Morocco

Mine Ban Policy

The Kingdom of Morocco has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. While supporting the treaty’s humanitarian objectives, Morocco continues to cite resolution of the territorial dispute over Western Sahara as the obstacle to its accession.

On 6 December 2006 Morocco voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 61/84 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. This was Morocco’s third consecutive vote in favor of the annual pro-ban UNGA resolution. It stated that its vote in favor was intended to show its commitment to the objectives and humanitarian principles of the treaty, and noted that it complies on a de facto basis with many of the treaty’s provisions, including no production, export or import of antipersonnel mines.^[1]

In September 2006 Morocco attended as an observer the Seventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, where it made a statement during the general exchange of views announcing that it had submitted a voluntary Article 7 report.^[2] Morocco also participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2006 and April 2007.

In August 2006 Morocco submitted its first voluntary Article 7 transparency report, covering the period from September 2005 to September 2006. The report did not include a Form B, which is supposed to provide details on any stockpiles of antipersonnel mines. The report cites existing laws governing the production, use, stockpiling and transfer of explosives, munitions and weapons from 1914 (as modified in 1934 and 1954) and 1958, as well as a 2003 anti-terrorism law.^[3]

Morocco is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. Morocco attended the Eighth Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in Geneva in November 2006, but has not submitted a national annual report as required by Article 13.^[4] It has not joined Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Morocco has said on several occasions that it never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, and that it stopped importing them prior to entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty in March 1999.^[5] Morocco has acknowledged extensive use of mines in the past, most notably at the berms (defensive walls) it built from 1982 to 1987 to secure the northwestern corner of Western Sahara.

In July 2006, Morocco told Landmine Monitor that it stopped using antipersonnel mines at the time of the Western Sahara ceasefire in 1991.^[6] It said, “Morocco’s decision to renounce the use of APM is irrefutable proof of its commitment to the spirit and the humanitarian values of the Ottawa Convention and its engagement to contribute to the universal effort for the elimination of these lethal arms.” Morocco added, “Since the signature of the ceasefire accord, in 1991, the Kingdom of Morocco does not possess any more APM and does not maintain any more minefields…. Morocco no longer has a stockpile of APM.” The antipersonnel mines possessed by Morocco were said to be used only for the training of firefighters and the Moroccan peacekeeping contingent. Morocco stressed “that the only mines used by Morocco are thoroughly inventoried…and are quickly destructible.”^[7]

Morocco made similar statements about having a stockpile of mines solely for training purposes in November 2004, September 2005 and November 2005.^[8] It has not provided any details on types or quantities of mines. Morocco previously stated in 2001 and 2002 that it had no stockpile of antipersonnel mines.^[9]

Landmine and ERW Problem

Morocco is not considered mine-affected, except for the territory it controls in Western Sahara. The UN has estimated that around 100,000 square kilometers in Moroccan and Polisario-controlled Western Sahara are affected by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), as a result of years of colonial and post-colonial conflicts.^[10] Following the 1991 ceasefire, Morocco built 2,400 kilometers of border berms (earthen walls about three meters high) to protect itself against any attack by the Western Sahara independence movement, Polisario.^[11] It fortified the berms with antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. Berms are also located in the Moroccan controlled zone around Dakhla and stretching from Boujdour, including Smara on the Moroccan border.^[12]

Areas east of the berm in Mehaires, Tifariti and Bir Lahlou, where the Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) conducted offensive operations in 1991, are of great concern. These areas are said to be scattered with dangerous submunition duds.^[13] Landmine Action similarly reported a serious threat from unexploded mortars, artillery shells, bombs, cluster munitions and other UXO.^[14] The UN also reported a claim that new mines had been laid in the “restricted area” by Polisario in November 2006.^[15]

According to the UN, each month civilians and their livestock are killed or injured in mine accidents and the numbers are likely to increase in the event that refugees begin to return.^[16] United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) personnel are said to be at increasing risk, especially after starting night patrols to better monitor both parties’ activities.^[17] Illegal immigrants are also at risk from landmines and UXO when attempting to enter Melilla, the Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast. Some refugees have reported that if caught by the Moroccan security forces they are sent back through mined areas.^[18]

Mine Action Program

Morocco does not have a national mine action authority or mine action center. Demining is carried out by the army, which has its own information management system.^[19]

MINURSO’s mine action cell coordinates mine/UXO activities mainly in Polisario controlled areas.^[20] In early 1999 Morocco and Polisario signed bilateral military agreements in which both parties agreed to cooperate with MINURSO in the exchange of mine-related information, marking of mined areas, and the clearance and destruction of mines and UXO in the presence of MINURSO observers.^[21] This agreement does not cover minefields along the berms.^[22]

No national mine action legislation or standards had been adopted in Morocco, although the Royal Moroccan Army has claimed to be observing the International Mine Action Standards.^[23]

Strategic Mine Action Planning

Following the death of a senior Moroccan disnitary due to a landmine, Morocco embarked on a demining effort in mid-January 2007 to rid the territory of mines as soon as possible. The Royal Moroccan Army has developed a one-week training course in demining for its infantry personnel and expected to have full demining capability by May 2007, consisting of 900 deminers. The RMA reportedly acknowledged that it lacked appropriate equipment, such as mine detectors. The new demining effort includes a road-marking system along the “safe” tracks located west of the berms; according to RMA officers, most mine incidents involving cars happen off-track.^[24]

Demining

The RMA is responsible for mine action west of the berms.^[25] Both Polisario and the RMA assist MINURSO in the marking and disposal of mines, UXO and expired ammunition in Western Sahara.^[26]

Mine/ERW Clearance

No clearance by Morocco was reported for 2006. In August 2006 Morocco declared in its voluntary Article 7 transparency report that it would clear the berms as soon as the conflict was resolved.^[27] In January 2007 RMA demining teams started major clearance operations at the berms. According to the UN Mine Action Service, by mid-April 2007 the RMA had demined 107 square kilometers of suspected hazardous area, removing 317 antipersonnel mines, 171 antivehicle mines and 67 items of UXO.^[28]

Mine Risk Education

There is no official mine risk education (MRE) program in Morocco but MRE was organized in 2006 and 2007 by the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims, Moroccan Red Crescent Society, the RMA and MINURSO.

Morocco declared in its voluntary Article 7 report that as a result of the RMA’s efforts the population is largely informed on the location of risk areas. Tourists or people practicing sports such as rallies are asked to follow well used tracks; reportedly, cooperation between civil and military authorities is in place.^[29] In 2007 Moroccan authorities announced that a new information campaign targeting civilians will be launched in areas suspected to be contaminated by mines.^[30]

Nomads, shepherds and people trading camels in the Moroccan controlled part of Western Sahara are the most at-risk groups. However, as mines are widely scattered potentially all the population is at risk. It took the deaths of two well-known public figures in January 2007 to put the issue of landmines on the national agenda.^[31]

In March 2006 the Moroccan Association of Mine Victims presented an MRE proposal to the local council on human rights in Smara; it was also discussed with the Moroccan Red Crescent and local agriculture and health authorities.^[32] The one-year project, which started in January 2007, includes meetings with local authorities in affected communities; information sessions in Amguala Tifarity, Hawza and Sidi Ahmed Laâroussi; MRE for nomads; school-oriented MRE; publication of an MRE guide; and, a photograph exhibition. A major difficulty for adequate MRE is the lack of marking of mine/UXO-affected areas.^[33]

The Moroccan Red Crescent Society did not carry out any MRE in 2006 except for some activities related to the international day of mine awareness.^[34] On 12 February 2007 local authorities in Smara and the MRC launched an MRE program. In Hawza, 250 kilometers north of Smara, children, farmers, shepherds and nomads were educated about the dangers of mines. They were also instructed to inform mine clearance teams working in the area of any suspicious objects.^[35]

MINURSO reported that no formal MRE was organized in 2006 except for some ad hoc sessions for the local population whenever a mine was found.^[36] On 29 March 2007 the Joint Civilian-Military Working Group of MINURSO organized an MRE event for its staff in Laayoune, screening mine awareness films.^[37]

Funding remains a key challenge for MRE in Morocco, as does official involvement. In a January 2007 interview, a mine survivor who lost his foot in 1993 called on the state “to urgently launch a mine risk education campaign.”^[38]

Landmine/ERW Casualties

In 2006 one new mine casualty was reported: in October a shepherd was killed in southern Morocco.^[39] In comparison, eight casualties were reported in 2005 (four killed and four injured).^[40] Also in 2006, in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara at least 16 new mine/ERW casualties were recorded (seven killed, six injured and three unknown). The nationality of most casualties is unknown, but at least one Moroccan military and six Saharawi civilians were identified. Most casualties occurred in Bir Anzarane (nine).^[41] In 2005, only one casualty (a male fatality) was reported in the Moroccan part of Western Sahara.

No new casualties were reported in Morocco as of 3 June 2007. However, casualties in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara continued to occur at an increased rate, with at least 13 casualties as of May 2007 (seven killed and six injured; 11 were Moroccan citizens). One additional incident in Bir Gendouz did not cause any casualties but severely damaged the car driving over the mine.^[42] Most casualties occurred in Bir Anzarane and Dakhla. In January 2007, two Moroccan politicians were killed in two mine incidents.^[43]

MINURSO also collected information on casualties in 2006-2007, which could not be integrated into this report as lack of detail prevented cross-checking.

The cumulative number of casualties in Morocco is not known. It has been reported that at least 2,144 mine/ERW casualties have occurred since 1975, including 534 killed; most were military (1,933 including 494 killed) while there were 211 civilians (40 killed).^[44] The Moroccan Association of Mine Victims in Smara stated that at least 360 people were killed in mine/ERW incidents and approximately 600 disabled.^[45] In 2006, the Swiss Foundation for Landmine Victims’ Aid (SFLVA) conducted a survey identifying 38 mine/ERW casualties mostly from Assa Zag and Tan Tan province in southern Morocco; many of them were children. It was estimated that the data collected was 50-75 percent complete; therefore, it does not reflect the entire scope of the problem.^[46] According to the Moroccan Red Crescent there are some 600 mines casualties in southern Morocco.^[47] Handicap International estimates that among 6,000 recorded war victims there are less than 700 mine survivors.^[48]

Data Collection

No comprehensive information is available on mine/ERW casualties in Morocco. Access to official information from the relevant ministries is reportedly problematic,^[49] although Morocco stated in 2006 that it had an electronic database of mine/ERW casualties.^[50] The main sources of information about casualties remain NGOs and, increasingly, media reports.^[51] It was reported that government capacity was also improving.^[52] No supporting evidence was made available to Landmine Monitor.

In September 2004 the Secretary of State for Family, Childhood and Disabled People, with the technical advice of Handicap International and supported by the European Commission, launched a disability census in Morocco. The census results concluded that about 5.12 percent of the population lives with disability (about 1,530,000 people).^[53]

Survivor Assistance

Morocco stated in 2005 that it “remained particularly sensitive to the sufferings caused by these indiscriminate weapons and their impact on the socioeconomic conditions of the victims, whose number is still increasing in an alarming way.”^[54] A recent increase in mine casualties in Moroccan controlled parts of Western Sahara and some high profile casualties have raised public awareness of the mine/ERW problem, but no new assistance programs specific to mine/ERW survivors have been reported.^[55] Morocco’s voluntary Article 7 report did not include information on victim assistance in the optional Form J.^[56]

Mine/ERW survivors are not treated differently from other people with disabilities. The Moroccan health system is generally well-developed and well-run in cities, but, especially in rural or desert areas, landmine survivors do not seem able to access services.^[57] Reportedly, not all services for mine casualties are free and people who are not paying for treatment are not eligible for follow-up.^[58] For people with disabilities, often amongst the poorest segments of society, payment of health fees is generally problematic and only 15 percent of them have medical insurance.^[59] Insurance covers certain types of assistance, such as initial prosthetic devices, but not eye or cosmetic surgery often needed by mine/ERW casualties. Access to information about existing services is limited and availability of assistance is limited by lack of involvement of ministries and lack of a central disability database accessible to NGOs.^[60]

People injured by mines/ERW and their families can receive financial aid/compensation only if the police have identified them and prepared an official report. Reportedly, these reports are not often made as many casualties are nomads without identity documents or people in remote areas.^[61]

Morocco has no specific legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities, but there are guidelines without legal effect.^[62] This is considered to be insufficient and associations working with people with disabilities continue to lobby for improvements.^[63] Access to public buildings is not mandatory and families usually bear the burden of caring for a disabled person.^[64]

On 30 March 2007 Morocco signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol which allows monitoring of disability activities. Moroccan authorities have organized several national events to raise awareness of disability issues.^[65]

Governmental Activities

No specific survivor assistance framework is in place but the Secretary of State for Family, Childhood and Disabled People, under the Ministry of Social Affairs, deals with disability issues. The Ministry of Health also works in conjunction with Handicap International on a program for people with disabilities.^[66] On 27 March 2007 King Mohammed VI launched a program to improve the living conditions of Moroccans and to reduce poverty. As part of the program, a US$1.2 million center for physical rehabilitation will provide mobility devices for people with disabilities, as well as social and orientation services.^[67]

The Moroccan government is also improving access to primary education for disabled children. As only 30 percent of disabled children aged 4 to 15 years are enrolled in school and there are few special needs classes, access to specialist services has been very limited. The program aims to tackle social stigma over the next five years by training more teachers, upgrading facilities and increasing inclusive education opportunities.^[68]

Nongovernmental Activities

In 2006 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) provided raw materials, 308 prostheses and orthoses for two orthopedic centers for people with disabilities, and organized a training workshop.^[69] This support was considered sufficient and ceased.^[70] One of the centers, in Marrakech, reached an agreement with the Swiss Foundation for Landmine Victims’ Aid to treat mine survivors referred by SFLVA, starting in November 2007. In May 2006 a prosthetic expert from the SFD regional training center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was sent to the Regional Rehabilitation and Orthopedic Center Oued Nachef in Oudja (Centre Régional de Rééducation et d’Orthopédie Oued Nachef) to build capacity in lower-limb prosthesis manufacturing, stock and workshop management. Oued Nachef center produces only about four prostheses per month.^[71]

Handicap International continues to strengthen the capacity of local associations delivering services to people with disabilities and promoting their rights. In 2006-2007 it provided technical advice and training (including for orthopedic technicians) to disability organizations, NGOs and government institutions. It coordinates a regional project between Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco focusing on the exchange of practices and experiences in disability issues.^[72] On 1 March 2007 Handicap International, the Horizon Association of the Disabled (Association Horizon des Handicapés) and the Association for Disabled Children (l’Association Enfance Handicapée) launched a program to mobilize disabled people’s organizations in the Souss-Massa-Drâa region. It aims to ensure that disabled people in the region can have access to development projects.^[73]

Swiss Foundation for Landmine Victims’ Aid has assisted mine/ERW survivors through community-based rehabilitation and socioeconomic reintegration, and provided ad hoc medical and rehabilitation assistance since 2001.^[74] It receives technical assistance from a micro-credit specialist, an orthopedic surgeon and a business lawyer dealing with socioeconomic reintegration issues.^[75]

The organization S.O.S Physical Handicap Morocco (S.O.S Handicap Moteur Maroc) continued to work on mine incident prevention, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration of mine survivors.^[76]