Inter-Maghreb Seminar on Anti-Personnel Landmines Tunis, 25-26 January 1999

Arab Institute of Human Rights (Tunisia) Centre for Documentation and Research on Peace and Conflict (CDRPC) - Arms Transfer Monitor (France) Mines Advisory Group (United Kingdom)

Recommendations

The Arab Institute of Human Rights and the Centre for Documentation and Research on Peace and Conflict - Arms Transfer Monitor with the support of Mines Advisory Group (United Kingdom) organised an Inter-Maghreb seminar on Anti-Personnel Landmines in Tunis from 25 to 26 January 1999.

The opening session was honoured by the presence of His Excellency Tahar Sioud, Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia.

The seminar was attended by representatives of organisations working in the areas of Human Rights, Development, Women's Rights, Environment, the Child, the Disabled, and members of the press, the medical services and the Red Crescent of the Arab Maghreb countries. International and regional governmental and non-governmental organisations and representatives of the diplomatic corps also attended.

The seminar took place as part of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and the Ottawa Process.

The seminar discussed a number of questions relating to the history and definitions of and the problems caused by anti-personnel mines in the Arab Maghreb region. The meeting also explored the different types of action taken internationally and regionally

to address the landmine problem, discussed the efforts made by intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations in this area, and the possibilities for civil society action in the countries of the region.

Participants unanimously underlined the importance of this seminar, the first of its kind to examine the landmines problem in the Maghreb Arab region. They also stated that the use of mines, however different from one country to another, is a socio-economic and environmental threat to the human being.

Participants also noted the difficulty of obtaining precise and exhaustive information on the particular problem in the region inherited largely from the Second World War and the colonial period.

Furthermore, participants noted the lack of skills, resources and strategies, and the absence of effective involvement of civil society, to address the scourge of landmines and provide the necessary support to victims. Participants applauded the important step forward represented by certain Maghreb countries signing the Ottawa Convention and the role they played throughout the process.

From the discussions and analyses developed during the seminar, the participants have adopted the following recommendations :

1. Recommendations to governments

The seminar :

• appeals to the Maghreb states to fully adhere to the Ottawa Convention and, like Tunisia, to ratify it;
• calls on states in the region to elaborate action strategies to implement the Ottawa Convention and to establish a true partnership with civil society to combat the use of anti-personnel mines; - calls on states responsible for the use of mines during the Second World War and during the colonial period to co-operate fully with the countries of the region to eliminate this danger in conformity with their international responsibilities;
• calls on states of the region to facilitate access to information on landmines and to provide the necessary assistance to specialised organisations for capacity building and for care for mine victims.

2. Recommendations to international organisations

• the seminar calls on international organisations to provide assistance to the countries of the region and to non-governmental organisations working on mine eradication, capacity building, and victim assistance.

3. Recommendations to non-governmental organisations of the Maghreb

• the seminar calls on organisations of the Maghreb to intensify co-ordinated efforts to encourage the countries of the region to fully adhere to the Convention and to promote the processes of mine clearance and victim assistance;
• calls for strategies to be developed to inform and sensitise institutions and the general public in the Maghreb on the landmines problem and the means of addressing it;

The participants request the Arab Institute for Human Rights to design and implement training and information programmes for representatives of civil society in co-ordination with the International Campaign and organisations of the Maghreb.

The seminar participants welcome the forthcoming Arab Conference on Landmines (Beirut, Lebanon, 11-12 February 1999) and wish the meeting every success, requesting that it take into account the results of this seminar.

The participants wish to thank the Arab Institute of Human Rights, the Centre for Documentation and Research on Peace and Conflict, Mines Advisory Group, Charity Projects, Open Society Institute and Landmine Monitor and all other contributors for their efforts to ensure the success of this seminar.

Finally, the participants would like to extend their thanks to the government of Tunisia for its assistance with this seminar and to the people of Tunisia for their warmth and hospitality.

Closing session

Tunis, 26 January 1999

Translated from the French