Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

Morocco
Background
After the departure of the French colonial army in 1976,
Morocco fought an armed conflict with Mauritania and
Polisario Front forces over sovereignty in the Western Sahara.
Mauritania withdrew from the conflict in 1979, but fighting
continued between Morocco and the Polisario Front until a
UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect on 1991.
Assessment of the problem
The Royal Moroccan army built six defensive walls, known
as “berms”, in Western Sahara and placed between one
and two million AT and AP mines around them. Due to the
risk from ERW and mines, civilians are not allowed within
five to 10 kilometres either side of these berms. 1268
Impact
According to the government, Morocco is not affected by
ERW or MOTAPM, but the territory of Western Sahara under
its control is contaminated by ERW and MOTAPM. 1269 There
were no reports of ERW or mine casualties during this
reporting period, but 51 military casualties from MOTAPM
and ERW were recorded by the Moroccan Government in
Western Sahara between March 2000 and March 2001. 1270
Background
Mozambique’s armed struggle for national liberation
between 1964 and 1974 left northern and central parts of
the country contaminated by ERW, AP mines and MOTAPM.
From 1977 to 1992, the conflict between RENAMO and the
Government of Mozambique increased ERW and mine
contamination throughout the country. It has been noted
that Renamo in particular laid MOTAPM “to close roads
connecting towns and markets.” 1274 Few records were kept
of minefields laid during this period. 1275 Although
significant problems have been attributed to MOTAPM in
the past, 1276 the limited nature of this problem, the
capacity of local people to find alternatives to suspect
routes and an extensive mine action programme mean that
Efforts to address these problems
morocco, mozambique 117
Under bilateral military agreements signed by Morocco and
Polisario in early 1999, both parties committed to
cooperate with the UN Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (MINURSO) in the exchange of ERW/minerelated
information, marking of mined areas, and clearance
and destruction of ERW and landmines in the presence of
MINURSO observers. On 1 September 2003, a field
containing an unspecified number of grenades was
discovered and marked at Bir Lahlou on the eastern side of
the berm. 1271 From May 2003 to January 2004, MINURSO
discovered and marked 87 ERW and landmines on both
sides of the berm and monitored the destruction of
additional munitions located by the Moroccan Army. 1272
Since 1997, MINURSO has facilitated the discovery and
marking of 1,123 ERW and mines and it has participated in
750 disposal operations. 1273
Legislation
Morocco is not a State Party to the Ottawa Convention. It is
a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons
(CCW) and its Protocols I, II, IV as well as Amended
Protocol II. It has not expressed its intention to ratify the
new CCW Protocol V on ERW and it has not participated in
discussions on MOTAPM within the CCW framework.
1268 UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Western Sahara Updated Mine Situation, February 1998.
1269 Interview with Seham Lemrabet, Moroccan permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, 25 June 2004.
1270 Landmine Monitor 2003, p. 652.
1271 Report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, 19 January 2004. Report of the UN Secretary-General on the
situation concerning Western Sahara, 16 October 2003.
1272 Report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, 16 October 2003; Report of the UN Secretary-General on the
situation concerning Western Sahara, 19 January 2004.
1273 Report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation concerning Western Sahara, 23 April 2004.
Mozambique
MOTAPM contamination has not had a substantial impact
in recent years.
Assessment
In August 2001, the National Demining Institute (IND)
published the final results of the country’s first comprehensive
Landmine Impact Survey (LIS). The survey indicated
that virtually every part of Mozambique experienced negative
social and economic consequences from mines and ERW
which were estimated to affect approximately 1.5 million
people directly. Mines were reported to affect 123 of the 128
districts and all 10 provinces with some 791 communities
affected by 1,374 “suspected mined areas” (SMAs).
However, many mine action operators considered that this
erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004