Key
developments since May 2001: In January 2002, Morocco stated that it is
complying with the Mine Ban Treaty “de facto.” Morocco ratified CCW
Amended Protocol II on 19 March 2002.
MINE BAN POLICY
Morocco has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
In November 2001, Morocco abstained from voting on UN General Assembly
Resolution 56/24M calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty.
In response to a request for an update on the Landmine Monitor 2001
report, the government stated, “The position of Morocco has not changed
since the previous
report.”[1] According to
the final report of the Regional Seminar on the Ottawa Convention [Mine Ban
Treaty] in North Africa, held in Tunis, Tunisia, on 15-16 January 2002,
“The Moroccan representative stated that his country is complying with the
Convention de facto, since it is not producing, importing or exporting
anti-personnel mines.... Morocco is only postponing its accession to the Ottawa
Convention on account of the security imperatives in its southern
provinces.”[2] The
statement made no explicit mention of possible use or stockpiling by
Morocco.
Morocco attended as an observer the Third Meeting of States Parties to the
Mine Ban Treaty in Nicaragua in September 2001. It also participated in the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in January and May
2002.
Morocco ratified Amended Protocol II (landmines) of the Convention on
Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 19 March 2002. It attended the annual meeting of
State Parties to Amended Protocol II, as well as the Second CCW Review
Conference, in Geneva in December 2001.
On 12 December 2001, six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates issued an appeal to the
UN Secretary-General expressing their “grave concern about the
overwhelming presence of Moroccan troops and civilian settlers in occupied
Western Sahara, the massive use of antipersonnel
landmines...”[3] On 1
October 2001, sixteen Norwegian human rights NGOs wrote to the Norwegian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, urging the government to lobby for Moroccan
adherence to the Mine Ban
Treaty.[4] In a letter to the
Australian government on 25 January 2002, thirteen Australian community
organizations expressed the same
demands.[5]
PRODUCTION, TRANSFER, STOCKPILING, AND USE
Morocco is not known to have ever produced or
exported antipersonnel landmines. It has stated since 2000 that it no
longer imports antipersonnel mines, and repeated that again in
2002.[6] However, it remains
unclear if Morocco has a formal policy against future importation of
antipersonnel mines, or it simply has not done so for a number of years.
At the regional seminar in January 2002, Morocco’s representative told
Landmine Monitor that the country does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel
mines.[7] Morocco first made
this claim in a meeting with Landmine Monitor in February 2001 and in a formal,
written response to Landmine Monitor in March
2001.[8] Morocco has not
indicated at what date it no longer maintained a stockpile of antipersonnel
mines, or whether the stockpile was purposefully destroyed or depleted through
use.
Morocco has acknowledged extensive use of mines in the
past.[9] In February 2001,
Moroccan officials for the first and only time stated explicitly that the
country no longer uses antipersonnel
mines.[10] The issue of use was
not explicitly mentioned in the statement to the Tunis seminar in January 2002,
nor in the written response to Landmine Monitor in March 2001. It is not clear
if Morocco now has a policy prohibiting use of antipersonnel mines, or perhaps
simply is stating that it has not used them in recent years.
The Polisario in Western Sahara claim that Morocco continues to use
antipersonnel mines. In January 2002, Polisario stated that Royal Moroccan Army
(RMA) troops deployed in Western Sahara “refurbish and upgrade their
minefields on a daily
basis.”[11] Later in
2002, Polisario told Landmine Monitor that it is appealing to others to help
“stop laying anti-personnel mines along the Marocain [sic] Defensive Wall
by Marocain Army. Many accidents did happen because [of] these Marocain
activities... [Polisario] believes also that Morocco has big stockpiles of
antipersonnel mines. The Moroccan Army had used antipersonnel mines in the past
and is continuing to do so.... It is clear that FAR [Moroccan Army] laid new
antipersonnel mines, it is also continuing to maintain and refurbish existing
minefields during the last
year.”[12] It provided
casualty information on seven mine incidents from June 2001 to April 2002 to
support its claim. Polisario said that on 7 May 2002, a Moroccan solder
defected from one of the Moroccan bases in Smara sector and confirmed that since
July 2001 Moroccan forces have continued to lay, maintain and refurbish mines
along the berm.[13]
Landmine Monitor could not find any independent evidence of any new mine use
by Morocco, and is unaware of any reports from MINURSO regarding possible new
mine use.
LANDMINE PROBLEM AND MINE ACTION
Morocco is not considered mine-affected except for
the territory it controls in Western Sahara (see the separate Western Sahara
report). Under bilateral military agreements signed by Morocco and Polisario in
early 1999, both parties committed to cooperate with the UN Mission for a
Referendum in Western Sahara (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. In the
period from May 2001 to May 2002, no antipersonnel mines are known to have been
cleared and destroyed by the Royal Moroccan Army under this agreement, but
between 22 May and 25 October 2001 MINURSO monitored the destruction, by the
RMA, of two antivehicle mines and other munitions and UXO in the areas of
Ankesh, Laayoune and Dakhla during six destruction
operations.[14] A June 2001 UN
report states that from 7-22 May 2001, MINURSO confirmed the destruction by the
RMA of about 37,000 antipersonnel mines and 3,000 antivehicle mines in the
Ankesh area.[15]
LANDMINE CASUALTIES AND SURVIVOR ASSISTANCE
Landmine Monitor could not obtain any updated
information on Moroccan landmine casualties during the reporting period.
Landmine Monitor previously reported that between March 2000 and March 2001,
Moroccan authorities registered 51 military casualties of antivehicle mines and
UXO explosions in Western
Sahara.[16]
Mine survivors are treated the same as other persons with disabilities in
Morocco. Moroccan officials state, “In general, assistance to the
handicapped and their insertion into the socio- economic fabric constitutes one
of the principal priorities of the Moroccan
government.”[17]
[1] Fax to Landmine Monitor from Omar
Hilale, Ambassador, Permanent Representative for Morocco at the UN in Geneva,
Ref: No 166/F/38, 16 April 2002. [2]
“Regional Seminar on the Ottawa Convention in North Africa, Tunis, January
15-16, 2002: Final Report on Proceedings.” The “southern
provinces” comment is a reference to the ongoing dispute regarding the
Western Sahara between the government of Morocco and the Polisario Front (the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de
Oro). [3] The appeal was signed in
Oslo, Norway, by José Ramos-Horta (1996, East Timor), Rigoberta
Menchú Tum (1992, Guatemala), Oscar Arias Sánchez, (1987, Costa
Rica), Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1980, Argentina), Máiread Maguire (1976,
Northern Ireland) and Cora Weiss (1910, for the International Peace
Bureau).”Nobel laureates appeal to UN over Western Sahara” afrol
News, 13 December 2001.
(http://www.afrol.com/News2001/wsa014_nobel_laureates.htm). [4]
Letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Torbjørn Jagland, “Norwegian
Human Rights network expresses concern for Western Sahara,” Oslo, 1
October 2001. [5] Letter to the
Australian government titled, “Media Release: Australian community groups
call for human rights in Western Sahara,” 25 January
2002. [6] See, “Regional Seminar
on the Ottawa Convention in North Africa, Tunis, January 15-16, 2002: Final
Report on Proceedings.” [7]
Comment made to Landmine Monitor by Abderrahim Bendaoud, Chief of the Security
and Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Regional Seminar
on the Ottawa Convention in North Africa, Tunis, Tunisia, 15 January 2002.
[8] Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
“Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire,” 9 March 2001; meeting
with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February
2001. [9] See past editions of
Landmine Monitor Report. Since the 1991 UN-monitored ceasefire, the UN Mission
for a Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) apparently has not documented any
instances of landmine use by Morocco. Review of UN Secretary-General reports on
Western Sahara; Landmine Monitor review of MINURSO
records. [10] Meeting with four
representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001.
[11] Telephone interview with Emhamed
Khadad, Polisario Coordinator to MINURSO, 23 January
2002. [12] “Landmine Monitor
Report 2002: F Polisario answers to Western Sahara Questionnaire,”
received by Landmine Monitor by email from Emhamed Khadad, Polisario coordinator
to MINURSO, 27 June 2002. [13] Ibid.
[14] UN Security Council,
“Interim Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning
Western Sahara,” S/2002/41, 10 January
2002. [15] UN Security Council,
“Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western
Sahara,” S/2001/613, 20 June 2001, p.
3. [16] Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
“Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire,” 9 March
2001. [17] Ibid.
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