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Key developments since May 2000: In February 2001, Moroccan officials for the first time claimed that Morocco no longer uses antipersonnel mines. In March 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Landmine Monitor that Morocco does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines. Morocco and the Polisario traded accusations of new mine use in Western Sahara. According to a UN report, in May 2001 the Royal Moroccan Army destroyed about 3,000 antitank mines and 37,000 antipersonnel mines in the Western Sahara. Between March 2000 and March 2001, Moroccan authorities registered 51 victims of antivehicle mines and UXO explosions in the Western Sahara.
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Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Nacer Benjelloun–Touimi, told Landmine Monitor that Morocco is not able to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty because of the situation in Western Sahara.[1] In response to a Landmine Monitor questionnaire, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in March 2001, “Morocco is only postponing its adherence to the [Mine Ban Treaty] because of the security demands in its southern provinces. This circumstantial situation is bound to disappear by itself once the territorial integrity of our country is no longer threatened.... [Morocco] fully and unreservedly approves the founding principles and humanitarian goals of the Mine Ban Treaty.”[2]
In a surprising development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives told Landmine Monitor that Morocco does not use, produce, import, or stockpile antipersonnel mines, and therefore considers there to be a de facto landmine ban in place; also, for this reason, Morocco considers that there is no need for unilateral domestic measures or legislation aimed at a ban prior to accession to the Mine Ban Treaty.[3] (See more below).
Morocco abstained from voting on UN General Assembly Resolution 55/33V in November 2000, as it did on similar resolutions supporting the Mine Ban Treaty in previous years. Representatives from Morocco’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva attended the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. In February 2001 Morocco participated in a regional seminar on universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, in Bamako, Mali. This marked the first time a representative from the Moroccan Ministry of Defense attended a ban treaty-related meeting.
Morocco is not a party to either the original or revised landmine protocols of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). In May 2000, King Mohammed VI told the UN that the ratification process for Amended Protocol II was in its final stage,[4] and in June 2000 the Moroccan Parliament approved the protocol. But it has not been finalized and formally deposited with the United Nations. Morocco attended as an observer the Second Annual Conference of States Parties to Amended Protocol II in December 2000.
Morocco is not known to have ever produced or exported antipersonnel landmines.[5] As noted above, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials told Landmine Monitor in February 2001 that Morocco does not produce, import, use or retain antipersonnel mines.[6] This was the first time that Moroccan officials said that Morocco no longer uses antipersonnel mines and the first time Morocco claimed that it does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines. Subsequently, in March 2001 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs written response to the Landmine Monitor questionnaire also stated that Morocco does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[7] The questionnaire response makes no comment on use.
Other than the February meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the questionnaire response, Landmine Monitor is not aware of any formal policy statements or declarations regarding use and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines. In numerous interactions with Landmine Monitor and ICBL representatives in recent years, Moroccan officials have never made such statements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs written response of 23 June 2000 to Landmine Monitor did not claim that Morocco has no stockpile.[8] Clarification on whether Morocco now has a policy prohibiting use of antipersonnel mines, or is simply claiming not to have used in recent years is being sought, as is clarification regarding the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines.
Morocco acknowledges extensive use of mines in the past. In response to the Landmine Monitor questionnaire, Morocco said, “The mines laid by the Royal Armed Forces follow a standard pattern and are automatically taken back or destroyed.”[9] 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.[10]
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 ceasefire by laying mines. In his letter he claimed that “in the last few weeks, all Moroccan defensive units deployed in Western Sahara have laid a significant number of anti-personnel mines around their positions.”[11] On 5 December 2000 the commander of Polisario’s Second Region, Brahim Ahmed Sahmud, reported that Moroccan forces had laid mines in the area of Haonza, Farsia, along the defensive wall.[12]
A MINURSO investigation into the allegation was inconclusive and suggested that the Polisario sighting could have been of Moroccan construction and maintenance work on the berm, in the Baggary sub-sector.[13] This work was authorized by MINURSO to commence on 8 December 2000, which is three days after Polisario’s alleged sighting. The construction and maintenance work was not monitored by MINURSO, which has very limited resources to monitor an area of some 266,000 square kilometers. See the separate report on Western Sahara for Moroccan accusations of use by Polisario.
Morocco has stated for a number of years that it does not import antipersonnel mines, and has repeated that in 2000 and 2001.[14] 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.
Morocco is not considered mine-affected except for the territory it controls in Western Sahara (see the separate Western Sahara report).
The Royal Moroccan Army possesses a mine clearance capability and has conducted mine clearance in Western Sahara. In March and April 1999, Polisario and Morocco signed bilateral military agreements with MINURSO committing both parties to cooperate in the exchange of information, marking, and destruction of landmines and UXO.
A February 2001 UN report on Western Sahara indicated that in recent months the Royal Moroccan Army and the Polisario military forces had conducted a total of 13 clearance operations and marked 28 sites of mines and UXO.[15] A June 2001 UN report states, “From 7 to 22 May 2001, MINURSO military observers confirmed the destruction, by the Royal Moroccan Army, of about 3,000 anti-tank mines, 37,000 anti-personnel mines and 27,000 detonators and munitions in the Ankesh area, 20 kilometers from Smara. In total, 7.5 tons of mines and explosives have been destroyed by the Royal Moroccan Army during the operation monitored by MINURSO.”[16]
One Moroccan official said landmines were not a threat to civilians because the mined areas are marked and mapped and because the people in mine-affected areas are already aware of the danger. The official claimed that the mined areas are all located in unpopulated desert and if people need to travel through these areas, they are informed about the possible presence of landmines and behave accordingly.[17]
There were no reports of antipersonnel mine casualties in the reporting period, but between March 2000 and March 2001, Moroccan authorities registered fifty-one victims of antivehicle mines and UXO explosions in the Western Sahara. Of these, seven were killed, nineteen were severely injured and twenty-five were slightly injured.[18]
On 8 January 2001, a Portuguese support car driver participating in the Paris-Dakarcar rally lost his left foot when he drove over an antivehicle mine in Mauritania near the border with Western Sahara.[19] According to a Mauritanian military officer, the territory in which the incident occured is very close to the Moroccan berm and therefore under the Moroccan military’s responsibility.[20] A Moroccan government official denied this claim, stating that the border between Mauritania and Morocco is clear and the incident took place in Mauritania.[21]
Mine survivors who report their injuries are not considered any differently from other persons with disabilities.[22] 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.”[23] There is a Commission for the Disabled in Morocco and several national laws exist on the issue, such as Dahir 1.92.30 of 10 September 1993 on disabled persons’ protection and Prime Minister decree 30.130.00 of 7 July 2000 on employment for disabled persons in public administrations.[24]
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[1] Interview with Ambassador Nacer Benjelloun-Touimi, Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Morocco, Geneva, 13 February 2001.
[2] “Réponse au questionnaire de l’observatoire des mines au titre du rapport 2001 relatif a la position du Maroc sur la question des mines antipersonnel” [Response to the Landmine Monitor Report 2001 Questionnaire on Morocco’s Position on Antipersonnel Mines], Ministry of Foreign Affairs, received by fax on 9 March 2001 from Ambassador Benjelloun-Touimi. Translated from French by Landmine Monitor researcher. Hereafter referred to as: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001.
[3] Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001.
[4] Letter from King Mohammed VI to the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan on Morocco’s adherence to Protocol II, 29 May 2000.
[5] The 9 March 2001 Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire states that Morocco does not produce, import or export antipersonnel mines.
[6] Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001.
[7] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001. “Le Maroc ne possede pas de stock de mines antipersonnel.”
[8] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 23 June 2000.
[9] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001.
[10] Review of UN Secretary-General reports on Western Sahara; Landmine Monitor review of MINURSO records.
[11] The letter from the President of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic to the UN Secretary General, sent 6 December 2000, was reported in “Saharan president sends letter to UN chief on Moroccan ‘violation’ of cease-fire,” BBC Monitoring, 7 December 2000.
[12] Statement provided to Landmine Monitor by Ehammed Khadad, Polisario, 12 March 2001; Interview with Ehammed Khadad, Oslo, 4 April 2001.
[13] MINURSO Memorandum “POLISARIO 1MR Allegation of Mine Laying by RMA,” 20 December 2000.
[14] For recent, see Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001 and Statement to the Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, September 2000. Previously, see Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 23 June 2000 and Statement to the First Meeting of States Parties, Maputo, 3-7 May 1999.
[15] UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” S/2002/148, 20 February 2001, p. 3.
[16] UN Security Council, “Report of the Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara,” S/2002/613, 20 June 2001, p. 3.
[17] Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001.
[18] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001.
[19] “Dakar Driver loses Foot in Explosion,” Associated Press, Rabat, 8 January 2001.
[20] Interview with Lt. Col. Abdi, Geneva, 8 May 2001.
[21] Telephone interview with official in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, June 2001.
[22] Meeting with four representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rabat, 28 February 2001.
[23] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire, 9 March 2001.
[24] Ibid.
