+   *    +     +     
About Us 
The Issues 
Our Research Products 
Order Publications 
Multimedia 
Press Room 
Resources for Monitor Researchers 
ARCHIVES HOME PAGE 
    >
 
Table of Contents
Country Reports
MOROCCO, Landmine Monitor Report 2005

Morocco

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.