Secretary of State for Family, Childhood and Disabled People, under the
Ministry of Social Affairs, deals with disability issues. Morocco has
legislation to protect the rights of persons with
disabilities.[22]
[1] Statement by Amb. Omar Hilale,
Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco in Geneva, Nairobi Summit on
a Mine-Free World (First Review Conference), Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[2] Statement by Amb. Omar Hilale,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[3] Statement by Amb. Omar Hilale,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[4] Response of Morocco to the
Landmine Monitor Report 2005 Questionnaire, included with a letter from the
Permanent Mission of Morocco, Geneva, to Landmine Monitor (HRW), 16 September
2005.
[5] Statement by Amb. Omar Hilale,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004. Morocco first claimed in
February 2001 that it does not use, produce, import or stockpile antipersonnel
mines, and has repeated that on several occasions, including in June 2004.
Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28
February 2001; interview with Seham Lemrabet, Permanent Mission of Morocco
to the UN in Geneva, 25 June 2004.
[6] Morocco Response to Landmine
Monitor Report 2005 Questionnaire, 16 September 2005.
[7] During informal ICBL
discussions with the Moroccan delegation in Nairobi for the First Review
Conference, one representative spoke about the need to preserve the right to use
antipersonnel mines until the situation in Western Sahara is resolved, and
elaborated on the tactical and psychological importance of the weapon. In its
September 2005 response to Landmine Monitor, Morocco cited laws from 1914, 1934,
1954, 1958 and June 2003 that regulate the production, possession, transfer, and
use of arms, explosives and munitions. Response of Morocco to the Landmine
Monitor Report 2005 Questionnaire, 16 September 2005.
[8] Statement by Amb. Omar Hilale,
First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[9] Morocco Response to Landmine
Monitor Report 2005 Questionnaire, 16 September 2005.
[10] Landmine Monitor has sought,
but not received, clarification on when Morocco stopped stockpiling mines for
operational purposes, and whether stocks were intentionally destroyed or
depleted through use. Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001; Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001; Final Report on
Proceedings of the Regional Seminar on the Ottawa Convention in North Africa,
Tunis, 15-16 January 2002.
[11] See report on Western Sahara
in this edition of Landmine Monitor.
[12] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, pp. 1072, 1241.
[13] Report of the UN
Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, S/2005/254, 19
April 2005, p. 3.
[14] See report on Western Sahara
in this edition of Landmine Monitor.
[15] Interview with Seham
Lemrabet, Geneva, 25 June 2004; interview with Amb. Omar Hilale, Nairobi, 3
December 2004.
[16] “Palestinian killed in
landmine blast on Greece-Turkey border,” AFP (Komotini), 5 August
2004.
[17] For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1072.
[18] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 1072.
[19] “Nouvelles
hebdomadaires du Western Sahara: Territoires occupées et sud
Maroc,” Western Sahara Referendum Support Association, 10 April
2005.
[20] HI, “Fiche de
Synthèse Programme, 2004,” www.handicap-international.org.
[21] Secrétariat de
l’Etat Chargé de la Famille, de l’Enfance et des Personnes
Handicapées, “Enquête National sur le Handicap,” April
2005, www.sefsas.gov.ma/Documents/Resultats-ENH.htm.
[22] Secrétariat de
l’Etat Chargé de la Famille, de l’Enfance et des Personnes
Handicapées; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1072-1073.